Latest Post
As innocent people often plead guilty to crimes, legislation could open pathways to freedom
Almost all criminal convictions in the US result from guilty pleas and experts note that innocent people plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit. Legislation that’s heading to the House floor after it passed the Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday would expand eligibility for getting a new trial and amend the procedure for those found to […]
Mississippi police officer accused of forcing prisoner to drink his own urine
A Mississippi police officer is going to court on Thursday after being accused of forcing a prisoner to drink his own urine. In court filings , first reported by the Daily Beast, prosecutors for the US district court for the southern district of Mississippi allege that the patrolman, Michael Christian Green, ordered a prisoner to lick up […]
Judge dismisses suit by Georgia slave descendants over technical errors. Lawyers vow to try again
A Georgia judge has thrown out a lawsuit accusing local officials of race discrimination when they approved zoning changes to one of the South’s last Gullah-Geechee communities of Black slave descendants. Superior Court Judge Jay Stewart ruled the civil complaint had to be dismissed because of technical errors unrelated to the rights violations it alleged. […]
D.C. Just Passed A Draconian Crime Bill, Showing That Black Faces In High Places Aren’t Enough
Thirty years ago, spearheaded by now-president and then Senator Joe Biden, Congress passed the 1994 Crime Bill—a law that would become infamous for its catastrophic role in the mass incarceration of many Black people. Today, the law is so widely criticized amongst progressives and Black people as an obvious indicator of anti-Blackness that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and any politician […]
Behind Bars: The Exploitative Reality of Florida’s Prison Commissary System
This article is focused on America’s third largest prison system, the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). Imprisoning about 82,000 people as of October 2023, DOC demonstrates how the lofty rhetoric behind commissary privatization—promising better service at lower cost—turned out to be a ruse, one used to create revenue for the state from the impoverished human […]
Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades
A now-former forensic scientist with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) manipulated or omitted DNA test results in hundreds of cases, an internal affairs investigation found, which prompted a full review of her work during her nearly 30-year career at the agency. The CBI released the findings of the investigation into Yvonne “Missy” Woods Friday, which concluded […]
California law allows conviction challenges on basis of racial disparities
Most California convicts can now petition to have their convictions invalidated or sentences reduced on the basis of the presence of any disparities between racial groups in charging, sentencing or convictions. Law enforcement groups warn that these petitions throw out lawful convictions and threaten public safety. Under the 2020 and 2022 Racial Justice Acts, legislators […]
WA bar proposes fix for failing public defense. Franklin County says it will bankrupt it
The public defense system for criminal suspects is in trouble, and the Washington State Bar Association believes it has a solution. But Franklin County officials say the proposed fix will bankrupt them and other small counties. At the center of the dispute is a proposal in front of the Washington State Bar Association’s Board of […]
Miami-Dade judge disqualifies 2 prosecutors over alleged misconduct
After alleged prosecutorial misconduct surfaced in the case of Liberty City’s John Doe gang boss, a Miami-Dade judge disqualified two prosecutors from the case. In an order signed on Wednesday, Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Andrea Wolfson disqualified Miami-Dade State Attorneys Michael Von Zamft and Stephen Mitchell. To support her decision, Wolfson cited instances Von Zamft […]