A New Report Casts Doubt on the Assumption That Gun Law Violators Are a Public Menace
The vast majority of federal firearm offenses involve illegal possession, often without aggravating conduct or a history of violence.
Sentencing
Even at His Sentencing Hearing, Derek Chauvin Did Not Manage To Express Remorse for Killing George Floyd
Despite the stakes, the former Minneapolis police officer could not bring himself even to feign regret for his actions.
SCOTUS Again Upholds Double Prosecution and Punishment for the Same Crime
Unsatisfied by the outcome of one case, the feds secured a much more severe penalty the second time around.
Oklahoma Starts Planning Executions for 25 Death Row Inmates, Including Richard Glossip
A federal judge rules against effort to stop use of three-drug cocktail.
Tom Cotton, a Second Amendment Champion, Proposes a 5-Year Mandatory Minimum for Violating Arbitrary Gun Bans
Although the Arkansas senator claims to be targeting "violent felons," his draconian bill would affect many people who pose no threat.
Judge Can't Add 6 Years to a Prison Sentence Because the Defendant Called Him Names, Says Court
Plus: Coverage of Section 230 is overwhelmingly negative, Arizona cops who watched a man drown have been placed on leave, and more...
Drivers Successfully Challenge Debt-Based License Suspensions
Civil liberties groups argue that debt-based license suspensions are unfair and illogical since they deprive people of transportation, preventing them from earning money to pay off debts.
Biden Begins Using Clemency To Ameliorate the Damage Done by the Draconian Drug Policies He Long Supported
The 75 commutations announced today, while impressive compared to the pitiful records of previous presidents, pale beside a huge backlog of petitions.
Possible Problems With Lethal Injection Drugs Stop Tennessee Execution
Meanwhile in South Carolina, the state Supreme Court delays a planned execution by firing squad.
He Faces 10 Years to Life for Selling Pot, a Legal Business in Most States
Jonathan Wall, whose federal trial begins on May 2, notes that many people openly engage in similar conduct with impunity.
Death by Firing Squad Returns to South Carolina
Due to a lack of access to lethal injection drugs, Richard Moore had to choose between the electric chair and getting shot through the heart.
Imagine Having a Decade of Your Life Erased. It Happened to 161 People Exonerated from Prison in 2021.
A new report shows wrongfully convicted people serving 1,849 years behind bars across the United States before being released last year.
Did Ketanji Brown Jackson Flout the Law When She Reduced a Drug Dealer's Sentence?
The Supreme Court nominee's critics say she clearly did, but several federal appeals courts disagree.
Tom Cotton's Absurd Question About Contacting a Heroin Dealer's Victims Reveals a Drug Warrior's Demagoguery
The mindlessly punitive senator grilled Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson about her resentencing of a drug offender.
Are Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz Ignorant About Child Porn Penalties or Just Demagogic?
Even if the senators are genuinely confused, that underlines the recklessness of their attack on Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Josh Hawley's Attack on Ketanji Brown Jackson Illustrates the Emotionalism She Criticized
The senator argues that questioning sex offender policies "endangers our children."
Here Is What Ketanji Brown Jackson Said in the Harvard Law Review Article That Josh Hawley Found 'Alarming'
The Supreme Court nominee raised serious constitutional concerns about laws that punish sex offenders after they complete their sentences.
Josh Hawley Absurdly Suggests That Ketanji Brown Jackson Has a Soft Spot for 'Child Predators'
The Missouri senator's attack on the Supreme Court nominee elides crucial distinctions and ignores widespread judicial criticism of child pornography sentences.
Tackling Mass Incarceration Requires More Than Freeing Nonviolent Drug Offenders
A new report emphasizes that the U.S. would still have a very high incarceration rate even if all drug war prisoners were released.
Compassionate Releases of Federal Prisoners Surged During the Pandemic
The record number of reduced sentences still represented a tiny share of the federal prison population.
Pamela Moses 'Requested a Jury Trial.' So She Got 6 Years in Prison.
Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich said Moses would be a free woman—if she hadn't insisted on exercising her constitutional right to trial.
The Death Penalty Continued Its Downward Trend in 2021
The Trump administration's revival appeared to be an outlier. Executions are becoming more and more rare.
Colorado Gov. Polis Commutes 110-Year Sentence for Trucker in Deadly Crash, Pardons Hundreds of Marijuana Convictions
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos faced harsh punishment under the state’s mandatory minimum sentences for insisting on the right to a trial.
In 2021, Qualified Immunity Reform Died a Slow, Painful Death
Despite bipartisan momentum at the federal level, Congress still couldn't get anything over the finish line.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos Rejected a Plea Deal. So He Got 110 Years in Prison.
Colorado First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King said she pursued the punishment after Aguilera-Mederos insisted on his right to trial.
He Was Sentenced To 110 Years in Prison for Causing a Fatal Traffic Accident. The Judge Isn't Happy About It.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is set to die in prison, thanks to Colorado's mandatory sentencing laws.
Would an Independent Commission Solve the Clemency Backlog?
A new bill would transfer the review of petitions from the Justice Department to a presidentially appointed board.
Thousands Beg President Joe Biden for Mercy as He Pardons a Couple of Turkeys
The annual photo op takes on cruel undertones as drug offenders continue to suffer under harsh federal prison sentences.
Thousands of Federal Prisoners Aren't Getting Mandated Time Credits Because Prison Officials Won't Negotiate
COVID-19 has led to foot dragging in implementing some FIRST STEP Act reforms.
Don't Punish the QAnon Shaman—or Anyone—for Demanding a Jury Trial
Coercive plea deals trample on defendants' Sixth Amendment rights.
Oklahoma's Governor Commutes Julius Jones' Death Sentence, Halting Today's Scheduled Execution
In exchange, Jones shall “never again be eligible to apply for, be considered for, or receive any additional commutation, pardon, or parole.”
Oklahoma Botches Another Execution
John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was put to death.
ACLU Sues a Pennsylvania County for Detaining Probation Violators for Months With No Hearings
A Supreme Court ruling requires due process before sending these people back to jail. That’s not happening in Montgomery County.
This Woman Served 11 Years in Prison on a Marijuana Charge. She's Been Sent Back Over a Clerical Error.
Raquel Esquivel, convicted of a nonviolent drug offense in 2009, was put on home confinement during COVID-19.
The Minnesota Supreme Court Rejects the Legal Theory Underlying a Murder Charge Against Derek Chauvin
The ruling won't help him much, because he also was convicted of a more serious charge, based on a "particularly weird" form of the felony murder doctrine.
Federal Judges Are Increasingly Rebelling Against 'Overly Severe' Penalties for Nonviolent Sex Offenders
People convicted of possessing child pornography receive long sentences, but new data suggest they are rarely arrested for contact offenses after their release.
Missouri's Governor Rejects Pope's Request To Spare Death Row Inmate
Ernest Johnson is scheduled to be executed today.
185 Americans Wrongly Sentenced to Death Have Been Freed in the Last Half-Century
For every 8.3 executions in the United States, one innocent person on death row has been exonerated.
New York City's Jails See Two Deaths in Single Week
One at Rikers, one at a nearby jail barge, marking 12 deaths this year
Some Ohio Judges Are Mandating Vaccinations as a Condition of Probation. That's an Abuse of Power.
Threatening somebody with prison for refusing a shot is no way to end a pandemic.
A Philly Man Who Spent 37 Years of a 50-Year Prison Sentence in Solitary Confinement Has Been Freed
Arthur Johnson spent his entire adult life in jail for a murder he says he was coerced to confess to by police.
Daniel Hale Revealed America's Drone Assassinations to the Public. He's Been Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison.
Federal espionage laws are used once again to punish a whistleblower.
Only Biden or Congress Can Prevent 4,000 Inmates From Being Forced Back Into Federal Prison Post-COVID
The CARES Act allowed home release of nonviolent inmates during the pandemic. But after it's over, many will have to go back unless their sentences are commuted.
He Sold $20 Worth of Drugs. Prosecutors Want Him in Jail for Almost 10 Years—and More if He Refuses the Plea Deal.
That's illegal, says a new lawsuit.
