Why Crime Victims Joined the Fight for Parole Justice in New York Survivors’ needs and opinions vary—and many have not found justice when they turn to the criminal legal system. Victoria Law Mar 22, 2021
New York Lawmakers Fear Court May Render Domestic Violence Survivor Law ‘Meaningless’ Nikki Addimando, convicted of second-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend, whom she said abused her, petitioned to have her sentence reduced under the 2019 law. But a judge ruled against her. If that ruling is affirmed, state legislators say, it will be ‘insurmountably difficult’ for survivors to ever benefit from the law. Victoria Law Sep 03, 2020
Criminal Justice Advocates Say New Law Undermines Georgia’s Efforts at Bail Reform The law, known as SB 402, eliminates the use of signature bonds for a number of felonies, putting poor people who might not be able to afford cash bail at a disadvantage. Victoria Law Aug 12, 2020
Advocates Hope New Momentum Around Racial Justice Will Accelerate New York’s Plans To Limit Solitary Confinement A year after state officials said they would take steps to overhaul solitary confinement rules, prisoners remain isolated in conditions that one says is akin to being ‘buried alive.’ Victoria Law Jul 20, 2020
Nationwide Calls For Police Reform Put New Pressure On Atlanta To Close Its City Jail ‘As long as there’s a jail, there’s going to be police trying to put our poor folks in it,’ one activist said. Victoria Law Jun 26, 2020
New York State Won’t Grant Temporary Release To Former Black Panther Hospitalized With Covid-19 ‘This ruling is a particularly terrible blow because it comes at a time when people are taking to the streets en masse to protest state violence against Black people,’ said Nora Carroll, an attorney for Jalil Muntaqim, who has been imprisoned since 1971. Victoria Law Jun 08, 2020
Parole Reform Might Have Freed Maryland’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman. Instead, She Was Hospitalized With COVID-19. Eraina Pretty has served 42 years in prison in connection with a 1978 store robbery. A new law that might have led to her release has been derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Victoria Law May 21, 2020
Louisiana’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman Returned To Prison After Being Hospitalized For COVID-19 The family of Gloria Williams, who has served 50 years in prison, is now pressing Governor John Bel Edwards to commute her sentence 10 months after a parole board recommended she be freed. Victoria Law May 14, 2020
Pregnant Woman in Pennsylvania Jail Denied Release An Erie County judge said the pregnant 20-year-old would be ‘safer’ in jail from the COVID-19 outbreak. Victoria Law May 11, 2020
Coalition’s Efforts Amid Coronavirus Derail Plans For New Women’s Prison The onset of COVID-19—and the need for social distancing—gave an unexpected boost to efforts against plans for a new prison in Washington. Victoria Law May 04, 2020
Louisiana’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman, Recommended for Clemency Last July, Hospitalized with COVID-19 Governor John Bel Edwards has yet to commute Gloria Williams’s sentence despite a parole board’s unanimous recommendation that she be freed. Now she is in critical condition at a Baton Rouge hospital. Victoria Law Apr 23, 2020
Louisiana Prisoners Held In Notorious Isolation Unit Are Facing A ‘Slow-Moving Disaster’ Criminal justice advocates have called Camp J at the Louisiana State Penitentiary ‘a dungeon.’ Now it’s housing prisoners who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Victoria Law Apr 17, 2020
Palm Beach County Sheriff Opposes Prisoner Release Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Public defenders are working with the courts to secure release for people incarcerated in the Florida county, many of whom are jailed for low-level offenses. Victoria Law Apr 08, 2020
A New York Law Could Reduce Sentences for Domestic Violence Survivors. Why Are Judges Reluctant to Apply It? The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act allows judges to consider shorter sentences, as well as non-prison sentences, if abuse factored significantly in the crime. Victoria Law Feb 24, 2020
Louisiana Continues to Imprison People Past Their Release Dates A Department of Corrections official knew the extrajudicial practice was going on but little has been done to correct it. Victoria Law Feb 18, 2020
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more. Victoria Law Sep 06, 2019
Louisiana Woman Sentenced to Life for Attempting to Rob Grocery Store With Toy Gun Seeks Mercy Gloria Williams was in her 20s when she was sent to prison for her part in a robbery that turned deadly. After serving nearly five decades, including one decade in solitary confinement, Williams now has a chance at freedom. Victoria Law Aug 06, 2019
Police Unions Fight To Rescind Parole For Former Black Panther In April 2018, Herman Bell was paroled after spending 45 years in prison in a case involving the shooting deaths of two police officers. Now, New York police unions and the widow of one of the slain officers are challenging the decision in court. Victoria Law Feb 26, 2019
Solitary Confinement, Jail Deaths Rock Race For Sheriff in California In Santa Clara County, incarcerated people, and a former undersheriff challenging six-term sheriff Laurie Smith, have turned conditions of confinement into a potent electoral issue. Victoria Law Oct 29, 2018
‘Will I Get Out Today?’ Louisiana is keeping people behind bars long after their sentences have expired, attorneys say. Victoria Law Sep 26, 2018
New York Woman Imprisoned For Defending Herself From Abuser Seeks Mercy Jacqueline Smalls was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a boyfriend whose ‘hands were his weapons.’ She now joins the ranks of criminalized survivors seeking clemency from Governor Cuomo. Victoria Law Sep 05, 2018
A Troubled Federal Prison Unit Gets New Life In A Different State Instead of changing its conditions and practices, The Bureau of Prisons is simply moving a problem-plagued federal prison unit in Pennsylvania to Illinois. Victoria Law Aug 21, 2018
Cuomo the Merciless New York's Democratic governor has granted only a trickle of commutations, fewer than many of his Democratic and Republican predecessors. Victoria Law Jun 20, 2018
Louisiana’s Love Affair With Locking Up Kids For Life Years after two landmark Supreme Court rulings, prosecutors in Louisiana are still overwhelmingly seeking life sentences for children. Victoria Law Jun 13, 2018
Bill Challenging ‘Safekeeping’ of Tennessee Teens in Adult Prisons Could Soon Become Law Victoria Law May 18, 2018
#MeToo in NYC’s Jail System: Why New Department of Correction Policies on Sexual Abuse Fall Short Victoria Law Feb 13, 2018
How a Case of ‘Restorative Justice’ Was Actually Just Business As Usual For the New Orleans DA Victoria Law Feb 09, 2018
As New York Decarcerates, The Number of People Under Supervision of Parole Rises Victoria Law Feb 01, 2018
