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Harvard Law School in conjunction with Ravel Law is in the process of creating an online law library from the trove of case decisions and other materials the law library has in its collection. The New York Times reports: Harvard Law Library Readies Trove of Decisions for Digital Age.
The collection will be found at www.ravellaw.com.
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The Hon. Marvin Wiggins, a circuit court judge in Alabama, may have let slip those qualities that judges often need: judgment. Judge Wiggins offered poor people too strapped to pay fines in his court the choice of jail or their blood as reported by the New York Times: For Offenders Who Can’t Pay, It’s a Pint of Blood or Jail Time.
Judge Wiggins was removed from the Alabama State University Board of Trustees by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and was suspended from judicial service for refusing to recuse himself from a vote fraud case involving three relatives as reported by Ballotpedia.
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Yesterday a bipartisan group of Senators unveiled the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which, if enacted, would relieve to some degree some of the unconscionable and foolish aspects and penalties of federal criminal law.
While the bill by no means reaches as far as one would hope, it is a step and a good step. The Senators who have sponsored deserve mention and credit: Charles Grassley of Iowa, Richard Durbin of Illinois, John Cornyn of Texas, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Mike Lee of Utah, Charles Schumer of New York, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
There is substantial news coverage, although it will be largely overlooked due to the tragic news coming from Oregon: in The Atlantic, Can the Senate Reform Criminal Justice?; Politico, Senate Strikes Compromise on Criminal Justice Reform; the New York Times, Sentencing Overhaul Proposed With Bipartisan Backing and Families Against Mandatory Minimums, FAMM Praises Senate Sentencing Reform Compromise, Calls Mandatory Sentencing Reforms Long Overdue.
There is a slightly different and better bill in the House. Hopefully, Congress will get passed something truly meaningful and helpful by the end of the year.
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