Tag: Criminal Justice System

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Arrests in California – Public Policy Institute of California

At the onset of COVID-19, California’s criminal justice system was affected by shelter-in-place orders and other public health measures, along with law enforcement directives intended to minimize exposure to the virus. We found that pandemic arrest trends mirror mobility patterns, particularly early on. But other factors, such as a shift in policing strategies, also played a role.
— Read on www.ppic.org/publication/assessing-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-arrests-in-california/

Is Less Always More? The Unintended Consequences of New York State’s Parole Reform | Manhattan Institute

On July 10, 2021, an unknown assailant barged into the boarding-house room where 47-year-old Heather Majors was sleeping and attacked her with a hatchet, slashing her more than 30 times. Rochester, New York, emergency responders were called to the scene, but Majors’s injuries proved too…
— Read on www.manhattan-institute.org/unintended-consequences-of-new-york-states-parole-reform

Destroyed by Discovery: How New York State’s Discovery Law Destabilizes the Criminal Justice System | Manhattan Institute

Prosecutors are required to hand over relevant material to defense attorneys prior to trial, a process referred to as “discovery.” Discovery is fundamental to a fair trial because it is impossible for defendants to make informed plea-bargain decisions if they do not know the strength of the…
— Read on www.manhattan-institute.org/how-new-york-discovery-law-destabilizes-criminal-justice-system

Pittsburgh Police resume certain minor traffic stops despite policy against them | 90.5 WESA

This has been an interest of mine. How can a municipality dictate the enforcement of State Law? In this case vehicle and traffic law.

The below article has likes to the specific law and it allows for “secondary enforcement” but not primary enforcement.

The two violations I’ll discuss are expired registration and expired inspection. I am surprised that expired registration gets a pass because it’s a money grab for the State and expired inspection is a SAFETY issue and/or an EMISSIONS issue. Emissions! Hello environmentalists.

The main question is how can a municipality set aside a subset a laws and label them “Do Not Enforce”. Every other municipality enforces these laws yet in Pennsylvania yet in Pittsburgh these laws are purposefully under enforced.

What other State laws can be ignored? Theft? Damage to property? Assault? Murder? Or just vehicle and traffic laws?

When police take the oath of office the swear to uphold the laws and the constitution of the State and the municipality that they work in. How can a municipality have police stop enforcing state law?

The ARTICLE:

Pittsburgh Police officials say a city ordinance that blocks enforcement of certain minor traffic violations is “preventing them from doing their jobs.”
— Read on www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2023-01-12/pittsburgh-police-resume-secondary-traffic-stops-despite-city-ordinance-against-them

Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice System: 2021 Report to the Washington Supreme Court

See the report HERE: digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi

See ALSO

This is the Prequel Report that provides historical background to the 2021 report.
Research Working Group, Preliminary Report on Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice
System, 47 G ONZ . L. R EV . 251 (2011–2012), 35 S EATTLE U. L. R EV . 623 (2012), 87 W ASH . L. R EV . 1 (2012) [hereinafter 2011 Preliminary Report]. Because of the difficulties of providing pinpoint citations to all three journals, page references to this report will be to the PDF of the report released to the public as part of its historic presentation to the Court,
available here: https://perma.cc/6BV4-RBB8.

Weighing the Impact of Simple Possession of Marijuana | United States Sentencing Commission

(January 2023) This publication assesses recent trends in federal sentencing for simple possession of marijuana, as well as how prior sentences for simple possession affect criminal history calculations under the guidelines.
— Read on www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/weighing-impact-simple-possession-marijuana

The System: Race and Policing | The Marshall Project

Here is a view that Police were organized to protect the rich and enforce laws against minorities. Some have strong beliefs on this. Check out the various articles and the links within the articles and see if you are in agreement or do they challenge your views?

Police forces in the U.S. were originally founded to secure private property—including human beings.
— Read on www.themarshallproject.org/2020/10/21/race-and-policing

Policy Recommendations to Renew and Reform New York State | Manhattan Institute

NOTE: Keep checking back new policy recommendations are added.

The following are policy recommendations adapted from the Empire Center’s The Next New York series, which aims to renew and reform New York state. Topics addressed by Manhattan Institute scholars for this briefing book include criminal justice, education, mental health, and…
— Read on www.manhattan-institute.org/policy-recommendations-to-renew-and-reform-new-york-state