Copy
The Marshall Project
Opening Statement
May 20, 2022
Edited by Andrew Cohen
Facebook Twitter Instagram Donate

Pick of the News

Federal clemency reform comes to Capitol Hill. Members of a House subcommittee heard testimony on Thursday from experts pressing the White House and Justice Department to increase the rate and diversity of federal clemency grants. Witnesses also testified about the need to reform the Office of the Pardon Attorney. House Judiciary Committee Related: Advocates have long pressured executive officials to do more about a backlog of 17,000 pending clemency petitions. Bloomberg Background on the hearing. Sentencing Law and Policy TMP Context: Trump’s pardons show a broken system. The Marshall Project

Oklahoma lawmakers pass strictest abortion restriction in the U.S. If signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt, the measure would outlaw all abortions after fertilization and permit private individuals to sue abortion providers and anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion. The Oklahoman There are no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The Washington Post The measure would further limit options for pregnant people fleeing from Texas, which passed its own anti-abortion law earlier this year. Oklahoma already has a “trigger ban,” which would outlaw abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade. The New York Times

A 911 dispatcher is in trouble after hanging up on a caller from the Buffalo supermarket during the shooting. The New York Times More: The House of Representatives passed a bill that would create domestic terrorism offices across three federal law enforcement agencies. The measure passed 222-203. A single Republican voted for it. The Washington Post Related commentary: “We must understand the ecosystems that immerse people in emotion and pseudoscience, and how even watered-down versions of hateful rhetoric give people like the shooter the space to dissociate from the people they harm.” Slate

Teenagers, social media, and drug dealers make a deadly combination. Fatal drug overdoses are at an all-time high — in part because tainted, counterfeit pills are being marketed to young adults, and sometimes children, through social media platforms that facilitate easy online sales. Messaging apps with privacy features that encrypt or erase messages make illegal prescription deals more convenient and less susceptible to arrest. Warning of the danger, one prosecutor says that “about 90% of the pills that you’re buying from a dealer on social media now are fentanyl.” The New York Times

N/S/E/W

Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker signed into law this week a ban on “ghost guns,” firearms that can be assembled at home from parts purchased online and without background checks. NBC News

A controversial arrest in Knoxville, Tennessee has turned into a referendum about policing in the city. One cop has been charged with lying to his fellow officers and record tampering. His bosses now face scrutiny for the way they handled his case. Knox News

Romance novelist Nancy Brophy, who once wrote a piece titled “How to Murder Your Husband,” is accused of murdering her husband in Oregon in 2018. She took the witness stand in her own defense this week in Portland. The New York Times A key witness’ testimony fizzled as the trial nears its end. The Oregonian

Two people have died in the past week in the jail in Washington, D.C., one of them possibly from an overdose, prompting a visit from a city councilor responding to anger from the family members of the victims. DCist

Federal prosecutors say that a $2 million unemployment fraud scheme was choreographed from prison by Natalie Le DeMola, a California woman serving a life sentence for murder. The New York Times

Commentary

The whitewashing of white supremacist violence. “The ideology of the Great Replacement is a particular threat to democratic governance because it insists that entire categories of human beings can or should be excluded from democratic rights and protections. Any political cause can theoretically inspire terrorism, but this one is unlike others in that what it demands of its targets is their non-existence.” The Atlantic

Feckless federal prosecutors. Never mind the slow pace of criminal investigations into Trump-era political crimes, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is also failing the Justice Department when it comes to white-collar cases. New York Magazine

How to cover (and not cover) a racist mass murder. The journalist’s case for not showing photographs of the Buffalo shooting suspect. USA Today Related: The alleged gunman calls himself a terrorist. But there’s no federal domestic terrorism law. NBC News

What white supremacy looks like in Thousand Oaks, California. The Buffalo shooter allegedly had the number 14 written on his rifle. That’s a symbol for “14 words,” a slogan of white supremacists around the world. Los Angeles Times

Middle ground on facial recognition technology used by police. This form of surveillance should be regulated, not banned, to protect privacy rights — while also providing law enforcement agents with the tools they need to fight crime. The Cato Institute

Etc.

Laws restricting teachers from educating their students about racism make it hard to teach lessons about the Buffalo massacre. In Texas, teachers say they are required by law to teach the positives of the white supremacist theory behind the attack. NBC News

The LAPD struggles to find more officers. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti asked for 780 more cops. That’s not going to happen. But he did get a 6.5% increase in the police budget for the next fiscal year. Los Angeles Times

New York’s mayor has a new conflict problem. Eric Adams has heaped praise on the Bola Wrap, a police restraint device in which his longtime aide and political ally Frank Carone has a significant financial stake. The New York Times

Prison contraband. Officials in Mobile County, Alabama, have arrested and charged a guard with smuggling contraband, including adult films, to prisoners. AL.com TMP Context: Navigating the complicated world of prison contraband. The Marshall Project

Urvashi Vaid, a lawyer and activist, fought for prison reform, too. She will be remembered most for her decades of fighting for LGBTQ rights. She died in New York City last week of breast cancer at 63. The New York Times

Opening Statement curates timely articles on criminal justice and immigration; these links are not endorsements of specific articles or points of view.

Want less email? Update your preferences.







This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
The Marshall Project · 156 West 56th Street · Studio, 3rd Floor · New York, NY 10019 · USA