Links of Interest
What We Read, October 24-28, 2011
Criminal Justice Court Reform:
- Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez addressed the announced that U.N. General Assembly in New York, discussing how solitary confinement violates the United Nations Convention against Torture. A link to his full report is available here.
- The Family Justice Program at the Vera Institute of Justice recently completed Close to Home, a project to enhance reentry outcomes by incorporating a family-focused, strength-based approach to facility policies and practices.
- An interesting analysis of sentencing policies, incarceration rates and a long-needed California’s penal policy, following Brown v. Plata (.pdf) and Coleman v. Schwarzenegger. Synopsis of Plata at the Oyez Project.
Immigration Court Reform:
- California has passed legislation to pre-empt participation in E-verify laws check the immigration status of potential employees.
- Systematic review to separate “high-priority” deportations of criminals from “low-prioroity” deportations that clog the system is to begin shortly.
- The director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights writes about the impact of deportations on families and minor children.
- SCOTUS blog conducts a Constitution audit of state alien laws so far.
Community Justice:
- A federal judge in Orlando temporarily blocked Florida’s controversial law requiring welfare applicants be drug tested in order to receive benefits. The ACLU of Florida, who filed the case, offered this press release.
- Clifford Winston, an economist and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, asks if law schools and bar exams are necessary.