Sentencing/Post Conviction

Doing Time, Across State Lines

Prison officials in at least eight states are easing crowded conditions by shipping prisoners to facilities in other states. The New York Times spoke to a convicted armed robber from Hawaii who served his sentence in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Arizona. The distance has strained family relationships, says prisoner Bob Weier.…

Jul 31, 2007 1:24 PM CDT

CT Parole System Hit

Connecticut’s parole system is under scrutiny as a result of a home invasion and triple murder, allegedly committed by two paroled burglars. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes, accused of breaking into the home of a physician and killing his wife and her two…

Jul 31, 2007 12:53 PM CDT

Mexico City Jails OK Gay Conjugal Visits

Accepting the recommendation of a human rights commission, Mexico City has begun to allow conjugal visits between gay inmates. Such visits are commonly allowed for opposite-sex couples, even when they are not married, and a 2003 Mexico law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual preference, reports the British Broadcasting…

Jul 30, 2007 7:10 PM CDT

8 Targets in Prison Masturbation Cases

Updated: A Florida inmate convicted this week of masturbating while alone in his jail cell is reportedly only one of eight targets—along with state taxpayers—of what a Miami Herald columnist describes as “a spectacular case of selective prosecution.” Given the likely prevalence of such commonplace behavior in state prisons (not…

Jul 27, 2007 8:09 PM CDT

Judge Sentences Nicole Richie to Jail

Following the pathway to California incarceration recently blazed by her reality TV co-star Paris Hilton, 25-year-old Nicole Richie is also headed to jail for a brief period. As part of a plea bargain, the daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie was sentenced to about four days in jail for driving…

Jul 27, 2007 7:07 PM CDT

Record $100 Million for Unjust Conviction

A federal judge in Boston has awarded $100 million to four men unjustly convicted of murder in Massachusetts state court in 1968, reportedly the largest such judgment ever made. Ruling today, U.S. Dist. Judge Nancy Gertner found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had suppressed evidence that four men convicted…

Jul 26, 2007 8:06 PM CDT

Masturbating Inmate Convicted

Jurors deliberated only 45 minutes before finding a Florida inmate guilty of indecent exposure for masturbating alone in his jail cell. A Broward County sheriff’s deputy claimed inmate Terry Lee Alexander, 20, did not try to hide what he was doing, the Miami Herald reports. Deputy Coryus Veal testified she…

Jul 26, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

Mich. Judge’s Warnings Unheeded

A Michigan judge says he tried to warn Virginia lawmakers about the dangers of high fines for motorist misdeeds, to no avail. Judge William Buhl of Van Buren County told the Washington Post he e-mailed all 140 legislators in Virginia opining that a similar Michigan program begun in 2003 was…

Jul 24, 2007 4:27 PM CDT

Hypnosis Hearing Stuns Petitioner

A federal judge has granted a hearing to determine if the children who agreed to testify in a high-profile sexual abuse case were influenced by hypnosis. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert of Central Islip, N.Y., issued the order in response to a habeas petition by Jesse Friedman, the New York…

Jul 24, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Panel Would Address Prison Crowding

Two federal judges in California have ordered the creation of a three-judge court to consider reducing inmate populations at crowded state prisons. Judges Thelton Henderson of San Francisco and Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento issued the orders in response to suits claiming prisoner health care has suffered because of the crowded…

Jul 24, 2007 2:41 PM CDT

Alcatraz Visit: Feel Like a Prisoner

The atmosphere is dank, dreary and depressing. Nor are the stories told by those who spent time there accounts of happy times. Nonetheless, Alcatraz, the infamous prison on an island near San Francisco, is one of the biggest tourist draws in the country. Now newly renovated, the Rock–which last housed…

Jul 23, 2007 5:18 PM CDT

Conrad Black Remains Free

Media mogul Conrad Black will remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve of Chicago permitted Black to remain in Illinois or Florida, but said he could not return to his native Canada, the New York…

Jul 20, 2007 3:34 PM CDT

‘Too Short’ for Jail Ruling to Be Appealed

There were valid reasons, an appeals court says, for a Nebraska judge’s perhaps-unprecedented decision to sentence a 52-year-old man who is slightly over five feet tall to probation in a child sexual assault case. So the controversial 10-year probation term she gave Richard W. Thompson, saying that he deserves prison…

Jul 19, 2007 12:57 AM CDT

Attorney-Client Privilege Bill Praised By ABA Prez

The president of the ABA is backing legislation that would bar prosecutors from pressuring companies to waive attorney-client privilege and cut off employees’ legal fees. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., introduced the bill in the House last week, Corporate Counsel reports. It is co-sponsored by Randy Forbes, R-Va. The bill…

Jul 18, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Girls in Jail Need Beauty, Kind Words

Throughout the country, prisons are run in a paramilitary manner that seems to work for men. But it’s not nearly as effective for young women, experts believe. So, as the number of girls in jail goes up, juvenile authorities in Illinois have been developing new kind of lock-up for young…

Jul 16, 2007 6:35 PM CDT