Tag Archives: New Jersey Civil Rights Defense
Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination Concerned Civil Rights Advocates
The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court had a number of civil rights activists concerned; based on the judge’s decision record. In addition to concerns over his individual record, there were also overall concerns that his addition to the court would also make the current Chief Justice—a traditionally conservative voter—the swing… Read More »
New Report Implicates Racial Profiling In School Policing
A new report released in late September suggests that school policing involves racial profiling, criminal justice, and civil rights issues. The report is especially relevant at the moment, as debates surrounding how to make schools safer and stop shootings continue to intensify. As we hear more and more proposals that call for more police… 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 »
Two New Jersey Police Officers Arrested For Misconduct
Two New Jersey police officers—Jonathan Bustios and Eudy Ramos—were recently investigated and arrested by the FBI for illegally stopping and searching vehicles, detaining the occupants, and stealing items from them. Both officers worked for the Paterson police department for four years and were assigned to the Hillcrest neighborhood and St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center…. Read More »
New Jersey Book Ban Violates Prisoners’ First Amendment Rights
New Jersey has a sordid history when it comes to civil rights issues and prisons: The state leads the nation in racial disparity between black and white inmates, where African-Americans lead the incarceration rate 12-to-1 (in the face of a 5-to-1 national average). Perhaps most shockingly, black inmates represent 60 percent of the state’s… Read More »
Is The Department Of Justice Seeking To Prosecute Everyone Who Is Anti-Trump For Criminal Activity?
The Department of Justice is currently seeking 1.3 million IP addresses that accessed a website advertising inauguration day protests, i.e. the website of “Disrupt J20,” which hosted information concerning organized protests on President Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. The justification for the search? That some of the protests turned violent, and… Read More »
Criminalizing Citizens for Both Deportation & Civil Disobedience
It’s no secret that many people in America are scared are of being deported right at this moment—most of them even though they’ve done nothing at all—others for petty crimes that they paid their dues for long ago. While the Obama administration’s guidelines for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency specified that terrorists… Read More »
Administration Seeks To Curtail Rights for Detainees in Correctional Facilities
Although it’s hard to believe that any given administration would have the ability to significantly change the specific rules and requirements concerning prisoners’ civil rights, in fact, as recently highlighted by the New York Times, many detained immigrants are now worried over what might happen to their basic rights while being held in prison… Read More »
The Future for Federal Efforts to Curb Police Abuse in the Cities
There’s been a lot of discussion of “consent decrees” as they apply to police abuse and the Justice Department in the news of late. These consent decrees are court-enforced agreements between cities and the federal Justice Department on how to reform city police departments accused of civil rights and systemic constitutional violations. Widely supported… Read More »
How the New Attorney General May Affect Criminal Prosecutions and your Rights
Now that Jeff Sessions has been confirmed as attorney general at the Justice Department, it is important to note what effect he will likely have on federal civil rights enforcement, as this will affect countless numbers of people who are subject to police abuse, racial profiling, and numerous other civil rights violations. Specifically, the… Read More »