Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.
"Rothgery’s experience reflects what research has shown: people represented by legal counsel at bail hearings are more likely to be released on recognizance, have bail set at a lower amount when it is set (by an average of $600), and spend significantly less time in jail (two days, compared to nine days for those without counsel)."
Pretrial Justice Institute
June 26, 2018
Read More"According to statistics from the office of Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon,468 defendants who faced low-level drug charges have been referred to HOPE, of which 361 completed the program and had their charges withdrawn.....But because it excludes defendants with felonies on their records, for every one defendant referred to the program, two are barred from entry, said Melissa Moore, deputy state director of the New York office for the Drug Policy Alliance."
New York Law Journal
June 25, 2018
Read More"Many states set a clear limit on the amount of time they hold people with mental health issues in jails and forensic psychiatric hospitals who have not been found competent to stand trial. But in some states, including New York, authorities can keep attempting to restore a defendant’s mental capacity until the person has served two-thirds of the maximum sentence he or she would receive if eventually found guilty."
The Appeal
June 21, 2018
Read More"In New York City, when clients of The Legal Aid Society who were charged with a misdemeanor in 2017 entered their initial arraignment, they had anywhere between a 2 and 26 percent chance of the judge setting a cash bail, depending on which judge was randomly assigned to oversee the court that day. For felonies, the range was even wider: anywhere between 30 and 69 percent."
FiveThirtyEight
June 19, 2018
Read More"As many as 500,000 people are held around the country in local jails because of their inability to pay bail, mostly for low-level offenses. People held on bail have been accused, but not yet convicted, of crimes. They often are locked up only for inability to pay the amount determined by a judge, frequently based on a preset bail schedule, and not because of an individual assessment based on risk or threat to public safety."
The Appeal
June 14, 2018
Read More"Hundreds of people sit in the New Orleans jail awaiting trial on low level offenses simply because they cannot afford to pay cash bail. According to the Louisiana Department of Corrections, Orleans Parish and neighboring Jefferson Parish are two of the highest incarcerating parishes in the state and The Data Center study strongly suggests that Orleans cash bail bond practices is one of the contributors to New Orleans' high incarceration rate."
Right on Crime
June 13, 2018
Read More"Rakoczy is one of a growing number of people demanding that lawmakers and search engines do more to clamp down on the predatory industry that has emerged around mugshots. It’s a complex debate that raises questions about public records in a digital age, shame culture and the responsibility of platforms like Google."
The Guardian
June 12, 2018
Read More"Cases in New York courts are handled in an assembly-line fashion, often with public defenders rushing to meet their clients to figure out what’s going on. They tend to be in front of a judge and prosecutor for less than five minutes before their bail requests are decided — compared with the apparently extensive negotiations that lawyers for Manafort and Weinstein conducted before their clients had their pre-trial fates delivered."
The Intercept
June 9, 2018
Read More"Back in the day, the Norfolk debate society was the stuff of legend, with a pedigree that included the great Malcolm X as a member. It was such a dominant force in debate that from 1933 to 1966 it compiled a win-loss record of 144-8 against some of the best college teams across the Northeast. Unfortunately, those memories turned to myths after a half-century of dust settled over the Norfolk prison stage."
The Marshall Project
June 7, 2018
Read More"When we tell the stories, we often tell them through mothers and fathers. But the impact spares no one, especially the siblings. Sisters and brothers whose grief can sometimes be overshadowed, pushed away or deep down as they try to fill the void, to live up to two lives."
Philadelphia Inquirer
June 1, 2018
Read More"Before I started teaching in prison, I would have said they deserved to pay, in some cases, with their lives for the crimes they were convicted of doing. Now that I know them, it’s impossible to feel the same way."
Washington Post
May 31, 2018
Read More"Half the states bar ex-cons from getting the occupational licences they need to re-enter the workforce. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say it doesn't make sense."
NBC
May 26, 2018
Read More"The Florida Department of Corrections has spent the past 15 years impounding issues of Prison Legal News to keep inmates from being tempted to act on ads for prohibited services they might see in the publication."
Courthouse News Service
May 21, 2018
Read More"Whether by making a commitment to hire ex-offenders or providing work and training to inmates, businesses have a critical role to play in providing opportunity to those who have run afoul of the criminal justice system and, ultimately, in reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety."
CNN
May 20, 2018
Read More"I’ve realized that our society often sets up those released from prison for failure through a myriad of barriers to re-entry. These barriers include employers that are unwilling to take risks on those with criminal records and landlords who are reluctant to make housing available.....As human resources professionals, we can help break this cycle."
The Society for Human Resource Management
May 17, 2018
Read More"74 percent of managers and 84 percent of HR professionals nationwide said they were willing or open to hiring individuals with a criminal record. Across all groups surveyed, over 80 percent said they were willing and open to working with individuals with criminal records. Only a small minority were unwilling to make the hire or work alongside these individuals."
The Charles Koch Institute
May 17, 2018
Read More"A bold experiment in parenting and punishment is allowing children in prison. But is that a good thing?...Prison nursery programs remain rare nationwide, but eight facilities in as many states have opened them amid dramatic growth in the number of incarcerated women. The bold experiment in punishment and parenting has touched off a fierce debate."
Washington Post
May 11, 2018
Read More"With someone’s liberty at stake, what is the fairest, most humane way to assess whether those arrested should be released or kept in jail pending trial?"
USA Today
May 11, 2018
Read More"Most informed students of the system have concluded that if bail is successfully to be done away with, as it largely has been in federal criminal justice as well as some localities, other practices and devices need to fill its place, many of which fall under the heading of pre-trial services. These may include aids and algorithms to help judges assess risks of non-appearance, as well as techniques of defendant monitoring that can include periodic phone calls, electronic anklets, and so forth."
Cato Institute
May 10, 2018
Read More"Alaska is full of people who moved here to get away from their criminal pasts. Maybe it’s the laws, maybe it’s the culture, or maybe it’s just the way you grow up hearing about how wild and free this place is. I came to Alaska to escape what Kansas was putting me through after I got out of prison."
The Marshall Project
May 3, 2018
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