Many defendants focus exclusively on only one issue in their case – Am I going to jail? If there is even a possibility that this question may be answered affirmatively, follow-up issues concerns the length of the sentence and the facility where it may be served (e.g., state prison vs.…
Prior articles on this blog have discussed our increasing dependency on our electronic devices. Many members of my generation are still getting somewhat used to smart phones, I-pads, and the like. However, for our children who have grown up with them, using these devices is perfectly natural and an ordinary…
A free and independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our constitutional structure. In our system, judges are supposed to remain free of political pressure to the fullest extent possible so that they can interpret and apply our laws without having to fear political reprisals resulting from their decisions. Anybody who…
A US Magistrate Judge in California ruled recently that technology giant Apple could be required to create specialized software to help federal investigators bypass the security protocols on the encrypted Iphone 5S used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters. This ruling conflicts with the ruling of a…
The United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of Georgia recently announced three indictments charging several defendants with, among other things, computer hacking, theft and fraud. [US v. Shalon, No. 15-cr-00333 (S.D.N.Y.); US v. Murgio, No. 15-cr-00769 (S.D.N.Y.); and US v. Shalon,…
The United States houses a quarter of the world’s prison population. The Justice Department has an annual budget of about $27 Billion, a third of which is spent on operating the federal Bureau of Prison’s 120 facilities. Further, since 1980, the US population has grown by about a third, while…
Cleveland, Ohio has become the latest city to enter into a consent decree with the United States Justice Department (“DOJ”) concerning the conduct of its police force. Other cities that have previously entered into similar agreements include New Orleans, Seattle and Detroit. The consent decree stemmed from a DOJ investigation…
The Cook County Jail in Chicago is one of the largest county jails in the United States, holding up to 9,000 inmates on any given day. It is estimated that approximately one third of these inmates are mentally ill. Indeed, Cook County officials have stated that the jail is, in…
Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) recently issued a new Report finding that mentally ill inmates in US prisons are frequently mistreated, neglected and abused. The Report also contains a lot of information concerning the role of prisons in the mental health system in this country. First, according to the HRW Report,…
New York’s Rikers Island is the second largest jail in the United States, housing between 11,000 and 12,500 inmates at a given time. It is also one of the most violent jails in the country. For many years, experts have acknowledged that placement in solitary confinement can negatively impact an…