Vanguard social justice articles involving criminal justice reform
Israeli lawmakers passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, which mandates death by hanging for offenses classified as “terrorism related” and applies exclusively to Palestinians, despite international condemnation and concerns from human rights groups.
New York has dramatically reduced drug arrests, convictions and incarceration over the last two decades, but racial disparities and unequal access to treatment alternatives still persist.
The California Court of Appeal has stayed the enforcement of a $26,000 contempt sanction against San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, pending further action by the Superior Court.
The Santa Clara County Bar Association has lost more than half its revenue, shed hundreds of members and volunteers, and is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit, leaving it in serious financial trouble and unable to protect the public from shady lawyers.
The ACLU of Tennessee has filed a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court to conduct DNA testing in the case of Tony Carruthers, arguing that the results could prove his innocence before the state carries out the execution.
California’s Proposition 36 is increasing incarceration and failing to connect people to treatment, according to new data and testimony from justice system leaders.
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a self-represented father’s civil rights lawsuit against the Santa Clara County Bar Association and its CEO, alleging that the CEO destroyed his paperwork and covered up misconduct in a family court case.
Two of three men charged in connection with anti-genocide protests at UC Irvine were acquitted, while the third was deadlocked, with the defense arguing that the protest was a peaceful exercise of their First Amendment rights.
Civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone has filed a federal tort claim against the Department of Homeland Security for wrongful injury and negligence of a federal employee after 18-year-old protester Tucker Collins was allegedly shot and blinded by a DHS officer during a protest in Los Angeles.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 5-0 to deny clemency for death row prisoner Raymond Eugene Johnson, drawing criticism from the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) due to the state’s high execution rate and issues with racial bias, wrongful convictions, and illegal procurement of killing drugs.
James E. Hitchcock has filed a motion in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, arguing that withheld execution records, newly developed evidence of innocence, and constitutional violations render his death sentence unlawful and requesting a stay of execution and the vacatur of his conviction and sentence.
Women, trans people, girls, and gender-expansive people in the movement are calling for a shift in how power operates in movement spaces, demanding shared power, respect for labor, commitment to non-violence and safety, accountability for harm, and the work of unlearning misogyny.
The Prison Policy Initiative report reveals that 5.5 million people in the US are under some form of correctional control, with the majority on probation or parole, and that these systems often lead to reincarceration rather than true alternatives.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a resolution opposing the reopening of the former Federal Correctional Institution Dublin as a detention facility, citing environmental and safety concerns, as well as the potential for decreased trust in local institutions.
Advocates and lawmakers are calling for urgent intervention at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York due to multiple deaths and mounting reports of unsafe and inhumane conditions affecting transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex individuals, and are demanding an independent investigation into the unjustified uses of force.
Incarcerated individuals at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Colorado and New Jersey State Prison in Trenton face inhumane and oppressive conditions, including restricted communication, limited access to food and hygiene, and infrastructure failures.
Santa Clara County Superior Court officials have been accused of failing to provide unredacted financial disclosure records despite formal requests, according to a complaint filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
A mother fought to keep her son’s court records public after his court-appointed attorney filed a motion to seal the case, and the court of appeal granted her request, allowing the public to finally see the records.
Pharmaceutical companies have prioritized profits over safety, with lawsuits revealing hidden risks and regulatory failures, resulting in $62 billion in fines and $1.9 trillion in net income from 1991 to 2021.
Executions in the US are becoming increasingly cruel, with states adopting new methods such as nitrogen hypoxia and lethal injection, raising constitutional concerns under the Eighth Amendment.