by Casey J. Bastian
Phyllis Riles’ daily life is the embodiment of her favorite Gandhi quote: “Where there’s love, there’s life.” Such a belief is the place from which her life’s work at the Freedom Commons Academy (“FCA”) springs forth. The housing development is for those recently released from incarceration ...
by Casey J. Bastian
The unnecessary deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are examples of incidents that have raised public awareness and hastened conversations about racial bias in the criminal justice system. Reforms in policing have received the lion’s share of people’s attention. However, the possibility of racial bias ...
by Casey J. Bastian
The civil rights we all inherently possess, and that are ostensibly still protected by the U.S. Constitution, would be rendered meaningless if no redress were available for having been violated. The ability to vindicate these rights in a court of law should itself be a fundamental ...
by Casey J. Bastian
As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, health and safety preventative measures have impacted nearly every area of our society. Experts were concerned about what impact, if any, do measures such as mask mandates and virtual courtrooms have on the criminal justice system. After reviewing ...
by Casey J. Bastian
The existence of racial disparity in federal sentencing practices is a common, well-researched issue. The greatest proportion of studies focus on the aggregate disparity between the imposed sentence length of Black versus white defendants. Research has also been conducted on the total disparate sentences Hispanic defendants ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Forensic technologies are constantly being innovated in an ongoing effort to correctly solve crimes and create a better justice system. Identifying the correct suspect is vital to administering true justice. The sole detective in the recently created Delray Beach Police Department’s (“DBPD”) Cold Case Unit (“CCU”) ...
Procedural Deficiencies in Cause of Death Reporting Systems Cause Extensive Underreporting of Fatal Police Violence
by Casey J. Bastian
Our nation is experiencing a recent period of forced enlightenment. The scope of violent or fatal encounters with American law enforcement is now considered by many experts to qualify as a ...
by Casey J. Bastian
No one should fear picking up the phone and asking for help. This is the premise of Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (known as “B-HEARD”), a recently launched mental health program in New York City. The philosophy of B-HEARD is that when people are experiencing ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Rutgers University-Camden is the new base of operations for the New Jersey Innocence Project (“NJIP”). Jill Friedman is the associate dean for pro bono and public interest at Rutgers Law School in Camden, as well as one of NJIP’s co-founders. “Any person who is in prison ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Kermit Warren is the latest victim of unconscionable governmental abuses of the civil asset forfeiture laws. The Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) is again in the news for seizing cash from a citizen without any proof of criminal activity. Warren had $28,000 on his person with which ...
