Public Defenders Run for Judge to Reduce Mass Incarceration
Mar 4, 2024 · Newsrooms and voters tend to overlook judicial elections—despite the tremendous power judges hold in the criminal legal system. Los Angeles elected its first Black public defender, Holly Hancock, as a Superior Court judge in 2022, after Hancock promised to prioritize community well-being by supporting alternatives to incarceration.. Now, five …
False Confessions, Explained - The Appeal
Jun 7, 2021 · A false confession is a statement given by a person that incriminates them in a crime they did not commit. Scientists who study this phenomenon group false confessions into three general categories: (1) voluntary; (2) coerced-compliant, and (3) coerced-internalized. ( ( (There are, of course, myriad of cases where a confession was presented at ...
The Criminalization of Homelessness: Explained - The Appeal
Jun 29, 2018 · The most straightforward path to ending the criminalization of homelessness runs through state legislatures. State and local officials should refrain from passing new laws that target homeless individuals, and they should repeal existing laws that criminalize life-sustaining and necessary behaviors.
The Power of Sheriffs: Explained - The Appeal
Jan 4, 2019 · Sheriffs and ICE. Because sheriffs have the power to detain people, they often play a role in immigration enforcement. Ex-Sheriff Arpaio was found in contempt of court in 2017 after refusing to follow a federal judge’s order to stop profiling and detaining Latinx people during traffic stops and immigration raids.
Felony Murder, Explained - The Appeal
Mar 4, 2021 · Felony Murder, Explained. The felony murder rule has a long and complicated history that is worth examining precisely because it’s not that simple. The sight of the United States Capitol shrouded in tear gas, besieged by rioters marauding toward a joint session of Congress, shocked the national conscience. Five people died at the riot, and in ...
The Movement to Decriminalize Psilocybin, Explained
Mar 1, 2021 · Over the last two years, several U.S. cities have decriminalized psilocybin either through ballot initiative or city council vote. In May 2019, Denver became the first city in the country to decriminalize “the use and possession of mushrooms containing the psychedelic compound psilocybin.”. Since then, a decentralized organization known as ...
Qualified Immunity: Explained - The Appeal
Jun 19, 2019 · Qualified Immunity: Explained. How a 60-year-old legal doctrine lets law enforcement officers off the hook for violating civil rights. On the morning of Nov. 23, 2004, Malaika Brooks was driving her 11-year-old son to school when Seattle police pulled her over for speeding. When the officers gave her a ticket and asked her to sign it, Brooks ...
The American Eviction Crisis, Explained - The Appeal
Mar 3, 2021 · The pre-pandemic affordable housing crisis is generally attributed to the combination of stagnant incomes, rising housing costs, and insufficient federal financial housing support. Between 1979 and 2013, the wages among middle-wage workers remained totally flat, and wages among low-wage workers fell 5 percent. Yet, rents continued to rise.
Securus Goes Down, Impacting Nation's Prison Communications
May 30, 2024 · Across the country, more than 1.2 million incarcerated people and their loved ones rely on Aventiv Technologies to speak with each other—provided they pay fees to the prison telecommunications giant, which owns the brands Securus and JPay.. But, twice in one week, multiple services went down for several hours, leaving millions of people unable to message their loved ones, call each other ...
Tens of thousands of people are raped in prisons each year
Apr 18, 2022 · Cynthia Alvarado Photo by Val Kiebala Women Silenced Behind Prison Walls . For incarcerated women, sexual assault often comes on top of a long history of abuse. More than 90 percent of incarcerated women experienced sexual assault or physical trauma before their incarceration, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.Unaddressed trauma is often what leads people into the criminal legal ...