Jane E. Palmer, American University School of Public Affairs
Part of a law that goes into effect in New York state on Aug. 14 allows victims more time sue in civil court. Epstein’s victims can still go after his estate.
The conviction of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who evaded justice in Mexico, is a win for US officials. But it’s a pyrrhic victory in the war on drugs.
Vulnerable children caught up in the criminal justice system can suffer long-lasting consequences, even from a short period behind bars.
from www.shutterstock.com
Children are still being held in police cells and juvenile detention for low-range offences, under alarming conditions. Here’s how their mental health and future prospects suffer.
Guards take apart the death penalty chamber at San Quentin State Prison on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP
Hadar Aviram, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
A law professor from the University of California, Hastings considers why a moratorium in California could be influential.
A judge’s decision to acquit a Halifax taxi driver charged with sexual assault was protested at this rally in Halifax in March 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
A new Canadian law introduced as a nod to #MeToo, meant to protect sexual assault complainants, will have limited impact because it fails to consider how sexist judges and lawyers interpret laws.
No-one can be convicted or punished for a crime unless there has first been a fair trial.
from shutterstock.com
Unless Lawyer X had next to no role in the defence of her clients, all the results of any trial where she represented them could be overturned. And this could mean release from prison with no retrial.
A man holds up a joint during a 2017 rally to support the legalization of marijuana in Washington, D.C.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
As politically polarized as the country may seem, when it comes to marijuana, Americans across the spectrum have changed their minds. A new study says it’s all thanks to the media.
Annie Dookhan, center, pictured with her family in a Boston courtroom Nov. 22, 2013, after she pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. Dookhan was a state chemist.
David L. Ryan/AP/The Boston Globe
Forensic science is only as good as the equipment and the people who calibrate it, some high-profile cases indicate. Thousands of innocent people have been harmed. Here’s how.
A neuroscientist explains how detention can affect a developing mind, as a new law in California sets the highest age limit in the US for minors to be held criminally responsible, at age 12.
Law enforcement’s historical tendency to treat crimes committed by white power groups as isolated incidents has allowed them to flourish.
Tony Mokbel was sentenced to at least 22 years in jail in 2012 after pleading guilty to large-scale drug importation - but some argue he could get a new trial or even walk free given the latest revelations.
Justine Smith/AAP
The royal commission will examine the conduct of a defence barrister who became an informant to the police - supplying information on her own clients that had been given to her in strict confidence.
New research shows that when ex-offenders are told they’re able to vote, their attitudes about democracy and justice improve. A November ballot measure in Florida hangs in the balance.
Most dollars spent on fighting domestic violence go to the criminal justice system.
Shutterstock/Fure
As lawmakers debate the future of the primary federal program aimed at ending domestic violence, one scholar says the criminal system supported by the legislation isn’t the way to stop that violence.
Los Angeles County women’s jail in Lynwood, California.
Reuters/Lucy Nicholson