By Michael Caruso
Yesterday, David mentioned a new report which describes a “federal jailing crisis” that disproportionately impacts poor people of color. The report was authored and researched by Prof. Alison Siegler and a team of her clinic students at the University of Chicago Law School. The report, Freedom Denied: How the Culture of Detention Created a Federal Jailing Crisis, drew upon two years of court-watching and interviews. Prof. Siegler included our district in her study.
Here are a few of Prof. Siegler's key findings:
"Federal judges regularly disregard the law that protects against a person being jailed due to their inability to pay bail, directly impacting people of color and people from low-income backgrounds."
"Federal judges regularly disregard the legal requirement to ensure that anyone who cannot afford a lawyer is represented by court-appointed counsel during their initial appearance hearing."
"Federal judges often overlook legal requirements at initial bail hearings, leading to unlawful detention."
"Federal judges routinely misapply the “presumption of detention” statute that applies in drug cases, improperly treating it as a mandate for jailing and fueling racial disparities."
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