Criminal Justice
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America Is Finally Facing the Fact that Solitary Confinement Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The research is in—in fact, the facts on solitary confinement have been known for years—but finally, we seem to have reached a tipping point for ending this well-studied, torturous practice in American jails and prisons. In New York, there is currently a bill before the upper house, the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which would prohibit…
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NYPD Detectives Racially Profiled Over 360 Black and Latino Men While Searching for Howard Beach Killer
Just two weeks after Chanel Lewis, 22, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of jogger Karina Vetrano, shocking new details have emerged about the initial manhunt that left black and Latino men stripped of dignity, if not also their rights. According to the New York Daily News, in the months…
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Cop Implicated in Death of Eric Garner Is Headed to Administrative Trial as Data Shows Cops Still Use Choke Holds
The New York City police officer implicated in the death of Eric Garner five years ago is set to face an administrative trial next week after a judge cleared the way Thursday. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who has been on desk duty since Garner’s death in July 2014, is accused of violating NYPD rules regarding the…
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As Part of Statewide Reform, New York Graciously Grants Inmates in Solitary One Call Per Week
In a move to lessen what experts have deemed the “cruel and unusual punishment” of solitary confinement—which also has been likened to torture—a new bill in New York state guarantees that those sent to segregated units will have access to a phone within 24 hours of isolation, and that they can have contact with the…
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Fed Up With the Criminal Justice System, Man Acts as His Own Attorney and Gets Acquitted After Serving 13 Years for Murder
Philly native Hassan Bennett had always maintained his innocence, but unfortunately, our faulty criminal justice system ensured it would take him four trials and 13 years to finally prove it. The Washington Post reports that on September 22, 2006, Bennett was accused of orchestrating the murder of his friend Devon English, 19, over a $20…
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‘I Should’ve Just Kept Her and Gone to Jail’: Mom’s Lament After Her 3-Year-Old Daughter Burns to Death in Car Fire Amid Custody Dispute
A 3-year-old child burned to death inside a car that had been set on fire and its doors chained shut, and her father is in a hospital under police custody, suspected of being involved in what authorities are calling the tot’s homicide. Police and firefighters found little Zoey Pereira strapped inside the backseat of a…
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Come Jan. 1, Abortion Will Be Virtually Outlawed in the State of Georgia as Governor Signs So-Called Heartbeat Bill Into Law
With a stroke of a pen Tuesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp basically outlawed abortions in his state, signing into law the so-called heartbeat bill. The heartbeat bill, aka Georgia House Bill 481, outlaws abortions after the first sign of a fetal heartbeat, which can occur as soon as six weeks into a pregnancy — often…
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New York City Jail Guards Indicted for Conducting Illegal Strip Searches on Women Visitors
Six female corrections officers were arrested and arraigned in New York State Supreme Court following allegations they performed illegal strip searches on women attempting to visit their loved ones in a Manhattan jail. The New York Times, quoting the 27-count indictment, reports corrections officers “blocked exits, surrounded visitors on all sides, forcibly removed visitors’ clothing,…
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Family of Sandra Bland Demands Answers After New Footage of Her Arrest Surfaces
On Monday night, Dallas news station WFAA released new cellphone footage from the 2015 arrest of Sandra Bland that confirms what we all already knew: that the life of Texas state trooper Brian Encinia was never in danger and that Texas officials have withheld evidence of not only her controversial arrest, but very likely her…
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Mom Terrified as Search Continues for Missing 4-Year-Old Maleah Davis of Houston
As a desperate search continues for 4-year-old Maleah Davis, her mother says she’s terrified for her child, who recently underwent brain surgery and requires medical care. “My spirit is broken. I feel so lost,” the girl’s mother, Brittany Bowens, told KTRK. “I can’t concentrate. I can’t focus. It’s just … it’s so overwhelming for me.…