Judges — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Judges

Defendants are regularly condemned to years, decades, or life in prison for minor infractions because of minimum sentencing statutes. If judges had more discretion in sentencing, then sentences could be more proportional to the crime, more specific to the individual defendant, and minimize the negative impact of minimum sentencing laws without inherently needing those laws repealed.

These Judges Can Have Less Training Than Barbers but Still Decide Thousands of Cases Each Year

“They are overseen by political appointees, selected through a process that often places connections over qualifications. It’s a system that’s unlike any other in the country, and one that has provided fertile ground for incompetence, corruption and other abuse, an investigation by The Post and Courier and ProPublica found. Over the past two decades, magistrates have accepted bribes, stolen money, forced themselves on women and sprung their friends from jail. They’ve flubbed trials, trampled over constitutional protections and mishandled even the most basic elements of criminal cases.“

ProPublica

November 27, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesNovember 27, 2019ProPublica, South Carolina, Magistrate JudgesComment

Americans Now Support Life in Prison Over Death Penalty

“For the first time in Gallup's 34-year trend, a majority of Americans say that life imprisonment with no possibility of parole is a better punishment for murder than the death penalty is. The 60% to 36% advantage for life imprisonment marks a shift from the past two decades, when Americans were mostly divided in their views of the better punishment for murder. During the 1980s and 1990s, consistent majorities thought the death penalty was the better option for convicted murderers.“

Gallup

November 25, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesNovember 25, 2019Gallup, Death Penalty, Life without paroleComment

Why 1,200 people who never took a life are condemned to die in Pa. prisons. | Editorial

“An editorial board analysis of data from the Office of the Lt. Governor shows that the 1,166 felony murder lifers are almost exclusively men (96%), mostly black (70%), and half are from Philadelphia. The population is also aging. The average felony murder lifer starts their sentence at age 24; the average age of the lifers currently in prison is 48 — with the oldest condemned being 88 years old. About half of second-degree lifers have already served two decades. A quarter already served three.“

Philadelphia Inquirer

November 17, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesNovember 17, 2019Philadelphia Inquirer, Felony murderComment

Louisiana Prosecutors Push to Retain Nonunanimous Jury Verdicts

“In 2018, the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment that requires unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases for crimes committed on or after Jan. 1, 2019. Now, the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the nonunanimity rule—with prosecutors arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not require unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases.“

The Appeal

November 15, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesNovember 15, 2019The Appeal, LouisianaComment

A liberal group wants Philly DA Larry Krasner on the Supreme Court. Yes, the U.S. Supreme Court.

““Our courts are filled with former prosecutors, but it’s been nearly 30 years since the Supreme Court has had a justice with a criminal defense background," Demand Justice cofounder Christopher Kang, a former deputy council to President Barack Obama, said in an emailed statement. “That is why Larry Krasner, who has been on the front lines fighting for a criminal justice system that works for everyone, is exactly the kind of bold champion for progressive values who can restore balance to the Supreme Court."“

Philadelphia Inquirer

October 18, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesOctober 18, 2019Philadelphia Inquirer, Larry Krasner, SCOTUSComment

Why Juries Needs Expert Help Assessing Jailhouse Information

“But all too often, jurors get it wrong. Over 45 percent of innocent people on death row were convicted because of a lying criminal informant, according to a 2004 report from Northwestern University School of Law. “That makes snitches the leading cause of wrongful convictions in U.S. capital cases,” the report concluded. We know this because dozens of innocent defendants in these serious cases were eventually exonerated after jurors erroneously believed informant testimony.“

The Appeal

September 23, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesSeptember 23, 2019The AppealComment

Kemba Smith Pradia, pardoned by Clinton, is appointed to Virginia Parole Board

“Kemba Smith Pradia, a Richmond native who served more than six years of a 24½-year federal prison sentence before she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton, was appointed to the Virginia Parole Board on Friday. Prior to the appointment, Pradia was the state advocacy campaigns director with the ACLU of Virginia. Pradia, the author of “Poster Child: The Kemba Smith Story,” has been a national advocate for sentencing reform and a consultant on the criminal justice system for over 20 years.“

Richmond Times-Dispatch

September 20, 2019

ParolePhillip ReevesSeptember 20, 2019Richmond Times Dispatch, VirginiaComment

Are a Disproportionate Number of Federal Judges Former Government Advocates?

“Or imagine you’re a diehard Ohio State football fan, and every time the Buckeyes play the Wolverines, three or four of the seven referees on the field are Michigan alums, while only one is an Ohio State alum. You’d most likely prefer a more balanced officiating crew because even though referees are required to be neutral, there are many close calls in football, and it’s reasonable to suppose that even the most conscientious referee might tend to shade those calls in favor of his alma mater. And of course, as any football fan knows, one call can decide a game—or even a whole season.“

Cato Institute

September 18, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesSeptember 18, 2019Cato InstituteComment

Why America Needs to Break Its Addiction to Long Prison Sentences

“That is why if we want to significantly reduce the number of people this country incarcerates, legislation is needed at the federal level and in every state to allow everyone after a certain period in prison the opportunity to seek sentence reductions. Sentence review legislation recognizes that as we have increased the length of prison sentences and limited the ability to obtain release, our prisons have become overwhelmed with people whose current conduct proves further incarceration is not in the public interest.“

Politico

September 3, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesSeptember 5, 2019PoliticoComment

Our justice system must reward success

“When Americans who are on welfare get a job and no longer need public assistance, we rightly celebrate that. Similarly, are we also willing to acknowledge when Americans on community supervision have proven to be exemplary and no longer need the long arm of government around their neck? The issue of when the system's mission has been accomplished is raised by Alice Marie Johnson's recent request to terminate her post-release supervision.“

The Hill

August 28, 2019

ParolePhillip ReevesAugust 28, 2019The Hill, Alice Marie JohnsonComment

Is giving judges more discretion in sentencing the right reform? Lawmakers to decide

“The starting point of the deliberations is a stack of recommendations from a state commission that would give judges more discretion in how they sentence adults convicted of felonies. The change could help the state reduce its reliance on incarceration and move more toward rehabilitation of offenders. The goal of overhauling the criminal sentencing law is to improve the system by simplifying it, but there are key questions looming for lawmakers, said Rep. Roger Goodman, the Kirkland Democrat who is chairman of the House Public Safety Committee.“

The Olympian

August 25, 2019

Judges, SentencingPhillip ReevesAugust 25, 2019The Olympian, WashingtonComment

Advocates for Aging Prisoners Look to Force a Debate on Parole

“Decades outside of society can have stark consequences for those who eventually gain freedom: Incarcerated elders lag behind in terms of health, finances and support networks. Despite this, reforms that could get parole-eligible elders a hearing before New York state’s parole board – a step toward having more people leave prison before they’re physically frail and giving them more time to acclimate to society – have been shelved repeatedly, even this year during a legislative session packed with criminal justice reforms.“

City Limits

August 20, 2019

ParolePhillip ReevesAugust 20, 2019Elderly Incarceration, City Limits, New YorkComment

How judicial conflicts of interest are denying poor Texans their right to an effective lawyer

“For decades, Texans who can’t afford a lawyer have gotten caught in a criminal justice system that’s crippled by inadequate funding and overloaded attorneys. A growing body of caseload data — and a recent lawsuit — point to an even more fundamental hazard: the unchecked power of Texas judges.“

Texas Tribune

August 19, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesAugust 19, 2019Texas, Texas TribuneComment

How a tool to help judges may be leading them astray

“But new data released by the Cook County Circuit Court in May and analyzed by The Appeal suggests the PSA may be overstating the risk defendants actually pose if released. Between October 2017 and December 2018, 99 percent of people flagged as high risk for violence who were released before trial were not charged with any new violent crimes during the release, a percentage virtually identical to the one for those deemed low to moderate risk.“

The Appeal

August 8, 2019

Pre-trial DetentionPhillip ReevesAugust 8, 2019The Appeal, Cook County, Chicago, IllinoisComment

How judicial elections contribute to mass incarceration

“A study by professors Christian Dippel of UCLA and Michael Poyker of Columbia University examined sentencing decisions in 10 state court systems from 1980 to 2018. North Carolina was one of three states where they found a statistically significant relationship between judicial elections and longer sentences.“

Facing South

July 31, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesJuly 31, 2019Facing South, North CarolinaComment

Can Racist Algorithms Be Fixed?

“Their findings were almost exactly the same as ProPublica’s. Among those who were not re-arrested, almost a quarter of black defendants were classified as high-risk—which would have likely meant awaiting trial in jail—compared with 17 percent of Hispanic defendants, and just 10 percent of white defendants.“

The Marshall Project

July 1, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesJuly 1, 2019The Marshall Project, Risk Assessment, Center for Court InnovationComment

Criminal-justice reformers are repeating the mistake of tying judges’ hands

“Now pols like Mayor de Blasio, Gov. Cuomo and the Democratic-controlled Legislature are racing in the other direction — not just by forcing judges to release defendants without bail but also decriminalizing offenses, hamstringing cops and ending prosecution for certain crimes. “

New York Post

June 1, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesJune 1, 2019New York Post, New York CityComment

Commentary: Bias in law enforcement in a complicated matter

“Implicit bias occurs when we make decisions that unknowingly rely on our implicit associations, the subconscious assumptions or stereotypes we all hold. Implicit associations are a result of two things: 1) our brains are hardwired to use shortcuts to make the many decisions required of us each day, and 2) we live in a particular time, place and culture. “

Salt Lake Tribune

May 20, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesMay 20, 2019Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, JPECComment

The Search for Progressive Judges

“In theory, judges should be impartial arbiters of justice, motivated by the law rather than politics. Since the birth of America, legal scholars and politicians have debated the best method to create an independent judiciary: Should it be elected, or appointed by other elected officials? That question has yet to be resolved, and currently each state institutes its own system for choosing local judges. However, the majority—87 percent as of 2015—of state-court judges are elected officials.“

The Atlantic

May 17, 2019

JudgesPhillip ReevesMay 17, 2019The Atlantic, PhiladelphiaComment

'Incarceration survivor' vows to add missing perspective to Minnesota's sentencing commission

“"I say that I'm an incarceration survivor," Honsey said. The 42-year-old St. Paul woman has since found sobriety and built a deep résumé as a criminal justice reformer, a different type of record that led Gov. Tim Walz to put her on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission.“

Minnesota Star Tribune

May 6, 2019

SentencingPhillip ReevesMay 6, 2019Minnesota, Minnesota Star TribuneComment