Does 33 Years on Death Row Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
Adam Liptak at the New York Times has this fantastic piece on the death penalty and the many years that the convicted wait on death row. Check it out.
1
Nov, 2011
21
Aug, 2011
Prisons and Prisoners in the News
There has been a ton of prisoner-related news over the last few days and almost all of it courtesy of the New York Times. First, the Times noted a trend amongst conservative states: they are lightening harsh sentences in an effort to save money. Then came word that Texas--the incarcerationa and death penalty capital of [...]
27
Jul, 2011
What Is the Impact of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Freeman v. United States to the Retroactive Crack Cocaine Amendment?
First impressions are rarely accurate. At least mine, anyway. So when I first read Justice Sotomayor’s concurring opinion in Freeman v. United States, No. 09-10245, I didn’t think much of it. The number of guideline amendments that turn retroactive is few as are Rule 11(c) plea agreements. But giving the opinion a [...]
22
Jul, 2011
The California Hunger Strike Has Ended, Allegedly
Several major media outlets are reporting today that the California prison hunger strike has ended. Click here, here, and here. “Yet prison advocates claim that those reports have yet to be confirmed,” ColorLines reported. You might be wondering why California prisoners started the hunger strike. It started over what prisoners call “inhumane” conditions in [...]
30
Jun, 2011
US Sentencing Commission Votes for Retroactivity of Crack Cocaine Amendment
Today, the U.S. Sentencing Commission "voted unanimously" to give "retroactive effect to its proposed permanent amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines that implements the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010," a press release said. The retroactively applicable guideline amendment for crack cocaine offenses will allow over 12,000 federal prisoners to seek resentencing. According to the Sentencing Commission [...]
22
Jun, 2011
Guy Robs a Bank to Get Free Health Care in Jail
Here is the how the story begins at the Gaston Gazette. James Richard Verone woke up June 9 with a sense of anticipation. He took a shower. Ironed his shirt. Hailed a cab. Then robbed a bank. And why did this guy decide one morning to just up and rob a bank? [...]
21
Jun, 2011
Creighton Law School Is Reducing the Size of Its Incoming Class; Nebraska Prisons Are Overcrowded
Although there were several interesting SCOTUS decisions handed down yesterday, I instead decided to cover some local issues with national implications. Creighton University School of Law announced that they are reducing the number of seats for incoming law school students. Tthe Omaha World Herald’s story leads with this: Too many lawyers. Too few [...]
2
Jun, 2011
DOJ Backs Retroactivity for Reduction in Crack Penalties
Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission about whether the new reductions for crack cocaine offenders should be applied retroactively--that is, to those sentenced before the new reductions occurred. Although the Department of Justice agreed that the crack cocaine sentence reductions should be applied retroactively, DOJ also contended that the Commission [...]
23
May, 2011
Prisoners Win, Prisoners Win
In what is undoubtedly the biggest win for inmates serving time in deplorable prison conditions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the Prison Litigation Reform Act DOES authorize the release of prisoners to remedy the egregious violation of prisoners’ constitutional rights. The case is Brown, et al. v. Plata, et al., No. [...]
2
May, 2011
Prisoner News Roundup
For the next month I will be focusing on prisoners’ issues, because I know that many prisoners’ families come to the CockleBur to keep up-to-date on legal developments affecting prisoners. So here is a roundup of the latest prisoner stories in the news. Last week, the New York Times published an editorial entitled, [...]