Injustice Watch (https://www.injusticewatch.org/commentary/page/2/)
While Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal to restore the death penalty is a terrible idea for Illinois, the silver lining is that the proposal would be a step in the right direction for 31 states that still employ the practice.
Tens of thousands of individuals have been victimized by perpetrators who would have been locked up had the criminal justice system worked properly, the authors’ research shows. The problem is not just the wrongful conviction, but also the wrongful liberty of the culprit.
Jonathan Lubin, past chairman of the evaluation committee for the Decalogue Society, offers a commentary describing the arduous process that groups go through to be fair and accurate in their assessments of each judicial candidate.
The Illinois Supreme Court has filled a key state post: The head appellate defender for indigents. It was a job opening that attracted little notice or attention; James Chadd, a deputy defender, has won the post.
Illinois court officials are working to fill a key job: The chief state appellate lawyer. The agency is facing a large backlog, and potential budget crisis, a situation where innovative leadership is critical. Yet poor outreach has left the pool of applicants disturbingly tiny.
Ronnie Carrasquillo has been locked in prison for decades, since being convicted of murdering a cop in 1976. As evidence mounts that the conviction, and sentence, were wrongly imposed by a corrupt judge, Rob Warden wonders: Where is the new state’s attorney?
The death of Dick Gregory caused Rob Warden to recall how low J. Edgar Hoover would stoop.
The U.S. Supreme Court in October will hear arguments on the travel ban that the President has called “an important tool for protecting our Nation’s homeland.” But like so many of Donald J. Trump’s assertions, that claim is dubious. It rests upon two premises, neither one consistent with actual experience. Tellingly, many clues indicate that both originated with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who began pushing them back when he was a U.S. Senator from Alabama, before the president had even been elected. The first premise: Domestic terror is predominantly an imported danger.
There are reasons to worry about Islamophobia within the Trump White House. One main concern: The views promoted by chief advisor Stephen Bannon.
Some real facts — not alternative facts — undercut the reasoning behind President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on immigration. If guarding against terrorism is the goal, this order does the opposite.