Criminal Justice Reform

[PleaseBlitz]

Yea, that case is fascinating.  Dude is only alive right now because they couldn't find the right drugs to kill him in 2015.  I have no idea whether he is actually innocent, but it doesn't sound to me like the state proved him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and it would be dystopian as hell for the state to kill such a person. 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

 

[China]

Illinois judge who reversed rape conviction removed from bench after panel finds he circumvented law

 

An Illinois judge who sparked outrage by reversing a man’s rape conviction involving a 16-year-old girl has been removed from the bench after a judicial oversight body found he circumvented the law and engaged in misconduct.

 

The Illinois Courts Commission removed Adams County Judge Robert Adrian from the bench Friday after it held a three-day hearing in Chicago in November on a compliant filed against Adrian.

 

Its decision says Adrian “engaged in multiple instances of misconduct” and “abused his position of power to indulge his own sense of justice while circumventing the law.”

 

The commission could have issued a reprimand, censure or suspension without pay, but its decision said it had “ample grounds” for immediately removing Adrian from the bench in western Illinois’ Adams County.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Criminal justice advocate arrested after human torso is found in NYC apartment

 

A former convict who became a criminal justice reform advocate was arrested on several charges including murder after police found a human torso in a Bronx apartment while conducting a welfare check.

 

The gruesome discovery was made Tuesday just before 8:30 p.m. at a Summit Avenue apartment, the New York City Police Department said in a news release.

 

"Upon arrival, officers found an unidentified human torso at the location. EMS responded and pronounced the aided deceased on scene," police said.

 

The victim was identified as Collin Small, 44. The torso was found at Small's apartment.

 

The suspect, Sheldon Johnson, was arrested Thursday and charged with murder, manslaughter, weapon possession, concealment of a human corpse, and criminal contempt, online records show. He was arraigned Thursday and pleaded not guilty.

 

Johnson, 48, had previously spent 25 years in prison for attempted murder when he was a high-ranking member of the Bloods gang, NBC New York reported.

 

After his release, he began working for the Queens Defenders office as a client advocate. The office declined to comment on Friday.

 

In February, he appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast where he talked about how he had turned his life around following his time in prison.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Trial delayed after jurors object to fine for volunteer feeding unhoused neighbors: 'A lot of times, a jury will nullify the law'

 

A trial of a woman has been delayed after lawyers were unable to find jurors willing to entertain the possibility of fining her for feeding unhoused people outside of a library.

 

In January, the Houston Chronicle reported that "too many of the potential jurors" indicated that they would not issue the $500 fine to the defendant, Elisa Meadows, even if she was guilty.

 

"A lot of times, a jury will nullify the law while thinking they followed it," Clay Conrad, a partner at Looney, Smith & Conrad, told the news outlet. "... At the end of the day, the jury has to decide: Is this guy a criminal, or is he a good neighbor? I could see the jury saying, 'This guy is a good neighbor.'"

 

It's unclear if the trial against Meadows will eventually proceed, but the delay is nothing new for the city of Houston, which reportedly failed to win any of the 90 cases filed against volunteers from Food Not Bombs.

 

The group, which recovers food that would otherwise go to waste in order to serve people struggling with hunger, has been handing out meals outside of Houston's Central Library downtown for around 20 years, per the Chronicle.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Convicted Lawyer Too Well-Connected To Face Discipline

 

Attorney and Chicago Alderman Ed Burke was convicted of racketeering, bribery, and attempted extortion in December of 2023. His crimes were described as “a city hall shakedown scheme designed to enrich his law firm” as he was accused of blocking permits in his role as Chicago’s longest serving alderman if companies did not send their tax appeal work to his firm, Klafter & Burke.

 

Despite the conviction, the Illinois Supreme Court is unable to act on a petition for an interim suspension as requested by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Turns out Burke is just too well-connected.

 

A majority of the state supreme court recused themselves from hearing the case against Burke. Burke’s wife, Anne Burke, served on the Illinois Supreme Court from 2006 until she retired in November 2022. As reported by the ABA Journal:

 

Quote

At least four of the Illinois Supreme Court’s seven justices are needed for a quorum. Four of the state supreme court’s present justices were on the Illinois Supreme Court when Anne Burke was there, but there is no indication which justices recused themselves.

 

A spokesperson for the court, Christopher Bonjean, said there just isn’t a mechanism to deal with a situation where a majority has recused. While other state constitutions allow substitutions in these circumstances, “the Illinois Constitution does not have a provision for that.” Something Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson described to the Chicago Sun-Times as “a most Chicago and most Illinois of absurdities that you have identified.”

 

This situation has highlighted the amount of power the Burkes amassed in the Illinois judiciary.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[philibusters]

I think he deserves to be removed from the bench.   He didn't like the mandatory sentence so he tried to circumvent the law.   Laws are not meant to be circumvented, it doesn't matter  if you are a judge or not.