criminal justice system
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Finally! New York to Eliminate Bail for Misdemeanors and Nonviolent Crimes Starting Jan. 1
Effective Jan. 1, a New York law eliminating cash bail for most nonviolent crimes will go into effect. While criminal justice reformers praise the move, some police chiefs, district attorneys and lawmakers oppose the change. The law is part of a group of changes designed to reform the criminal justice system, passed by the state…
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Tennessee Supreme Court Puts Execution of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman on Hold Amid Concerns of Racial Bias
For the first time since resuming capital punishment last year, the Tennessee Supreme Court has pumped the brakes on an execution scheduled for April 16. The reason? Racism. From the Tennessean: The high court delayed Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman’s April 16 execution to allow a lower court time to consider if racial bias surrounding his trial should…
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Patrisse Cullors, LA Reform Jails Tackle Mental Health, Mass Incarceration with Mental Health Matters Summit + Day Party
In its commitment to addressing the failures of the prison industrial complex—as it pertains to mental health, drug dependency, chronic homelessness, and other issues—Patrisse Cullors, founder of Reform L.A. Jails, knew her organization would require a unique strategy in order to build a stronger rapport with Los Angeles residents and educate them on the unspeakable…
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Exonerated Five Fighting to Stop Cops From Lying, Using Innocent People’s DNA and Other Things You Probably Thought Were Already Illegal
Innocent until proven guilty is one of the foundational tenets of American jurisprudence. Even when a person is arrested and jailed for a crime, they are afforded the same presumption of innocence as Ivanka Trump, Jesus Christ, the white people in lotion commercials or any other unblemished, blue-eyed blonde American. Of course, if you’re black,…
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Kamala Harris Releases Criminal Justice Reform Plan to Address Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, the Drug War
Kamala Harris has a lot of plans. Every other week the California senator introduces a proposal that would end climate change (with a trillion dollars,) create Medicare-for-all (without pushing out private insurers) and fund black businesses (while ensuring that the local Jamaican restaurant never runs out of oxtails). And on Monday, the Democratic presidential hopeful…
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Ben & Jerry’s Takes on Criminal Justice Reform with New Flavor, Justice Remix’d
In a world in which the trappings of allyship have devolved into Instagram likes or tawdry photo ops, premium ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s has quietly ignored fanfare in favor of doing the actual work. It’s not uncommon to find posts admonishing the criminal justice system or systemic racism on their website, and since…
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Patrisse Cullors, Reform LA Jails Lead the Charge to Decriminalize Mental Health with #CancelMcCarthyContract Campaign
For years, activist and community organizer Patrisse Cullors has poured her passion for the people into cofounding movements and coalitions such as Black Lives Matter and Reform LA Jails. But with the announcement of her #CancelMcCarthyContract campaign comes one of her biggest challenges yet—the fight for the mental health and wellbeing of incarcerated individuals. As…
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Meek Mill's 2008 Conviction Has Been Thrown Out and He's Getting a New Trial
Meek Mill might be getting a new lease on life. According to the Associated Press, on Wednesday, a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned his 2008 conviction on gun and drug charges. A three-judge panel unanimously granted Meek a new trial because of evidence of police corruption. Additionally, the court overturned the parole violations that landed him…
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It Looks Like Meek Mill May Get a New Trial: 'We Are One Step Closer to Justice'
Meek Mill, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, has spent the last 11 years of his life hounded by a drug and gun conviction that stole his freedom and served as a textbook example of our deeply flawed criminal justice system. But his nightmare might soon be coming to an end, as the possibility of a new…
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Manhattan District Attorney Refuses to Reopen Cases Handled by Central Park Five Prosecutor Linda Fairstein
Since the release of Netflix’s haunting masterpiece When They See Us, karma has been working overtime to derail the lives and careers of former prosecutor Linda Fairstein and attorney Elizabeth Lederer—two of the biggest beneficiaries of the Exonerated Five’s 1990 convictions. But despite calls to do otherwise, CNN reports that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance…