#criminal-justice-reform

#criminal-justice-reform

It's a Wednesday afternoon in Department 1203 at the Central Courthouse, and the man in the defendant's chair is anxious. The next morning, he'll be released from jail and expected to put his name on a waiting list at a drug treatment program. He has no car, no cellphone, no money for cab fare, and, he tells Superior Court Judge Cindy Davis, a poor sense of direction.

Because many of his cases were sealed, it is unclear why Bohler remained free for years. His latest case came while he was already locked up at Rikers Island on the machete attack, when he was charged on Oct. 9 with hitting and killing pedestrian Lelawattie Narine, a cancer survivor who was out for a walk in Queens on March 22, 2024, when she was struck and killed.

"Having that haven, a roof over your head-it is the most important thing in the world." That's how Richard, the first resident of the Fulton Community Reentry Center in the Bronx, described what it felt like to walk through our doors after leaving prison. Recently, Fulton reached a significant milestone: more than 75 formerly incarcerated men have moved into permanent homes and reintegrated with society as productive community members.

One of the most significant changes is the elimination of Florida's commercial rental tax, which has been in effect for decades. First enacted in 1968, it added state sales tax to commercial leases, making Florida unique among the states. As of October 1, the tax will disappear, a measure that is expected to save businesses nearly $1.15 billion this fiscal year and more than $1.5 billion next year.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was finally freed in 2022 following years of diplomatic negotiations and the British payment of a 400m debt to Iran, said Mr Lammy promised to help those arbitrarily detained overseas when he was foreign secretary. Now he is justice secretary, I hope he will take that commitment to ending arbitrary detention at home, she told The Independent ahead of a panel event on the jail terms at the Labour conference.

We reject the outdated view that criminal justice is a zero-sum game that pits safety versus justice against one another. Moreover, history - and countless studies, data, and lived experiences - tells us reactive policymaking driven by politics and fear in response to a specific incident, no matter how awful, leads to poor legislation that serves neither justice nor safety.

Serious violent crime in England and Wales should be expected to rise unless urgent steps are taken to boost the probation service. That is the alarming warning from Martin Jones, HM chief inspector of probation. He estimates that 100,000 offenders on probation are currently not being properly managed. This overstretched service cannot be expected to manage the increased workload that will follow from sentencing reforms.

When Connecticut legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, the state's lieutenant governor, Susan Bysiewicz, boasted that the new law was "crafted to repair the wounds left by the War on Drugs." The move followed the same rationale that had motivated legalization in 18 other states: fewer resources exhausted on policing a drug that legalization advocates view as largely unharmful, fewer lives derailed by what they argue to be excessive lockups.

Blue-state governors seem to be responding to President Trump's anti-crime campaign with Marxist tactics. Not the communist, Karl, that is, but the comedian Brothers. In "Duck Soup," Chico Marx famously deceives a wealthy widow by asking "Who are you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" It's an apt metaphor for Governor Kathy Hochul of New York when she poses as a defender of law and order.

Throughout his time in office, Trump has criticized Democratic-led cities for what he calls "radical left" policies on criminal justice. Those attacks have grown sharper in recent days, as the president took the extraordinary step of nationalizing the D.C. police force and deploying the National Guard all while signaling other cities may be next. Democrats have decried Trump's actions, arguing that while crime did surge nationwide during the pandemic, numbers have since fallen.

Families gather to demand justice for Jalani Lovett, a man who died in solitary confinement in L.A. County jail. They seek accountability from Attorney General Rob Bonta.

"What is set in stone is we are absolutely going to build something," Deputy County Executive Consuelo Hernandez stated, emphasizing the necessity of addressing deteriorating jail facilities and community needs.

"Gang injunctions are not intended to last for perpetuity; they are designed and implemented to correct criminal behavior."

Spolin promoted false hopes in his clients and their families that the clients' sentences would be reduced when in fact that was highly unlikely.

It's like a little jungle. Everybody wants to be tough. Everybody wants to fight. It's a lot to go through.

"We need to look at the action we need to take so that people do not carry around those criminal convictions for the rest of their lives."

"Nearly one in two Americans has had an immediate family member incarcerated, with Black people being more likely than white and Hispanic people to experience this."

May is National Treatment Court Month, a time to highlight how treatment courts can reduce crime, save taxpayer dollars, and enhance community safety.

The current plans for community sentences carry significant risks unless the Probation Service is overhauled, as warned by HM chief inspector of probation.

His death, and his shocking mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement, underscore how people with mental illness are at risk when they encounter the police in the US.

While the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, it preserves a loophole allowing forced labor as punishment for crime, perpetuating exploitation of incarcerated individuals.

The recent reunion of Drake and Ye is not just a momentary truce; it's a call for genuine change that prioritizes accountability and action over mere performative gestures.

California's recent Proposition 36 has challenged Democrats' progressive criminal justice reforms, emphasizing a shift towards harsher penalties for certain crimes.

It is just an opening salvo. Vera might be the first organization to lose its federal funding, but I am certain we will not be the last in the criminal justice field.