More than 7,000 federal prisoners saw their sentences reduced by the 2018 First Step Act. But hundreds of those people face deportation. Some call First Step an example of inflated hopes and modest reality. While it decreases prison overcrowding and improves prison conditions, it does…
Editor’s note: With the recent vaccine news, the Legal Examiner is publishing this updated followup version of a previously published article. UPDATE: As the country gears up for a massive program to administer COVID-19 vaccines, some experts are recommending increased protections for anyone who may…
Immigrants who face torture, rape and other forms of persecution in their home countries have long faced a gamble when they attempt to find protection in the United States. Under the Trump administration, the odds of succeeding have grown significantly longer, according to a recent…
Ned Manning, an attorney for 30 years in North Carolina, had heard mentions over the decades that another lawyer from his small hometown of Kinston had argued a civil rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court. “Fred Harrison was a general practitioner and did criminal…
Lisa Marie Montgomery is 52 and mentally ill, living on a cocktail of psychotropic drugs that only occasionally help her recognize the reality of her federal prison cell. She is also the only woman — the first in nearly 70 years — to face an…
In an era of deep political division and more contentious confirmations of the three most recent justices, the arguments for cameras in the U.S. Supreme Court might be stronger than in past decades. It’s not a new idea. The first bill proposing to allow cameras…
As COVID-19 cases rose, fell and now rise again across the country, prisons and youth detention facilities have consistently continued to see high numbers of infection and yes, death, leading some to call it the new death penalty. According to the ACLU’s Death by Incarceration…
Smartphone users may not know it, but their mobile devices could allow police and other government agents to track their whereabouts even if they’ve done nothing wrong. If you have a phone that uses Google apps — an estimated 97% of all smart phones in…
These days, your landlord doesn’t have to peep out the window like Gladys Kravitz to keep tabs on your every move. Constant surveillance is just a click and ‘two-day shipping’ away. From the Ring video doorbell to nanny cams to key fobs, the Internet of…
Fights over beach access rights are nothing new. These battles usually take place in the courtroom, but sometimes can become physical. This summer, a dispute between two New Jersey beachgoers erupted into a physical altercation with one man stabbing the other. At issue was whether…