Judges Warn ICE Is Turning Courts Into Deportation Traps

By Marco Poggio

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers violently arrest unauthorized immigrants in court buildings' hallways, former and current judges warn that the Trump administration is using courts as a dragnet, arresting people indiscriminately and expelling them with little to no due process in a bid to fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal of mass deportations.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Attys Freed Woman Snatched By ICE In Less Than 48 Hours

By Marco Poggio

The breakneck speed with which a Colombian asylum-seeker was detained, transferred and nearly deported underscores the time crunch facing attorneys who fight removals, say the Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP lawyers whose pro bono work freed the woman from custody.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brown Univ. Prof Says Top Court Ruling Bolsters Habeas Bid

By Marco Poggio

A Lebanese nephrologist who teaches at Brown University under an H-1B visa argued last week that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this summer in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, a case focusing on whether members of a U.S. government task force were constitutionally appointed, bolsters her argument that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who deported her lacked the authority to do so.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Seattle Police Free From Federal Oversight After 13 Years

By Ben Adlin

Seattle police have demonstrated "sustained compliance" with a federal consent decree put in place more than 13 years ago in response to the department's allegedly unconstitutional use of force, a Washington federal judge has ruled, returning full control of the department to city leaders.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Years In Solitary Isn't Criminal Punishment, Mich. Court Says

By Elizabeth Daley

An inmate who spent more than three years in solitary confinement after stabbing a corrections officer in the head could still receive an additional sentence for the attack since his years of isolation were not a criminal punishment, but a civil one, a Michigan state appeals court has found.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NYPD Urges Dismissal Of Racial Bias Suit Over Gang List

By Brandon Lowrey

The city of New York has asked a federal judge to toss a putative class action alleging NYPD officials violated the constitutional rights of people on the department's list of purported gang members, saying the lawsuit, brought by three anonymous men, is "highly speculative."

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ohio Panel Says Judge Can't Thwart Prison Credit Programs

By Parker Quinlan

A split Ohio appeals court on Tuesday ruled an incarcerated man should be allowed to participate in prison programs that can earn him credit toward his release, adding that a state trial judge cannot bar access to the programs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Town Officials Let Mosque Land-Use Deal Fizzle

By Grace Dixon

A Long Island town has backed out of a settlement with a mosque that had accused local officials of leaning on land-use laws to thwart its redevelopment plans, an about-face the town blamed on traffic concerns but the mosque has attributed to public backlash.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tribal Groups Urge Justices To Address Religious Violations

By Crystal Owens

Three Native American advocacy groups are backing a former Louisiana prisoner's U.S. Supreme Court petition for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, arguing that the case presents issues vital to Indigenous cultural survival.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Plans To Withdraw Federal Funding Over Cashless Bail

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump said Monday that he would suspend or terminate federal funds provided to any jurisdictions that have adopted cashless bail policies, calling the reforms a "failed experiment" that allow repeat criminals to "mock our justice system."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NYC Prepares For School Year Amid Immigration Crackdown

By Marco Poggio

New York City officials on Wednesday reassured immigrant families that the city's schools are safe for children to attend, despite a wider immigration crackdown that has concerned many New Yorkers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

3 Questions To Guide Research On Justice Worker Movement

As legal profession leaders formally encourage courts to study nonlawyer justice worker programs as a tool to address the access to justice crisis, we should begin with asking what we know, what we need to know and how we can know it, say Matthew Burnett and Rebecca Sandefur at Frontline Justice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »