Research on the crime control industry
Prisonsucks.com is a clearinghouse for useful, verifiable statistics about the crime control industry. Too often prison activists use statistics that are out of date, provided without citation or simply wrong. One of these days the public will start listening to prison activists, so let's be prepared to win without being sidetracked by arguments over defective statistics. In some cases, the numbers we need don't exist. In others, the facts exist but activists don't know where to find them. Now you do.
June 2002
Supreme Court strikes down judge-ordered death sentences
June 24, 2002
The Supreme Court today invalidated the death sentence of Timothy Ring because although the jury voted for life, the judge sentenced him to death. Between 180 and 800 death sentences will be invalidated by this decision.
Justice O'Connor wrote a dissent where she argues in part that she opposed reversing Ring's death sentence because it would also reverse many other death sentences. To paraphrase the late Justice Brennan: What does O'Connor fear -- too much justice?
Executions of mentally retarded declared unconstitutional!
June 20, 2002
On June 20th, the Supreme Court declared that execution of the mentally retarded violated the 8th Amendment.
Reporter to Gandi on Gandi's first trip to England: Mr. Gandi, what do you think of Western Civilization?
Gandi: I think it would be a good idea.
With this decision, the Supreme Court has recognized that civilized nations do not executed the mentally retarded.