Inequality Inquiry >> Category

Out of the Cell and Into the Fire: Inherently Dangerous Prison Work Assignments, the Eighth Amendment’s Guarantee of Safe Conditions of Confinement, and California’s AB-2147

April 13, 2022

by River Lord[1]   Using the labor of inmates in the United States has a long and controversial tradition. Many observers have identified how higher rates of policing and incarceration among minority communities, coupled with the widespread use of inmate labor in exchange for sub-minimum wages, create a system of labor exploitation and racial oppression…

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Purging False Narratives Around Cash Bail

October 28, 2022

By Christian Purnell.   With Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) set to take effect in a matter of months, opponents are stepping up their efforts to spread misinformation about the law on social media. Homing in on a provision of the PFA that abolishes cash bail in the state’s pretrial system, Twitter trolls, and even…

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What’s Brewing with Bruen?

October 30, 2022

Kenneth Cooper examines the impact of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S.Ct. 2111 (2022), and New York’s public defender and legal aid offices unexpected involvement in the case. 

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Police Questioning of Juveniles

February 9, 2023

By Emma Kruger Police interrogation can be intimidating even for adults, but the experience of police questioning for a juvenile suspected of committing or witnessing a crime can be even more overwhelming. Police interrogation practices often do not differ for children, but children’s experience of them and their capacity to adequately make choices in the…

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Face It: Police Can’t Be Trusted with Facial Recognition Technology

March 7, 2023

As facial recognition technology becomes more common, governments must confront the more sinister aspects of this new field, including privacy concerns, threats to free speech, and government surveillance. This piece by JLI Online Editor Joseph Scanlon breaks down the issues with police’s use of facial recognition technology.

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How Current Law Fails to Protect Defendants with Mental Illnesses from the Death Penalty

March 27, 2023

By Bailey Martin              Eighteen men were executed in the United States in 2022[1], and so far, seven more men and women have been executed in 2023.[2] Despite numerous arguments that these individuals suffered from severe mental illnesses, last-minute appeals and clemency requests were unsuccessful.[3] Furthermore, upcoming scheduled executions continue this pattern of executing individuals…

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Expungement: The Missing Federal Piece

May 10, 2023

While states have created their own expungement laws, nothing similar exists under federal law. In this blog post, staff member Diana Kawka explores federal expungement law and offers solutions to solve this gap.

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A Constitutional Necessity, Not a Luxury: States Must Provide Public Defender Offices With More Resources to Provide Indigent Defendants With Effective Counsel

March 30, 2022

By Haashir Lakhani* The phrase “you have the right to an attorney” is so ingrained in our social conscience that we perhaps do not even give it a second thought. The task of upholding this right for indigent defendants falls largely on public defenders, with some cases being assigned to other court-appointed attorneys. However, underfunded…

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Will Minnesota’s New Automatic Expungement Laws Have an Effect on Federal Sentences?

February 14, 2024

By Britane Hubbard* On January 1, 2025, Minnesota’s new automatic expungement statutes will go into effect.[1] Under this new law, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will identify eligible people and grant them expungement relief if they qualify.[2] Offenses eligible for expungement range from petty misdemeanors to felonies.[3] The possibility of a new wave of expungements…

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An Ongoing Struggle: Police Brutality and Native Americans

April 3, 2024

By: William Rauschenberg Per capita, Native Americans are among the most common victims of police violence of any minority group in the United States.[1] Depending on the year and statistics used, Indigenous Americans are either the most at risk or second behind Black Americans.[2] This is a striking figure that, like many Indian issues, is…

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Will Solitary Confinement’s Visibility in the Public Consciousness Lead to Real Change?

April 29, 2024

By: Zinaida Carroll* On March 15, 2024, Charles Leo Daniel was found dead by suicide in his solitary confinement cell at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.[1] Mr. Daniel had been held in solitary confinement for almost four years according to federal data––the second-longest sentence of solitary confinement in immigration detention.[2] The public…

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Waupun Correctional Institution: A Case Study in the Failures of the PLRA’s Administrative Remedies Requirement

November 22, 2024

By: Claire Girod, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Waupun Correctional Institution – A Case Study in the Failures of the PLRA’s Administrative Remedies Requirement (Girod)   The Eighth Amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual conditions of confinement. Court intervention is often credited by commentators as the driving force keeping correctional facilities from…

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