YESorNO
The Queen (aka "mrsmuir") SWBB
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2013
- Messages
- 34,377
- Reaction score
- 68,968
Georgia settles lawsuit over hormone therapy for transgender inmate
"Georgia will pay $250,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a transgender woman who was denied hormone treatments while serving time in a state prison, the state attorney general's office said on Friday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said it was pleased with the outcome for client Ashley Diamond, 37, but disputed the settlement amount cited by the state. The non-profit would not disclose a sum, however, citing a confidentiality agreement...
According to the lawsuit, Diamond, a convicted burglar, had lived as a woman and had been taking hormones for 17 years before going to prison. While in prison, Diamond was placed in unsafe conditions with violent men, the lawsuit claimed.
The U.S. Justice Department sided with Diamond on the claim that denying hormone treatments while in prison amounted to cruel and unusual punishment that led to physical pain, muscle spasms and loss of breast mass..."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-georgia-transgender-idUSKCN0VL23S
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Texas becomes first state to recommend court ban on bite mark evidence
"Texas has become the first state to call for a ban on allowing bite mark evidence, which legal experts say is likely to reverberate in courtrooms across the U.S.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission formally recommended Friday that judges stop accepting bite mark analysis until the technique is supported by better research. There's currently no scientific proof that teeth can be definitively matched to human skin.
At least two dozen men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks have been exonerated nationwide since 2000..."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/1...ecommend-court-ban-on-bite-mark-evidence.html
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State Bar board affirms disbarment of prosecutor who sent innocent man to death row
"The disciplinary board of the Texas State Bar on Monday affirmed the agencys decision to disbar Charles Sebesta, the former prosecutor who oversaw the wrongful death sentence of Anthony Graves.
Graves, who spent 18 years in prison, including 12 on death row, for a fiery multiple murder he did not commit, filed a complaint against Sebesta in January 2014. He asked the Bar to hold Sebesta accountable for withholding critical evidence of his innocence...
In June, the Texas State Bar revoked the former Burleson County district attorneys law license finding that he had engaged in prosecutorial misconduct in Graves case..."
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews....utor-who-sent-innocent-man-to-death-row.html/
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UK Prison Reform a Step Toward Reducing Recidivism
"UK Prime Minister David Cameron has offered a far-reaching proposal for improving what he describes as the "scandalous" failure of the English and Welsh prison system. Calling his plan the biggest overhaul to the national corrections system since the Victorian era, Cameron said he is the first prime minister to speak on the problem in several decades.
In a Feb. 8 speech to the London-based think tank Policy Exchange, he called for reforms that would not treat prisoners as liabilities to be controlled, but rather as "potential assets to be harnessed." Cameron painted in stark terms the problems plaguing the UK prison system, saying its levels of violence, drug use, self-mutilation and suicides "should shame us all."
Official statistics for last year show the over-85,000 prison population of correctional facilities in England and Wales accounted for more than 14,000 inmate assaults on other prisoners, nearly 600 serious assaults on prison staff members, thousands of self-mutilations, and 89 suicides. In addition, about 32% of former prisoners are convicted of further offenses after being released. A recent report by the UK's chief prison inspector conceded adult prison conditions had worsened since 2010..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris...ep-t_b_9211624.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime
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Police interrogation techniques are bogus and inaccurate
"If you were among the millions of people who watched the Netflix series Making a Murderer (2015), you were probably disturbed by the scenes of police interrogating Brendan Dassey, a 16-year-old mentally challenged boy. You would have seen the detective Mark Wiegert pressuring Dassey guiding his choices, subtly feeding him information until he admits to helping his uncle rape and slaughter magazine photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. Its clear that the boy will say just about anything just to get out of that room.
That disturbing interrogation, while an extreme example, is standard operating procedure in many police departments in the United States and in the security branches of many international corporations. They learn the Reid Technique a step-by-step interview process that purports to train human lie detectors, who unerringly arrive at truthful confessions. But that claim cant possibly be true.
How I do I know? Because I am a Reid-certified interrogator..."
https://aeon.co/opinions/standard-i...ail&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-76a1eddfbe-68895113
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"Georgia will pay $250,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a transgender woman who was denied hormone treatments while serving time in a state prison, the state attorney general's office said on Friday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said it was pleased with the outcome for client Ashley Diamond, 37, but disputed the settlement amount cited by the state. The non-profit would not disclose a sum, however, citing a confidentiality agreement...
According to the lawsuit, Diamond, a convicted burglar, had lived as a woman and had been taking hormones for 17 years before going to prison. While in prison, Diamond was placed in unsafe conditions with violent men, the lawsuit claimed.
The U.S. Justice Department sided with Diamond on the claim that denying hormone treatments while in prison amounted to cruel and unusual punishment that led to physical pain, muscle spasms and loss of breast mass..."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-georgia-transgender-idUSKCN0VL23S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas becomes first state to recommend court ban on bite mark evidence
"Texas has become the first state to call for a ban on allowing bite mark evidence, which legal experts say is likely to reverberate in courtrooms across the U.S.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission formally recommended Friday that judges stop accepting bite mark analysis until the technique is supported by better research. There's currently no scientific proof that teeth can be definitively matched to human skin.
At least two dozen men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks have been exonerated nationwide since 2000..."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/1...ecommend-court-ban-on-bite-mark-evidence.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Bar board affirms disbarment of prosecutor who sent innocent man to death row
"The disciplinary board of the Texas State Bar on Monday affirmed the agencys decision to disbar Charles Sebesta, the former prosecutor who oversaw the wrongful death sentence of Anthony Graves.
Graves, who spent 18 years in prison, including 12 on death row, for a fiery multiple murder he did not commit, filed a complaint against Sebesta in January 2014. He asked the Bar to hold Sebesta accountable for withholding critical evidence of his innocence...
In June, the Texas State Bar revoked the former Burleson County district attorneys law license finding that he had engaged in prosecutorial misconduct in Graves case..."
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews....utor-who-sent-innocent-man-to-death-row.html/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UK Prison Reform a Step Toward Reducing Recidivism
"UK Prime Minister David Cameron has offered a far-reaching proposal for improving what he describes as the "scandalous" failure of the English and Welsh prison system. Calling his plan the biggest overhaul to the national corrections system since the Victorian era, Cameron said he is the first prime minister to speak on the problem in several decades.
In a Feb. 8 speech to the London-based think tank Policy Exchange, he called for reforms that would not treat prisoners as liabilities to be controlled, but rather as "potential assets to be harnessed." Cameron painted in stark terms the problems plaguing the UK prison system, saying its levels of violence, drug use, self-mutilation and suicides "should shame us all."
Official statistics for last year show the over-85,000 prison population of correctional facilities in England and Wales accounted for more than 14,000 inmate assaults on other prisoners, nearly 600 serious assaults on prison staff members, thousands of self-mutilations, and 89 suicides. In addition, about 32% of former prisoners are convicted of further offenses after being released. A recent report by the UK's chief prison inspector conceded adult prison conditions had worsened since 2010..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris...ep-t_b_9211624.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police interrogation techniques are bogus and inaccurate
"If you were among the millions of people who watched the Netflix series Making a Murderer (2015), you were probably disturbed by the scenes of police interrogating Brendan Dassey, a 16-year-old mentally challenged boy. You would have seen the detective Mark Wiegert pressuring Dassey guiding his choices, subtly feeding him information until he admits to helping his uncle rape and slaughter magazine photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. Its clear that the boy will say just about anything just to get out of that room.
That disturbing interrogation, while an extreme example, is standard operating procedure in many police departments in the United States and in the security branches of many international corporations. They learn the Reid Technique a step-by-step interview process that purports to train human lie detectors, who unerringly arrive at truthful confessions. But that claim cant possibly be true.
How I do I know? Because I am a Reid-certified interrogator..."
https://aeon.co/opinions/standard-i...ail&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-76a1eddfbe-68895113
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