The Fair Punishment Project (“FPP”), a criminal justice reform group, released a report in November 2017 detailing an “epidemic” of Brady violations taking place in criminal courts across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and its progeny that the prosecution is duty-bound to disclose any information
An explosive investigation by The New York Times has revealed the existence of a secret account used by agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) to dispense millions of untraceable private dollars to informants and agents for over seven years. The story reads like something straight out of Hollywood. In 2006,
It’s 3 a.m. Do you know what your cell phone is doing? With the advent of stingray technology, it just might be reporting your location to government officials. Or it might be transmitting data to the authorities. Your phone may even be acting as a microphone, allowing local police to listen in on you in
In the American criminal justice system, a defendant who commits a crime while “insane” cannot be held legally responsible for that crime. In such cases, legal guilt is not established, and the defendant may not be punished. Instead, a defendant who is found not guilty by reason of insanity (“NGRI”) is involuntarily committed to a
Cook County, Illinois Chief Criminal Judge LeRoy Martin tossed the convictions of 15 criminal defendants on November 16, 2017, because the cases were linked to disgraced former Chicago Police Sergeant Ronald Watts. All of the men whose cases were overturned claimed that they had been framed by Watts, who went to federal prison in 2013
The Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a nonprofit group filed a lawsuit on Jan. 10 in federal district court in Washington, D.C. claiming the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has not acted on the group’s complaint, filed more than a year ago, that a private prison company made illegal six-figure campaign donations to a “super PAC” (political
New York State Department of Correctional and Community Service (DOCCS) enacted Directive 4911A in December as a pilot project in three New York prisons. Under this Directive, prisoners may only receive packages from six approved vendors (a couple more vendors may be later added), and packages from family members are restricted to non-electrical musical instruments,
There is a growing epidemic of opioid addiction in the United States. According to the Federal Centers for Disease Control, over 33,000 opioid-related deaths occurred in 2015, representing a quadrupling of such fatalities since 1999. It is estimated that three-quarters of crimes are related to drugs, and two-thirds of prisoners have a history of substance
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) official watchdog late last year released a report on how to fix what it said is a systemic weakness at the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP): its failure to obtain full data on reimbursement claims submitted by private healthcare providers, especially claims submitted electronically. According to the “procedural reform recommendation”
America likes to play with its food. Chopped, Food Network Star, Cutthroat Kitchen – there is no shortage of entertainment on television when it comes to mixing ingredients and drama together. For the inmates of Folsom Women’s Facility, however, food has an entirely different meaning. It’s not about fun, drama, or competition. It’s about opportunities,