Links of Interest: April 9 -13, 2012
Judicial Performance and Elections
- A post at the Georgetown Public Policy Review examines the DISCLOSE Act, legislation aimed at improving transparency in campaign-related spending. As the 2012 election season continues, expect questions about the role of money in elections and the propriety of anonymous money in elections to gain prominence.
See our previous post on public financing of judicial elections.
Criminal Justice
- This week lawyers for former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he would give a deposition about the systemic abuse and torture under former police commander Jon Burge, who was convicted in 2010 on three counts of obstruction of justice and perjury for lying about the torture in a civil lawsuit.
Read the Chicago Tribune archives about the matter or check out Human Rights at Home, a project of the University of Chicago, for more information.
- President of “Families Against Mandatory Minimums” guest blogged at the Crime Report, applauding bipartisan opposition to expanding number and punitiveness of federal criminal laws.
Federal criminal law, once reserved for serious misconduct that required the greatest punishment, is now used to punish a broad scope of conduct. In fact, many federal laws today impose steep mandatory punishments even in cases where the defendant acted without criminal intent.
- Randolph Stone, Director of the University of Chicago Law School’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project and former Cook County Public Defender, forecasts an optimistic future for indigent criminal defense:
To exercise the privilege of defending the poor, all lawyers will meet minimum standards of performance. . . . The administrative structure of the indigent defense system will ensure appropriate caseload limits, supervision, and sufficient investigative, clerical, social service, and other support. An effective system will feature early entry and vertical representation (meaning a single attorney represents a client from arraignment through trial). Finally, staffing of the public defender office will reflect the diversity of the community.
Read more in The Sentencing Project’s 25th Anniversary Publication, “To Build a Better Criminal Justice System (pdf).”
Community Justice
- The National Women’s Law Center is hosting a “blog carnival” to mark National Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, April 17. Sign up to participate no later than this afternoon or just follow along next week.
- The ACLU released an infographic “The Facts about Voter Suppression.”
Read more about the latest developments affecting voters’ rights at the Brennan Center.