News & Commentary

The Justice Department announced last week that, after nearly two decades, it would resume executing prisoners on federal death row. The announcement ends a de-facto moratorium on the federal death penalty that has been in place since 2003. Five men are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in December and January, with additional executions to follow, according to Attorney General William Barr.

“Bail has only one purpose - to ensure that a person accused of a crime will appear in court for his trial. We presume a person to be innocent until he is proven guilty, and thus the purpose of bail is not punishment. It is not harassment. It is not to put people in jail. It is simply to guarantee appearance in court. This is a legitimate purpose for a system of justice. In practice, though, bail has become a vehicle for systematic injustice. Every year in this country, thousands of persons are kept in jail for weeks and even months following arrest. They are not yet proven guilty. They may be no more likely to flee than you or I. But, nonetheless, most of them must stay in jail because, to be blunt, they cannot afford to pay for their freedom.”

On April 4, the Sixth Amendment Center released a report on the current state of 6th Amendment protections in Maine. Spoiler alert: Maine didn’t do well.

This piece first appeared on MaineBeacon.com

Civil forfeiture is a process through which the police seize – and then keep or sell – any property they allege is involved in a crime.Let’s break that down.

UPDATE: This law went into effect on December 13, 2018.

Each week we will provide you with a rundown of top news stories and must-read articles.

Top news stories and must-read articles.

On March 14 we filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the mother of a young boy, who was brutally mistreated at Long Creek Youth Development Center. While he was there, he was denied adequate medical care and services for his disability, and when his condition worsened, he was brutally attacked by two prison guards. Our hope is that this lawsuit will lead to justice for our clients, and that it will help convince the public that children do not belong in prison. Much about what we know about problems at Long Creek comes from this report from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy documenting substantial problems at Long Creek relating to medical care, staff training, the use of excessive force, and other issues. We expect to learn a great deal more over the course of the litigation.