28 Feb Merrick Garland: The United States’ Next Attorney General
Merrick Garland is nominated to be the country's next Attorney General. But who is he and what are his plans for the DOJ? Read more inside.
Government Reform Tag
22 Feb Justice Reformers Call on President Joe Biden to Address Implementation of First Step Act Problems
The First Step Act included many necessary changes, but some people are urging President Biden to go even further with it.
26 Jan Could HR 7194 End Some Mandatory Minimums?
In 1991, the United States Sentencing Commission submitted a report to Congress calling for the abolition of mandatory minimums. We’re on the eve of the 30-year anniversary of that report. Yet we’ve made very little progress when it comes to the unfair sentencing practice.
29 Dec Voters Rejected California Cash Bail Reform in 2020
Californians could have made California the first state in the country to completely eliminate cash bail through reform. But its efforts stopped dead in their tracks in November 2020. CA voters rejected the move, opting instead for the system currently in place.
29 Dec Community Supervision Act Helps At-Risk Prisoners
Posted at 20:52h
in Challenges After Release, Emphasizing Rehabilitation, Ending Mass Incarceration, Prisons, Supervised Release
Under the Emergency Community Supervision Act, the government would release vulnerable individuals from prison. Then, it would place them in community supervision while COVID-19 continues to present a national health emergency.
29 Dec First Step Act of 2018: Two Years Later
Posted at 19:39h
in Emphasizing Rehabilitation, Ending Mass Incarceration, Mandatory Minimums, Prisons, Supervised Release
The First Step Act was a bipartisan project several years in the making. The goal of the bipartisan effort was simple but important. It aimed to reduce the number of people in federal prisons while maintaining public safety.
29 Dec North Carolina Second Chance Act Joins National Trend of Justice Reform
Posted at 17:06h
in Challenges After Release, Emphasizing Rehabilitation, Ending Mass Incarceration, Prisons
The North Carolina Second Chance Act gives people with nonviolent criminal records an opportunity to have misdemeanors and low-level felonies expunged from their records.
29 Dec Wrong Juror Convicts Defendant in North Carolina
The chance of a “perfect trial” is slim to none. Whether it’s a sleeping juror, a lack of record or something else, anything close to a perfect trial is hard to come by. And that’s true even when the wrong juror convicts you.
29 Dec Ramseur Gets NC Racial Justice Act Relief
In an opinion authored by Justice Anita Earls, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that retroactive application of the General Assembly’s repeal of the NC Racial Justice Act violated the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws.
28 Dec Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform bill likely to fail
In Dec. 2020, outgoing U.S. Representative Justin Amash (L-MI) introduced the Civil Asset Forfeiture Elimination Act. The goal of the act is simple: “repeal civil asset forfeiture nationwide.”