There’s a blog I follow called “Sentencing Law and Policy,” that always writes up interesting political and social issues concerning crime and punishment. Recently, the blog has had a string of really interesting stories that are worth a read.
- August 15th: In this article, the author ponders whether or not Nebraska will keep or reject the 2015 bill that ended capital punishment in the state.
- August 11th: This post looks at President Obama’s criminal justice reforms and whether or not Donald Trump could “unravel” the executive orders made over the last eight years.
- August 9th: This article discusses the modern “trial penalty” and the national decline in both criminal and civil trials that has been attributed to increased use of mandatory minimum sentences and congressional sentencing guidelines.
- August 8th: This article examines a former felon who experienced a 55-year mandatory minimum sentence and his journey towards clemency. August 7th: This post examines the principle of normality and penal exceptionalism in the country of Norway and the treatment of their prisoners.
- August 6th: This post discusses surveys of crime victims and their thoughts regarding “smart on crime” reforms, including the statistic that “52 percent of victims said that prison makes people more likely to commit crimes again” and the victims would prefer criminals go to rehabilitation centers instead of prisons.
- August 5th: This post takes a look at the setting of this year’s Olympics and compared Brazil’s prison and incarceration system to the US. A Rio study from 2015 postulated that up to 54 percent of those in pretrial detention may be innocent.
- August 4th: This post mentions a Brian Murray paper that discusses expungement law reforms and criminal law reforms as well as availability of public and private arrest and conviction records and the measures needed to alleviate the consequences of criminal records.
- August 3rd: This post discusses the sponsorship of Proposition 62 in California that wants to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as well as the support of Proposition 66, which wants to speed up the death penalty process.
- August 2nd: After rejecting a plea that would include multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole, Dylann Roof’s lawyers are arguing that the “ultimate punishment” of the death penalty is actually unconstitutional and considered cruel and unusual punishment by the Fifth and Eighth Amendment.
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