"It can take hours for a sexual assault victim to undergo the multiple swabs, hair samples, blood and urine collections, and other invasive procedures of a sexual assault examination. And then it can take months, sometimes years, for investigators to process that evidence kit.

But now, responding to demands from survivors and their advocates, more states have committed to tackling yearslong investigative backlogs."

https://stateline.org/2023/09/08/sexual-assault-survivors-can-now-track-their-rape-kits-in-most-states/

#criminaljustice #sexualassault #rapekit

Happy #Newstodon Friday, a day to celebrate the best #journalism in the #fediverse!

“This isn’t just a question of us getting out of some individual ticket. The law itself has to be overturned.”

Today, let's revisit Michelle Pitcher's story on the legal fight against an unjust (and maybe, unconstitutional?) law that bans feeding people in certain places in #Houston. https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-food-not-bombs-trial/

#inequality #unhoused #homeless #poverty #Texas #politics #CriminalJustice #police #law #USpol #news

Trump’s 2020 crusade has led to 700 years in prison sentences

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/06/trumps-2020-crusade-has-led-700-years-prison-sentences/

#WashingtonPost #Trump2020Crusade #PrisonSentences #PoliticalNews #CriminalJustice #LegalSystem #Politics #News

7 months after the #shooting, investigators interviewed the #NYPD officers who shot their weapons.

But investigators did NOT challenge those #officers when their accounts differed from what was captured on video, according to recordings obtained by ProPublica.

#Police #FriendlyFire #TheBronx #NYC #News #BodyCam #Cops #CivilRights #CriminalJustice

https://propub.li/3sLvpNW

Georgia's Republican AG Chris Carr chose the date of the RICO filings against over 60 "Cop City" protestors and Atlanta Solidarity Find organizers as May 25th, 2020, the day George Floyd got murdered by Minneapolis police

#atlanta #criminaljustice #police #environment #news

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/breaking-more-than-60-training-center-activists-named-in-rico-indictment/DQ6B6GHTAJAJRH4SLGIIBAMXR4/

“We are up against a bunch of rich people who don’t want to see #homeless people anywhere near their stuff.”

Volunteers with #Houston Food Not Bombs are going to court to fight an anti-food sharing ordinance which they say violates their First Amendment rights, reports Staff Writer Michelle Pitcher in our latest article: https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-food-not-bombs-trial/

#news #politics #USpol #food #poverty #inequality #HumanRights #library #law #CriminalJustice #police #Texas #FirstAmendment

“Leticia suffered from extreme anxiety and depression during the prolonged separation. She feared for her own safety in #Guatemala and worried about her son’s well-being in foster care in the United States.”

Via our friends at Truthout, the U.S. government is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over the anguish caused by family separation: https://www.texasobserver.org/leticia-family-separation-lawsuit/

#news #politics #USpol #immigration #Border #FosterCare #CriminalJustice

Congratulations to everyone at Measures for Justice on the launch of Monroe County Commons! I'm excited to see the conversations it sparks.

This project was well underway when I left MFJ in January 2022, amazing work getting it across the finish line (though of course, this is just the beginning).

https://app.measuresforjustice.org/commons/monroe-county-da/goals

#mfj #measuresforjustice #roc #rochesterny #rochester #criminaljustice #criminaljusticereform #incarceration #diversion

#TFG is fundraising off #CriminalJustice: #TFG’s DOJ fought the release of some prisoners +underfunded its programs. When CA tried to ban prv prisons, #TFG's admin fought them -closed halfway houses -disbanded a program for EDU programs in fed prisons -sought longer sentences -urged harsh treatment for 2020′s BLM protesters -asked top aides: “Can’t we just shoot them?” -Oversaw an aggressive return of the fed death penalty *executed 13 prisoners & he pardoned his cronies. https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/attytood/trump-racism-fulton-county-jail-20230829.html

"Clearly high quality probation work needs resources – the primary one of which is probation officer time to build a trusting relationship. This resource has clearly been missing from the service over recent years as area probation inspection results make only too clear."
https://www.russellwebster.com/good-probation-supervision-does-reduce-reoffending/?fbclid=IwAR2GypqCxcIVM8yURCbp6bK6I3Z8ldsb_y75j4oGPVvJTf6ZEj7V7Nnh5Og

#Probation #CriminalJustice #ReducingReoffending #Desistence #NationalProbationService #NPS #LawandOrder #Criminology #CommunityJustice

A Chicago #Cop Is Accused of Lying Under Oath 44 Times. Now #Prosecutors Are Dropping Cases That Relied on His Testimony.

Former #Chicago officer Jeffrey Kriv faces charges for #perjury and #forgery after getting out of dozens of #traffic violations by claiming his girlfriend had stolen his car.

Now, cases that stem from #arrests Kriv made are in jeopardy.

#Police #Illinois #CriminalJustice #Crime #Courts #News

https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-officer-kriv-perjury-prosecutors-dropped-criminal-cases?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Really appreciate this eye opening, illuminating, harrowing piece.

While reading kept thinking, “This is why journalism is so important.”

Thank you for giving voice and opening our eyes - to Derrol Shaw and those Alabama locks away and dehumanizes.

We've got to do better for each other.

💛 🦄 📰

#Justice #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Prison #News #Rehabilitation #journalism #UnicornRiot

@internetfreedom 's annual event had a really interesting bunch of panel discussions covering #artificalintelligence #criminaljustice #digitalpublicinfrastructures and #caste

My blog post observes the discussions from the point of view of #semiotics of the law, a project I wish to take further.

https://sankalpsrv.github.io/2023/08/26/PrivacySupreme/sankalpsrv.github.io/2023/08/26/PrivacySupreme/

Major update to our earlier investigation: Austin Theater Teacher Sued by Ex-Students Dies
https://www.texasobserver.org/austin-theater-teacher-sued-by-ex-students-dies/

(CW: Descriptions of Sexual #Abuse)

#education #Austin #Texas #schools #CriminalJustice #law #theater #news

Report shows the decline of Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts

"The report argues that the lack of #victim focus within #SDAC/ #court proceedings reflects and is underscored by a process of de-prioritisation of #domesticabuse within wider #CriminalJusticeSystem (#CJS) processes. The clearest evidence of this was found in low caseloads and ineffective or inconsistent clustering of services.
https://www.russellwebster.com/specialist-domestic-abuse-courts/?fbclid=IwAR2zWJ_3YaRpow-3er4MmqNH8riP_AwAPZc_TITN4MfcMgcA_lYjUaI7zZE.

#CriminalJustice #MagistratesCourts #InterpersonalViolence #DomesticViolence

A criminal looks like a criminal

#trumpmugshot #criminaljustice

Despite Major Reform to #Military Justice System, #Navy Still Leaves Public in Dark
==
As President #Biden announces major reforms to how the military prosecutes #SexualAssault, the U.S. Navy is still shrouding those court proceedings in secrecy and fighting a ProPublica lawsuit to make such cases public.

#CriminalJustice #Transparency #Lawsuits #News

https://www.propublica.org/article/despite-reform-to-military-justice-system-navy-leaves-public-in-dark?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

127,000 #NewYork Workers Have Been Victims of #WageTheft

==
An analysis of federal and state databases sheds new light on the prevalence and scale of wage theft in New York #restaurants and other industries, placing the total wages stolen in one five-year period at more than $203 million.

#Theft #Jobs #Wages #Working #Labor #HumanRights #CriminalJustice #Employers #Employees #Crime #News

https://www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-new-york-workers-have-been-victims-of-wage-theft?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

New York #Workers Are Waiting on $79 Million in Back Wages
==

The #NewYork State Department of Labor still needs to recover 63% of stolen #wages during a 5-year period analyzed by ProPublica and Documented.

The problem? An understaffed agency with poor tools for recovering wages and enforcing judgments.

#WageTheft #Employment #Jobs #Crime #HumanRights #CriminalJustice #News

https://www.propublica.org/article/new-york-workers-are-waiting-on-79-million-in-back-wages?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Wow... A German court refuses extradition to the UK, after asking about "chronic overcrowding, staff shortages, violence among inmates", only receiving a vague, last-minute email frok a police station in Manchester about "creating an extra 20,000 prison places", and then being ignored.

https://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/olg-karlsruhe-301-oaus123-keine-auslieferung-grossbritannien-schlechte-haftbedingungen/

#CriminalJustice #prison #cocaine #UKPolitics