Vanguard social justice articles involving criminal justice reform
The ACLU is asking a judge to reopen a case and impose sanctions on Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections for failing to implement a law allowing incarcerated mothers to retain physical custody of their infants.
Judge Tom Dyer dismissed two misdemeanor cases due to a lack of sufficient judges and courtrooms, resulting in a denial of justice to the victims and a waste of resources, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
Governor Gavin Newsom opened an 81,000-square-foot Learning Center at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, marking a turning point in the state’s approach to justice and emphasizing rehabilitation and public safety.
For the first time in US history, births to racial and ethnic minority mothers now outnumber births to white mothers, according to a new analysis of national birth data, highlighting the need for improved access to culturally competent and bilingual maternal care.
Ryan Davis, a longtime public defender and current court commissioner, is running for a seat in Yolo County to continue his commitment to public service and bring his unique perspective to the bench.
Nathan Hochman promised to bring “balance” to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, but his record so far suggests a retreat from prosecuting police misconduct cases, with charges being downgraded, dismissed, or resolved without incarceration.
Catholic organizations are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to commute the death sentences of those currently on California’s death row before his term expires and are organizing a Prayer Walk and Vigil to End the Death Penalty later this week.
Photojournalist Nicholas Stern has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles, Sheriff Robert G. Luna, and unnamed deputies and supervisors for allegedly shooting him with a less-lethal projectile while documenting an anti-ICE protest in Compton and denying him medical assistance despite a severe injury.
California’s judiciary has been selectively interpreting laws and disregarding codified canons of construction, resulting in the preservation of racially tainted convictions and sentences, and the need for the Legislature to enact declarative law to restore alignment between enacted law and actual outcomes.
Marc Fishman’s fight for access to real-time transcription in court has exposed a quiet civil rights crisis in New York’s justice system, where disabled litigants are repeatedly denied the tools needed to understand and participate in legal proceedings.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 31 in the long-running Mississippi case of Pitchford v. Cain to determine whether the accused was improperly denied the right to challenge alleged racial discrimination in jury selection.
Grand juries in recent federal cases have declined to indict in matters that prosecutors appeared confident would proceed, suggesting a resurgence of the grand jury’s constitutional role and a growing skepticism among citizens called to serve.
Crime in the US has decreased, but the data is complex and the claim that it has reached an “all-time low” is not supported by the available data, according to independent analysts.
Billy Kearse’s execution is scheduled for March 3, 2026, with just 33 days between the signing of his death warrant and the execution date, raising concerns over due process rights in Florida’s capital punishment system.
On August 2, 2024, women incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla were met with force, chemical agents, and smoke grenades, leading to injuries and disciplinary write-ups, raising questions about the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s use of force and the need for independent investigations and oversight hearings.
Charles “Sonny” Burton, a 75-year-old Black man, is scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2026 for his role in a 1991 robbery in Alabama that turned fatal, despite the fact that he did not fire the fatal shot, and advocates are petitioning Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency in his case.
Kendrick Simpson was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday, prompting protests and renewed criticism of capital punishment from advocacy groups, despite his diagnosis of PTSD and apology to the victims’ families.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the transfer of 20 federal prisoners whose death sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden to the highly restrictive ADX Florence facility, citing serious constitutional concerns.
The Vera Institute of Justice released a new platform to counter crime fearmongering, rebuild trust with voters, and deliver safety, while highlighting the importance of investing in schools, jobs, housing, and treatment, and ending the overdose crisis.
The federal government has announced plans to transfer almost all formerly federal death row prisoners to the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, despite concerns about constitutional protections and prison conditions, and a lawsuit alleging the transfers are arbitrary and capricious.