Category: Local Issues
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Scott Kurashige: From Civility to Nonviolence: Honoring Dr. King
In the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, there is a new call for civility in our political discourse. The crises of our time demand a common sense of purpose and collective action. On what would have been his 82nd birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words ring as true today as they did in the…
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Illinois death penalty decision leaves uncertainty – chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO — Ten years after Illinois halted executions, the uncertainty over Gov. Pat Quinn’s pending decision on whether to end capital punishment for good raises a number of questions about the state’s current death penalty cases and the 15 men on death row. A bill recently passed by the state House and Senate would abolish…
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The Innocence Project: the court of last resort | Law | The Observer
Sarfraz Manzoor The Observer, Sunday 9 January 201 In the US, the Innocence Project has freed 260 people imprisoned for crimes they did not commit – and inspired a new film starring Hilary Swank. In the UK the work is just beginning, but the lawyers who only take the most desperate cases of injustice have a…
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IL Senate President details new IL tax deal!
It looks like Quinn and the legislature are close to accomplishing the impossible: a permanent tax increase deal for IL. They are actually working out a long-term fiscal blueprint for paying for all outstanding bills, pension costs, and restructuring Illinois with a moratorium on new expenditures and programs for years! They are changing the process…
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Remember: Just Because a New Year Cometh…
With the inauguration of Govenor Quinn approaching on January 10, 2011, rumors are swirling around Illinois prisons that his first official act as governor will be to lift the MGT suspension. The argument that IL prisons are overcrowded, that the IL budget is overdrawn, and that the ratio of correctional officers to prisoners is dangerously…
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Suddenly, Winnebago County is talking Cents!
Oh yeah, suddenly, Joe Bruscato, the Winnebago County State’s Attorney and Winnebago County are seeing the light; that it makes more sense to consider sentencing alternatives and defer prosecution of first-time, non-violent offenders than to stuff the Winnebago County jail with them. Well, we guess, it is better for them to come to their senses…
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Largely Unreported – The Georgia Prison Strike
On December 9, 2010, thousands of prisoners in at least 10 Georgia state prisons peacefully “went on strike”, refusing to leave their cells to report to work and other daily activities while calling for reforms in jail conditions and medical treatment. The prison strike was organized by inmates using cell phones purchased from guards extended…
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Winnebago County Jail to add two-bed cells to ease crunch – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD — More inmates will find themselves with roommates in the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center as the Sheriff’s Department aims to trim $2 million from its corrections budget while wrestling with a jail population that’s nearing 1,000. The county bought 112 new jail beds for $4,553 on Nov. 23 at the request of Sheriff…
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Union irked after prison not sold
THOMSON, Ill. — What’s next for the Thomson Correctional Center? No one bought the state prison at an auction Tuesday. That’s good news to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which wants to purchase the facility. That’s bad news to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — the state’s largest public employee union…
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DNA and justice denied – latimes.com
We are a long way from a system that grants fair access to DNA testing for convicted criminals. By Sheldon Krimsky and Tania Simoncelli December 22, 2010 We have seen repeatedly that DNA can shed light on wrongful convictions. To date, about 250 people who were wrongly convicted have been exonerated because of DNA evidence…