Bill aims to rein in Maine s drug trafficking law, among the nation s harshest mainebeacon.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mainebeacon.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BATON ROUGE, La. - Two bills dealing with the release of incarcerated individuals were heard in a House committee Wednesday, with one passing and the other being deferred in the
Governor Bill Lee signed a bill curing a defect in
Tennessee law that had prevented death-row prisoners from challenging their death sentences on the basis of intellectual disability,
Pervis Payne’s (pictured) lawyers asked a Memphis trial court to vacate his death sentence.
On May 12, 2021, federal defenders representing Payne filed a
Petition to Determine Ineligibility to be Executed in the Shelby County Criminal Court seeking that the court “declare that Mr. Payne is ineligible to be executed because he is intellectually disabled.” Prior to the bill’s May 11 signing, Tennessee lacked a mechanism for prisoners to litigate their ineligibility for the death penalty if their death sentences had already been upheld on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2002 decision in
| Updated: 6:03 p.m.
Utahns charged with crimes are about to face “super unpredictable” decisions about whether they can be released or must wait in jail for their case to be heard, some prosecutors and defense attorneys warn, after state lawmakers reversed recent reforms.
Taking away the freedom of someone still presumed innocent can compromise his or her ability to keep a job, hold down housing and care for family members some of the concerns at the heart of Rep. Stephanie Pitcher’s successful push to change Utah’s bail system in 2020.
Her bill, HB206, shifted Utah away from asking defendants to pay set dollar amounts based on their charges to asking judges to assess the risk they pose, including the safety of witnesses, victims and the public.
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Online, Mug Shots Are Forever. Some States Want to Change That.
Dustin Gawrylow, left, whose mug shot once circulated online after he was arrested but not charged, voices opposition to a ballot measure in Bismarck, North Dakota. The state is one of six where lawmakers have discussed legislation that would stem the publication of mug shots before a conviction.
Tom Stromme
The Bismarck Tribune via The Associated Press
After a weekend in the Burleigh County, North Dakota, detention center last summer, Dustin Gawrylow was relieved when the state’s attorney decided not to press charges against him.