Injustice Watch (https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/page/2/)
An Illinois prisoner was put in isolation for a year after a hearing at which officials denied him calling witnesses or seeing the evidence and the outcome was decided ahead of time. In defending against the prisoners’ lawsuit, the state contends that prison officials did not have to follow the rules.
For years Cook County police agencies have kept a “gang database,” but little has been known about who gets included and why; in several cases, residents were included without any evidence to support the label.. Community groups are now demanding that the police halt the practice and make public who and why names were included.
A suburban Cook County firefighter is standing trial, accused of arson in a small fire at his own bar. But the defense contends the firefighter is wrongly accused, contending racial animus by the fire marshal involved in the investigation.
Lawrence Crosby was kicked and punched by Evanston police officers who mistakenly thought the car he was driving was stolen. After now settling his lawsuit, Crosby hopes to establish a dialogue to promote better police tactics.
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.