by Ed Lyon
State after state is legalizing the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Because of the revenues prosecuting low-level drug crimes saps from prosecutors, more and more of them in major jurisdictions are refusing to accept and prosecute these small-time crimes.
Examples include Rachel Rollins of ...
by Ed Lyon
On January 8, 2020, Kerry Robinson began the New Year and a new life as he left Georgia’s Coffee Correctional Facility a free man. He had spent nearly 18 years in prison for a brutal group rape he had nothing to do with.
As science in general ...
by Ed Lyon
Seventy-two-year-old grandmother Vicki Henry has a mission in life. Because of what she perceives as injustices affecting her son, who is serving a 25-year sentence on child pornography convictions, she aims to do away with all public sex-offender registries. She heads a small group of like-minded ...
by Ed Lyon
A historically overlooked, or at least minimized, constitutional guarantee is that excessive bail amounts must not be imposed upon citizens accused of crimes. Cash bails routinely far exceed not only most people’s ability to pay but are usually far in excess of the severity of the crime ...
by Ed Lyon
Police responding to 911 calls that involve individuals in a mental health crisis might resort to deadly force rather than exercise restraint and give support, according to a trend identified by The Intercept’s Shaun King. And, in areas such as New York City, the vast majority of ...
by Ed Lyon
Cody Gregg of Oklahoma is a member of a growing segment of America’s population—he is a homeless person and also receives food from a community pantry. On August 12, 2019, Gregg was doing a probated sentence for a drug conviction. He had been to a food pantry ...
by Ed Lyon
A historically overlooked, or at least minimized, constitutional guarantee is that excessive bail amounts must not be imposed upon citizens accused of crimes. Cash bails routinely far exceed not only most people’s ability to pay but are usually far in excess of the severity of the crime ...
by Ed Lyon
Criminal Legal News first reported on a 2017 law passed by the New York State Legislature that allows citizens to have certain criminal records sealed in its January 2019 issue (p.38-39).
Former prisoners could have up to two misdemeanors or one nonviolent felony and one misdemeanor conviction ...
by Ed Lyon
A computer-era dictum states, “To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer.” There is no place like the criminal injustice system and its growing dependence on AI and algorithms where that folksy axiom runs so true.
Not all algorithm-driven artificial intelligence (“AI”) ...
by Ed Lyon
Arizona is known for the antics of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio. A hard-liner on crime, Arpaio was constantly harsh on prisoners, often to an unconstitutional extent. An alarming, statistically backed report compiled by the Arizona Republic newspaper covering 2011 to 2018 shows that state to ...
