Joe Harris | Courthouse News Service ST. LOUIS (CN) — The City of Jennings, which borders Ferguson, Mo., will pay $4.7 million to 2,000 mostly poor, black residents to settle a class action that claimed the city jailed them for unpaid court debts. The plaintiffs claimed in the class action filed in February 2015 that … Read more
Nick Divito | Courthouse News Service BROOKLYN (CN) — A man who spent nearly nine years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit sued New York City, police officers and prosecutors for $30 million. Carlos Davis’ conviction for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon was vacated in April 2015 as part of Brooklyn District … Read more
James Palmer | Courthouse News Service A bill that passed the Oklahoma House would strip the medical license from doctors who perform an abortion for any reason but to save the mother’s life, and send them to prison for up to three years. Senate Bill 1552 defines abortion as “unprofessional conduct,” adding it to a … Read more
Cameron Langford | Courthouse News Service HOUSTON (CN) — Texas prisons are locked down twice a year as a security measure, but a union claims its call for inmates to strike to protest their “slave wages” is behind a series of recent lockdowns. The Industrial Workers of the World, founded in 1905, accepts prisoners as … Read more
Claire Bernish | The Free Thought Project As public frustration helps sound the death knell for the drug war, its arbitrary laws and policies appear even more absurd. In the latest inexcusable enforcement of an antiquated law, 76-year-old disabled veteran Lee Carroll Brooker will live out what should be his golden years behind bars — … Read more
Claire Bernish | The Free Thought Project Tecumseh, MI — Like a dystopic nightmare, a couple from Michigan faces not only large fines, but jail time over failing to return two library books — one of which is a classic by Dr. Seuss — despite their attempts to resolve the matter. Catherine Duren allowed her … Read more
Amanda Froelich | True Activist Everybody deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, ex-offenders have a more difficult time than most starting anew due to their record. Thankfully, certain initiatives exist to help those who, at one point or another, may have made a few poor decisions. One such program is run by Brandon Chrostowski, the owner … Read more
Nicholas Iovino | Courthouse News Service SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A man who spent 20 years in jail for a murder he didn’t commit cannot put San Francisco on trial for violating his due-process rights, a federal magistrate judge ruled Wednesday. Although Maurice “Twone” Caldwell raised legitimate questions about a police officer’s motive to frame … Read more
Alex Pickett | Courthouse News Service The Florida Department of Corrections routinely denies disabled prisoners access to wheelchairs, canes, sign language interpreters and even hearing aids, a disability rights group claims in court. In a lawsuit filed in Tallahassee Federal Court on behalf of 32 inmates, Disability Rights Florida claims the routinely encountered access of … Read more
Andrew Emett | The Free Thought Project Cairo, Egypt – Convicted of murder, inciting riots, destruction of government property and threatening cops, a four-year-old Egyptian boy was sentenced to life in prison this week. Although the boy was less than two years old during the civil unrest in 2014, he was convicted in absentia due … Read more
2016/02/19 Created by Colorlines.com Created by Online-Paralegal-Degree.org Created by CommunityCoalition.com Created by Avaaz.org Created by SafeQualitySchools.org Created by ACLU.org Watch the documentary below to learn the truth about how the “war on drugs” is a political tool the government invented to keep Americans enslaved.
William Grigg | The Free Thought Project 2016/01/01 Wichita, KS – If you’re a homeless person in Wichita, Kansas, City Councilman Pete Meitzner and his associates at The Lord’s Diner will feed you. If you’re caught with a joint and locked up at the Sedgwick County Detention Facility, Meitzner and his political associates will feast … Read more