Search Results for: sentencing guidelines

A jury on Tuesday found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Floyd’s death sparked widespread outrage and protests when a video was shared online showing Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. Chauvin was charged in the Hennepin County District Court with [...]

The Court of Rotterdam announced on Monday that Fatima H. has been sentenced to four years in prison in the Netherlands for her involvement with the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Shaam (ISIS) or Islamic State (IS). According to the court: The suspect is guilty of participation in a terrorist [...]

In a notice submitted to the US Supreme Court on Monday, acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stated that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has reconsidered its position with regard to whether possession of a small amount of cocaine base with intent to distribute constitutes a “covered offense” under Section 404 of the First Step [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) unlawfully rescheduled Lisa Montgomery’s execution while a stay on her sentence was in place. Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row in the US, was originally scheduled to be executed on December 8 [...]

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales released new sentencing guidelines Wednesday that tell judges to consider their racial bias prior to sentencing. The guidelines pertain to unlawful firearm possession, discharge and acquisition offenses. The guidelines attempt to make sentences more consistent across the board. The guidelines come in response to the 2017 Lammy report that found [...]

As the daily cases of COVID-19 in India have proved all the expected rates of decline wrong, the Government continues to rely on the 123-year-old Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (“The Act”) to try and bring some semblance of control to the situation. The Supreme Court, in a decision dated 17th November 2020, refused to adjudicate [...]

Every four years, Americans are met with countless ads and displays encouraging them to vote. However, current and formerly incarcerated Americans are continuously left out of the conversation. Our criminal justice system is so stigmatized that we discount incarcerated Americans from the voting process: the pillar upon which our democratic society is built. In 1972, [...]

Nationwide protests in response to the brutal murder of George Floyd have put a spotlight on the profound injustices of the criminal legal system. Much of the criticism has rightly focused on the abuses in policing and incarceration. But along with abusive policing, another urgent threat that impoverished communities face under this system is the [...]

A former attorney for the FBI pleaded guilty on Wednesday to doctoring an email in relation to the Bureau’s investigation of ties between President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government. Kevin Clinesmith, a former Assistant General Counsel for the FBI’s National Security and Cyber Law Branch, was assigned to provide legal support for [...]

Extrajudicial killings are acts of violence carried out by law enforcement agencies without any judicial authorization. This is usually done by the state to enforce what may be called ‘instant justice’ by circumventing the elaborate procedure established through the criminal justice system. Even though it must be seen as an aberration to the well-entrenched principle [...]