1. Colorado (Corrections1) – A first-of-its-kind law will allow people to vote in person while they are incarcerated.
Of the 9,293 people who were incarcerated and eligible to vote in 2020 and 2022, none of them had access to cast their votes. The new law requires that facilities within the state provide residents with a six-hour voting window within days of Election Day, said Jasmine Ross, of the Criminal Justice Reform Coalition in Colorado.
“They have the right to vote, so we should do everything we can to make sure they have access to the ballot,” noted Paul Lopez, the city’s clerk and recorder.
2. Texas (Associated Press) – A man accused of a 1977 rape was exonerated in June by the state court of appeals after being convicted in 1978. That conviction was overturned in1978, a second trial in 1992 ended in a mistrial, and a third trial in 1994 ended in a conviction and death sentence. “This case is riddled with allegations of State misconduct that warrant setting aside Applicant’s conviction,” Judge Bert Richardson wrote in the majority opinion.
3. Missouri (USA Today) – The state executed a man who claimed his innocence for 15 years, according to USA Today.
David Hosier was administered a 5-gram dose of pentobarbital, said Karen Pojmann, spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Prior to the execution activists against the death penalty gathered outside the state governor’s office with signatures pleading for clemency for Hosier.
Gov. Michael Parson denied the clemency requests hours before his execution, making the denial the 11th one since Parson took office in 2018.
4. Louisiana (Associated Press) – Judges can order surgical castration to punish people charged with sex crimes, according to a new law signed by Governor Jeff Landry.
This law is the first of its kind in the U.S. and could be applied to people who are convicted on or after August 1, 2024. There are 2,224 people in the Louisiana prison for such crimes, according to the report.
Opponents call the law cruel and unusual and a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
5. Chicago (ABC News) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order to create a task force for a reparation plan for Black Chicagoans, according to ABC News.
“Today’s Executive Order is … a pledge to shape the future of our city by confronting the legacy of inequity that has plagued Chicago for far too long,” said Mayor Johnson.
Detractors claim the plan “discriminates against anyone who does not identify as Black or African American,” noted the group Judicial Watch.
6. Kentucky (Lexington Herald-Leader) – A sergeant at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex was sentenced to seven years for covering up an assault by three officers on a man in the shower.
The jury convicted Eric Nantell, 48, on four counts. One, depriving the man of his right to be free from excessive force. Two, misleading investigators from the prison system and state police. Lastly, one count of lying to an FBI agent.
The three officers received sentences ranging from five years to 15 months.
7. New York (The New York Times) – Justice Kevin R. Bryant ruled in favor of a class-action lawsuit that claimed New York prisons are exceeding the legal limits placed on keeping a person in solitary confinement. The Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, signed in 2021, restricts solitary confinement in prisons and jails to no more than 15 days. “If prison officials impose solitary for more than three days, to a maximum of 15 days that the law allows, ‘they had to provide a very good reason for doing so,’ Bryant said,” according to the New York Times.
8. Virginia (Reuters) – Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortions for incarcerated women are often “entirely inaccessible,” according to a report by If/When/How. States with restrictive abortion policies limit the options for those who are incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. “Sometimes the only choice is to travel to a different state, but they can’t move freely. So, they must take a chance to talk to a parole officer who may be anti-abortion or be forced to take a real risk and move across state borders,” said U.S. lawyer Elizabeth Ling.
9. Washington D.C. (Missouri Independent) – In Washington, the Supreme Court has ruled on the federal level that people convicted of Domestic Violence will be banned from carrying firearms if they have a restraining order.
Chief Justice John Roberts was one of the persons in line with the 8-1 vote for the law.
“When an individual has been found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another, that individual may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” he said.
However, the lone vote was Justice Clarence Thomas who noted his support for the Second Amendment.
“Government can strip the Second Amendment right of anyone subject to a protective order – even if he has never been accused or convicted of a crime. It cannot,” said Thomas.
The U.S Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar who represents the Biden administration argued that the 5th Circuit misinterpreted.
