Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Casey Bastian published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 39 Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Wrongful Conviction. Location: United States of America. by Casey J. Bastian   The Death Penalty Policy Project (“DP3”) analyzed exoneration data compiled by the National Registry of Exonerations (“NRE”) for 2023. The results are disturbing. Another 153 convicted people were exonerated. At least 19 resulted from either them or a witness being threatened with death. A total ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Sam Rutherford published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 36 Filed under: First Step Act, Resentencing, De Novo Resentencing. Location: Virginia. by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that District Courts have discretion to reduce sentences for both covered and noncovered offenses under the First Step Act if the sentences were originally imposed as part of a package. Background Following a jury trial involving six ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Sam Rutherford published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 34 Filed under: Parole/Probation Searches, Parole Searches. Location: California. by Sam Rutherford   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that police may ask whether a person stopped for a traffic infraction is on parole without violating the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. Background Victor Ramirez was stopped for speeding in a residential ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Matthew Clarke published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 35 Filed under: Police State-Surveillance. Location: United States of America. by Matthew Thomas Clarke The Human Rights Committee (“HRC”) of the United Nations, an independent body that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), issued a report on its review of U.S. compliance with ICCPR, which is one of only four human rights treaties ever ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Matthew Clarke published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 31 Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Police State-Surveillance. Location: United States of America. by Matthew T. Clarke There is nothing new about corporations that produce technology designed to enable law enforcement surveillance (snoop tech) composing press releases for law enforcement that promote both the brand and the equipment. There is also nothing new about media quoting at length from the snoop-tech-provided releases as ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Sam Rutherford published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 32 Filed under: Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness. Location: South Carolina. by Sam Rutherford   The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that a defendant’s confession was involuntary in violation of due process where the interrogating officer provided Miranda warnings but then assured the defendant that his statements would be confidential. This error, moreover, was not harmless because the defendant’s confession ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Jo Ellen Nott published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 38 Filed under: Marijuana Laws/Issues, Medical Marijuana. Location: United States of America. by Jo Ellen Nott In a significant decision on May 16, 2024, the Justice Department of the Biden Administration proposed to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. This history-making shift, though not legalization, acknowledges the drug’s medicinal value and lower abuse potential. The proposed rule, endorsed by Attorney ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Jo Ellen Nott published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 18 Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Forensic Sciences. Location: United States of America. by Jo Ellen Nott A recent study by Binghamton University researchers offers hope for identifying victims of fires where traditional methods fail. Fire victims can be identified through dental records if the teeth are preserved and such records exist. DNA testing is often the only way to identify badly burned ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Douglas Ankney published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 25 Filed under: Forensic Sciences. Location: United States of America. by Douglas Ankney   The new “Transitional Analysis Dental Age” (“TADA”) estimation tool – funded by the National Institute of Justice (“NIJ”) – is now available online to assist forensic analysts with estimating the age of unidentified skeletal remains of infants and teens. The age of the skeletal remains of ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on July 15, 2024 by Douglas Ankney published in Prison Legal News July, 2024, page 26 Filed under: Constitution, state, Good Faith Exception. Location: Minnesota. by Douglas Ankney   The Supreme Court of Minnesota declined to extend the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule, as adopted under the Minnesota Constitution, to a search and arrest based on a quashed warrant that appears active to law enforcement because of a clerical error by court administration. In ... Read more ..read more