Incarceration Is Skyrocketing in Rural America
Undocumented immigrants. Drug dealers. Gang members in Chicago. But the tough on crime approach favored by President Trump won't just hurt people in cities he's painted as urban hellscapes.
Category Archives: Prison
AB 813 allows people, including undocumented immigrants, who are no…
A new California law allows people who are no longer in jail to challenge old convictions, a move that could offer deportation relief to immigrants as President Donald Trump's administration targets those with prior crimes. The law - known as "Criminal procedure: postconviction relief" - allows people who have claims of innocence, or people whose attorneys failed to warn them about the immigration consequences of a plea deal, a way of challenging those convictions.
Puerto Rico Nationalist Says He Passed Up Award for New York Parade’s Good
A Puerto Rican nationalist, vilified for his alleged links to a deadly bombing campaign, decided on his own to pass up a special award that Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers wanted to give him, hoping to dispel the rancor that had enveloped the New York event, an official said. Even so, Oscar Lopez Rivera still wanted to march in the annual celebration of Puerto Rican heritage, said Louis Maldonado, a member of the parade's board.
US House panel to debate US$115 million for Guantanamo Bay facilities
WASHINGTON: A U.S. House of Representatives spending panel will vote on Monday on a US$192.5 billion budget bill that includes US$115 million to build permanent housing facilities for U.S. military personnel at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre even as the inmate population has fallen sharply. The House Appropriations Committee said in a statement on Sunday that the 2018 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill included funding to build two new barracks to house service members stationed at Guantanamo Bay.
Why US surveillance bothers me – and should bother you
As the Trump Administration comes out swinging in favor of one of the United States' most controversial surveillance laws and Congress debates them with top intelligence and Department of Justice officials, everyone in the country should be thinking about why being watched by the government makes us queasy. I've been working on US surveillance issues as a lawyer, policy analyst, and general geek for the past three years.
I was an FBI agent. Trump’s lack of concern about Russian hacking shocks me.
Reactions to former FBI director James Comey's testimony Thursday mostly seemed to follow predictable, partisan lines. To many Democrats, Comey appeared to be describing a clear case of obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump.
Trump to reveal new Cuba policy in speech
President Donald Trump is expected to reveal his administration's new policy toward Cuba in a speech in Miami next Friday, according to two US officials. Trump is due to roll back portions of the Obama-era policies softening relations with Cuba, CNN reported in May. Officials previously said that Trump will likely announce the United States will no longer make unilateral concessions to Cuba, which is what critics accused the Obama administration of doing.
Trump targets illegal immigrants given reprieves from deportation by Obama
In September 2014, Gilberto Velasquez, a 38-year-old house painter from El Salvador, received life-changing news: The US government had decided to shelve its deportation action against him. The move was part of a policy change initiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2011 to pull back from deporting immigrants who had formed deep ties in the United States and whom the government considered no threat to public safety.
Trump to reveal new Cuba policy in speech next Friday
President Donald Trump is expected to reveal his administration's new policy toward Cuba in a speech in Miami next Friday, according to two US officials. Trump is due to roll back portions of the Obama-era policies softening relations with Cuba, CNN reported in May. Officials previously said that Trump will likely announce the United States will no longer make unilateral concessions to Cuba, which is what critics accused the Obama administration of doing.
Cuban dissident to receive West New York ‘key to town’
WEST NEW YORK -- A well-known Cuban dissident will be in West New York on Friday to speak out against continued human rights abuses on the island despite the recent thaw in U.S. relations, and to be honored by one of the town's own outspoken critics of the island's authoritarian regime. The dissident, Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello , is a 72-year-old economist and longtime critic of Fidel Castro and his brother Raul.
Alabama executes inmate who killed three during a 1994 Popeye’s robbery
Alabama executed inmate Robert Melson late Thursday for killing three people during a robbery at a Popeye's restaurant in 1994. Melson was pronounced dead at 10:27 p.m. local time, following a lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, according to the Associated Press .
The Latest: DoJ says Sessions recusal due to campaign work
FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, then-FBI Director James Comey, testifies before a House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee budget hearing about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's F... . FILE - In this May 3, 2017, file photo, then-FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Come home, Jeff Sessions
In this March 6, 2017 file photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions waits to make a statement at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Washington. Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were appointed during the prior presidential administration, the Justice Department said Friday, March 10, 2017.
Judicial Watch Sues ICE for Information Regarding the Suspension of…
Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for all records concerning the suspension of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Declined Detainer Outcome Report. ). The suit was filed after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to an April 13, 2017, FOIA request seeking: The Declined Detainer Outcome Reports highlighted state and local governments, often referred to as sanctuary cities, that did not comply with ICE's detainer program .
Gregg Jarrett Comey must testify in favor of Trump or face legal woes
Gregg Jarrett: Comey must testify in favor of Trump (or he'll put himself in serious legal jeopardy) The former FBI Director must say President Trump did not attempt to obstruct justice. To testify otherwise will put Comey himself in serious legal jeopardy.
Comey account could fuel obstruction accusations against Trump – legal experts
Former FBI Director James Comey's testimony that U.S. President Donald Trump expected loyalty and hoped Comey would drop an investigation of a former top aide could bolster obstruction of justice allegations against Trump, several legal experts said. Such allegations might be used as the basis for impeachment proceedings, some of the analysts said.
The Latest: Supreme Court allows poor Houston inmates freed
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused an emergency request from Harris County officials to block a lower court ruling that has allowed dozens of inmates who can't afford their bail to be freed from a Houston jail. Justice Clarence Thomas, without referring the case to the full court and without comment, rejected the county's appeal Wednesday, a day after a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that allowed poor inmates to be released on personal bond.
RISE: Russia probe testimony; Sessions considered resigning; Scooter power
The investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is entering a high-stakes phase for the White House as lawmakers prepare to publicly question former FBI Director James B. Comey and other top intelligence and law enforcement officials about whether President Donald Trump sought to block the FBI inquiry. WASHINGTON - The investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is entering a high-stakes phase for the White House as lawmakers prepare to publicly question former FBI Director James B. Comey and other top intelligence and law enforcement officials about whether President Donald Trump sought to block the FBI inquiry.
The Russia Probe, Seen Through Moscow’s Lens
At a cafe a few blocks from the old KGB headquarters at Lubyanka Square, investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov tries to explain the murky world of Russian intelligence that's now the focus of a U.S. criminal investigation into the hacking of the 2016 campaign. often aren't the product of broad strategy, argues Soldatov, but rather are "tactical moves" that reflect the personal interests of President Soldatov thinks the Putin factor is crucial in understanding issues in the hacking investigation.
Former FBI Director Comey told AG Jeff Sessions: Don’t leave me alone with Trump
The day after President Donald Trump asked James B. Comey, the FBI director, to end an investigation into his former national security adviser, Comey confronted Attorney General Jeff Sessions and said he did not want to be left alone again with the president, the New York Times reports, citing current and former law enforcement officials. Comey believed Sessions should protect the FBI from White House influence, the officials said, according tothe Times, and pulled him aside after a meeting in February to tell him that private interactions between the FBI director and the president were inappropriate.