Category Archives: Criminal Defense
New Jersey Supreme Court Decides Juveniles Convicted Of Sex Offenses Do Not Have To Stay On Sex Offender Registry Forever
On April 24th, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that juveniles can no longer be placed on the state’s sex offender registry for life. The Court found that his mandate under Megan’s law violates juveniles’ due process rights under the state constitution. This will inevitably affect thousands of people in New Jersey, who have… Read More »
Are Police Illegally Using DNA Evidence In Criminal Investigations?
Police tracking down the “Golden State Killer” has been in the news headlines of late, not only because he turned out to be a former police officer, but also due to the methods used by detectives to break the case. In the case, police officers reportedly used genetic data provided by the killer’s relatives… Read More »
Administration Encourages Use Of Death Penalty In Certain Drug-Related Crimes
Recently, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to all U.S. attorneys identifying which drug-related crimes should warrant prosecutors pursuing the death penalty. Specifically, he advocated for federal prosecutors utilizing laws that permit capital punishment as a sentence in both non-violent and violent cases. In providing concrete examples of cases where he feels that… Read More »
NYPD & New York City Sued For Misusing Arrest Records
On April 24th, a class action lawsuit was filed against the NYPD police department and the city of New York alleging that the department illegally kept and accessed sealed arrest records in order to target particular communities for investigations and law enforcement activities. The lawsuit alleges that the department used the records in the… Read More »
When Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, And Racial Profiling Overlap
There are many instances where criminal justice and environmental justice overlap, as recently highlighted in this a recent article published by Grist. For one, police and judges often sentence environmental activists to prison terms, conveniently finding connections between peaceful protests and “felony assault.” Sadly, this can also frequently result in a racial discrimination/inequity/environmental justice… Read More »
Insurance Fraud Charges In New Jersey
In early April, one New Jersey woman was charged with stealing more than $46,000 in workers’ compensation benefits, a charge that comes with hefty criminal penalties and jail time. Specifically, a state grand jury charged her with second-degree insurance fraud and third-degree theft by deception, alleging that she used lies and deceit to continue… Read More »
Supreme Court Rules For Police In Excessive Force Case
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning police officer conduct in an excessive force case—arguably involving both police misconduct and racial profiling—sends an alarming signal to the public, as noted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent. Specifically, it sends the message that officers can shoot first and think later, and that unreasonable conduct… Read More »
The Need For Criminal Justice Reform
Many are aware that there are a myriad of flaws in our criminal justice system, however, a recent publication from The Hill highlights just how bad it is. For example, almost three million U.S. children under the age of 18 have an incarcerated parent; there are more prisons than colleges in our country; drug… Read More »
This Spring, Some Of New Jersey’s Laws Get Stricter; While Others More Flexible
March brought some significant changes to New Jersey’s regulation of guns and medical marijuana. Below, we discuss these changes in greater detail: New Jersey Close To Passing Additional Criminal Measures Regarding Gun Ownership In response to the wave of student protests that resulted from the recent Florida mass shooting, New Jersey lawmakers are now… Read More »
Is It Possible To Incorporate Neuroscience Into The Courtroom While Also Safeguarding Liberties?
The U.S. Bill of Rights enshrines certain individual liberties and freedoms in our culture that the law, governments, courts, etc. cannot infringe upon; rights that include freedom from self-incrimination and the right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury. We’ve previously discussed the use of neuroscience to argue for mitigating circumstances in a… Read More »