Criminal Justice Stories
- IL lawyer: Kilmar Obrego Garcia case a ‘constitutional crisis’ An Illinois law professor is weighing in on what she called a "very public and open test of due process" for immigrants being deported from the United States without court hearings. On Wednesday, a U.S. district judge denied the Justice Department's request to further delay the […]
- Proposed bills would curb jailing of children in IL Two bills aimed at reforming the juvenile justice system in Illinois are close to becoming law. Senate Bill 1784 proposes raising the age of detention from 10 to 13 and Senate Bill 2156 seeks to ensure front-line responders can access the appropriate services for children in […]
- Service dogs trained behind bars in WV transform lives, inside and out With demand for assistance dogs on the rise, people in two West Virginia prisons are getting involved in their training. At Saint Marys Correctional Center and Lakin Correctional Center in West Columbia, incarcerated men and women can participate in the paws4prisons® program, learning […]
- Legal experts call arrest of WI judge 'extreme and unnecessary' Legal experts and advocates are outraged over the arrest of a Milwaukee judge last week who was charged with helping an undocumented defendant avoid arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal authorities walked Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan out of her Milwaukee courtroom in handcuffs. […]
- Prison education bill to expand opportunities for incarcerated people in VA A bill passed by Virginia lawmakers would expand higher education opportunities to incarcerated people across the state. House Bill 2158 aims to help community colleges partner with prisons to help people in jail get started on an associate's degree. Currently, 70% of incarcerated people […]
- Rural KY counties are building more jails, data show New data shows incarceration has ballooned in Kentucky's rural counties, and less populated regions are building more jails. The findings come from an analysis of jail-offenses data by the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative. Wanda Bertram, a communications strategist for the organization, said small towns and counties […]
- PA public defenders struggle with high caseloads, attorney shortage More than 60 Pennsylvania counties do not have enough public defenders for their caseloads, forcing some, including in Erie County, to each handle more than 400 cases a year. A report by Quattrone Center at the University of Pennsylvania said the state needs more than 1,200 […]
- Indiana moves to regulate legal THC sales and branding Indiana lawmakers continue to debate THC rules while surrounding states move forward with marijuana legalization. Senate Bill 478 targets packaging and branding rules for legal THC products sold to people 21 and older. Lawmakers want to prevent the products from mimicking candy or snacks, which might […]