State commission makes recommendations on pretextual stops
Published: 2/9/2021 12:55:50 PM
State Trooper Michael Arteaga was parked in an unmarked cruiser on the north side of the Hampton tolls on a clear spring evening in 2018, when he noticed two men driving north in a late model Cadillac sedan with Connecticut plates.
Arteaga would later testify that he decided to follow the vehicle, with Jose Melendez driving and Brian Perez as the passenger, because, according to court records, “Perez, the passenger, was reclined far back in his seat … the driver had his hands at ‘ten and two’ on the wheel … and neither the driver nor the passenger looked in his direction as they were driving.”
New Hampshire State Trooper Michael Arteaga was parked in an unmarked cruiser on the north side of the Hampton tolls on a clear spring evening in 2018, when he noticed two men driving north in a late model Cadillac sedan with Connecticut plates.
Arteaga would later testify that he decided to follow the vehicle, with Jose Melendez driving and Brian Perez as the passenger, because, according to court records, “Perez, the passenger, was reclined far back in his seat … the driver had his hands at ‘ten and two’ on the wheel … and neither the driver nor the passenger looked in his direction as they were driving.”
Guest Columnist Lois Ahrens: ‘When will they be held responsible?’
LOIS AHREN
Published: 2/8/2021 4:35:24 PM
According to the Jan. 27 Special Masters Report, 2,861 women and men incarcerated in Massachusetts’ state prisons have become infected COVID-19. The total number of people incarcerated is 6,528. At Norfolk prison, the state prison with the oldest population, almost 50% of the men are or have been infected. At Framingham women’s prison, 94 of 163 women have had COVID.
In February and March 2020, advocates, attorneys and loved ones of incarcerated people filed lawsuits, wrote letters, protested and demanded that the Department of Correction and the governor take all possible measures to release people who were: 1) eligible for medical parole, 2) had six months left on a sentence, 3) in prison for parole violations, and 4) had earned positive parole votes. It took months for 300 people who earned parole to actually be released because the Parole Board had not establ
Bill to reduce felony drug possession charges dies in subcommittee General Assembly Building (FILE) (Source: WVIR) By Hyung Jun Lee | February 5, 2021 at 5:04 PM EST - Updated February 5 at 9:58 PM
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia lawmakers hoped to advance a bill that would eliminate felony drug possession charges and shift a focus to treatment, not punishment, of substance abuse. The measure had bipartisan support and backing from many commonwealth attorneys’ and lawyers around the state, but it died in a House subcommittee.
Anyone found in possession of controlled substances would face misdemeanor charges under House Bill 2303 introduced by Delegate Sally Hudson (D-Charlottesville). The bill would also amend the conditions set for probation under the current first offender statute, which allows drug possession charges to be dismissed if certain conditions are met.
Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector
photo by: Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector
Kendall Seal, director of advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, speaks Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, calling a proposed measure delaying the state s speedy trial requirement an affront to the state and U.S. constitutions.
TOPEKA Opponents of a proposal to delay or eliminate Kansans’ right to a speedy trial say if passed, the measure would be an affront to the constitution and open the door for litigation and unnecessary expenses for the state.
Amid the pandemic, jury trials have all but ceased across the county. Under the state’s current COVID-19 emergency declaration, which expires at the end of March, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert has the authority to pause trial deadlines.