News

Last Tuesday, Ian MacDougall of Propublica reported (also printed in Salon) some remarkable news regarding the risk assessment instrument adopted under the landmark FIRST STEP ACT of 2018.  They report: ProPublica obtained a copy of the document, which does not appear to have been finalized, and its existence surprised and baffled lawyers, prison reform advocates […]

A new short piece in the Harvard Law Review Blog, “Constitutional Criminal Procedure Post-COVID,” provides an overview of litigation occurring nationwide against local jails, state prisons, federal prisons, and immigration detention centers, as individual people, groups, and persons seeking class certification, file civil rights, habeas, and state law litigation seeking release and improved conditions of […]

We have launched the official website for the ODonnell Court-Appointed Monitor.  Information about our Monitor Team is available, as well as the Community Working Group, and documents, including our recently posted Monitor Plan for the first year of our work.  The website is here: https://sites.law.duke.edu/odonnellmonitor/ As we describe there, for the next seven years beginning […]

We have been tracking official state responses to COVID-19, as reported by their Departments of Corrections, as well as media coverage of prison releases across the country. Below are five key takeaways from that coverage so far: Prison responses to the pandemic are varying and fragmented. Governors’ executive orders, Departments of Corrections’ policy changes, parole […]

Innocence Claims Remain on Hold During the Pandemic by Deniz Ariturk, CSJ researcher In many jurisdictions across the country, criminal courts have been closed or running on limited calendars since March, due to the coronavirus pandemic. While a useful measure for slowing the spread of coronavirus, the closures have presented a novel challenge for inmates […]

I have been reading The Shadow Bargainers,  a detailed study on plea bargaining practices in several public defender offices.  Ronald Wright, recognized for important research on prosecutors, plea bargaining and other issues, Jenny Roberts, a recognized authority on collateral consequences and public defense, and Wake Forest University Professor of Politics and International Affairs Betina Wilkinson, […]

Can a person be pulled over based on reasonable suspicion for driving with a revoked license? In Kansas v. Glover, the Supreme Court answered yes.  The trial court had said that merely running the plates, if one does not know who the driver is, is not enough. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, finding ample support […]

A new piece in the Washington Post’s True Crime Blog: “One target of the criminal justice reform movement has been the use of fines and fees by state and local courts to either help finance a local government, or incarcerate people simply for their inability to pay. Though many jurisdictions have rolled back such practices, […]