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Rights of Defendants
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From the Dispatch
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Supreme Court 2009-2010: Pro-Corporate, But Continued Trend Towards Deferral to State Authority
Jun 29, 2010
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ended its term with a bang with a ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago that state gun control regulations can be struck down by federal courts based on the Second Amendment. While the number and scale of blockbuster decisions was not so high this session, the singular impact of the Citizens United case earlier in the term unleashing unregulated corporate money on elections, combined with the dangerous implications of the Rent-A-Center, West v. Jackson arbitration decision, emphasizes the pro-corporate bias the Supreme Court has increasingly exercised in recent years. -
The Supreme Court and the States 2008-2009: Trend Defending State Authority Emerges this Term
Jul 14, 2009
Whether out of circumstance or an emerging trend, where state authority was at issue, this term the U.S. Supreme Court overwhelmingly deferred to state decision makers-- a significant reveral from last year. -
New Jersey Looks to Abolish Death Penalty
Dec 13, 2007
This week, the New Jersey Senate voted to abolish the death penalty in the state, moving closer to becoming the first state to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976. The bill now moves to the Assembly, where it is expected to pass, and Governor Corzine, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, has said he would sign the measure into law. -
IN: Prison Riots and Privatization
May 03, 2007
Take 1200 prisoners from Arizona, hire Indiana at $64 per day to house them, then ship them 1500 miles from home and loved ones to a private prison in New Castle, Indiana run by the GEO Group, a private prison company that has been repeatedly cited for substandard conditions. When a riot among 500 prisoners broke out last week, with prisoners taking over the facility for two hours, it was hardly surprising to observers.