Criminal Justice

DOJ Probing Sex Abuse Allegations At Alabama Prisons

AP | ANDY BROWNFIELD | Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: Criminal Justice, Alabama, Department of Justice, Prison Sexual Abuse, Alabama Prison Sexual Abuse Allegations, Prison, Incarceration, Crime News

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Rape, sexual assault and harassment from male guards are a way of life for prisoners at an Alabama women's prison, according to in...

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Mike Sacks

Supreme Court Allows Arkansas Second Shot At Murder Trial

HuffingtonPost.com | Mike Sacks | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, Arkansas, US Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts, Video, Double Jeopardy, Crime, Sonia Sotomayor, Arkansas Murder Case, Alex Blueford, Criminal Justice, Blueford v. Arkansas, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Arkansas is not barred by the Constitution's double jeopardy clause from retrying a man for murder even though the first jury had announ...

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Radley Balko

Wisconsin Residents: The Police Stole Our Bail Money

HuffingtonPost.com | Radley Balko | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Drug Prohibition, Video, Drug War, Brown County Wisconsin, Bail, Bond, Asset Forfeiture, Criminal Justice, Civil Asset Forfeiture, Green Bay, Politics News

When the Brown County, Wis., Drug Task Force arrested her son Joel last February, Beverly Greer started piecing together his bail. She used part o...

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The Death Penalty is the Tip of America's Human Rights Iceberg

David A. Love | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Gun Violence, Voter ID Laws, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Human Rights, Lethal Injection, Income Inequality, Crime, Civil Rights, Power & Politics, Black Voices News
David A. Love

There's a buzz about the death penalty in America these days and nearly all of the conversation focuses not on how to maintain the practice, but on abolition. Faced with the high cost, lack of deterrent effect and the inevitability of executing innocent people, some states are taking another look.

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"Prison Break" Lemonade

Marc Mauer | Posted 05.10.2012

Read More: Prison, Prison Reform, Criminal Justice System, Prison System, Sensationalism, Marketing, Prisons, Criminal Justice, Advertising, Prisons in the Media, DC News
Marc Mauer

For far too long, our approach to developing public policy on issues of crime and punishment has been overly framed by sensationalist imagery.

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House Ready to Give Finger to Violence Against Women Act?

Norm Stamper | Posted 05.05.2012

Read More: Lgbt, House, Native American Women, Criminal Justice, V.a.W.A., Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence, Police, Primary Aggressor, Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Act, Senate, Politics News
Norm Stamper

It is critical that congress reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, including its new provisions that offer help to Native American women, the LGBT community and immigrants, groups that have been denied the full protection of VAWA.

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How Woodward and Bernstein Came to Interview Grand Jurors

Barry Sussman | Posted 05.04.2012

Read More: Criminal Justice, Newspapers, Watergate, Watergate Grand Juror, Woodward and Bernstein, Watergate Investigation, Watergate Grand Jury, Media News
Barry Sussman

After almost 40 years of denials by Woodward and Bernstein, it was revealed this week that Bernstein had interviewed a Watergate grand juror in 1972. I have known about this for a long time, as I'm the editor who gave them the assignment.

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Galatians 3:23-29: The Law Was Our Teacher

Reverend William E. Flippin, Jr. | Posted 04.29.2012

Read More: Restorative Justice, Criminal Justice, Elca, Incarceration, Scripture Study, Scripture Commentary, Christianity, Religion News
Reverend William E. Flippin, Jr.

The key to dealing with most criminal behavior may well be the application of basic Christian principles: repent, make restitution, restore relationships and change your ways.

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Landmark Decision in Nassau Crime Lab Scandal

Anthony Papa | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Nassau County, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Criminal Justice, Eric Schneiderman, Crime Labs, Nassau County District Attorney, New York News
Anthony Papa

No one should be rotting away in prison, sentenced from a crime based on tainted evidence. What will happen to the potentially several hundred prisoners whose cases could have been tainted by problematic testing procedures?

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In Norway, You Can Murder 77 People and Still Enjoy Retirement

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Anders Behring Breivik Norway Bombing, Capital Punishment, Norway, Anders Breivik, Criminal Justice System, Anders Breivik Trial, Anders Behring Breivik Trial, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Anders Behring Breivik, World News
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

If Anders Behring Breivik is found to be mentally competent, the toughest sentence Norwegian law can mete out is 21 years, though he may still remain incarcerated if he is deemed to be a danger to society. Breivik may be walking the streets by the time he's 55.

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When Does "Pro-Life" Equal "Pro-Imprisonment"?

Lynn M. Paltrow | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Pro-Life Movement, Fetal Personhood, Abortion, Bei Bei Shuai, Alabama, Chemical Endangerment, Criminal Justice, Pro-Life, The Liberty Counsel, Jennie McCormack, Reproductive Justice, Drug Policy, Politics News
Lynn M. Paltrow

The Liberty Counsel has established that the "pro-life" position is "pro-punishment," not just for doctors who perform abortions, but also for pregnant women who have no intention of ending their pregnancies and go to term.

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The Supreme Court's Decision on Strip Searches Will Make Jails More Dangerous

Lovisa Stannow | Posted 04.24.2012

Read More: Jails, Rape, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Prison, Strip Searches, Criminal Justice, Prison Rape, Strip Search, Jdi, Just Detention International, Crime News
Lovisa Stannow

The practice of strip searching all jail inmates, just because they are detainees, is a violation of basic human rights and unnecessary. It is also a recipe for sexual abuse.

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Study: Race Of Jurors Plays Big Role In Convictions

The Huffington Post | Gene Demby | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: Criminal Justice, Racial Composition of Juries, Racial Disparities in Sentencing, Duke Juror Race Study, Bv-Politics, Racial Disparities Criminal Justice, Racial Discrimination, Black Voices News

In Florida, all-white jury pools found blacks accused of crimes guilty 16 percent more often than they did with white defendants according to a new s...

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Guilty But Innocent

Carol Turowski | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: Legal System, Criminal Justice, Alford Plea, Criminal Justice System, West Memphis Three, North Carolina v. Alford, Crime News
Carol Turowski

Does our justice system need to accept the harsh reality that wrongful convictions happen all too frequently and that exchanges of Alford pleas for prison release do nothing to serve the ends of justice but rather re-affirm the distrust many have about the fairness of the criminal justice system?

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Black Males and the Nature of Suspicion: Uncovering What Really Killed Trayvon Martin

Roderick Carey | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: Criminal Justice, U.S. CULTURE, Education, Trayvon Martin, Social Justice, Black Voices, Black Males, Social Activism, Suspicion, Black Voices News
Roderick Carey

What killed Trayvon is more important to discuss, than whom. While justice will hopefully take care of the who, it is up to us as a collective to problematize the what. In some regards, grappling with the problems on an individual is a far easier task than delving deeply into the societal ills informing individual mindsets and actions.

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How Courts Fail Child Abuse Victims

Bill Moushey | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Jerry Sandusky, Penn State, Game Over Book, Game Over, Sandusky, Criminal Justice, Child Abuse, Books News
Bill Moushey

Over the years, we've watched young men and women under oath crumble into tears when asked to specifically describe abuse foisted upon them. It is a particularly poignant topic as a trial for former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky on fifty-two counts of abuse is fast approaching.

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The Unchecked Charging Power of the Prosecutor

Radley Balko | Posted 04.14.2012

Read More: George Zimmerman, Prosecutorial Discretion, Bennett Gershman, Trayvon Martin, Alan Dershowitz, Criminal Justice, Angela Corey, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Crime News
Radley Balko

The power prosecutors have to charge people with crimes is often overlooked.

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After Intense National Discussion, a Heartbreaking Tragedy Results in a Prosecution

Brian Levin, J.D. | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Murder, Florida, Criminal Justice, Corey, Hate Crime, Self-Defense, Trayvon Martin, Black Voices News
Brian Levin, J.D.

A key component in this case appears to be whether George Zimmerman acted in self defense. Self defense is one of many affirmative defenses available under the criminal law, which will, if established, preclude a finding of guilt even if it is proved that the violent, otherwise punishable act took place.

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Strip Search Nation (Including The Authoritarian Catechism)

David Bromwich | Posted 04.15.2012

Read More: Strip Searches, Patriot Act, Criminal Justice, Fourth Amendment Right, Strip Search, Fourth Amendment, Strip Search Supreme Court, Supreme Court Strip Search, Politics News
David Bromwich

The recent Supreme Court decision in Florence v. County of Burlington, supported by the Obama administration, makes a large example of the way an expansionist foreign policy based on coercion and violence has returned on us and come to haunt Americans.

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Supreme Court Says Jails Can Strip Search You - Even for Traffic Violations

Inimai Chettiar | Posted 04.06.2012

Read More: Overincarceration, Supreme Court, Criminal Justice, Albert Florence, Prisons, Strip Searches Supreme Court, Bv-Politics, Black Voices News
Inimai Chettiar

On Monday, a divided Supreme Court ruled in Florence v. Burlington that any person arrested can be subject to a strip search. This ruling provides the country with an opportune moment to reflect on our epidemic of mass incarceration.

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TEXAS INJUSTICE: 91 Cases Of Prosecutor Misconduct, No Discipline

Austin Chronicle | Posted 04.06.2012

Read More: Texas, Criminal Justice, Michael Morton, Criminal Justice System, Prosecutors, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Crime News

Although courts have confirmed that prosecutorial misconduct occurred in 91 Texas criminal cases between 2004 and 2008, not a single prosecutor among ...

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The Death of Trayvon Martin: Confronting the Problem of Enduring Racism

Doug Bandow | Posted 05.27.2012

Read More: Racism, Stand Your Ground, Criminal Justice, George Zimmerman, Self Defense, Al Sharpton, Trayvon Martin, Politics News
Doug Bandow

Trayvon Martin's death is a tragedy. Even if Zimmerman didn't intend evil, justice requires holding him responsible for killing Martin, who appears to have been guilty of nothing other than being the wrong race and wrong age in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Department of Justice Finds New Program Reduces Violence by Mentally Ill

DJ Jaffe | Posted 05.27.2012

Read More: Mental Illness, Incarceration, Mentally Ill, Criminal Justice, Police, Crime, Kendra's Law, Laura's Law, Department of Justice, Assisted Outpatient Treatment, Crime News
DJ Jaffe

Historically, many mental health departments like California and New York elected to require psychotic individuals who don't recognize they are ill to become "danger to self or others" or "gravely disabled" before offering treatment.

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Five Lessons for America from the Trayvon Martin Tragedy

Christopher Emdin | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Racists, Criminal Justice, Black Youth, Urban Youth, Troy Davis, Interracial, Trayvon Martin, Black Voices News
Christopher Emdin

I do not want focus here on what young black boys need to do to avoid incarceration, death, and poor schooling. Rather, I want to focus on what we all must learn and understand about the black male experience in order to make sure there is not another Trayvon case.

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A Rupture In The Youth Pipeline To Prison

Jacqueline Caster | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Advocacy, Activism, Everychild Foundation, Youth Crime, l.A. Gangs, Juvenile Courts, Everychild Restorative Justice Center, Youth Incarceration, Los Angeles Gangs, Prison Reform, Youth, Youth Detention, Crime, Juvenile Justice, Los Angeles, Criminal Justice, Diversion, Prison, Justice, Impact News
Jacqueline Caster

It's time America finally bucks the influence of those who financially benefit from an expanded prison industry as well as the "tough on crime" contingency and invest serious dollars in a "diversion track" to perfectly parallel the juvenile justice system of incarceration.

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