Colorado woman must turn over computer password
February 21, 2012 – 11:03 | Comments Off

The Associated Press – Published: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012
DENVER — A federal appeals court in Denver refuses to get involved in a mortgage and real estate fraud case that raises questions about whether turning over …

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Articles in Civil Rights – Social Justice News

U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether a lie is protected speech
February 21, 2012 – 14:50 | Comments Off
U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether a lie is protected speech

The Sacramento Bee – February 17, 2012
By Michael Doyle – McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Fake hero Xavier Alvarez lied to his fellow Californians.
He never rescued an American ambassador. He was never a Marine. Most definitely, contrary …

Colorado woman must turn over computer password
February 21, 2012 – 11:03 | Comments Off
Colorado woman must turn over computer password

The Associated Press – Published: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012
DENVER — A federal appeals court in Denver refuses to get involved in a mortgage and real estate fraud case that raises questions about whether turning over …

Lawsuit Over State Benefits for Public Defenders Sparks Controversial Bill
February 21, 2012 – 11:01 | Comments Off
Lawsuit Over State Benefits for Public Defenders Sparks Controversial Bill

The Seattle Weekly – By Nina Shapiro Tue., Feb. 21 2012
A decade ago, thanks to a class action lawsuit, Microsoft learned the hard way that it could not treat “independent contractors” exactly like employees for …

London – Phone and email records to be stored in new spy plan
February 18, 2012 – 16:43 | Comments Off
London – Phone and email records to be stored in new spy plan

The Telegraph – By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
Details of every phone call and text message, email traffic and websites visited online are to be stored in a series of vast databases under new Government …

Report: State Should Shut Down Youth Prison System – Governor’s plan gains new support, but many prosecutors remain opposed
February 17, 2012 – 10:30 | Comments Off
Report: State Should Shut Down Youth Prison System – Governor’s plan gains new support, but many prosecutors remain opposed

The Bay Citizen – February 17, 2012
California lawmakers should phase out the state’s youth prison system and begin housing and treating all juvenile offenders in county programs, according to recommendations released this week by the …

FBI seeks developers for app to track suspicious social media posts, sparking privacy concerns
February 16, 2012 – 19:16 | Comments Off
FBI seeks developers for app to track suspicious social media posts, sparking privacy concerns

Fox News – By Catherine Herridge – Published February 16, 2012
The FBI is getting in on the law enforcement app game on the heels of a controversial data mining project by the Homeland Security Department.
Documents …

Banished: US deports hundreds of military veterans
February 14, 2012 – 10:45 | Comments Off
Banished: US deports hundreds of military veterans

By Cindy Carcamo, OCRegister.com
ROSARITO, BAJA CALIFORNIA — Keeping tabs on his U.S. citizenship application wasn’t much of a priority for Marine Cpl. Rohan Coombs when he served in the Persian Gulf War.
The aircraft maintenance specialist …

Assembly Bill 327 (AB 327) – The Fix for Unfairness in California’s Three Strikes Law
February 10, 2012 – 15:01 | Comments Off
Assembly Bill 327 (AB 327) – The Fix for Unfairness in California’s Three Strikes Law

World Law Direct – This is a discussion on Assembly Bill 327 (AB 327) within the Law Wiki forum
California’s Three Strikes law is often criticized for its “one size fits all” approach in sentencing a …

California – Public-interest group sues Los Angeles County supervisors over state’s open-meetings law
February 7, 2012 – 19:07 | Comments Off
California – Public-interest group sues Los Angeles County supervisors over state’s open-meetings law

The Los Angeles Times – February 7, 2012
The public-interest nonprofit Californians Aware has sued the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, citing more than two occasions in which the officials allegedly violated the Ralph M. …

Illinois Court Allows Torture Case To Move Forward
February 2, 2012 – 09:14 | Comments Off
Illinois Court Allows Torture Case To Move Forward

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
An inmate who says Chicago police officers tortured him into confessing to a brutal rape can present evidence of coercion that was denied at trial, the Illinois Supreme Court decided Thursday in …

New York – Defense lawyer fights racism in death row cases
January 31, 2012 – 21:45 | Comments Off
New York – Defense lawyer fights racism in death row cases

The Washington Post – By Lonnae O’Neal Parker, Tuesday, January 31, 6:39 PM
As director of the criminal justice unit at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Swarns, 43, is one of the most prominent capital-defense lawyers …

California – Riverside County workers launch one-day strike
January 31, 2012 – 11:24 | Comments Off
California – Riverside County workers launch one-day strike

The Los Angeles Times – January 31, 2012
Thousands of Riverside County workers have launched a one-day strike to protest the pension cuts imposed on employees after contract negotiations reached an impasse late last year.
Members of …

L.A. County supervisors violated open meeting law, D.A. finds
January 31, 2012 – 11:22 | Comments Off
L.A. County supervisors violated open meeting law, D.A. finds

Los Angeles Times – January 30, 2012
Los Angeles County supervisors violated the law last fall by holding a closed-door meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown to discuss a plan to shift nonviolent state prisoners to county …

Assembly considers softening Three Strikes law
January 30, 2012 – 19:33 | Comments Off
Assembly considers softening Three Strikes law

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press – Monday, January 30, 2012
(01-30) 17:41 PST Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –
Some state lawmakers want to ask voters to revise California’s Three Strikes law as a way to reduce prison sentences …

Judge strikes parole-revocation provisions in California law
January 28, 2012 – 12:32 | Comments Off
Judge strikes parole-revocation provisions in California law

The Sacramento Bee – By Denny Walsh
A Sacramento federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional the part of California’s so-called Victims’ Bill of Rights that governs parole revocation.
The law, enacted by voter approval of a …

California bill seeks to limit detention of arrestees facing deportation
January 28, 2012 – 10:00 | Comments Off
California bill seeks to limit detention of arrestees facing deportation

By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times – January 28, 2012
A bill being drafted by a state legislator would limit local law enforcement from holding arrestees on behalf of immigration authorities seeking to deport them.
Assemblyman Tom …

California Appeals court asked to decide officer-identity case
January 26, 2012 – 23:15 | Comments Off
California Appeals court asked to decide officer-identity case

By Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times – January 26, 2012, 9:07 p.m.
Echoing arguments that have repeatedly been made in Southern California courts in recent years, a city, its police union and a newspaper sparred before …

Santa Clara County courts: Now providing legal representation in misdemeanor court to anyone who can’t afford their own
January 26, 2012 – 23:06 | Comments Off
Santa Clara County courts: Now providing legal representation in misdemeanor court to anyone who can’t afford their own

Mercury News – By Tracey Kaplan – Posted: 01/26/2012 07:59:38 PM PST
Ending an era in which criminal defendants’ constitutional rights were routinely jeopardized, Santa Clara County will now offer legal representation to anyone who can’t …

California’s De Facto Sentencing Commissions
January 26, 2012 – 10:54 | Comments Off
California’s De Facto Sentencing Commissions

by Robert Weisberg – Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, Faculty Co-Director, Stanford Criminal Justice Center
he concept of a sentencing commission as a mechanism for governance of a jurisdiction’s criminal justice …

Los Angeles Times Editorial: Spare California’s courts from cuts
January 24, 2012 – 09:41 | Comments Off
Los Angeles Times Editorial: Spare California’s courts from cuts

Justice is not a commodity that Californians can learn to do without for several years as the economy sorts itself out and lawmakers learn to become more responsible budget stewards. January 24, 2012
California government has …