The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has announced that it will release 8,000 inmates from prisons to prevent further COVID-19 spread in prison populations. The CDCR and Governor Gavin Newsom have agreed to release the prisoners despite earlier court rulings that held that California was under no legal obligation to do so. The [...]
Search Results for: california overcrowding
North Carolina judge orders investigation into prisoners' exposure to COVID-19
North Carolina Superior Court Judge Vinston Rozier on Friday ordered a thorough investigation into COVID-19 protections in the state’s prisons. Rozier’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought against the state protesting conditions in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic and encouraging closer attention to human rights. “African Americans 51 percent of the prison population [...]
A group of hundreds of law professors from around the country, joined by some researchers and other academics, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Monday urging that detainees in all the US’s immigration facilities be released to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The letter was addressed to Chad Wolf, the [...]
We Are Killing Them: The Heavy Toll COVID-19 Takes on Undocumented Immigrants
By now, the effects of COVID-19 on American life and society are widespread and deeply felt, almost regardless of one’s socioeconomic status. However, for undocumented immigrants in the United States, the COVID-19 crisis compounds issues that have existed for years, exposing immigrants to a barrage of political, social, and economic storm fronts that have disastrously [...]
When considering the comments in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with the perspective of thirteen years since their landfall, I’ll paraphrase Mark Twain’s comment about an erroneously pre-mature 1897 obituary: “the reports of death are greatly exaggerated.” The perspective of time and the restoration of many services to the Hurricane Katrina and Rita-stricken Gulf Coast reveal that matters [...]
Maryland top court: defendants cannot be held before trial if unable to afford bail
The Maryland Court of Appeals adopted a rule on Tuesday ending the practice of holding criminal defendants in jail before trial when they cannot afford bail. The rule does not abolish the practice of required money...
Europe rights court upholds whole-life sentence for convicted killer
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld a whole-life sentence for convicted killer Arthur Hutchinson on Tuesday. Hutchinson, who was convicted of murdering the parents and brother of a bride in 1983, argued ...
ACLU of Hawaii files complaint with DOJ over conditions in jails
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawaii has filed a complaint with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) , stating that overcrowding in the state correctional facilities is resulting in violations of the prisoners'...
The Illinois House of Representatives on Monday approved a new criminal justice reform bill by a vote of 83-26 during the latest meeting of the General Assembly. The bill would amend the Illinois Criminal Justice Information...
Federal judge throws out inmate's lawsuit over violation of religious rights
A federal judge in Kansas dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday by a convicted killer who accused a county jail and its administrators of violating his religious rights. Inmate Eddie Gordon Sr. stated in 2014 in his handwritten lawsuit...