Search results for «criminal justice resources»

Criminal Justice Resources: Sex Offender Residency Restrictions

Ken Strutin’s guide collects recent court decisions, research papers and reports that have addressed the efficacy of exclusionary zoning laws and the impact of these restrictions on sex offenders reentering their communities.

Criminal Justice Resources: Sex Offender Laws

Ken Strutin’s guide, which highlights key publications and resources, focuses on recent developments in the administration and implementation of federal laws. In addition, selected research on sex offenses, risk assessment, treatment and punishment are noted, along with a section on the new Adam Walsh Act.

Criminal Justice Resources – Clemency Law

Ken Strutin’s article surveys select online resources for seeking clemency as well as guides and research materials on the administration of this important form of relief.

Criminal Justice Resources: Criminal Justice Library Internships

As Ken Strutin states, a library internship is one of the first opportunities for students to experience professional life and learn practical lessons in librarianship. His collection of resources will be useful to library students and aid their host libraries in answering questions, assembling training materials, and offering guidance in professional development.

Criminal Justice Resources – Criminal Justice Blogs

Ken Strutin’s guide includes blogs that provide news and analysis of current developments in criminal justice. The blogs are authored by lawyers, law professors, law librarians, public defenders, criminal justice professionals and observers and commentators on the justice system.

Criminal Justice Resources: Juvenile Law and Family Court Resources

The latest installment of Ken Strutin’s Criminal Justice Resources series is a bibliography of juvenile and family law sources from professional and commercial institutions, government agencies and public interest groups.

Features – Criminal Justice Resources: Prisoners’ Rights and Resources on the Web

Criminal Justice Resources Prisoners’ Rights and Resources on the Web By Ken Strutin

Ken Strutin (JD, MLS) is an experienced law librarian, criminal defense attorney, and well-known writer and speaker. He is the author of The Insider’s Guide: Criminal Justice Resources on the Internet, and has lectured extensively about the benefits of using the Internet for legal research at national and local CLE training programs. Mr. Strutin also wrote ALI-ABA’s Practice Checklist Manual on Representing Criminal Defendants, and co-authored the award winning Legal Research Methodology computer tutorial, published by the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). He has contributed chapters to several books and written many articles concerning knowledge management, legal research and criminal law. Mr. Strutin has taught courses in Advanced Legal Research and Law Office Management. He is also listed in Who’s Who in American Law. Currently, Mr. Strutin is the Director of Legal Information Services at the New York State Defenders Association and writes a column for the New York Law Journal.

Published August 15, 2006

Introduction

This guide highlights resources about prisons, the people who occupy them, legal and social services for inmates and their families, issues related to incarceration and reentry, and human rights behind bars. The focus is on selected web resources and online publications.

Commissions Legal Services Physical Health Statistics Conditions of Confinement Library Services Policy Research Support Services Education Mental Health Prisoners’ Rights Voting Rights Guides and Manuals News and Periodicals Prisons Women Inmate and Prison Locators Organizations Reentry Bibliographies and Research Guides Law School Clinics Parole Standards

Commissions

National commissions have been created to investigate conditions and facilitate legislation aimed at reforming the prison system. And many states and local governments have established agencies to oversee their correctional facilities, and issue reports about their operations. More information on the national level can be found under Conditions of Confinement.

National Commissions

Selected State Commissions

Conditions of Confinement

The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons conducted a national examination of the violence, sexual abuse, degradation, and other abuses occurring in prisons and jails across the country. Four public hearings were held over the course of a year. In 2006, they issued their final report, Confronting Confinement, with recommendations for improving and reforming the prison system, which included standardized reporting of violence and abuse, reinvestment in violence prevention programs, and expanding Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement to cover correctional facilities. The Commission was staffed and funded by the Vera Institute of Justice.

In addition to the work of the Commission, the following organizations have been monitoring and studying prison conditions in the United States, and around the world:

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), 42 USC § 15601, et seq., gave rise to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. The Commission website makes accessible testimony taken at ongoing hearings along with updates about their work. The following sites provide resources on PREA and its implementation:

National Institute of Corrections

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Related Resources

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Education

Prison societies and academic institutions devote resources to prison education through distribution of books and supporting course materials.

Guides and Manuals

Here are several excellent publications that provide information on legal research, inmate rights, pro se litigation, and resources for prisoners and ex-offenders.

Inmate and Prison Locators

The federal government posts a list of its facilities, and a locator to find particular inmates. Most states offer similar resources for their prisons and some jails. In addition to these directories, an individual state or county’s facilities can be found by searching the local government’s website or one of the national lists below for the appropriate department of corrections.

Law School Clinics

Many law schools have created clinics to provide representation for incarcerated persons who need assistance in post-conviction matters and prison-related cases.

Legal Services

These are directories and sites that provide information about legal services for prisoners and information on self-representation.

Library Services

The resources from national library organizations and others provide information on the issues related to serving this special population.

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Mental Health

The appropriate treatment of inmates with mental health issues has been the subject of much study and debate. This is a small selection of recently published materials and resources.

News and Periodicals

Stories about prison conditions and developments in the law affecting prisoners’ rights can be found in these specialized sources. Notably, there are some standout publications, such as the monthly magazine Prison Legal News, which provides excellent comprehensive coverage and analysis of prison issues. Their website includes a rich collection of resources and an extensive list of research links.

News

Law Reviews

Periodicals

<Table of Contents> Organizations

There is a broad spectrum of private, academic and governmental organizations concerned with the state of US prisons and the operation of the prison system. Many of them publish reports and studies on issues vital to prisoners’ rights and prison reform.

Parole

Here are some general sites concerning parole administration, more information can be found in the Reentry section.

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Physical Health

Health issues for people behind bars are a serious concern and have an impact on society at large. Here are a few national resources on this topic.

Policy Research

Many private, academic and governmental groups engage in research on prison and sentencing reform. They often conduct original research on the conditions of confinement or develop strategies to respond to current problems, such as overcrowding.

Prisoner’s Rights

Much of the literature and resources on prisoners’ rights have already been noted under other categories.

Prisons

These sources concentrate on the unique concerns of prisons and correctional facilities related to placement, administration, and economics.

Reentry

More than 600,000 former ex-offenders are in the process of reentering society. And governmental and private entities are beginning to provide much needed services to ease the transition and promote reintegration.

Standards

National and state standards exist for the administration and operation of prison and jail facilities.

National Standards

Selected State Standards

Statistics

Criminal justice agencies, academic and some private organizations collect statistical information on prison populations, services and special issues.

Support Services

Many organizations exist that provide a variety of basic services to inmates and their families.

Voting Rights

The right to vote for persons behind bars has become the focus of studies, policy discussions and litigation nationwide.

Women

Several organizations have devoted significant resources to the special issues facing women behind bars.

Bibliographies and Research Guides

Here are some extensive bibliographies, pathfinders, and collections of resources on prison related topics.

Criminal Justice Reform Resources 2008-2009

Ken Strutin’s guide focuses on select current reports, surveys, legislative proposals and scholarship regarding criminal justice reform. It is only a small sampling of the increasing volume of publications on vital matters of interest to criminal practitioners and the public. Therefore, only a few themes are covered: criminal justice, discovery, forensics, juvenile justice, prosecutorial misconduct, public defense, sentencing and wrongful conviction.

Criminal Law Resources: Social Networking Online and Criminal Justice

The activities of users and the information being posted on social networking sites are having wide ranging effects on the administration of justice, law enforcement investigation, prosecution and defense. Ken Strutin’s guide provides a snapshot of many of the novel and varied uses of social networking evidence in the field of criminal justice.

Interpretation and Translation Resources for the Criminal Justice System

Ken Strutin’s series of articles on Criminal Justice Resources continues with this extensive bibliography that includes: Foreign Language Publications & Websites; Directories and Services; Deaf and Hard of Hearing Resources; Ethics and Standards; Federal and State Court Interpreter Programs and Reference Sources.

Putting a Spotlight on Civics Education: How Law Librarians Are Helping to Bridge the Access to Justice Gap

Diane M. Rodriguez Assistant Director of the San Francisco Law Library in California, and 2021–22 president of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), where one of her many goals is to advocate for access to legal information that supports access to justice. She expertly articulates the work, and the role of law librarians, that comprise this mission.

Death of Colleague, Ken Strutin, Author of LLRX Criminal Justice Guides for 13 years

Kennard (Ken) R. Strutin, lawyer, law librarian, Director of Legal Information Services for the New York State Defenders Association, professor, author, teacher, colleague, friend and respected leader in the effort to illuminate the struggles of incarcerated persons and to champion justice for them, died on November 30, 2018 after a brief illness – he was …

Bail in Justice: Innocence, Indigence and Incarceration

Ken Strutin’s exemplary research once again advances our understanding of critical issues pertaining to our justice system in the United States. According to Strutin: ‘the number of innocent people in post-conviction confinement is counted in the thousands, the pre-trial population of the unconvicted is in the millions. Every accused has constitutional rights to liberty, dignity and innocence, and yet, confinement often arrives before conviction. Money bail has the unfortunate effect of monetizing personal liberty and alchemizing human beings into negotiable instruments. This is the slippery slope of criminal justice, the erosion of liberty and due process. So it is that excessive bail bars the way to fully realize constitutional rights and increases the risk of wrongful conviction. Present efforts to improve pretrial release and detention practices have inspired some legislative and policy changes as well as bail funds and advocacy programs. This guide and annotated bibliography covers noteworthy legislation, court decisions, reports and guides, news articles and other sources concerning bail reforms and practices.”

Automatic Justice: Shaping the Legal Mind of Tomorrow

Smart computing is changing the nature of legal work even as the profession struggles to understand its scope. Machines sophisticated enough to communicate intelligibly and naturally with human hosts, technology with the processing power to wrangle big data are enhancing the way attorneys do their jobs and affecting the way they think. Law practices are now set up in paperless offices, cases litigated in hi-tech courtrooms, research done almost exclusively online, demanding higher levels of technical competency and professional responsibility. The vocabulary of technology is filling the legal landscape: algorithms, analytics, artificial intelligence (A.I.), automated decision-making, avatars, big data, cloud computing, code, cognitive computing, computer-aided, computer-generated, creative computing, cyborg, data driven, data mining, data science, data trails, deep learning, electronic discovery (e-discovery), expert systems, machine learning, metadata, mobile technology, mosaic theory, natural language, neural networks, paperless and virtual offices, pattern matching, predictive analytics, robotics, self-replicating technologies, smart data, smart technology, source code, and supercomputers. So, time worn lexicons and practice libraries are infiltrated with the latest computer terminologies and technical manuals. The work of lawyers, judges and government officials increasingly relies on the processing power of microchips. So, the Bartleby of tomorrow is taking shape today. From document assembly to document drafting, the borderlands of decision-making, data analysis, and communication will mark the progress of law and raise new questions for the administration of justice. And the breadth of information competence will need to expand with each new generation of technology. This article by Ken Strutin is a significant, comprehensive and expert guide to recent and notable works on the automation of lawyering, the administration of law and legal thinking.

Report – President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Casts Doubt on Criminal Forensics

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) stated in their report – “Among the more than 2.2 million inmates in U.S. prisons and jails, countless may have been convicted using unreliable or fabricated forensic science. The U.S. has an abiding and unfulfilled moral obligation to free citizens who were imprisoned by such questionable means.” Ken Strutin’s article features information about the PCAST Report, its reception by advocates and critics, and related articles, publications and developments concerning the science of innocence.

Comparative Criminal Procedure: A Select Bibliography

This expansive, comprehensive and up-to-date guide by Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Foreign and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library, references resources that include books, loose-leaf, online, database and e-government sites, services and resources.

Mecha Justice: When Machines Think Like Lawyers

Most workplaces, whether public, private, academic – within the government, legal, education, news, or advocacy sectors – are increasingly focused on how to define, implement and position the use of ‘Big Data,’ data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and even robotics, into respective organizational missions that are under increasing pressure to innovate faster. Ken Strutin’s comprehensive, insightful and expertly documented article is a critical read to assist all of us in the legal environment, regardless of our role, in understanding key cases, issues, science, technology and applications, and potential as well as actual outcomes. As Strutin writes, the term “Mecha” envisions a futuristic artificial intelligence wrapped in human likeness and seamlessly woven into the activities of society. It represents a time when the aggrandizement of our species will depend on technology that looks and thinks like us. Today, the prototype of attorney mechas are emerging from advances in computer reasoning and big data. The demands of increasingly complex legal transactions, sophisticated consumers, and the momentum of technology are putting pressures on the practice of law that only computer assistance can relieve. This compilation of notable news articles, scientific studies and legal scholarship highlights the progress of rights, responsibilities and roles of legal professionals and thinking machines.

Pain Science and the Administration of Justice

Ken Strutin’s article is a survey of legal scholarship and medical research concerning the study of pain and its significance for the administration of civil and criminal justice. The complexity of pain’s impact on each individual’s life is increasingly relevant in the context of the administration of civil and criminal justice. Strutin’s subject matter expertise in issues of law and justice is further articulated in this this article as he undertakes a timely review of an increasingly relevant issue that impacts the lives of defendants and complainants alike.

Cognitive Reality and the Administration of Justice

Ken Strutin writes in his latest article as follows -“science has much to say about how individual behavior and group wide phenomena influence the core issues of criminal justice. From self-incrimination to self-representation, from prosecuting to judging, from trial to punishment the law recognizes that there are subtle psychologics at work. Indeed, there is one long continuum of cognitive realities that pervade every precinct of criminal justice. And now, scientific study and legal scholarship has uncovered hidden biases in the deliberations of justice as well as overt barriers to cognitive functioning associated with confinement. This article is a collection of research into the cognitive nature of criminal justice participants, the constraints of confinement, and the administration of justice.”

Amicus Curiae: Information in the Service of Justice

From Ken Strutin’s introduction to this guide: In the legal system, such intonements have taken on the form of specialized briefs called amicus curiae (“friend of the court”). And through extension and by complement they have appeared in the form of law reviews, media articles, exposes, and books. Indeed, there is an oscillating relationship between amici and law reviews, which has been beneficial for scholarship and public discourse. In the end, it is the passion for justice that drives individuals, governments, academics, lawyers, journalists and other interested groups to befriend the courts. The amicus has the power to speak to many audiences simultaneously. In the courtroom, it is the honest broker; in the public media, it is the educator; in academia, it is scholarly analysis and historical perspective. Bounded by common law, court rules, and the conventions of publishing (briefs, articles or books), the amicus can yet move knowledge into venues where it is most needed. An amicus can serve as an “oral shepardizer,” expert witness, or quasi-litigant that extends the range of judicial notice and culls, concentrates and vets information into a case-specific resource. Still, there is a tension between the role of the amicus as independent expert offering facts and a party arguing an agenda, which can ultimately impact the quality and constitutionality of decision-making. Indeed, there are concerns that unregulated amicus practice can undermine development of case law by opening the door to issues and arguments beyond the threshold of standing and jurisdiction. Lastly, the free range of amicus briefs can exacerbate already problematic judicial information seeking behavior. Roman legal tradition fashioned the amicus into an interlocutor, an explainer in all kinds of cases. Today, their roles are circumscribed by court rule and common law. However, the scope of this article is confined to a discrete precinct of the amicus universe, criminal justice.

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