Update: SCOTUS hears oral arguments in strip search case
At the conclusion of oral arguments on Wednesday, pundits were left guessing whether the Supreme Court would declare that Americans’ […]
Amicus, Criminal Justice, Human Rights
Criminal Justice
Amicus, Criminal Justice
Holland Tunnel Vision in Maples Case?
Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Maples v. Thomas. At issue was whether the petitioner had shown
Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice
(Plea)Deal Breaker: Supreme Court to Decide Whether Right to Effective Counsel Extends to Plea Bargains
Anthony Cooper is far from the most sympathetic litigant before the Supreme Court this term. In 2003, Cooper shot a woman four times as she ran away from him. Though Cooper’s behavior was by all accounts egregious, his attorney’s conduct was pretty bad as well. When a criminal defendant turns down a plea deal based on his attorney’s ignorance of the law and subsequently receives a harsher sentence after trial, can he seek to overturn his sentence, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel?
Criminal Justice, Human Rights, LGBTQ Rights
CR-CL News Round-up
A round-up of some of the top stories in civil rights and civil liberties news.
Amicus, Criminal Justice, Human Rights
Two Executions: Two Reasons for Opposing the Death Penalty
While the world watches and waits for news on Davis, Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death in Texas. Brewer is one of the men who, in 1998 in Jasper, Texas, dragged James Byrd, Jr. behind his truck. As easy as it is to hate Brewer, to hate the terrible crime that he committed, to hate his hate, his victim’s son, Ross Byrd, doesn’t want to see him die. “You can’t fight murder with murder.”
Amicus, Criminal Justice, Human Rights
Supreme Court to Rule on Constitutionality of Jails' Strip-Search Policies
While driving with his family in March 2005, Albert Florence was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to pay a court fine. Florence had, in fact, paid the fine years before and the matter was eventually resolved – but not before Florence had been repeatedly strip-searched by prison officials during a six-day stay in county correctional facilities. The invasiveness of the facility’s intake procedures is jarring, especially in light of the inconsequentiality of Florence’s purported offense. But are the procedures constitutional?
Amicus, Criminal Justice, Education & Youth, Freedom of Expression
[Update] Supreme Court Won't Review Duty To Cheer For Your Rapist
The Supreme Court has declined to take the case of a Texas high school cheerleader who was kicked off the squad after refusing to cheer for the basketball player whom she alleges raped her. The Fifth Circuit ruling not only upheld the school’s right to punish her for refusing to cheer, but dismissed her suit as frivolous, requiring her family to cover the school’s legal fees.
Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights
In Their Own Words: Supreme Court Favors States’ Rights Over Religious Freedom
In a relatively little-noted decision last term, the Supreme Court favored a particular vision of federalism over the protection of religious freedom. The 6-2 ruling, in Sossamon v. Texas, barred money damages in private actions brought by prisoners against state and local governments under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). Sossamon continues a trend of denying prisoners any effective opportunity for the enforcement of their rights.
Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice, Poverty and Economic Justice
In Their Own Words: Civil Gideon: Becoming a Reality?
In October, California will become the first state in the country to implement a publicly-funded pilot program that provides appointment of counsel to very low-income persons in certain civil proceedings where basic human needs are at stake. While the Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), that criminal defendants have a right to counsel based on the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, that decision does not extend to civil cases. California’s Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (AB 509), signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in October 2009, marks a trend in a number of states to address this need for counsel in cases where basic human needs are on the line.
Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice, Human Rights
In Their Own Words: Private Prisons and Carlson v. Green
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Carlson v. Green, inmates have been able to sue individual prison officials for violating their Eighth Amendment rights. A recent trend in federal prisons is threatening to destroy this cause of action for prisoners. Now it is up to the Supreme Court to clear up this controversial question and resolve the circuit split.
Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice
In Their Own Words: Remedying Restitution for Victims of Child Pornography
The Crime Victims’ Rights Act gave crime victims the right to notice of any public court proceeding involving the perpetrator and full and timely restitution. Under the CVRA, notice is given to victims whenever a criminal defendant, anywhere in the country and who would otherwise have been unknown to the victim, is convicted of any child pornography offense involving their images, including cases where the defendant only possessed images without having done more. Suddenly, victims could go after a new and potentially massive group of defendants for restitution.