Wilder Youth Development & Wayne Halfway House will also partner with Persevere on the program By Kathryn Rickmeyer From TennBEAT For many troubled teens, a sentence to juvie feels like a sentence to fail. Statistically speaking — it is. 80-percent of juvenile offenders end up back behind bars within three years, less than 2-percent ever enroll […]
From The Hill On Jan. 25, Alabama’s governor approved killing Kenneth Smith by nitrogen gas — something the United Nations said ”will likely violate the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment” in violation of International Human Rights Law. Alabama’s use of an experimental method of execution is an outrage. But what is more
In 2024, executions ‘in the heart of Dixie’ still rely on Jim Crow Read More »
Help me free this man. https://www.change.org/p/free-84-yr-old-mr-george Mr. Robert George is 84. He’s been in prison over 30 years for an accidental death… convicted of manslaughter in 1993. The mother of the victim wants him freed. Please sign the petition & share this link with as many people as possible: click here Please share this link
Help Free This Man Read More »
The Democratic governor wants to remake San Quentin, where the state performed executions, into a model for preparing people for life on the outside — a shift from the state’s decades-long focus on punishment. And he wants it all complete by December 2025, just before he leaves office. Read the article here.
San Quentin Advisory Panel Meets In Secret Read More »
From: Washington Post: Opinion By Robert Bentley and Don Siegelman (Washington Post staff illustration; iStock) Robert Bentley, a Republican, served as governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, was governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Alabama has 167 people on death row, a greater number per capita than in any other state.
We oversaw executions as governor. We regret it. Read More »
By Avocet Enterprises Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, long known as an advocate for treatment of the mentally ill who are involved with the justice system, has recently written a piece for the Chicago Tribune which highlights a key point: the cycle of violent crime is perpetuated in part by an inability to efficiently administer justice. Sheriff
A View on Dysfunction in the Justice System Read More »
Alabama currently has 166 people on Death Row. 146 wouldn’t be on Death Row in any other state for two reasons: 1.) Alabama is the only state that allows a person to be sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury. 2.) Alabama is the only state with people on Death Row because a judge overrode
Death Row in Alabama Read More »
By Kathryn Rickmeyer From TennBEAT It’s not right or left. It’s right or wrong. Five years after the Civil War’s end, the Tennessee Constitution was amended to prohibit slavery — but one exception remained: “That slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are forever
Slavery is on the ballot in Tennessee Read More »
Mandatory minimums should be outlawed, and reductions should be applied retroactively for nonviolent offenders who have clear disciplinary records, and do not present any public safety issues. We must end unreasonably harsh sentences that punish beyond what is necessary. We must consider that long sentences destroy family relationships and increase chances of recidivism. US attorneys
Sentencing enhancements must be monitored more closely Read More »
Sentencing enhancements are often applied harshly and arbitrarily. Judges can add years to defendants’ sentences if a defendant goes to trial and testifies. (i.e., the “trial tax”). Judges can add years to a defendant’s sentence for “acquitted” conduct, for which a jury found the defendant “innocent.” Years of additional prison time are added for “relevant”
Curbing Draconian Punishment – Sentencing Read More »
Pretrial diversion programs provide an alternative to prosecution by diverting certain offenders, particularly youthful offenders, from traditional criminal justice processing into a program of supervision and services. First-time, nonviolent offenders who have the education and skills to contribute by earning a living, paying taxes, restitution, and supporting their families, should be considered for pretrial diversion,
Curbing Draconian Punishments – Diversion Programs Read More »
As stated previously, US citizens do not have a constitutional right not to be framed so consequently, prosecutors have the power to covertly threaten, pressure, cajole, intimidate or bribe a target with a recommendation of “no time in prison” if the target will be a witness for the government. Arrests and convictions are sometimes made
While Congressional action is needed to curtail immunity of police and prosecutors, a first step to holding police accountable could be allowing a lawyer representing the family of the victim to be present in the grand jury-as a check on truth. Evidence: Ensure all interviews of witnesses and targets are recorded and those recordings, along
Advocating for a measure of justice for families of victims of excessive force by police Read More »
Clearly, an indictment is a critical stage of a criminal proceeding. Targets of a grand jury and victims should have a right to counsel. Why? Grand juries are a secret proceeding. Prosecutors have free reign. There’s no judge or a lawyer for the target or victim’s family. Because of the 1976 ruling of the U.S.
Grand Jury Reform: Extend the Right to Counsel to targets and victims Read More »
Prosecutorial abuses of power have reached an all-time high in the United States and must be curbed. Once designed to shield prosecutors from frivolous lawsuits, prosecutorial immunity now grants prosecutors unchecked power to secure convictions. Following the 1976 Supreme Court ruling in Imbler v. Pachtman Case, prosecutors found that they could seek indictments with the
Prosecutorial Immunity and Abuses Read More »
No Bars, No Chains, No Locks: How Finland Is Reimagining Incarceration by Natalie Moore at the Pullitzer Center
Prisoners In Finland Live In Open Prisons Where They Learn Tech Skills | On The Ground Read More »
Watch as Michael Moore explores the toughest prison in Norway, for the most violent offenders.
Michael Moore Goes Back to Norway – VIDEO Read More »
Michael Moore visits a much more civilized conceptualization of what we think of as a ‘prison’. Given what we know about human behavior and criminology, prisons in the US and many other countries are a scientific and humanitarian embarrassment. Take a tour with Michael Moore into Norway to look at the Norwegian prison system. Find
Michael Moore – Prison in Norway – VIDEO Read More »
