Damaging the Being addicted to Incarceration: Weekly Highlights

Regardless of our efforts, the Senate didn't adopt (by 3 votes) an essential amendment final month that might have produced a bipartisan commission to study our criminal justice process and propose reforms. On Tuesday, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) issued a harsh recrimination of Senate Republicans for this failure. This piece inside Atlantic highlights the ACLU's assist in the proposal, and you'll go through Senator Webb's statement here. Browse ACLU Legislative Counsel Jennifer Bellamy's website in regards to the amendment.<br/>

A long time of ACLU advocacy to eliminate the crack-cocaine sentencing disparity paid off last year with the passage with the federal Honest Sentencing Act. Retroactive application from the new suggestions commenced this week, and now ACLU consumer Hamedah Hasan plus more than 12,000 some others unfairly sentenced underneath the previous guidelines can have the chance to acquire their sentences for crack cocaine offenses reviewed by a federal judge and perhaps minimized. Listen to ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Jesselyn McCurdy explore the story with this NPR piece, which aired this week. <br/>

The ACLU is major the charge to problem a disturbing national trend: obligatory drug screening of public higher education pupils as well as inadequate. The ACLU's Criminal Regulation Reform Challenge and ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed match in Missouri to arguing that Linn State Technical College's drug testing of all pupils violated the Fourth Modification. Taking swift action, a federal district courtroom judge granted a preliminary injunction to briefly halt the unconstitutional policy. Examine this website post regarding the victory, and this tale from your AP. The ACLU of Florida filed go well with hard the state's pressured drug screening of applicants for non permanent dollars aid (TANF). Final week, a judge in Florida has halted enforcement of this unconstitutional coverage. Read through ACLU of Florida's Maria Kayanan's blogging site submit regarding the victory along with the press launch. Browse Rachel Bloom's weblog submit concerning the drug screening pattern and even more protection inside the New york Periods.