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Jurors deciding the fate of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd, have plenty of evidence to sift through, including videos of Floyd's death and testimony from more than 40 witnesses. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Chauvin's trial.
A Minnesota state court is doing everything it can to protect the privacy of the jurors who will decide the fate of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd. But their answers to questions in jury selection provided a glimpse into who they are.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of the criminal justice system, leading to some positive changes, some missed opportunities and several lessons to be learned, according to criminal justice experts. Here is how it affected law enforcement and incarceration.
The number of mental health courts in the U.S. has steadily grown over the last 20 years, but judges and advocates say that states shouldn't solely rely on these courts to end the incarceration of people who have mental illnesses.
David Alan Sklansky’s career as a labor attorney, federal prosecutor and, now, law school professor showed him that violence is inconsistently defined and applied by U.S. courts and law enforcement. In his latest book, he investigates what led to flimsy definitions of violent crime, as well as the injustices that stem from them.
President Joe Biden declared April "Second Chance Month" acknowledging that incarcerated people deserve second chances, but he hasn't given second chances to 100 incarcerated women by granting them clemency, according to former criminal defense attorney turned activist Andrea James.
The city of New York on April 5 committed to providing all family shelters in the five boroughs with wireless internet to allow students housed in the shelter systems access to remote education during the pandemic, following a settlement obtained by attorneys from Milbank LLP and the Legal Aid Society.
New Jersey's attorney general announced the creation of an online database this month that tracks how often police officers are using force, but some experts say the state is still lagging behind many others when it comes to police accountability.
Criminal justice reform has gained momentum in the U.S. with state and federal lawmakers pushing for new legislation that would reduce incarceration, but some lawmakers and advocates argue that crime victims are being forgotten in these reforms.
Female attorneys and judges in criminal justice face sexism and discrimination similar to that faced by women throughout the legal industry, but the nature of their work intensifies these issues, a panel of women said at an American Bar Association webinar.
A case involving a Brooklyn man who sued the New York Police Department on misconduct allegations, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, has the potential for restricting — or broadening — access to malicious prosecutions actions around the country for the foreseeable future.
A new academic paper finds electing not to prosecute nonviolent misdemeanor defendants may reduce the likelihood of their subsequent criminal activity, a conclusion that comes as a wave of progressive prosecutors push for new approaches to handling low-level offenses.
Joe Ligon was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole at the age of 15, in 1953. By the time he got out 68 years later, he was the longest-serving incarcerated person to ever be convicted as a minor.
A criminal defense lawyers group in New York says that "coercive" prosecution tactics pushing criminal defendants to plead guilty are largely responsible for killing jury trials, hurting the constitutional rights of defendants.
A group of attorneys from Wiley, Pillsbury and the ACLU of Maryland recently secured a settlement bringing a host of reforms to the Maryland parole system and how it considers parole for inmates serving life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles.
JusticeText co-founder Devshi Mehrotra started building software to support public defenders' work when she was a senior in college. In an interview with Law360, she explains the origin story behind JusticeText and how technology can support criminal defense.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday asked Adam Mortara, one of the lead lawyers in the anti-affirmative action lawsuit against Harvard, to step in as amicus counsel in a case over sentence reductions for offenses involving crack — his third time filling such a role at the court.
Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2021 Access to Justice Editorial Advisory Board.
Here, Law360 takes a look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected courts and communities.
Michael "Zaki" Smith lost his job after his employer found out about his past conviction during a random background check. Now, he's advocating for a New York bill that would automatically clear criminal records of people who live crime-free for a number of years after being released.
Michael D. Jones, Kirkland & Ellis' first Black partner, co-led more than a decade of litigation efforts to secure a nine-figure settlement for Maryland's four historically Black colleges and universities. Here, he and other advocates talk about his pro bono role in the landmark deal that they expect to be finalized by the end of the month.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in what could be the most closely watched murder trial in decades, as prosecutors seek to convict former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd.
Since 2017, Lizbeth Mateo and her client, Edith Espinal, have been fighting to prevent Espinal from being deported. With her client finally free to return home, Mateo is now facing the possibility of her own removal.
The senators who wrote the First Step Act of 2018 have told the Supreme Court that they did not intend to exclude low-level crack offenders from the law's sentencing relief, contrary to the findings of some circuit courts across the country.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday vacated a Fifth Circuit ruling that had granted immunity to a Texas prison guard who allegedly pepper-sprayed an inmate in the face in 2016, citing a November decision that found prison officers liable for obviously egregious behavior.
Jamie Beck's life — and career trajectory in a major law firm — changed after she attended a human trafficking awareness training session hosted by the Lawyers Club of San Diego. Here, she talks with Law360 about legal nonprofit Free to Thrive, which she launched to support survivors.
A team of Goodwin Procter attorneys in January secured the compassionate release of Andy Cox, a 57-year-old serving a life prison sentence for a nonviolent crime stemming from growing cannabis in Georgia.
Eric Lander is one of the best-known genetic scientists in the United States and a figurehead for improved forensic science practices across the criminal justice system. Experts, including several whose work intersected with his, weigh in on what his anticipated cabinet-level appointment could mean for these priorities.
As the nation celebrates Black History Month this February, more BigLaw firms have joined the movement to combat racism and inequality by helping Black business owners in their community.
In order to ensure equity and efficiency in controlling the pandemic, states should use race as a factor in vaccine prioritization — and U.S. Supreme Court precedent on affirmative action and racial integration offers some guidance on how such policies might hold up in court, say law professors Maya Manian and Seema Mohapatra.
As the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd nears closing arguments, the prosecution still faces an uphill battle, but what sets this case apart is its potential to change the discourse on racial justice and policing, says Christopher Brown at The Brown Firm.
Underlying calls for defunding the police and numerous other proposals for criminal justice reform is the belief that generally reducing adverse outcomes will tend to reduce racial disparities, but statistical analysis shows the opposite is true, says attorney James Scanlan.
With the slow crawl of federal immigration reform, people vulnerable to immigration status threats from domestic abusers continue to feel the effects of hostile Trump administration policies, but 2019 amendments to the D.C. blackmail statute reveal the ways state laws can provide more effective relief, say Ashley Carter and Richard Kelley at the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Several states' proposed revisions to petition drive rules would make ballot initiatives harder to pass and rein in citizens' right to enact important policy changes, says Melanie Wilson Rughani at Crowe & Dunlevy.
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland is an encouraging choice for criminal justice reform advocates, but the work of transforming our racially fraught institutions falls largely on prosecutors and defenders, say former prosecutor Derick Dailey, now at Davis & Gilbert, and public defender Brandon Ruben.
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent rescission of a 2017 memo that required prosecutors to charge federal defendants with the offenses that would carry the most severe penalties should be welcomed by prosecutors associations as supporting prosecutorial discretion, even when the new policy may lead to leniency, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.
President Joe Biden's recent executive order to phase out the federal government's use of private prisons is a welcome start to what needs to be a broad reform of the prison system — where profit-based incentives to incarcerate run deep, says Jeffrey Bornstein at Rosen Bien.
On the heels of nationwide calls to address systemic racism and inequality, five sitting state and federal judges shed light on the disparities that exist in the justice system and how to guard against bias in this series of Law360 guest articles.
Many state courts' failure to gather basic data on sentencing and other important criminal justice metrics frustrates efforts to keep checks on judges’ implicit biases and reduce racial disparities, say Justice Michael Donnelly at the Ohio Supreme Court and Judge Pierre Bergeron at the Ohio First District Court of Appeals.
Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.
To close the diversity gap between the judiciary and the litigants that regularly appear in criminal courts, institutions including police departments, prosecutor offices and defense law firms must be committed to advancing Black and Latino men, says New York Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards.
The U.S. Supreme Court must be careful not to undo 15 years of Eighth Amendment case law and expose young adults to unconstitutional life without parole sentences in its upcoming decision in Jones v. Mississippi, says Marsha Levick at the Juvenile Law Center.
With unconscious biases deeply embedded in the court system, judges must take steps to guard against the power and influence of stereotypes during jury selection, evidence admissibility hearings, bail proceedings and other areas of judicial decision making, says U.S. Circuit Judge Bernice Donald.
Blanket rules that bar recording or dissemination of remote public court proceedings impede presumptive common law and First Amendment right of access, greatly expand courts' powers over nonparties, and likely run afoul of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, says Matthew Schafer at ViacomCBS.