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individual defendant, and minimize the negative impact of minimum sentencing laws without inherently needing those laws repealed.
"The ballot question is entirely nonpartisan. The Louisiana Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties have all endorsed the passage of a constitutional amendment requiring jury votes to be unanimous. Even so, powerful forces in the state are resistant to change, with some district attorneys fighting to hold on to the jury rule because it makes it easier for prosecutors to get convictions."
Washington Post
August 13, 2018
Read More"'Constitutional due process is all that protects the people from the government. We must always oppose the systematic sacrifice of due process in the name of efficiency,' said lead defense lawyer Leland Greeley after court in a statement to The Herald."
The Herald
August 10, 2018
Read More"Since the Bronx Defenders sued in May 2016 over the court’s alleged violation of defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial, the number of misdemeanor cases pending for more than a year has dropped from 2,378 to 513. The number of misdemeanor cases pending for more than two years has dropped from 538 to 64."
New York Daily News
August 9, 2018
Read More"In more than three years on the board, Fisher has voted against parole 160 times and in favor just once, according to an Injustice Watch review of the board’s parole votes since January 2013. Roby, now 57, was the only prisoner whose petition for parole got his support."
Chicago Sun Times
July 27, 2018
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