Links of Interest
What We Read, February 27-March 2, 2012
Immigration Court Reform:
- The 11th Circuit heard arguments on Thursday, March 1, on immigration laws in Alabama and Georgia, modeled after the notorious Arizona immigration law. The Arizona law goes before the Supreme Court of the U.S. in April. The 11th Circuit will hold its ruling until after the Supreme Court one.
Criminal Justice Reform:
- The Sentencing Project has released The Lives of Juvenile Lifers (.pdf) which presents findings from the first-ever national survey of prisoners serving life sentences, who committed crimes before the age of 18, More than 2,500 people are currently serving these sentences in the United States. The Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in the cases of two 14-year olds, Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, questioning the constitutionality of sentencing teens to life without the possibility of parole. You can get information and documents about those cases from SCOTUSBlog and the Juvenile Law Center.
- The ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center report that a settlement has been reached in their lawsuit C.B., et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et al. Under the consent decree, juveniles will no longer be subject to solitary confinement and will no longer be housed in the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi. Walnut Grove is run by GEO Group, the second largest private prison corporation in the U.S.
Community Justice:
- The Chicago Reporter reports on wage theft claims. Working Hands Legal Clinic offers resources on Illinois’ Wage Theft Statute and there are additional reports on wage theft and related issues compiled here, including a report from the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Other Links of Interest:
- Mayor Emmanuel announced the formation of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, which will use private investment funds for public infrastructure projects. The announcement met both disapproval and approval from various news outlets. The first project is a plan to retrofit public schools and other buildings to be more energy-efficient.