After a series of in-custody deaths, the Sheriff’s Office is piloting smartwatch-style biometric devices to alert staff when inmates show signs of medical distress. The move has been hailed as promising but fraught with privacy and technical challenges.
Twenty-seven states allow capital punishment, but public support for it has declined over the decades. Fifty-five percent of Americans support the death penalty for convicted murderers, the second-lowest support since 1972.
Lawmakers in some states are pushing to make it harder for defendants to avoid pretrial detention. There are better ways to protect public safety that don’t conflict with the presumption of innocence.
A bill would require jails to establish polling places exclusively for prisoners to ensure those in detention centers are able to enact their right to vote. The legislation does not extend to those convicted of a felony.
The First Step Act was meant to compassionately release people from federal prison who are terminally ill or aging and who pose little to no safety threat. But data shows that judges rejected more than 80 percent of requests.
Proposed legislation would remove protections surrounding school librarians who allow students to check out books found to be obscene and would, instead, expose them to a misdemeanor of a “high and aggravated nature.”
Republican and Democratic legislators can be counted on pulling in opposite directions on ESG investing, police reform and LGBTQ issues, where the focus will be on transgender rights and school curriculum.
Elected prosecutors have a critical role to play in responding to policies that can erode trust and endanger public safety.
Prosecutors will no longer be able to use rap lyrics as evidence; it will not be a crime to loiter for the purpose of sex work; courts will be barred from disclosing someone’s immigration status; and inmates will be allowed to make free phone calls.
Oregon has had an ambivalent relationship with the death penalty for decades. Meanwhile, tackling issues with blanket policies versus case-by-case, a Pennsylvania House dispute continues and odds and ends to close out the year.
Georgia’s efforts to discourage voters had an impact in the state’s Senate runoff. Fairness and justice still won out, but we should be making it easier — not harder — for people to register and vote.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced this week that thousands of residents will see their cannabis possession convictions either fully or partially erased as part of the 2021 law that legalized use of the substance.
In the final session of the year, lawmakers will consider changes to the controversial criminal justice law aimed at improving police accountability and an equitable justice system.
Millions are serving unjust sentences or struggling with permanent marks on their records. Pardons, expungements and commutations can provide a second chance for an individual, a family and a community.
Our prisons don’t have enough staffers to protect inmates or themselves. Better pay, benefits and working conditions are needed, and there are other effective strategies.
More than a dozen states have enacted laws regulating how law enforcement uses it. But federal legislation is needed: A piecemeal approach doesn't keep all citizens safe from misidentification.
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