By Glenn E. Martin
The mass incarceration of minority communities, and the resulting mass reentry and lifetime collateral consequences, have created the “perfect storm” to ensure that criminal record-based employment discrimination serves as a surrogate for race-based discrimination.
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By Natasha O’Dell Archer
The Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal focused national media attention on a dark fact of American life: the nationwide epidemic of child abuse, neglect and endangerment. Tragically, that case was just the tip of the iceberg.
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By James M. Doyle
Here’s a modest proposal in the spirit of Jonathan Swift from someone who has spent a career at the criminal defense bar: let’s divide American prosecutors into two separate and independent offices.
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By Julie Stewart
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are talking over-criminalization--but they must overcome serious roadblocks, says Julie Stewart of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
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By Hubert Williams
Former Newark Police Director Hubert Williams looks at what it means to "stand your ground."
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By Paul Bieber
Arson cases are often based on forensic evidence presented in court as irrefutable science, but which in fact has either never been tested or already been proven to be unreliable, writes to Paul Bieber, director of The Arson Research Project.
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By Delores Jones-Brown
Standard media analysis of this incident begins with Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense and the applicability of the “stand your ground” law to Zimmerman. John Jay Professor Delores Jones-Brown asks if Trayvon Martin had a right to stand his, too.
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By Mai Fernandez
After years of headlines about child sex abuse by clergymen, these cases raised yet another alarm about the failure of institutions to protect children from predators. What do these cases tell us, and how should we respond?
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By Matthew T. Mangino
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing cases on the issue of life without parole for juveniles. Commentator Matthew Mangino says that if recent trends are any indication, the court will restrict the use of life without parole for juveniles, but will not eliminate the practice.
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By Margaret Colgate Love
“Felon” is an ugly label that confirms the debased status that accompanies conviction, says former pardon attorney Margaret Love. It identifies a person as belonging to a class outside many protections of the law, someone who can be freely discriminated against, someone who exists at the margins of society.
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