Eighth Amendment
Murder
The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a sentence of life in prison without parole for Riley Briones Jr., who was 17 when he had a role in a robbery that resulted in murder.
Read moreAccused 9/11 Plotter Cites Torture to Nix Capital Trial
No closer after nearly two decades to mounting a trial against accused 9/11 plotter Ammar al-Baluchi, prosecutors told a federal judge Wednesday that the record of torture in the case has no bearing on whether they can seek the death penalty.
Read moreDeath-Row Inmate With Dementia Prevails at High Court
A narrow Supreme Court majority ordered new proceedings Wednesday in the case of an Alabama man with dementia who no longer remembers committing the murder that landed him on death row.
Read moreJustices Rule Ban on Excessive Fines Applies to States
(CN) – Finding against Indiana’s seizure of a convicted drug dealer’s Land Rover, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that
Read morePrison Health Care
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part a civil rights class action alleging cruel and unusual punishment in Arizona prisons through violations of a settlement intended to address inadequate health care.
Read moreReport Finds Waning Support for Death Penalty
Declining public support for the death penalty and reduced rates of executions indicate there is a “climate change” involving capital punishment, which could lead to an abolition of the practice in the United States, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center said in an interview, touting the release Friday of his group’s annual year-end report.
Read moreJuveniles Housed With Adults Bring Claims to Sixth Circuit
A class of former and current juvenile inmates housed with adults who say they are exposed to an increased risk of sexual and physical assaults argued before the Sixth Circuit on Thursday to revive their civil rights claims.
Read moreJustices Greet Excessive-Fines Case With Open Arms
The Supreme Court appeared eager Wednesday to make states comply with the constitutional bar against excessive fines, with some justices casting the decision as all but inevitable.
Read moreDeath-Row Inmates Challenge Tennessee’s Execution Protocol
Attorneys for 27 inmates on death row told the Tennessee Supreme Court on Wednesday there are better, and constitutional, ways to kill their clients than the three-drug lethal-injection protocol the state has adopted.
Read moreACLU Sues Over Methadone Access for Inmates
Denial of methadone to prison inmates with opioid addictions constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, the ACLU claimed in federal court Wednesday.
Read more20 Years in Solitary
The 10th Circuit affirmed summary judgment of qualified immunity for Kansas prison officials who kept Richard Grissom in solitary confinement for nearly 20 years, “because at the time of Grissom’s confinement there was no clearly established law that would have alerted them that his asserted constitutional rights were being violated.”
Read moreJustices to Decide if States Can Impose ‘Excessive Fines’
In a case involving Indiana’s forfeiture of a Land Rover used to move drugs, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines applies to state governments.
Read moreSolitary Confinement
A man with mental problems who spent nearly his entire 13 months in solitary confinement filed a federal class action against Chelan County, Washington, and top officials, claiming their treatment of troubled inmates violates the Eight Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
Read morePrison Abuse
The Utah Department of Corrections and Daggett County inflict “unbelievably inhumane conduct” upon prisoners at Daggett County Jail, including stun guns, choking and mauling by dogs, former inmates claim in federal court.
Read moreVexed Sotomayor Dissents in Florida Death-Penalty Cases
Quoting 19th century French literary criticism, Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke out Monday after the Supreme Court rejected appeals by two men on death row in Florida.
Read moreSotomayor Criticizes Life-Sentencing Scheme in Ohio
Justice Sonia Sotomayor flagged “serious constitutional concerns” Monday with a Ohio law that appears to block the courts from evaluating life sentences that offer no possibility of parole.
Read morePrison Guards Immune From Tear-Gassing Suit, 10th Circuit Finds
Utah State Prison officials did not violate the constitutional rights of prisoners by dropping tear gas that vented into the cellblock, a 10th Circuit panel ruled Friday.
Read moreJudge OKs Houston Tent Ban Aimed at Homeless
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Houston can start enforcing a law that bans camping in public, which critics say criminalizes homelessness, finding that it applies equally to anyone sleeping in a tent on the street.
Read moreJustices Won’t Review Florida Death-Penalty Cases
Three liberal justices dissented Monday from the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of a challenge to Florida’s death-sentencing procedures, saying the high court should have decided whether jurors being told their verdict was merely advisory diminished their sense of responsibility.
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