Sentencing/Post Conviction

Advocates work to keep young female offenders out of prison through early intervention

In pockets around the country, the movement to keep kids out of detention homes and prisons is beginning to give more focus to girls, whose experiences and vulnerabilities are markedly different from those of boys.

Nov 1, 2017 12:01 AM CDT

Trump’s criticism of Bergdahl will be considered as mitigation evidence in sentencing, judge says

A military judge who will sentence Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for desertion says he will consider critical comments by President Donald Trump as weighing in favor of a lighter sentence. The judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, said on Monday that he will consider Trump’s comments as mitigation evidence, report the New York…

Oct 31, 2017 11:30 AM CDT

Dewey’s former finance director, a ‘star witness,’ is sentenced to community service

The former finance director at Dewey & LeBeouf, Francis Canellas, was sentenced to community service on Friday after his guilty plea and testimony against other law firm leaders.

Oct 27, 2017 1:48 PM CDT

Time spent in solitary confinement drops dramatically in Illinois youth facilities

After years of sending youths to solitary confinement for days, weeks and even months at a time, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice has taken drastic steps to reduce the time young offenders spend in isolation. The decision to move away from solitary confinement, or segregation, came as part of…

Oct 26, 2017 1:44 PM CDT

ABA letter expresses concern about execution of death-row inmate with mental-illness history

The ABA is expressing concern about the scheduled execution of an Arkansas death-row inmate with a history of severe mental illness.

Oct 26, 2017 8:29 AM CDT

Former Philadelphia DA gets 5-year sentence after guilty plea

Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a single count relating to accepting bribes. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond told Williams he had sold his office to “parasites” and humiliated employees in the DA’s office, report the Associated…

Oct 25, 2017 9:06 AM CDT

ABA project will use e-discovery software to identify wrongful conviction trends

Wrongful conviction trends will be identified with the help of e-discovery software in a new project that will use a network of forensic and legal experts to investigate potential cases.

Oct 24, 2017 11:31 AM CDT

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s pardon doesn’t require vacating his conviction, judge rules

A federal judge in Arizona has ruled that former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s pardon has spared him from any punishment, but it doesn’t justify vacating his conviction for criminal contempt. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled (PDF) Thursday that a pardon doesn’t revise the historical facts of a case, report the…

Oct 20, 2017 8:45 AM CDT

Program helps inmates learn to ‘gentle’ horses at Nevada ranch

Inmates at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center are training wild horses in a “gentling” process that is also benefiting the inmates. Hank Curry, the cowboy who runs the program, “had to kind of gentle me,” says inmate John Harris. He tells the New York Times he first took an aggressive…

Oct 10, 2017 4:22 PM CDT

Former Dewey CFO escapes jail time for misleading lenders before firm’s collapse

Joel Sanders, the former chief financial officer of Dewey & LeBoeuf, won’t be going to prison for misleading lenders and bond buyers about the firm’s finances before its 2012 collapse.

Oct 10, 2017 9:56 AM CDT

South Dakota inmates get tablets for legal research; state drops paralegal and part-time lawyer

Inmates in South Dakota no longer have a need for legal help from a paralegal or lawyer because they can do their own research on tablets, according to Department of Corrections Secretary Denny Kaemingk. South Dakota is one of two states that had offered legal help to inmates researching the…

Oct 3, 2017 11:02 AM CDT

OJ Simpson’s lawyer uses the B-word and other vulgarity to describe Florida Attorney General Bondi

A lawyer for O.J. Simpson lashed out at Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday after she opposed the former football star’s move to Florida from Nevada, where he was recently released on parole after serving nine years in prison for armed robbery. Lawyer Malcolm Lavergne said Simpson is “very,…

Oct 2, 2017 3:52 PM CDT

Attorney hopes to import the best practices of European prisons to the United States

Lawyer Donald Specter, executive director of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office, was blown away by prisons in Germany and the Netherlands. For starters, they were physically different—built to resemble life on the outside. Inmates had their own rooms and, in some cases, were allowed to cook in communal kitchens.

Oct 1, 2017 3:10 AM CDT

Supreme Court stays execution to consider granting cert on juror bias claim

The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the execution of a Georgia inmate as the justices decide whether to grant certiorari on his claim that one of the jurors harbored “virulently racist views.” The court stayed (PDF) the execution of Keith Leroy Tharpe on Tuesday evening, report the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,…

Sep 27, 2017 9:22 AM CDT

Top Illinois court affirms ex-police sergeant Drew Peterson’s murder conviction in hearsay challenge

The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld use of hearsay–including statements by a missing fourth wife–that helped convict former Chicago-area police sergeant Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife. The decision upheld Peterson’s 2012 murder conviction in the 2004 death of third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found dead…

Sep 21, 2017 11:10 AM CDT