Seek Justice

Erik Rasmussen and Dennis Schrantz

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Seek Justice Podcast

Seek Justice

12/11/2019

Ep. 24 - Pete Buttigieg's Criminal Justice Reform Promises

Links Securing Justice: Reforming Our Criminal Legal System Summary Page 2000 Winning Essay by Peter Buttigieg – Bernie Sanders (JFK Library) Pete Buttigieg has been criticized for his handling of policing. He hopes his criminal justice plan will change that. (Vox) Buttigieg Raised $19.1 Million in Third Quarter, Campaign Says (Yahoo News)
17/10/2019

Ep. 23 - Kamala Harris' Criminal Justice Reform Promises

Links Kamala’s Plan to Transform the Criminal Justice System and Re-envision Public Safety in America [Joe Biden] was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, becoming the fifth youngest senator in history. – Britannica How Kamala Harris’ death penalty decisions broke hearts on both sides (CNN) Kamala Harris Touts Her Opposition to the Death Penalty. Her Track Record’s More Complicated (Mother Jones) Kamala Harris’s criminal justice reform plan, explained (Vox) Kamala Harris, Progressive Prosecutor? (On The Media, NPR) Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ (New York Times)
02/10/2019

Ep. 22 - Joe Biden's Criminal Justice Reform Promises

Links The Biden Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice SAFE Justice Act (Bobby Scott) The Reverse Incarceration Act (The Brennan Center) Decriminalization Versus Legalization of Marijuana (Thought Co.)
24/09/2019

Ep. 21 - Elizabeth Warren's Criminal Justice Reform Promises - Part 2

Links Rethinking Public Safety to Reduce Mass Incarceration and Strengthen Communities (Team Warren) The United States makes up 5% of the world’s population, but nearly 20% of the world’s prison population. We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with over 2 million people in prison and jail. Our system is the result of the dozens of choices we’ve made — choices that together stack the deck against the poor and the disadvantaged. Simply put, we have criminalized too many things. We send too many people to jail. We keep them there for too long. We do little to rehabilitate them. We spend billions, propping up an entire industry that profits from mass incarceration. And we do all of this despite little evidence that our harshly punitive system makes our communities safer — and knowing that a majority of people currently in prison will eventually return to our communities and our neighborhoods. The federal government oversees just 12% of the incarcerated population (PDF) (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
17/09/2019

Ep. 20 - Elizabeth Warren's Criminal Justice Reform Promises - Part 1

Links Rethinking Public Safety to Reduce Mass Incarceration and Strengthen Communities (Team Warren) The United States makes up 5% of the world’s population, but nearly 20% of the world’s prison population. We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with over 2 million people in prison and jail. Our system is the result of the dozens of choices we’ve made — choices that together stack the deck against the poor and the disadvantaged. Simply put, we have criminalized too many things. We send too many people to jail. We keep them there for too long. We do little to rehabilitate them. We spend billions, propping up an entire industry that profits from mass incarceration. And we do all of this despite little evidence that our harshly punitive system makes our communities safer — and knowing that a majority of people currently in prison will eventually return to our communities and our neighborhoods. Debtors’ Prisons, Then and Now: FAQ (The Marshall Project) Dispelling Myths About Poverty (Equal Justice Under Law) Preventing a mother from visiting her sons in prison because she cannot afford to pay parking tickets is wealth-based discrimination. Forcing someone to leave town because their mobile home is not worth enough is wealth-based discrimination. Keeping someone in jail prior to trial simply because they cannot afford bail — while those who can afford bail go free — is wealth-based discrimination. In all of these examples (and many more), people are penalized just for a lack of financial means. A Fair and Welcoming Immigration System (Team Warren) Some brain wiring continues to develop well into our 20s (Science Daily) Minimum Age for Delinquency Adjudication—Multi-Jurisdiction Survey (National Juvenile Defender Center) While every state (and territory) sets a maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction (in most states it is 18), in about two thirds of the states (and territories), there is no statute that specifies a minimum age under which a child cannot be adjudicated delinquent. In those states without a statutory minimum, there is nothing legally preventing the state from prosecuting even the youngest of children. This runs contrary to all of the scientific research and emerging case law that recognizes children are inherently less culpable than adults and that the younger a person, the less competent he or she may be.
10/09/2019

Ep. 19 - Bernie Sanders' Criminal Justice Reform Promises - Part 2

Links Bernie Sanders – Justice and Safety For All (Bernie Sanders) For most of our history as a country, the United States incarcerated people at about the same rates as other western democracies do today. In the early 1970s we had the same low crime rate as today, but we now have an incarceration rate five times higher. Indeed, America is now the world’s leading jailer. We lock up more than 2 million people in America, which is more of our own people than any country on Earth. And that does not include another 5 million people who are under the supervision of the correctional system. Hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people in America have not been convicted of a crime and are solely in jail because they can’t afford their bail. We are criminalizing poverty. Second Chance Act (2007) (Wikipedia) 14-year-old to be tried as an adult in killing of 16-year-old (Baltimore Sun) 14-year-old charged as an adult for the rape and murder of an 83-year-old woman (USA Today) Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Confining Juveniles with Adults After Graham and Miller (Emory Law) Thousands of juveniles are currently confined with adults in detention and correctional facilities throughout the United States. Juveniles confined in adult facilities face grave dangers to their safety and well-being, including significantly higher rates of physical assault, sexual abuse, and suicide than their counterparts in juvenile facilities. These dangers and other conditions of juvenile confinement with adults give rise to concerns of constitutional dimension. In its Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, the United States Supreme Court has created categorical rules prohibiting the imposition of certain punishments on entire categories of offenders as cruel and unusual punishment. The Court’s 2010 decision in Graham v. Florida, in which it held that a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole violates the Eighth Amendment when applied to juveniles convicted of nonhomicide offenses, and its 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, in which it held that mandatory life-without-parole sentencing schemes violate the Eighth Amendment when applied to juveniles, open the door to challenge the constitutionality of the confinement of juveniles with adults. Supreme Court restricts life without parole for juveniles (Washington Post) Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Juveniles may not be sentenced to life in prison without parole for any crime short of homicide, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, expanding its command that young offenders must be treated differently from adults even for heinous crimes. The court ruled 5 to 4 that denying juveniles who have not committed homicide a chance to ever rejoin society is counter to national and “global” consensus and violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision follows the court’s 2005 decision that, no matter what crime they commit, juveniles may not be executed. It also reinforced the court’s view that the Eighth Amendment’s protections against harsh punishment must be interpreted in light of the country’s “evolving standards of decency.” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said states must provide juveniles who receive lengthy sentences a “meaningful” chance at some point to show they should be released. Minimum Age for Delinquency Adjudication—Multi-Jurisdiction Survey (National Juvenile Defender Center) While every state (and territory) sets a maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction (in most states it is 18), in about two thirds of the states (and territories), there is no statute that specifies a minimum age under which a child cannot be adjudicated delinquent. In those states without a statutory minimum, there is nothing legally preventing the state from prosecuting even the youngest of children. This runs contrary to all of the scientific research and emerging case law that recognizes children are inherently less culp
04/09/2019

Ep. 18 - Bernie Sanders' Criminal Justice Reform Promises - Part 1

Links Bernie Sanders – Justice and Safety For All (Bernie Sanders) For most of our history as a country, the United States incarcerated people at about the same rates as other western democracies do today. In the early 1970s we had the same low crime rate as today, but we now have an incarceration rate five times higher. Indeed, America is now the world’s leading jailer. We lock up more than 2 million people in America, which is more of our own people than any country on Earth. And that does not include another 5 million people who are under the supervision of the correctional system. Hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people in America have not been convicted of a crime and are solely in jail because they can’t afford their bail. We are criminalizing poverty. Sanders’s Criminal-Justice Plan Is Wrong in So Many Ways (National Review) It’s based on the false premise that the justice system is draconian and racially oppressive, and it ignores that most prisoners are in state, not federal, prisons. Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (YouTube) Civil Forfeiture: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (YouTube) Indiana Risk Assessment System (Indiana) Assessments are utilized to determine specific criminal risk factors and needs. They may be used by courts, probation, community corrections, institutional facilities, and can be used to assist with determining pre-trial release, sentencing, supervision intensity, and treatment needed (i.e. cognitive behavioral, mental health, and substance abuse.)
26/08/2019

Ep. 17 - Jeffrey Epstein and Suicide in Jail

Links Jeffrey Epstein (Wikpedia) Ep. 15 - The Meaning of Life, with Marc Mauer Journalists should examine the leading cause of jail deaths, in light of Jeffrey Epstein (Poynter) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah clip (YouTube) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver clip (YouTube) Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000–2013 - Statistical Tables (PDF) (Department of Justice) Suicide has been the leading cause of death in jails every year since 2000. In 2013, a third (34%) of jail inmate deaths were due to suicide. The suicide rate increased 14%, from 40 suicides per 100,000 jail inmates in 2012 to 46 per 100,000 in 2013. AP Investigation: Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides (AP) Suicide, long the leading cause of death in U.S. jails, hit a high of 50 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 2014, the latest year for which the government has released data. That’s 2½ times the rate of suicides in state prisons and about 3½ times that of the general population. Metropolitan Correctional Center (Federal Bureau of Prisons) National Study of Jail Suicide: 20 Years Later (PDF) (National Institute of Corrections) Following are some findings regarding characteristics of the suicide victims:• Sixty-seven percent were white. 93% were male. The average age was 35. 42% were single. 43% were held on a personal and/or violent charge. 47% had a history of substance abuse. 28% had a history of medical problems. 38% had a history of mental illness. 20% had a history of taking psychotropic medication. 34% had a history of suicidal behavior. Preventing Suicide in Jails and Prisons (PDF) (World Health Organization) Suicide is often the single most common cause of death in correctional settings. Jails, prisons and penitentiaries are responsible for protecting the health and safety of their inmate populations, and the failure to do so, can be open to legal challenge. Further fuelled by media interest, a suicide in correctional facility can easily escalate into a political scandal. Moreover, suicidal behaviour by custodial inmates means a stressful event for officers and other prisoners faced with it. Therefore, the provision of adequate suicide prevention and intervention services is both beneficial to the prisoners in custody, as well as to the institution in which the services are offered. It is within this context that correctional settings worldwide struggle with the problem of preventing inmate suicide. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker introduces Walt Monegan (YouTube)

Seek Justice

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Erik Rasmussen and Dennis Schrantz
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