This Law Gives Prosecutors Power to Undo Decades of Harsh or Racist Sentencing

  • 📰 truthout
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 54 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 25%
  • Publisher: 68%

Law Law Headlines News

Nearly 850 people, mostly Black men, have been freed after their state passed Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing laws.

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer logs condemned inmates who are leaving the exercise yard at San Quentin State Prison's death row on August 15, 2016, in San Quentin, California.Three weeks after Thanh Tran’s 18th birthday, he rang a drug dealer’s doorbell. In an instant, Tran was caught up in a gang-related attempted murder and attempted robbery case that could have landed him in a California state prison for 75 years to life.

Before the creation of the PIR law, those in prison relied on their attorneys to petition the court for consideration of a review or, like Tran, they would submit it on their own. Blout says it allows prosecutors to humanize a convicted person. During trial, prosecutors wouldn’t learn anything about the defendant unless their attorney presents the information.

But government resources to help support the formerly incarcerated upon their release are limited. Tran says reentry programs are an under-resourced area of the criminal justice system that needs more attention to ensure that an incarcerated person is equipped to go back into society.assist those such as Tran released under the PIR law with a reentry plan that includes housing, job training, and reuniting with loved ones, as well as mental health and substance abuse counseling.

“That’s an example of a case where you go back and look at it — I would never have seen it but for this work — and say, ‘Does somebody deserve to see a life sentence for that situation?’” Woodley scoffs.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 69. in LAW

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

CUNY Law is suspending student commencement speakers in wake of anti-Israel fiascoCUNY Law grad Fatima Mousa Mohammed gives anti-Israel commencement speech
Source: nypost - 🏆 91. / 67 Read more »

Indiana media outlets sue state, Marion County over new 25-foot law enforcement lawAshlyn Wright joined WRTV as a digital content producer in February 2023.
Source: wrtv - 🏆 598. / 51 Read more »

Prosecutors accuse Rust producers of obstructing investigation into Halyna Hutchins' deathAn early hearing in the trial of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed led to accusations of obstruction or interference against Alec Baldwin and other producers
Source: TheAVClub - 🏆 340. / 59 Read more »

YNW Melly murder trial delayed after defense attorneys accuse prosecutors of withholding informationDefense attorneys for rapper YNW Melly say South Florida prosecutors committed felony obstruction of justice by not revealing that the lead detective in the rapper’s double-murder case had been previo
Source: wjxt4 - 🏆 246. / 63 Read more »