“Goon Squad” Sentenced, ABQ Boasts 126% Homicide Clearance Rate & More
"FCI Dublin is a dysfunctional mess. The situation can no longer be tolerated. The facility is in need of dire change."
A federal judge has ordered the Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin to be overseen by a "special master," marking the first time a Bureau of Prisons facility has faced such oversight in U.S. history. The decision follows scathing criticism from the judge, who accused the BOP of disregarding inmates' constitutional rights, and comes after lawsuits by incarcerated women alleging sexual assault and retaliation, as well as an FBI raid and the removal of top administrators.
"The dispute before us matters profoundly. Our decision today thus promises to affect the lives and liberty of thousands of individuals."
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied thousands of individuals serving federal prison sentences a chance at an earlier release when it sided with the government in a case involving Mark Pulsifer, who pleaded guilty to a drug crime in 2020. The issue at hand was whether Pulsifer was subject to a mandatory minimum sentence or met the requirements to benefit from a “safety valve” provision in federal First Step Act. In their 6-3 decision, the Court stated that he could not benefit from that provision of the federal First Step Act and must serve the mandatory term. The decision centered in part on the court's interpretation of the word “and” in the law.
"The depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated."
A federal judge in Mississippi has sentenced members of a law enforcement unit dubbed the "goon squad" to 10 to 40 years for breaking into a home without a warrant or probable cause and torturing two Black men last year. Calling the officers' actions, which included beatings, repeated uses of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy, "egregious and despicable," the judge handed down sentences near the top of federal guidelines for their crimes.
"There is not just one thing that I could put my finger on and say that did it, there are a lot of different things that have been done that play into where we are today."
As the continued conversation around violent crime and improving clearance rates gains momentum around the country, the Albuquerque Police Department released a new report showing a 126% clearance for homicides for the department this week, a significant increase compared to previous years. In 2021, the clearance rate was around 55%, while in 2022 it was 92%, and in 2023 it was 90%. The APD attributes this increased rate to hiring additional detectives and doubling the staff that work on its homicide unit.
"The way it works right now is if you’re a lawyer and I (as the judge) know you, all you have to do is be at the door, and I’m just going to keep feeding you cases."
Judges steered two-thirds of cases involving kids accused of crimes to just 10 lawyers in one year, according to a new Marshall Project - Cleveland analysis. For more than a year, community advocates have worried that the lop-sided appointments contribute to the high number of mostly Black children from Cuyahoga County ending up in adult prisons.