by Jordan Arizmendi
On May 24, 2024, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, signed a law prohibiting police officers from being trained about “excited delirium,” a widely rejected diagnosis characterized by a state of extreme agitation and delirium. The diagnosis frequently appears in the postmortem of young adult Black males, ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
In September 2016, Celia Dosamantes, 26 at the time, was arrested for faking donations to her campaign for city council the year before. She was also charged with submitting a digitally altered check. When she finally appeared for sentencing in 2018, she was looking at one and ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
Back on November 7, Ohio voters supported Issue 2, which legalized the sale, purchase and possession of cannabis for Ohioans 21 and older. However, it appeared on the ballot as an initiated statute, which means state lawmakers have the final say on what the recreational marijuana law ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
Twenty-five years after Jesse Johnson, 62, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, in September, he became the 194th person to be exonerated while on Death Row.
In 1998, Harriet Thompson was stabbed to death at her home in Oregon. Patricia Hubbard, a witness across the street, ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
As an old and wise theologian once said, “A half-truth is a whole lie.” If we are to take those words to heart, then what should we call 44 sworn testimonies of a police officer that were all 100% lies? Prosecutors in Chicago have dropped 15 cases ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
Once upon a time, parole and probation – also referred to as community supervision – were intended to reduce our nation’s jail and prison populations. In fact, when used properly, community supervision can be one of the most effective tools in our carceral system for reducing mass ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
In 2022, a New York court barred law enforcement from using familial DNA searches (“FDS”). According to the court, the state’s regulations for FDS were invalid because they first needed to be approved by the state legislature.
However, on October 24, 2023, the New York Court of Appeals (the ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
Although advocates say there is still work to do to ensure New Jersey public defenders don’t come with a price tag attached, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) took the first giant step earlier this summer when he signed a bill removing burdensome fees that clients ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
It seems every month, a new story emerges about how ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) egregiously abuses its power. Just a few weeks ago, Wired published an article about how ICE was improperly demanding data from elementary schools, news organizations, and abortion clinics. A few ...
by Jordan Arizmendi
ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ICE website proclaims that its “primary focus” is “securing our nation’s borders and safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system.” While such a proclamation is ...
