Explainer: US Mass Incarceration and Its Disparate Racial Impacts
The US prides itself on being a nation built on freedom, justice, and individual rights. And yet the evolution of its system of mass incarceration — a system that cannot be defined without reference to shocking racial disparities — seems to directly contradict these founding principles. The US prison population dwarfs those of nearly every other [...]
The US Supreme Court added five cases to its docket on Thursday following its “long conference” on September 27. Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate is a suit filed by the Republican Texas senator challenging a federal law that restricts when and how an electoral candidate can repay personal loans to their own [...]
US Supreme Court rules First Step Act does not expand crack cocaine sentencing reform
The US Supreme Court held on Monday that sentence reduction under the First Step Act is available only if an offender’s prior conviction for a crack cocaine offense triggered a mandatory minimum sentence. In 2018 Congress passed the First Step Act, which made previous sentencing reforms that reduced the sentencing disparity to 18 to 1, retroactive. Under [...]
US Supreme Court wraps up oral arguments with crack cocaine resentencing case
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the final case of its term on Tuesday in Terry v. United States, about reductions of prison sentences for certain crack cocaine offenses. In 2008 Tarahrick Terry was arrested and charged under 21 USC § 841(a)(1) for carrying just shy of 4 grams of crack cocaine, and [...]
The US Supreme Court granted review in 14 new cases on Friday on issues ranging from the eligibility of temporary protected status immigrants to become lawful permanent residents to the application of the CARES Act to Alaska Native Corporations. The first two cases are Americans for Prosperity v. Becerra and Thomas More Law Center v. [...]
Obama urges criminal justice reforms to reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders
US President Barack Obama made the case for overhauling the nation's sentencing laws on Tuesday in front of top law enforcement officials at the 122nd Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and Exposition. The president...
Obama administration backs bipartisan criminal justice reform bill
US Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates on Monday voiced the Obama's administration's support for the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 . The bipartisan legislation would reduce the prison sentences of some nonviolent drug...
Massachusetts Senate unanimously repeals drug-related driver's license suspension law
The Massachusetts state Senate unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to repeal a law requiring a driver's license suspension of at least six months for anyone convicted of a drug crime. The law required the driver's...
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced support for a proposal that could reduce the sentences of nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons. Attorney General Eric Holder requested that the proposed law...
Holder announces expanded clemency guidelines for convicted drug offenders
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is expanding its criteria for recommending clemency to federal prisoners convicted of certain drug crimes. Holder's announcement recapped the...
