Recent News
An Example of Inequity, Disproportionate Punishment, and Prosecutorial Discretion Weaponized Against the Easiest Targets
Wisconsin’s mandatory minimum sentencing structure, like similar laws in many states, is rigid where justice requires discernment. Sadly, even with mandatory minimums, there is no “one size fits all” proposition. Judges are elected to weigh evidence, culpability, risk, rehabilitation, and mitigation. Yet mandatory minimums can prevent them from imposing sentences that fit the individual facts of a case. That rigidity becomes more troubling when prosecutorial discretion is exercised unevenly: harshly against young defendants whose conduct reflects immaturity and low risk, but more flexibly for adult authority figures accused of hands-on conduct.
Reconsidering Mandatory Minimums for Young Adults in CSAM Cases - A Policy Argument for Restoring Judicial Discretion
Across the country, policymakers are grappling with the challenge of applying laws written decades ago to a digital world that has transformed far faster than the legal system. Nowhere is this tension more visible than in the prosecution of child sexual abuse material offenses involving young adults.
Cached, Convicted, Condemned: Why Sex Offender Registries and Mandatory Minimums Fail Youth
The doorbell rang before dawn on August 16, 2022. It sounded like a newborn’s cry, sharp and impossible to ignore. I checked my phone: 6:00 a.m., the sky was still dark. When I looked out our windows, officers stood at the front door in vests and fully armed. A Department of Justice forensic truck sat in our driveway; at least five squad cars surrounded our house like an impending storm.
That morning everything changed.
After Babel - The Case Against Social Media: Seven Lines of Evidence
Once again, After Babel has published an exceptional article discussing the extremely negative impacts social media has on our younger generations. In a recent article, it outlines the seven lines of evidence that will help decide thousands of future court cases.