Diane Lefer: The death penalty means “the State can kill you as long as they give you a trial. The State doesn’t say your lawyer has to be awake.
States Playing with Enforcement-Only Fire Likely to Get Burned
By
Seth Hoy: Perhaps if state lawmakers listened to their constituents and considered the economic consequences, they might realize that playing with enforcement-only immigration is a surefire way to burn down your state’s economy.
New DHS Documents Highlight Internal Confusion Over Secure Communities Program
By
Michele Waslin: While ICE has said that the agency will eventually install Secure Communities in all state and local detention facilities nationwide (which makes it seem like a federal mandate), they have also indicated that the program is voluntary.
Police Have More, Better Rights than You
By
Wendy McElroy: Even as the Illinois police defend their “right” to surveil everyone on the grounds that those being watched are in public, they deny the public the right to record them in the line of duty.
Cops Are Missing the Bad Guys While Profiling the Black Guys
By
David Love: Reading 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today made me angry, not because the subject matter was brand new to me, but because it was far too familiar – not only as a black man, but also as a human rights advocate who worked with police brutality victims and their families back in the 1990s, and decided to go to law school as a result.
Portantino Proposes Alternative to Early Release Prison Reform Efforts
By
Anthony Portantino: Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) has introduced legislation that shifts the prison reform debate from an early release and sentencing reform emphasis to stopping the revolving door at California’s prisons.
Can’t Wait to Hear What He Had in His Hand This Time
By
Anthony Samad: The LAPD shot and killed another Black man. Why weren’t two trained law enforcement officers able to subdue an unarmed, naked man? I’d like to know how this happened. I just wanna know what he had in his hand that would justify the use of lethal force.
Citizens United Turns 1: Supreme Court Considers Corporate Personhood Again
By
Marian Wang: Kagan’s successor as solicitor general, Neal Katyal, has argued that “a corporation itself can no more be embarrassed, harassed, or stigmatized than a stone.”
Police Misconduct and Public Accountability
By
Wendy McElroy: Why is it difficult to prosecute police officers for criminal misconduct even when the abuse is severe and unequivocal?
Overcrowding at Center of Landmark Prison Rights Case
By
Carol Strickman: The best way to ensure that people successfully reenter society is to provide resources to support them upon release. Prisoners who have maintained family ties and have housing and employment opportunities awaiting them will do better than those who don’t.
Counties Say No to ICE’s Secure Communities Program; Is Opting Out Possible?
By
Michele Waslin: The Santa Clara and Arlington County votes come after questions and confusion regarding local jurisdictions’ ability to opt-out of the program.
Beyond the Grim Sleeper: Cut Death Penalty to Fund Criminal Investigations
By
Aqeela Sherrills: Why do we continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on the death penalty even though it has never been proven to deter murderers and even though 1,000 killers get away with murder each year?
Representing: The Future of Blacks in Law Enforcement and Fire Emergency Services in Los Angeles
By
Jasmyne Cannick: A conversation with the President’s of the Black Employee Associations for the L.A.P.D., Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and Los Angeles City and County Fire Departments
Fast 4 Freedom
By
Diane Lefer: AB900 was a huge victory for the prison-industrial complex. “People are making a profit out of putting people in cages,” said Geri Silva.
Mehserle-Grant Verdict Aftermath: Oakland Lives Another Day
By
H. Scott Prosterman: Regardless of the verdict, some element of violent protest was inevitable. Ironically, most of those arrested were white, suburban anarchist, rather than black activists.
Marco Rubio Flipped Wrong on Arizona
By
Andrea Christina Nill: Perhaps the most damning evidence that the law hasn’t really changed is the fact that its main sponsor, state Sen. Russell Pearce (R) admitted himself that the new wording won’t alter how the law is enforced. The changes also do not address the fact that the new law is likely unconstitutional on the grounds that it allows the state to regulate immigration — a power which the Constitution explicitly assigns to the federal government.
First Solve Prison Crisis, Then Fix California’s Budget
By
Dick Price: To get a handle on the damage California’s current approach to incarceration is having on its citizens, consider this: In a recent 23-year period, California erected 23 prisons—one a year, each costing roughly $100 million dollars annually to operate, with both Democratic and Republican governors occupying the statehouse—at the same time that it added just one campus to its vaunted university system, UC Merced.
Color of Law: Please Don’t Feed the Prison Monster
By
At its worst, America’s criminal justice system represents the place where racism, greed and corruption intersect. At its best, it is inherently flawed, unjust, and unreliable, and little better than its worst. The engine that drives this injustice system is known as the prison industrial complex. It is the theater in which the nation’s foremost [...]
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Recent Comments