99 Search results for "judges"

This past Tuesday, the Senate passed the First Step Act with much bipartisan support. The bill provides the most significant reforms for federal prisoners in the criminal justice system in decades, although critics point out that given the “tough on crime” anti-Black rhetoric both parties have been trafficking in, that isn’t much.

On Wednesday, President Trump expressed support for a bipartisan bill that would minimize prison sentences, ease mandatory minimums, and offer inmates services after their incarceration.

Following his loss to Democratic candidate Natalia Oakes, Harris County Family Judge Glenn Devlin immediately began releasing all of the juvenile offenders who had pending cases, according to the Texas Tribune. Devlin simply asked all of the defendants whether or not they planned to kill anybody, then released them from detention.

This past Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed a new bill which would allow for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, drawing harsh criticism for further promoting the selective application of punishment in the apartheid state.

The Trump administration’s tightening grip on immigration pipelines has increased the desperation of undocumented immigrants, and as desperation often does, this has led to increased vulnerability to exploitation. According to BuzzFeed News, immigrants are becoming particularly susceptible to a common type of fraud referred to as “the 10-year law.” As part of this scheme, fraudsters tell immigrants […]

by Raphael Tsavkko Garcia Rafael Braga Vieira was sentenced to five years in prison after police arrested him at a large demonstration in Rio de Janeiro on June 20, 2013. 25 years old at the time, Braga was homeless and collecting recyclables to survive. He was completely unaware that a mass protest was even taking place. Raphael was charged […]

After much deliberation and at least one alleged occasion of her privacy being invaded by a reporter for BuzzFeed, Christine Blasey Ford has come forward as the woman who is accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Ford alleges in the letter, which was sent to her congressperson earlier this summer but was revealed […]

It’s that time of the year again. The National Book Foundation has announced an official longlist for its annual awards ceremony, which are being held this year on November 14th in New York City. Finalists will be announced on October 10th.

According to reports from the Atlantic, a court ruling is expected in a matter of days from a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas which could throw the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program into disarray, leaving it in effect in some areas of the country and erasing it from the books in others. DACA was […]

While the Constitution supposedly ensures everyone is afforded a fair trial, a new paper by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) says that exercising the right to trial poses many high risks. Because of this, many federal criminal defendants are encouraged to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit in order to […]

A team of three Black girls from D.C.’s Benjamin Banneker Academic High School—Bria Snell, India Skinner and Mikayla Sharrieff—was excited to enter the NASA Goddard‘s Optimus Prime Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge (OPSPARC) student competition to win a trip to NASA. Their project, IN3-Incubator Program, aimed to create a filtration jar that will filter water continuously and […]

According to reports from the New York Times, Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Colombia called the Trump administration’s choice to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals one that was based on a “virtually unexplained” claim of unlawfulness. Judge Bates placed a stay on his decision, giving the […]