Wishing all of our family, friends, clients, and colleagues a happy, safe, and prosperous new year!
"New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control on who should be first to receive the coronavirus vaccine puts lawyers and other legal professionals near the top of the list."
CDC Says Lawyers and Judges A Priority for Coronavirus Vaccine
www.lawsitesblog.com
New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control on who should be first to receive the coronavirus vaccine puts lawyers and other legal professionalsCan Body Cameras Improve Policing?
www.nytimes.com
Body cameras are brimming with possibility, but they’re not a magic remedy for misconduct."With the latest wave of COVID-19 sweeping through the country, many courts once again are suspending jury trials—leaving many defendants to languish in jail and civil plaintiffs waiting for relief."
States Halt Jury Trials Again, Leaving Many Defendants in Jail
www.pewtrusts.org
The pandemic-related backlog of cases could take years to plow through.More than 1 in 10 state prison admissions are the result of technical violations of probation rather than convictions for a new crime.
States Can Shorten Probation and Protect Public Safety
www.pewtrusts.org
More than 3.5 million, or 1 in 72, adults were on probation in the United States at the end of 2018—the most recent year for which U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data is available—more than triple the number in 1980. Nationwide, on any given day, more people are on probation than in pri...As our society has become a little more (but not enough) aware of our need to adapt school environments to serve the needs of children with different capabilities, we need to direct some of that focus to how we handle people in the prison and criminal justice systems as well.
Kenneth Gilbert: Maturity isn't automatic at 18. But life without parole sure is.
www.stltoday.com
Young people do foolish things. Is it fair to make them pay for their mistakes the rest of their lives?Chief Justice Melton Warns Judges to Enforce Mask Protocols in Court | Daily Report
www.law.com
The warning came after members of the legal community complained about lax mask protocols in certain courts."The virus’ impact and the level of concern about it across different demographics, such as Black, Latino and elderly populations that are dying at higher rates, could affect who feels safe to serve jury duty . . . What we can’t allow is to have trials where there’s not a fair cross section of the community represented.”
Jury duty? No thanks say many, forcing trials to be delayed
www.washingtonpost.com
Court officials across the country say a low turnout of people summoned to jury duty is derailing plans to restart trials for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic beganToday we pause to give thanks for all of the things that we are grateful for everyday: our families and friends, our clients and colleagues, our God-given talents and abilities, our opportunities and challenges, trials and tribulations, our democracy, our community, our potential for growth and development, and each day that we awake to experience something new in this beautiful world. Thank you all for sharing your lives with us and for trusting us as your law firm. Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be back in the office next week.