A federal jury on Friday found in favor of a man who alleged that former Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and others framed him for a 1988 murder, awarding him $17.175 million. The verdict marks one of the largest for misconduct by Chicago police. The jury deliberated about nine hours over two days before finding … Read more
WASHINGTON, Pa. – A captain at the Washington County Correctional Facility was handcuffed by a police officer at the jail. Surveillance video from inside shows a Washington city police officer leading the jail captain away in handcuffs. The incident happened Memorial Day weekend and Channel 11 just obtained the video through a Right to Know … Read more
Jackie Wilson, one of two brothers convicted in one of Chicago’s most infamous cop killings, walked out of Cook County Jail on Friday, a free man for the first time in more than 36 years. The sudden freedom for Wilson, 57, came after Cook County Circuit Judge William Hooks ordered his release a few hours … Read more
For the past year, President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on “law and order,” stating at the Republican National Convention that under a Trump presidency, “safety would be restored.” His administration, with Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, is likely to be unfriendly on criminal justice. However, Trump and his ilk are outliers. There is strong trans-partisan … Read more
A manhunt is underway for three inmates who escaped from a jail in New Mexico with the help of a guard, authorities said. Authorities have been searching for Aaron Davis Clark, 31; Victor Andrew Apodaca, 28, and Ricky Ramon Sena, 24, since they escaped Friday from a detention center in Clovis — about 75 miles … Read more
The prison populations of the United States have been surging for decades. Cells and whole prisons are overcrowded as the police continue to pack the often corporate, privately-owned caged with offenders who have harmed no one. Victimless crimes like drug use – often possession of marijuana – or crimes where restitution would be the more … Read more
WASHINGTON — Judges appointed by Republican presidents gave longer sentences to black defendants and shorter ones to women than judges appointed by Democrats, according to a new study that analyzed data on more than half a million defendants. “Republican-appointed judges sentence black defendants to three more months than similar nonblacks and female defendants to two … Read more
In a case that challenges the Utah Department of Corrections policy of farming out 20 percent of its inmates to remote county jails, the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of two inmates who were repeatedly abused by a “violent and sadistic” guard in Daggett County. “What … Read more
A sampling shows more than 85 of the people the city Correction Department hired two years ago had red flags that should have kept them from getting jail jobs, according to a Department of Investigation report. All told, 88 of the 291 recruits spot-checked — more than 25% — had prior arrests, had been fired … Read more
Dangling rewards and special privileges before young inmates, an officer at Miami’s juvenile lockup masterminded an attack on another inmate who was beaten so severely that he died, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday. As part of a coded bounty system known in prison vernacular as “honey-bunning” — for the sweet rolls sometimes offered … Read more
The Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to a speedy trial, no longer applies in the great state of Louisiana. According to the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, around 1300 people have been locked up for at least 4 years without a trial. They also said that about 70 people have been there at least 5 years. … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — The state of Mississippi has “abandoned its responsibility to inmates at a privately run prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical care, an attorney for the prisoners said Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional … Read more