Smart Justice Network
Dec 13, 2023 – A just verdict…
CBC News – Shanifa Nasser
‘No longer any doubt,’ says Soleiman Faqiri’s family as inquest deems Ontario jail death a homicide – Verdict confirms what 30-year-old’s family has believed for ever since his 2016 death…
It took seven years to get this verdict on the death in custody of Soleiman Faqiri from an inquest jury. But it remains an unusual verdict in a flagrant death in custody case. Equally reprehensible are the legal ramifications of the verdict: “…the verdict from the jury at the coroner’s inquest carries no legal consequence, however it represents a major milestone in the family’s fight for accountability in the 30-year-old’s death.“ The jury also added 57 recommendations that will join numerous other from other juries tasked with a custodial death. While police may re-open the investigation, there is no obligation to do so. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/soleiman-faqiri-inquest-verdict-1.7053473
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
What do we know about knife crime?
The link may provide some helpful information around the concern with knives used in crimes in the UK. Webster draws his information from a briefing kit prepared by the House of Common Library prior to a parliamentary discussion. The kit describes the offences around the sale and possession of knives as well as the new sentencing guidelines for crimes involving knives. A new element in the legislation is the knife crime prevention order. A person already convicted of the use of a knife in a crime can also be subjected to a serious crime prevention order that allows police to stop and search. The report concludes with anticipated government plans to confront knife crimes – as you may suspect prior to an election. https://www.russellwebster.com/what-do-we-know-about-knife-crime/
WSB TV (Atlanta, Ga)
Protester granted speedy trial in Atlanta public safety training center indictment case…
At the request of the first defendant of some 60 people charged Ayla King has asked and won the right to a speedy trial. She will also be one of the first as a protestor to be subjected to the US Rico laws for her actions in trespassing on the site of Cop City, a municipal decision to build a large and expensive police training facility known as the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The case has significance for its capacity to remove protest from civic duty and place it squarely in organized crime domain, with the conviction and sentencing consequences. The jury selection is now underway and the case is likely to garner more attention as the actual trial opens. DeKalb County, Georgia, where the facility is located has withdrawn from involvement with the prosecution. (The news article is dated Dec 6 and the trail is already underway) https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/protester-granted-speedy-trial-atlanta-public-safety-training-center-indictment-case/JLZF3TR6SZDVBE3YLXPVK7VR5E/ (Go to: https://x.com/ACPC_Live/status/1734261021894730099?s=20 for info on the jury selection.)
Hoodline.com (US) – Sophie Leclerc
Austin’s Downtown Community Court Chosen as Model in National Criminal Justice Mental Health Initiative
A group founded 23 years ago to confront the needs of the homeless has been chosen as model for a national mental health initiative. The notion is to sift out mental health cases and pursue community health solutions. “The city-backed court’s focus is on tweaking the system to better serve folks grappling with behavioral health needs who find themselves on the business end of the criminal justice system… Putting best practices under the microscope, the program aims to make these lessons in smart justice into the national standard… A holistic mash-up of trauma-informed care, medical services, and education, they’re in it for the long game.” https://hoodline.com/2023/12/austin-s-downtown-community-court-chosen-as-model-in-national-criminal-justice-mental-health-initiative/
Blog from Scott Hetchinger (US) on felony murder: “Thirty-four states, as well as the District of Columbia, authorize the death penalty or a sentence of death-in-prison (life without the possibility of parole) for a death that occurs that the defendant had no intention of committing. Felony murder is harsh throughout the country.” https://x.com/ScottHech/status/1734379157432176826?s=20 Further: “As long as prosecutors can prove that you or an accomplice intended to do some other felony, & death occurs, they can prove murder w/o needing to prove intent. Doesn’t matter if accidental. Unforeseeable. Or someone else (cop, store owner) pulled trigger.” https://x.com/ScottHech/status/1734362726393122931?s=20 Blogger Scott Hetchinger – A link to an illustration of felony murder: https://x.com/ScottHech/status/1734211845005910206?s=20
The Sentencing Project (US) –
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Youth Incarceration – Despite significant drops in youth incarceration over a decade, youth of color remain vastly more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers.
The link offers a fact sheet on youth incarceration and a series of three downloadable reports. While the numbers of youth incarcerated in the US has dropped, the racially discriminatory selection continues with Black and Tribal or Indigenous youth. The reports examine causes and remedies, disparities in crime and policing, and systems reform to reduce youth incarceration. https://www.sentencingproject.org/
The Texas Innocence Project (US)
Wrongful convictions are more common than you think.
What is surprising is not there are innocent people convicted of serious crime but rather the frequency with which they themselves will confess to the crime: 12%, better than one in ten. Police and prosecutors seem to play a significant role in conviction of innocent people, police by bias and exclusively focusing the search for evidence on the suspect and prosecutors often by making plea deals that avoid worst case consequences. Austin, Tx, and Chicago, Ill, are the two leading cities for wrongful conviction. https://innocencetexas.org/ Related article: The Texas Monthly (US) Michael Hall – The Bogeyman: How a Pattern of False Confessions Was Traced Back to One Austin Cop – Thanks to hundreds of DNA exonerations, experts now know false confessions are common. That wasn’t the case in the nineties in Texas. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/hector-polanco-andre-causey-false-confessions/
Energy-Mix – Mitchell Beer – Canada
COP28 BETRAYAL: ‘We Will Not Sign Our Own Death Warrant’, Delegate Says, After Al Jaber Circulates ‘Unacceptable’ Declaration
The draft concluding statement from the COP28 conference as upset many delegates for the control exercised by the fossil fuel propagandists and a draft declaration ending the conference has prompted some strong delegate rejection: “unacceptable”, “incoherent”, “grossly insufficient”, and a “slap in the face” by angry, frustrated, and increasingly sleep-deprived delegates.” Delegates allege that OPEC dictated the text. There is no mention of fossil fuel in the statement and no reference to the end of fossil fuel, the main contributor to climate change. https://www.theenergymix.com/cop28-betrayal-we-will-not-sign-our-own-death-warrant-delegate-says-after-al-jaber-circulates-unacceptable-declaration/?utm_source=The+Energy+Mix&utm_campaign=675c18e0cc-TEM_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc146fb5ca-675c18e0cc-510030506 Energy-Mix Late development: ‘Change in tone’ has COP decision ‘moving in the right direction’ as negotiators work overnight. https://www.theenergymix.com/change-in-tone-has-cop-decision-moving-in-right-direction-as-negotiators-work-overnight/?utm_source=The+Energy+Mix&utm_campaign=cbfd997a8b-TEM_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc146fb5ca-cbfd997a8b-510030506 Energy-Mix Final declaration on Cop 28: Breaking: Transition out of Fossils Fuels, Dawn of Renewables as COP28 conclude in Dubai. https://www.theenergymix.com/change-in-tone-has-cop-decision-moving-in-right-direction-as-negotiators-work-overnight/?utm_source=The+Energy+Mix&utm_campaign=6459622a26-TEM_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc146fb5ca-6459622a26-510030506
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