As explained on most of the pages on the website, jail, prison, fines, and probation are just some of the direct consequences you may be facing when charged with a crime. However, many of the consequences stemming from a conviction are collateral, and not directly ordered by criminal court. Many of these collateral consequences are… Read more »
Supreme Court: Life without parole for juvenile offenders violates 8th Amendment
In a 5-4 decision on two separate cases involving homicide convictions for two 14 year old boys, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits sentencing that mandates life without parole for juvenile offenders. Relying on precedent establishing that children are constitutionally different from adults for… Read more »
Fair Sentencing Act Retroactive: federal crack cocaine sentences reduced
The rise of crack cocaine use in the 1980s gave rise to the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act which imposed significantly harsher federal penalties for crack cocaine in comparison the powder form. The 100:1 federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses implemented by this legislation has routinely come under attack for being reactionary legislation… Read more »