Justices express concern over failure to fill seats on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett reiterated the U.S. Supreme Court’s call to restore the Commission to full operation after three years of inactivity. It now lacks a quorum of voting members. The Biden White House has not nominated replacements for any of the six open seats on the seven-seat board that helps shape federal sentences. Bloomberg Law Related: Read the statement. U.S. Supreme Court Analysis: Why aren’t more members of Congress and the Supreme Court pressing to fill those seats? Sentencing Law and Policy

Robert Durst is dead, four months after he was finally found guilty of murder. The real estate scion, 78, was sentenced to life in prison in California in October after a jury found him guilty of murdering a friend in Los Angeles in 2000. The Washington Post He had gotten away with that crime, and others, until he made an incriminating on-camera comment during an HBO documentary. That prompted a new round of investigation by police and prosecutors and ultimately a jury trial that condemned him. Officials say Durst died of natural causes. He had tested positive for COVID-19 months ago. Los Angeles Times

“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” Rep. Mo Brooks, the Alabama Republican, faces a novel lawsuit brought by Rep. Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat. Swalwell says Brooks’ conduct before the January insurrection crossed from political advocacy to unlawful conspiracy to incite the Capitol riot. The Washington Post Trump’s attorneys in federal court on Monday claimed the former president should receive “absolute” immunity for his action, or inaction, during the insurrection. Politico More: Some of the Capitol rioters and their fellow travelers talked openly about being pardoned by the former president. Mother Jones

“I don’t want to imagine what it would be like.” Residents of Susanville, California, were delighted in the 1960s when state officials built a prison nearby. Town residents gradually lost their jobs as other local businesses closed and got work either in the prison itself or in the many industries that grow up around penitentiaries. Now California wants to close the rural prison, and residents aren’t happy. They’ve sued to stop the closure. The New York Times TMP Context: Some towns don’t want new prisons in the first place. The Marshall Project

A new coronavirus outbreak at the sprawling jail in Cook County, Illinois, outpaces even last winter’s totals. COVID-19 cases have quadrupled among incarcerated people in just over a month. Block Club Chicago TMP Context: Omicron is here, and many prisons and jails are not ready. The Marshall Project

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has been asked to commute the life sentence of Thomas Koonce, who has spent nearly three decades in prison for murder. Citing Koonce’s “extraordinary” rehabilitative work, the state’s pardons board recommended one year ago that he be made eligible for parole. Boston Globe

Last week, Indiana legislators approved a measure that would increase prison populations in the state while decreasing the number of people held in overcrowded county jails. WTHI

Officials in Portsmouth, Virginia, have paid $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by State Sen. Louise Lucas after she was illegally charged with a felony following a protest against white supremacy there in June 2020. The Virginian-Pilot

Police officers in New York City who say they lost their careers because of Covid-related illnesses want city officials to grant them disability pensions. New York Daily News

How to provide care to society’s marginalized communities. “Any public health response must reckon with the inextricable link between our nation’s prisons and jails and communities at large.” Inquest

Using victimhood as an excuse to grab power. “If we are reluctant to blame the individuals who stormed the Capitol, we can and should blame the right-wing talk show hosts and elected officials who have pushed baseless conspiracy theories and stoked white fears of displacement over the past several years.” Slate

City of charm and delusion. Police union officials in Baltimore are blaming the city’s high murder rate on a “police defunding” measure that never happened. Techdirt

Minnesota has a plan to help combat the opioid crisis. That is, a plan to spend nearly $300 million in federal funds over the next two decades on public health initiatives. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Time is of the essence. We have to figure out a way to stop the rise in murders around the country before the police reform movement stalls even further. The Atlantic

Slap on the wrist. The man who sold teenager Kyle Rittenhouse the rifle he used to kill two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, pleaded no-contest to a “non-criminal citation” and will receive no prison time or other punishment. CNN

Questions about the gang database used by police in Washington, D.C. It has nearly tripled in size in the past eight years, and almost all of the entries with a race listed are Black people. The Intercept TMP Context: How ICE uses secret police databases to arrest immigrants. The Marshall Project

“There are zero consequences for wrongful arrests of innocent people. Zero. It’s perverse.” A new lawsuit in Loveland, Colorado, targets a police officer who allegedly has a history of wrongful arrests that have gone unpunished by police officials. KDVR

There’s a coronavirus outbreak at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Dozens of cases, more delays, and officials reinstate a mask mandate. The New York Times

A closer look at the Capitol riot conspirators. “Although there is some evidence of coordination between at least some Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6, for the most part the groups acted in quite distinct ways that day.” Lawfare