Access to Justice

  • July 25, 2023

    Brooklyn Public Defender Union To Hold 2nd Lunchtime Picket

    Nearly two years after eligible employees voted to unionize and be represented by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, Brooklyn Defender Services employees plan to hold a second lunchtime picket on Wednesday as they remain without a contract.

  • July 25, 2023

    New EDNY Committee To Give Convictions A Second Look

    A New York federal prosecutor announced Monday that his office is forming a committee to look over claims of wrongful convictions.

  • July 21, 2023

    How Habeas Corpus Ruling May Condemn Innocent Prisoners

    To Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, it sounded absurd: Why would legally innocent people — convicted under interpretations of the law that the U.S. Supreme Court later found to be wrong — be denied a chance to seek release from prison?

  • July 21, 2023

    'Paper Abuse': How Family Courts Feed Coercive Control

    Survivors' rights activists say that abusers use the courts to harass and exert control over their former partners. Some states have sought to pass laws curbing the practice. But the lines are tricky to draw, as they pit concerns about weaponizing litigation against due process rights.

  • July 21, 2023

    Section 8 Tenants Are Using New Laws To Fight Housing Bias

    States and cities are increasingly passing laws barring discrimination against tenants who rely on housing assistance vouchers. Now tenants and their advocates are launching a growing number of lawsuits to enforce them.

  • July 21, 2023

    Justice Sotomayor Slams Decision To Execute Ala. Prisoner

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor blasted her colleagues early Friday for allowing Alabama to use a death row inmate as a guinea pig following the state's "tortuous attempts" to execute other prisoners by lethal injection.

  • July 21, 2023

    ACLU Says NJ Judge Safety Law Is Used To Chill Free Speech

    Days after he questioned the absenteeism of the Police Department director during a City Council meeting, Charlie Kratovil, a seasoned local journalist and self-described advocate in New Brunswick, a city in central New Jersey, received a cease-and-desist letter.

  • July 21, 2023

    Judge Tatel On Returning To His Pro Bono Roots

    Senior D.C. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel grew up wanting to become a scientist like his father was, but the 1960s "changed everything," he recently told Law360 as he prepares to retire from the bench.

  • July 21, 2023

    Jersey City Advocates Leave Mark On Right To Counsel Laws

    At eviction hearings nationwide, where a tenant's ability to stay in their home is at stake, an average of 97% of tenants come to court with a handicap — they don't have an attorney.

  • July 18, 2023

    Illinois High Court OKs 1st Law In Nation Abolishing Cash Bail

    The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a 2021 state law eliminating cash bail and strictly limiting pretrial incarceration in the state is constitutional, overturning a lower court's decision that had put the legislation in limbo.

  • July 17, 2023

    Mich. Justices Say Peremptory Strike Errors Warrant New Trial

    A divided Michigan Supreme Court held for the first time that erroneous denial of a criminal defendant's peremptory strikes during jury selection is a flaw serious enough to automatically require a new trial.

  • July 17, 2023

    Mich. Chief Justice Pushes For Diminished Capacity Defense

    The Michigan Supreme Court's chief justice said the state's ban on using a diminished mental capacity defense was misguided and urged the state Legislature to rethink an "all-or-nothing approach" that recognizes only legal insanity as a defense to criminal responsibility.

  • July 11, 2023

    New Program To Help Noncitizen Soldiers Become Naturalized

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has launched a new fellowship to guide highly skilled noncitizen soldiers and veterans through the naturalization process and usher them across the finish line, after the firm won litigation ensuring the soldiers and vets can apply for citizenship that was promised in exchange for their service.

  • July 10, 2023

    Wash. To Pay $100M For Pretrial Mental Health Exam Delays

    A Seattle federal judge has slammed a state agency for committing "inexcusable" constitutional rights violations by letting people with mental illness languish in local jails while awaiting trial, ordering the state to pay $100 million for violating a class action settlement over delays in court-ordered competency services. 

  • July 10, 2023

    'Patently Unsafe': Latest Report Details Violence At NYC Jails

    A video showing confrontational officers played at a new recruit ceremony and posted publicly on May 19. (Court Documents)

  • July 07, 2023

    'The Wire' Creator Urges Leniency In Actor's Fentanyl Death

    The co-creator behind the HBO drama series "The Wire" urged a New York federal judge to show compassion to one of the men who pled guilty in the overdose death of Michael K. Williams, saying the actor's own stance against mass incarceration and the drug war spurred his letter.

  • July 07, 2023

    From Felon To Firm Owner, Mass. Atty Aids Inmate IP Pursuits

    After opening up about his own criminal background and his unconventional path into the legal industry, intellectual property lawyer Keegan Caldwell is now helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people file patent applications.

  • July 07, 2023

    Justices Eye Intersection Of Domestic Violence, Gun Rights

    In the fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case centering on the intersection of gun rights and domestic violence. Legal experts say it could be one of several cases involving the Second Amendment the court will be called to decide following its landmark ruling on gun rights last year.

  • July 07, 2023

    As States Purge Medicaid Rolls, Legal Aid Groups Step Up

    With millions of Americans expected to lose Medicaid coverage as states review benefit eligibility following the end of COVID-19 pandemic-related protections, legal aid organizations are working to raise awareness, help people appeal terminations of coverage and educate beneficiaries about their rights.

  • July 07, 2023

    Sheppard Mullin Helps Afghans Put Down New Roots In Calif.

    Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP are helping Afghan refugees who have supported U.S. interests in Afghanistan and resettled in the San Diego area win asylum so they can stay in the United States permanently. Here, Law360 speaks with Sheppard Mullin partner Elizabeth S. Balfour and associate Matthew Rebelo about the firm's ongoing efforts.

  • July 07, 2023

    BigLaw Attorneys On Navigating LGBTQ Asylum Cases

    Taking on asylum cases for LGBTQ immigrants can truly be life-or-death in many cases, with asylees facing persecution, criminalization and even death as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity in their home countries.

  • July 07, 2023

    Sick Prisoner Claiming Inadequate Care Seeks Release

    A man serving 18 years in prison after collecting more than $9 million from Medicare and Medicaid while banned for fraud urged a New Jersey federal judge to release him early, claiming the U.S. prison system can't manage his severe medical needs.

  • July 07, 2023

    Latham Partners Help Legal Aid DC Launch Endowment

    A new $5 million endowment established by Legal Aid DC, with the help of supporters including Latham & Watkins LLP, will boost efforts to provide services to low-income residents, in a move that aims to ensure long-term financial stability in times of uncertainty.

  • July 06, 2023

    Probe Finds Failure To Punish 'Torture,' Racism In Ill. Prison

    The Federal Bureau of Prisons has failed to punish administrators of a high-security federal penitentiary in Illinois for what have been described as acts of torture and a culture of "rampant racism," according to a report released Thursday by advocates for inmate rights.

  • July 03, 2023

    Law360 Podcasts Untangle A Week Of Blockbuster Rulings

    The U.S. Supreme Court wrapped up its term last week with a series of blockbuster rulings striking down affirmative action and the government's ambitious plan to eliminate billions of dollars in federal student loan debt, and siding with a website designer opposed to same-sex weddings and a religious former postal worker seeking workplace accommodations.

Expert Analysis

  • Arbitration Is A Flawed Forum That Needs Repair

    Author Photo

    While arbitration is a good vehicle for ensuring timely dispute resolution, the existing system lacks protections for workers and consumers, and legislative efforts to outlaw forced arbitration prove it’s time to finally fix it, says Gerald Sauer at Sauer & Wagner.

  • Sentencing Insights From A Chat With Judge Nancy Gertner

    Author Photo

    While many judges say there isn’t much criminal defense attorneys can do at sentencing hearings, retired U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner — an outspoken critic of the federal sentencing guidelines — disagrees, says criminal defense attorney Alan Ellis.

  • Rigged Forfeiture Law Seizes Property In 4 Steps

    Author Photo

    Nationwide, law enforcement agencies rely on a four-pronged attack to generate billions of dollars in civil forfeiture revenue to use for police perks, depriving defendants of property without due process of law, says Daryl James of the Institute for Justice.

  • To Honor The Promise Of Liberty, Reform Pretrial Detention

    Author Photo

    As criminal justice reform advocates focus on the critical need to reduce unjust pretrial detention, jurisdictions must commit to a range of policy changes that include, but also go beyond, risk assessments, says former Wisconsin Judge Jeffrey Kremers.

  • USCIS Work Proposals Add To LGBTQ Asylum Seekers' Risks

    Author Photo

    Pending U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services proposals to prolong employment ineligibility and charge for employment authorization documents would be particularly detrimental to already-vulnerable LGBTQ asylum seekers, says Richard Kelley at the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project.

  • Understanding What Restorative Justice Is And Isn't

    Author Photo

    A hearing in the Jeffrey Epstein case featuring victim impact statements and a White House meeting between a hit-and-run driver and the victim's parents have been described as restorative justice, but the reality is more complex, says Natalie Gordon of DOAR.

  • 5 Most-Read Access To Justice Law360 Guests Of 2019

    Author Photo

    On topics ranging from public trial rights to electronic monitoring technology to the rules of evidence in the context of sexual harassment trials, 2019 brought a wide array of compelling commentary from the access to justice community.

  • Inside The Key Federal Sentencing Developments Of 2019

    Author Photo

    Raquel Wilson, director of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Office of Education and Sentencing Practice, discusses this year's developments in federal sentencing, including new legislation in the Senate and U.S. Supreme Court cases invalidating certain statutes.

  • ODonnell Consent Decree Will Harm Criminal Justice In Texas

    Author Photo

    In Odonnell v. Harris County, a Texas federal court ordered that misdemeanor offenders could be released without bail, marking a fundamental deterioration of the Texas criminal justice system, says attorney Randy Adler.

  • Judges Cannot Rehabilitate Offenders With Extra Prison Time

    Author Photo

    Although they may mean well, federal judges should stop attempting to help criminal defendants get into drug rehabilitation programs by unlawfully sending them to prison for longer than their recommended sentences, says GianCarlo Canaparo at The Heritage Foundation.

  • Time To Rethink License Suspensions Without Due Notice

    Author Photo

    In North Carolina, one in seven adults has a suspended driver’s license, but our research suggests that many of them never received actual notice of their license suspension, or of the court proceeding that led to it, making this a fundamentally unfair sanction, say Brandon Garrett, Karima Modjadidi and William Crozier at Duke University.

  • Changing The Way We Dialogue About Justice Reform

    Author Photo

    Dawn Freeman of The Securus Foundation discusses why humanizing the language used to discuss justice-involved individuals is a key aspect of reform and how the foundation’s upcoming campaign will implement this change in mainstream publications and on social media.

  • High Court Should Restore Sentencing Due Process

    Author Photo

    If the U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari in Asaro v. U.S. and rules that sentencing judges cannot consider uncharged, dismissed and acquitted conduct, a peculiar and troubling oddity of criminal and constitutional law will finally be rectified, say criminal defense attorney Alan Ellis and sentencing consultant Mark Allenbaugh.

  • Book Review: Who's To Blame For The Broken Legal System?

    Author Photo

    The provocative new book by Alec Karakatsanis, "Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System," shines a searing light on the anachronism that is the American criminal justice system, says Sixth Circuit Judge Bernice Donald.

  • High Court Should Affirm 3-Strikes Rule For Prisoner Pleading

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court in Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez should hold that any case dismissed for failure to state a claim should count as a strike for purposes of Section 1915(g), which allows incarcerated people to file three complaints free of charge, says GianCarlo Canaparo at The Heritage Foundation.

Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Access to Justice archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!