Tag: justice

A Truly Sobering Experience

According to The Telegraph in the U.K., defendants in Thailand who are convicted of drunk driving will receive a sobering sentence: community service in morgues. Hopefully this stark reality will hit home in a country that has the world’s second highest death rate on the roads.

Local Prosecutor Seeks Re-Election by Bragging About “Proudly Over-Crowding Our Prisons”

A recent blog in Reason.com brought to light the bragging of a local Indiana prosecutor who is seeking reelection. The full headline of the posting is entitled “Indiana Prosecutor Bradley Cooper Is ‘Proudly Over-Crowding our Prisons’: Cooper’s new campaign flyer brags about the people he’s put in prison for decades over drug sales and minor […]

Federal Drug Sentencings

As reported in the Washington Post, former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. yesterday “urged Congress not to let slip away ‘a historic opportunity’ to overhaul federal drug sentencing laws and said lawmakers should consider further changes in House and Senate talks if pending legislation is approved.” Among a list of recommendations, Holder called […]

Therapy Dogs During Testimony

According to the Attorney Newsletter from the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, more and more courts have been allowing in recent years the use of therapy or comfort dogs to assist children and certain adults in the process of testifying in court and this year, two states (Arkansas and Illinois) have adopted […]

Pope and the Death Penalty

In his speech before a joint session of Congress today, Pope Francis not only urged compassion for immigrants and refugees and sounded the alarm on climate change, but he also called for the abolition of the death penalty while Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor listened in attendance.

Federal Sentences for Nonviolent Crimes

The White House is preparing to push for legislation that would reduce federal sentences for nonviolent crimes. According to press secretary Josh Earnest, President Obama is expected to champion sweeping reform of the criminal justice system and present ideas to make the system “safer, fairer and more effective” during a speech to the NAACP annual […]

Heroin Addiction and White Privilege

“Heroin addiction sent me to prison. White privilege got me out and to the Ivy League.” This is the provocative headline of a piece in the Washington Post about a senior at Cornell University who was arrested for heroin possession. As an addict (a condition that began during a deep depression), he was muddling his […]

Federal Inmate Reentry Into Society

In a new step to further the Justice Department’s efforts towards enhancing reentry among formerly incarcerated individuals, Attorney General Eric Holder announced this week that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will impose new requirements on federal halfway houses that help inmates transition back into society. Under the proposed new requirements, these halfway houses will have […]