by Kent Scheidegger · Jun 4, 2020 5:28 pm
On May 26, I noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had denied USDOJ a stay of Ohio District Court orders regarding release of prisoners due to the pandemic. The reason was that DOJ had not checked the box of asking the court of appeals first regarding one of two orders. I also predicted that DOJ would be back if USCA6 said no. Sho’nuff.
by Kent Scheidegger · May 26, 2020 6:22 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court today denied the federal government’s request to stay a “jailbreak” order of a district court in Ohio. The Court’s order notes:
[O]n May 19 [the day before the stay petition], the District Court issued a new order enforcing the preliminary injunction and imposing additional measures. The Government has not sought review of or a stay of the May 19 order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Particularly in light of that procedural posture, the Court declines to stay the District Court’s April 22 preliminary injunction without prejudice to the Government seeking a new stay if circumstances warrant ….
by Kent Scheidegger · May 13, 2020 11:14 am
A broad range of criminals would be released from federal prison regardless of how heinous their crimes were or how many they committed if the latest coronavirus relief bill just introduced in the House becomes law. This is cynical, “never waste a good crisis” politics at its worst. If enacted, it will be paid for in the trauma and death of innocent victims. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 29, 2020 2:24 pm
This article in USA Today reports that mass testing in a North Carolina prison revealed far more prisoners infected with the Covid-19 virus than was previously believed. This result provides an additional reason not to release large numbers of prisoners, although that implication evidently did not occur to USA Today. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 22, 2020 7:01 am
Jason Riley has this column in the WSJ denouncing “coronavirus opportunism on both sides of the aisle.”
Mr. Trump will catch grief for using the coronavirus scare to push a mostly unrelated immigration agenda, but his political opponents are playing similar games. Springing criminals from jails and prisons to protect them from catching the virus is one of many examples, and potentially the most dangerous one. Since when did the well-being of convicts become more important than the safety of society? Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 17, 2020 10:41 am
The good news is that Federal District Judge Jon Tigar today denied the motion of California inmates to force the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to “ ‘develop a plan to manage and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in California state prisons’ that includes ‘reduc[ing] population levels to safe and sustainable levels in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ ” The bad news is that the state is already reducing population levels on its own by refusing new admissions, pushing the problem back on county jails. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 15, 2020 11:12 am
Efforts to exploit the COVID-19 crisis to achieve massive releases of prisoners received a setback in Oregon today. Conrad Wilson reports for OPB:
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday she won’t release inmates over risks surrounding COVID-19.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 5, 2020 5:49 pm
As noted here on March 26, the inmates in California’s endless prison lawsuit asked the special three-judge district court for a release order, framing their request as a modification of the prior order. Friday evening, the court denied the motion. They didn’t buy the argument that this was a modification. The inmates are seeking a new release order, and they have to begin at the beginning, through the process mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Mar 26, 2020 10:29 am
The litigation over California’s prison system continues in federal court despite Realignment, Proposition 47, and Proposition 57. Part of the sales pitch for Proposition 57 was that without it we would “risk a court-ordered release of dangerous prisoners.”* Yet the suit drags on without end, and now the inmates are seeking, yes, another “court-ordered release,” including “release of dangerous prisoners.” Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Feb 25, 2020 4:37 pm
Earlier this month we noted the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s pilot program to disperse death-sentenced inmates away from death row. This authority was given to CDCR in Proposition 66 to defuse the abolition advocates’ argument that keeping them in San Quentin was much more expensive than it would cost to house the same murderers if they were not sentenced to death. CDCR now has an information page on its website further explaining the pilot program.
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