The Desert Sun News – February 19, 2012
Five months after California imposed its public safety realignment on its 58 counties, significant challenges remain.
Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff Jr. says jails in 36 counties are already …

Contra Costa Times editorial – Posted: 02/18/2012 04:00:00 PM PST
California faces a fiscal dilemma — how to raise enough money in the short term to fund suffering basic government programs now without undermining an economic …

Los Angeles Times – Op-Ed – by Ron Briggs
We believed the Briggs initiative — the death penalty measure we wrote in 1977 — would bring greater justice. We were wrong. [for full article: http://defender411.us/zb9RV5 ]
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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 …

The Stockton Record – February 05, 2012 12:00 AM
Assembly lawmakers last week flip-flopped on a bill to modify the state’s 1994 voter-approved three-strikes law.
The Assembly first rejected the bill, refused reconsideration and sent it to …

The New Yorker – by Adam Gopnik – January 30, 2012
A prison is a trap for catching time. Good reporting appears often about the inner life of the American prison, but the catch is that …

Did the United States Supreme Court really get it right in the new GPS/Fourth Amendment case, United States v. Jones? And what is “it”? The opinion is a fragmented affair that might cause more confusion …

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 …

St. Louis Today –  The U.S. Supreme Court had a chance last week to address a serious defect in criminal cases, improve the quality of American justice and strengthen people’s faith in the court system.
It …

January 17, 2012 – We’ve said it before — more than a dozen times. A child, even a bad one, should not be sent to prison for life without any chance at parole. It’s a …

January 13, 2012, 4:38 p.m.
The Supreme Court this week made it harder for criminal defendants to challenge one of the most common flaws in the criminal justice system: the use of mistaken eyewitness evidence. The …

By VANITA GUPTA , Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union
December 15, 2011
At a time when increasing numbers of Americans are struggling financially and relying on public assistance, implementing mean-spirited and ineffectual mandatory …

By LINCOLN CAPLAN – Published: January 7, 2012
The Supreme Court has not banned capital punishment, as it should, but it has long held that the death penalty is unconstitutional if randomly imposed on a handful …

The New York Times – December 28, 2011
Michael Morton was exonerated by DNA evidence this month after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and serving nearly 25 years in prison in Texas. In seeking …

By CHRIS COURSEY – THE PRESS DEMOCRAT – December 27, 2011 at 11:37 a.m.
California’s top judge last week declared the state’s death penalty “not effective.”
No kidding. There are 720 condemned prisoners on death row at …

Forbes Magazine – Victoria Pynchon, Contributor
California’s first female Supreme Court Chief Justice, Rose Bird, was also the first and last California Justice to be removed from office by California voters, allegedly due to her stated …

by PAUL BUTLER – Published: December 20, 2011 – The New York Times
IF you are ever on a jury in a marijuana case, I recommend that you vote “not guilty” — even if you think …

By Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, Drug Policy Alliance
As I wrote last week, California’s counties have recently been given more authority (under AB 109, or “public safety realignment”) to develop their own policy responses to drug law violations. …

The Jordan Independent News – December 18, 2011
A column by Judge Terrence E. Conkel, Assistant Chief judge, First Judicial District, State of Minnesota
I recall a particular day many years ago, probably back in the late 1950s, …

December 6, 2011
In November, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period, and head coach Joe Paterno was fired for not doing enough to …