Monthly Archives: December 2017
“On The Death Penalty, New Jersey Got It Right”
December marks the 10th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in New Jersey. After the Appellate Division found the procedures by which capital punishment was being imposed in the state to be unconstitutional in 2004, the Death Penalty Study Commission—as created by the legislature—recommended its abolition. In its place followed life imprisonment… Read More »
Decriminalization Versus Legalization In New Jersey: What’s Coming
We’ve previously written about how close New Jersey is to not only decriminalizing marijuana, but potentially legalizing its recreational use. Come January, new political leadership in New Jersey is reportedly poised to move on legalization right away, making New Jersey the largest state in the East to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While… Read More »
The New Push To Expand New York’s Childhood Sexual Assault Law
As recently reported by the New York Times, there is a new push to expand New York’s childhood sex assault law. Under the current law in New York, victims of childhood sexual abuse have until they reach the age of 21 to sue the facility where the sexual abuse occurred and age 23 to… Read More »
Police Use Of Drones: Are Your Privacy Rights Being Threatened?
When our founding fathers wrote the United States Constitution, subsequently amended by the states, it’s unlikely that they envisioned the technological advances we’ve seen over the last few hundred years. The Supreme Court has battled with interpretations of privacy in light of sophisticated new tools like heat seeking lamps and data storage. Now, we… Read More »
Defense Attorneys’ Protest Outside Of Brooklyn Courthouse Highlights Flaws In Immigration & Criminal Justice Overlap
On November 28th, nearly 100 New York criminal defense attorneys organized a protest, making a statement against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who arrested one of their clients on an immigration charge at the Brooklyn courthouse. For defense attorneys committed to representing their clients, every courthouse represents a safe haven that is… Read More »
U.S. Supreme Court Could Dismantle Digital Privacy Protection Under Fourth Amendment
On November 29th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on a case that will be monumental for determining how the Fourth Amendment protects cell phone data, or digital privacy. The case, Carpenter vs. United States, specifically poses whether the warrantless seizure and search of historical cellphone records—which reveal the location and movements of a… Read More »
TIME Addresses Ironies Of U.S. Criminal Justice System
On November 21st, TIME wrote an interesting piece on some of the ironies of our criminal justice system, particularly when it comes to who does time in prison, for what crimes, versus who does not. Specifically, the article focused on comparing 30-year-old rapper Meek Mill, who was just recently sentenced to two to four… Read More »
Too Many Women In Jail: New York’s New Record Sealing Law Provides Some Hope
According to some sources, one in four women that is incarcerated is either pregnant or has a child that is less than one year old. Jailing these women can be especially disruptive to society, as they are sometimes the threads keeping a home together. In addition, arguably, many of them also do not belong… Read More »
