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Criminal Justice News This Week (week of 06-29-20)
Policing Is Just the Start of Reforming Criminal Justice. "But while significantly restructuring the police is a big first step, law enforcement is just one facet of a larger criminal justice system in dire need of real change."
What the Data Says About Police. "There are racial differences in use of nonlethal force, but not in officer-involved shootings."
Qualified Immunity: It’s Turtles All the Way Down. "It’s time to do what the Civil Rights Act of 1871 should have been understood to do all along: hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in the line of duty.")
2nd Circuit Knocks Out Qualified Immunity in Reinstating Excessive Force Verdict Against NYPD Lieutenant. "On appeal, the Second Circuit said that it was, in fact, 'clearly established' since 2010 of Jones' arrest that the use of 'significant force' against a suspect who is no longer resisting and poses no safety risk to officers."
Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm. "In what may be the first known case of its kind, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man’s arrest for a crime he did not commit."
Supreme Court Reins In, But Does Not Overturn, SEC’s Disgorgement Authority. "In a highly anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in Liu v. S.E.C. No. 18-1501 (2020), took steps to limit the SEC’s aggressive use of disgorgement of ill-gotten gains in litigated cases, but did not, as some had hoped, do away with this powerful remedy in litigated actions entirely."
INSIGHT: A Second Wave Is Coming … to Our Criminal Justice System. "Covid-19 has restricted access to the criminal justice system and we must prepare for a second wave of instability brought on by a system that is overwhelmed and lacks resources. Hon. Kevin Allen (Ret.) and Lucas Rentschler, Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, suggest solutions like decriminalizing certain crimes, monitoring with technology, and using specialty courts."
'Disruption We Needed': Judiciary Called to Adopt Transparency, Accessibility Reforms Post-Pandemic. "'I don't think we’re ever going back to where we were before,' said Jeremy Fogel, a former trial judge for the Northern District of California and executive director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute."
A DNA Mix-Up Involving a Washing Machine Kept a Man in Jail for 3 Years. "The Louisiana case highlights how prosecutors and crime labs withhold key documents from defense lawyers, keeping some defendants in custody for months or years."
Federal Executions Can Restart After Supreme Court Declines a Case. “The move clears the way for the executions of four men in the coming months after a 17-year gap during which no inmate on death row for federal crimes was put to death.")
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry Sides With Exoneree in Fight for Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation. “'The governor recoiled at the prosecutorial misconduct that deprived [Alfred Dewayne Brown] and his lawyers of the exculpatory evidence that would ultimately set him free,' said an amicus letter by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry."
