Justice/Jails

As I have argued regularly, we are in an era of ne —>> read more –>>

I’ve reported several times earlier about our inte —>> read more –>>

Another few minutes with a comedian. This time it’ —>> read more –>>

The Promise Sixth Amendment In all criminal prosec —>> read more –>>

Prison Policy Initiative released a new report on —>> read more –>>

Our justice system is prominently featured in our culture as a source of fair-handed justice. Everyone stands before the law on an equal footing. The justice system in reality is a gigantic fraud of inequality and lifelong punishment. Our police lead the world in the rate at which they kill civilians. The promise of a fair trial before a jury of our peers is denied over 90% of the time. Coerced plea bargaining with the prosecutors holding all the cards after they have staked the deck is the norm.

If you are struggling to get your head around how —>> read more –>>

Tightrope provides a well-written description of the American crisis through personal stories and hard data. Unfortunately it falls flat in its call for action.

The Criminal Justice System In recent years many p —>> read more –>>

Once again we return to our comedians for information about what is going on in the world. This time more on the fraud that is our judicial system.

Eviction from home is a regular feature of life for the poor and working class, more so for black and brown people. The civil justice system works with the same imbalance of power as the criminal system. Based on the book Evicted by Matthew Desmond.

Louisiana provides a grievous example of unequal access to equal justice. According to a study by the American Bar Association Louisiana has only 363 legal aid attorneys where the case load requires 1,461.

It is not often that one can make a judgement that —>> read more –>>

We have written earlier about the fact that effect —>> read more –>>

Hudson NY and Its SWAT Team State St Hudson NY 6/1 —>> read more –>>

Gun Regulation, the 2nd Amendment, and Scalia’s Ma —>> read more –>>

Mass incarceration, largely through the War on Drugs, combined with white racism has produced a catastrophe for African Americans. It is hard to imagine that if young whites, despite being no more likely to offend drug laws than blacks, were subjected to these laws that we would have seen a sharp reaction from the white majority. Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is important reading and a call to action.

Opioids and White Privilege The arrival of opioids —>> read more –>>

The Prison Policy Initiative has released a new study “Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017”. In a pattern that is similar to the fate of men in our mass incarceration system that charades as justice, 60% of those in local jails are there because they cannot afford bail. 29% of these women held for lack of cash are charged with drug offenses.

The US Wins Again – Incarceration in Global Contex —>> read more –>>

The reality is that legal representation for the indigent is worse than a charade. According to the ACLU 80% of those arrested for a crime can not afford a lawyer. But, no where in the country is a robust system of legal representation for these people in place. And as widely known, legal aid attorneys all too frequently meet their clients for a few moments before a court appearance and have no real resources to represent the client in a meaningful way. A result of this is that local, state and Federal prosecutors have enormous, compelling power to manipulate the alleged criminal into pleading guilty to a crime.

So Jeff Sessions, tough guy, is going to reverse the very modest corrective direction of Obama’s policies to once again refill our jails. More vicious mindless policy making from the Trump regime.