Criminal Justice

We Don't Need No Stinking... FSC

We Don't Need No Stinking... Forensic Science Commission. The people require independent research.

Junked by the Justice Department as not necessary. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the discontinuance of the National Commission on Forensic Science. The group is an independent panel of experts chartered to raise evidentiary standards in criminal cases.

Sessions also announced the suspension of a review of FBI testimony about forensic techniques. An internal Justice Department review now will evaluate those techniques.

Slow Down DOJ

The US Department of Justice has ordered a review of federal agreements with law enforcement agencies that reflect President Trump’s emphasis on law and order and the fears are that it could lead to a retreat on consent decrees with troubled police departments nationwide.

A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt in a criminal case or liability in a civil case.

Racial Bias Blow

The US Supreme Court has dealt a legal pushback and a big blow to racial bias in criminal cases, making it easier to unwind all convictions of defendants whose jurors show personal prejudices during their deliberations.

Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court’s four liberal members in limiting the scope of Colorado’s “no impeachment rule,” which is designed to protect the finality of verdicts and the secrecy of deliberations.

Manning Up?

It's a Chelsea mourning, as pushback increases after President Obama commuted the 35-year federal sentence of Chelsea Manning. He is the Army analyst convicted of leaking secret intelligence documents.

The high-profile prisoner, who announced he was transgender following his sentencing in 2013, is set to be freed in May.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/obama-commutes-bulk-of-c…

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In support of those who chafe at Trump's "success" as a President

The tragedy is what he "succeeds" at. My son and are about to lose our health insurance because of his policies. Many of my students' parents are about to be put on deportation lists due to their countries of origin and religious beliefs. My women students are terrified to be sexually assaulted in a climate led by an admitted sexual predator.

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Washington's Farewell

“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it.” US President George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Friends and Citizens:

Supreme Court?

Question: Members of the US Supreme Court are too shorthanded to extend the long arm of the law and they begin another term minus one. As the incomplete court works with uncertainty, how will cases be affected when they replace the late Antonin Scalia and the nominee is eventually appointed?
In the meantime, is long-term immigration detention illegal? http://www.theatlantic.com/…/supreme-court-immigrat…/487877/ #NewsEngagementDay

In Colorado case on racial discrimination by a juror is being heard.

The Right to Remain Silent

This was never meant for members of Congress, who are no longer doing their jobs. More about that later.

It is designed to offer equal justice under the law. As US celebrates the 50th anniversary on June 13, it’s easy to forget the origin and purpose.

Miranda was the culmination of 30 years of Supreme Court cases that were designed to protect criminal suspects from abuse in police interrogations. The earliest of these decisions prohibited violence and torture.

Incarceration and Recovery

The number of people diagnosed with serious mental illness in the U.S. criminal justice system has reached unprecedented levels. Increasingly, people recognize that the justice system is no substitute for a well-functioning community mental health system.

PARK WALK AND TALK

NYPD has announced their Park, Walk and Talk initiative for 2015. The Park, Walk and Talk initiative is designed to allow Officers time to walk designated neighborhoods in the city and make contact with the residents.

The goals are to better acquaint officers with residents, address concerns and answer questions. The neighborhoods the initiative will occur in, will rotate throughout the year.