They Killed in 2nd Degree, Now Fighting Life Without Parole
There are only two states in the country where parole is not possible after a second-degree murder conviction. An appeal in Pennsylvania could change that.
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cruel and unusual punishment
Ohio Killer Asks En Banc Court to Keep Death Penalty Off the Table
An Ohio man whose death sentence was overturned earlier this year by a panel of judges argued before the full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday that his intellectual disabilities make capital punishment unconstitutional.
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High Court Tosses Immunity for Guards Accused of Keeping Inmate in Filthy Cells
Texas prison guards can be sued over claims that they placed mentally ill inmate in cells covered in feces and raw sewage, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, reversing a ruling that shielded the guards under the controversial doctrine of qualified immunity.
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Ex-Jail Employees Charged for Playing ‘Baby Shark’ on Repeat
Two former Oklahoma jail employees and their supervisor face misdemeanor cruelty charges after investigators found they forced inmates to stand handcuffed for hours and listen to the children’s song “Baby Shark” on repeat, a prosecutor said Monday.
Read moreHomeless Encampments
A federal court in Ohio denied Cincinnati’s request to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its policy that makes homeless encampments illegal throughout the city. Jailing people for living in such encampments could amount to cruel and unusual punishment, the court ruled.
Read moreExecution Attempt
The Sixth Circuit denied habeas relief to a death row inmate finding that a second execution attempt would not constitute a cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Ohio first tried to execute Romell Broom by lethal injection in 2009 but could not maintain a viable IV connection to his veins.
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Sixth Circuit Overturns Death Sentence of Ohio Killer
An Ohio man convicted of murder in 1986 is intellectually disabled and therefore cannot be executed based on Supreme Court precedent, a unanimous Sixth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday.
Read moreHomelessness
A federal class action protests St. Louis’ demand to evacuate homeless camps in public parks under threat of arrest, as the 500 to 600 homeless people have no place else to go, and arresting them would be cruel and unusual punishment.
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Judge: Pretrial Inmates in San Francisco Need Time in Sunlight
For years, the City and County of San Francisco has housed inmates awaiting trial in tiny cells, letting them out for only a few hours a day for exercise and often depriving them of any time outdoors, but conditions are set to improve for some after a federal judge ruled Friday that pre-trial detainees incarcerated for more than four years must be given at least one hour a week of access to direct sunlight.
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Convicted Killer Asks Sixth Circuit to Vacate Death Sentence
A death-row inmate convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of a 12-year-old boy argued before a Sixth Circuit panel Thursday that his intellectual disabilities render his sentence unconstitutional.
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Justices Will Examine Teenage Murderers’ Sentences
Lee Boyd Malvo, who terrorized the Washington region in 2002 as one-half of a sniper team, is at the center of a case the Supreme Court will hear this fall. But the justices’ eventual ruling probably will mean less for him than for a dozen other inmates who, like the now-34-year-old Malvo, were sentenced to life without parole for murders they committed as teens.
Read moreMissouri Sets Date to Execute Man With Rare Disorder
Missouri has set an October execution date for a convicted murderer who claims his unique medical condition could cause intense pain and suffering during the lethal-injection process.
Read moreSolitary for Virginia Death Row Inmates Ruled Cruel & Unusual
The Fourth Circuit upheld a ruling Friday in favor of Virginia death row inmates, finding that their living conditions amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
Read moreNY Accused of Jailing Mentally Ill Inmates Too Long
Two legal rights groups filed a federal class action Wednesday claiming some New York inmates with mental disabilities who served their time are illegally kept behind bars because there are no beds for them at community mental health centers.
Read moreNew Guidelines Highlight Alternatives to Juvenile Lock-Up
Recent Supreme Court decisions regarding juvenile justice and emerging science on youth brain development led the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to update its guidelines this week to call for alternatives to detention of youth offenders.
Read moreOvercrowded Ohio Jails at Breaking Point, Inmates Say
A class of inmates sued Ohio jail officials Thursday claiming chronic overcrowding and understaffing, lack of access to safe drinking water and food, and other inhumane conditions they say have led to a spike in deaths and assaults.
Read moreJudge Blasts Mississippi Cops for Harassing Disabled Man
Recommending they read William Faulkner to learn the “boundaries of human decency,” a federal judge on Friday admonished former Mississippi police officers accused of forcing a mentally disabled man to eat a mouthful of cinnamon days after making him box a cop.
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