Lorraine Bailey | Courthouse News Service CHICAGO (CN) – A homeless man who stole $44 in quarters from a vending machine does not deserve a 12-year prison sentence, an Illinois appeals court ruled, urging judges to remember that poverty is not a crime. Harley Busse, 40, was arrested in 2012 for stealing $44 dollars worth … Read more
Erik de la Garza | Courthouse News Service (CN) –The Justice Department says police in a small Louisiana town routinely arrested and placed hundreds of residents in jail without probable cause based on a “hunch” or “feeling” that they were involved in criminal activity. The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found in a report … Read more
David Rosenthal | The Foundation for Economic Education While most people know Jolly Old Saint Nick as a friendly figure, he too is not immune from the perils of administrative overreach and overcriminalization. To get you in the Christmas spirit, here is a list of some of the potential crimes and violations of federal law Saint Nick as … Read more
Justin Gardner | The Free Thought Project On January 1, 2017, the state of Missouri will implement a public school policy sure to accelerate the descent into police state dystopia. The Hazelwood School District put out a memo to parents and guardians stating that, according to Missouri statute, fights at school or on buses will … Read more
Claire Bernish | The Free Thought Project Cannon Ball, N.D. — On Thursday, police from no less than five states sporting full riot gear and armed with heavy lethal and nonlethal weaponry, pepper spray, mace, a number of ATVs, five tanks, two helicopters, and military-equipped humvees showed up to tear down an encampment of Standing … Read more
2016/09/29 Adam Klasfeld | Courthouse News Service MANHATTAN (CN) — Settling a “stunning and unconscionable” case at Rikers Island Prison, a mother reached a $5.75 million deal with New York City over her mentally ill son’s death alone in his cell after he was starved of food, water and medical care for a week. Almost … Read more
Erik De La Garza | Courthouse News Service AN ANTONIO (CN) — A federal judge has suspended a civil rights lawsuit from a Texas man who spent 20 years in prison before being exonerated for the 1993 murders of two teenagers. Daniel Villegas, 39, who awaits retrial, claimed in a December lawsuit that El Paso … Read more
Claire Bernish | The Free Thought Project Our so-called justice system makes a mockery of due process, couldn’t care less about integrity, and victimizes those guilty of nonviolent crime — while releasing violent criminals to create actual victims in order to free up space to cage those who sell or possess a plant, even for … Read more
Matt Reynolds | Courthouse News Service LOS ANGELES (CN) – A federal judge refused to dismiss a class action accusing San Bernardino County of wrongfully arresting and jailing hundreds of innocent people on warrants for other people. Lead plaintiff Manuel Bravo Martinez in April sued the county and its sheriff’s department and the city of … Read more
2016/08/28 This judge cares more about money than people. Brianna Acuesta | True Activist While rapists that admitted to their crimes are getting no jail time and no convictions, likely because they or their parents are wealthy, those that aren’t as financially well-endowed are being thrown into jail for the saddest reasons. Judge Milas … Read more
Kevin Lessmiller | Courthouse News Service Private prison company Corrections Corporation of America asked a judge to seal documents in a case brought by women claiming they had to prove they were on their period when they visited a Tennessee prison. In January 2015, Jane Doe sued CCA and South Central Correctional Facility employees for … Read more
Ellen Robinson | Courthouse News Service (CN) – Several current and former South Carolina high school students, their families and a nonprofit mentoring program are challenging a state law they claim wrongly criminalizes a “large swath of adolescent behavior” in the name of maintaining order in the classroom. In a complaint filed in the Charleston … Read more