Injustice Watch (https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/)
The 1993 attempted murder conviction was based on the word of the victim’s identification, with little supporting evidence. The trial prosecutor did not reveal that he had subjected the victim to hypnosis to win a positive identification; in fact, the federal appeals court wrote in its opinion last week, the prosecutor deliberately sought to conceal that fact.
George Alvarez pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer before a video emerged that painted a different picture. But a federal appellate court said the prosecutor had no duty to alert Alvarez of the video before his plea.
The Illinois Supreme Court justices have the chance to decide how long is too long in sentencing juvenile offenders to prison without any hope of parole. At issue is a 50-year sentence imposed by a Cook County judge in a murder committed by a 16-year old.
Following U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Illinois’ high court has already ruled a 97-year mandatory sentence for a crime committed as a youth violates the constitution. But how many years is too much time? The court this week takes up the case of a man sentenced to 50 years in prison for a crime committed as a 16-year-old.
The Vermont Supreme Court ruling says a driver who claims racial profiling may bring suit against the officer, and casts doubt on the scent of marijuana as a valid basis for a search. Defense lawyers and civil rights groups praise the decision as a step to ending racial profiling.
A joint investigation by Injustice Watch and Capital News Service turns up cases across the country in which mentally disabled men plead guilty to crimes they did not commit, in some cases implicating others who are innocent. The latest installment in our nationwide examination by a coalition of news organizations, “Trading Away Justice.”
A Cook County judge this week overturned a murder conviction based on allegations that detectives under the command of disgraced Cmdr. Jon Burge tortured confessions out of the suspect, Arnold Day, who was convicted in 1994.
An Injustice Watch investigation identified 14 cases of defendants of color convicted on gun charges based on testimony or video, though no gun was found. The convictions stand in contrast to what happened when Cook County associate Judge Joseph Claps was acquitted after dropping what deputies called a gun on the floor of the courthouse lobby.
Illinois Appellate Court upholds harsh sentence to robber stealing underwear from dollar store. But the dissent contends the majority opinion approves the punishment of poverty, homelessness and addiction, citing words of Nelson Mandela.
Illinois legislature sent the governor a bill Wednesday that would offer the possibility of parole to prisoners who commit crimes before their 21st birthday. Prison reform supporters hope it becomes first step in offering the possibility of parole to all prisoners, a right taken away 40 years ago.
The judicial retention races gained much higher interest, and a Cook County judge lost his seat for the first time since 1990, But there also was evidence that voters, when in doubt, favor an Irish name.
