Michelle Jones is a talented woman. Despite lacking internet access and print material resources, she lead a team in producing an outstanding research project on behalf of the Indiana Historical Society. She is also a playwright, specializing in historical plays, one of which ran in a live theatre. Jones’s talent doesn’t stop there. She also
With little fanfare, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) recently decided to end contracts with at least 16 operators of halfway houses— facilities providing inmates alternative settings designed to ease transitions as they near the time of their scheduled release, thus reducing their time in prison. Since the 1960s, BOP has contracted with halfway houses
New legislation passed in Louisiana led to 1,900 prisoners being released in early November. The bill aims to lower the state’s incarceration rate — the highest in the country — and give nonviolent prisoners a new chance at life on the outside. But not everyone is happy with this new development. Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan says that a lack
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled on October 2, 2017 that a raised middle finger, without more, amounts to constitutionally protected speech that cannot be grounds for a finding of criminal disorderly conduct. David Freeman attended a church service at the Flowery Branch campus of the 12 Stones Church on August 3, 2014. During the service,
The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that field sobriety tests (“FSTs”) may not be used as definitive evidence of impairment in cases involving allegations of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana. The Court also ruled that FSTs are admissible as contemporaneous observations of the police officer, as a lay witness, who conducted
The U.S. is a world leader in the jailing and imprisoning of its own citizens. The FBI estimates that local, state, and federal authorities have carried out more than a quarter-billion arrests in the past 20 years. As a result, the American criminal justice system is a robust behemoth that, across the country, costs taxpayers
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled on September 14, 2017, that double jeopardy bars the retrial of a criminal defendant when a prosecutor intentionally engages in egregious and improper conduct that causes prejudice to the defendant which cannot be cured by means short of a mistrial. The case before the Court involved the prosecution of Lacy
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a supervised release revocation sentence was plainly unreasonable. The Court concluded that it was not reasonable for a district court to fail to address nonfrivolous arguments advanced by a defendant arguing for a particular revocation sentence. The Court also held that a district court
As someone who regularly writes for publications from prison, I’m often asked what the legal parameters of such conduct are. Typically, this discussion starts with a prisoner’s family member contacting me and expressing that they have been told that their incarcerated loved one is not allowed to publish any articles, blog posts, or books because
A study published in the scholarly journal Nature Human Behavior has established a connection between proactive policing and crime. However, it is not the connection that proponents of proactive policing may have expected. The authors of the study found that temporary cessation of proactive policing actually led to a decline in major crimes reported. According