A Criminal Justice Reading List
Rehabilitation Focused Prison Policies
The Iberian Anarchist Federation
The Anarchist Defence of the Ukrainian People
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
The Provisional Irish Republican Army
Revolutionary Subversive Faction-Commando Unabomber
International Revolutionary Front
Committee for the Liquidation and Subversion of Computers
Individualists Tending to the Wild
Battered women who kill their abusers
Opportunist killers abused as children
'The Good, the gray and the bad' are rough approximations of the character virtue intentions of the individuals & groups listed, and/or the net positive outcomes we think they may have achieved in giving people the courage to break free from their social conditioning. That isn't to say we think every action taken by every group or individual listed in the good or gray categories were ethical.
Every library text on this website accepts potential edits from anyone in the world. Upload your own texts to the website, then if the subject relates to criminal justice, feel free to add them here.
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Here's the index again, but in short:
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Legislators
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Disruptors
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Rebels & Revolutionaries
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Fugitives
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Criminals
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Informants
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Investigations
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Interventions
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Accountability Processes
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Prosecutions
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Defenses
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Witnesses
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Jurors
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Judges
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Survivors
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Confinement
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Prison Staff
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Prison Inmates
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Prison Escapes
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--- Legislators ---
The Good
Rehabilitation Focused Prison Policies
Why The World’s Cushiest Prison Is Also Among Its Most Effective
Bastoy Prison houses perpetrators of serious crimes including murder and rape, yet it has the lowest reoffending rate in Europe: 16 percent, compared with a European average of about 70 percent. And it’s one of the cheapest prisons to run in Norway.
The Gray
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The Bad
Authoritarian Regimes
China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt are world’s worst jailers of journalists
The number of journalists imprisoned globally for their work in 2019 remained near record highs, as China tightened its iron grip on the press and Turkey, having stamped out virtually all independent reporting, released journalists awaiting trial or appeal. Authoritarianism, instability, and protests in the Middle East led to a rise in the number of journalists locked up in the region — particularly in Saudi Arabia, which is now on par with Egypt as the third worst jailer worldwide.
The Death Penalty
It is estimated that 3% of U.S. executions in the period from 1890 to 2010 were botched. In the 2014 book, Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty, Austin Sarat, a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, describes the history of flawed executions in the U.S. during that period. Sarat reports that over those 120 years, 8,776 people were executed and 276 of those executions (3.15%) went wrong in some way. Lethal injection had the highest rate of botched executions.
--- Disruptors ---
Rebels & Revolutionaries
The Good
The Russian Nihilist Movement
Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st century
Anarchism and nihilism share a common antecedent. Bakunin’s dictum “Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all life. The desire for destruction is also a creative desire.” in 1842 sparked both movements. Nihilism’s cultural peak was in the 1860’s, although its activism continued almost to the early twentieth century. It is arguable that anarchists inherited ‘propaganda by the deed’ from the Russian nihilists. Nihilism’s theorists continued to be cited as precursors to the revolutionary activity in Russia until they were ‘disappeared’ well into the Bolshevik regime.
The Iberian Anarchist Federation
'Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies.
Looking back on the Spanish war
Whether it was right, as all left-wingers in other countries undoubtedly did, to encourage the Spaniards to go on fighting when they could not win is a question hard to answer. I myself think it was right, because I believe that it is better even from the point of view of survival to fight and be conquered than to surrender without fighting. The effects on the grand strategy of the struggle against Fascism cannot be assessed yet. The ragged, weaponless armies of the Republic held out for two and a half years, which was undoubtedly longer than their enemies expected. But whether that dislocated the Fascist timetable, or whether, on the other hand, it merely postponed the major war and gave the Nazis extra time to get their war machine into trim, is still uncertain.
The Spanish war has probably produced a richer crop of lies than any event since the Great War of 1914-18, but I honestly doubt, in spite of all those hecatombs of nuns who have been raped and crucified before the eyes of Daily Mail reporters, whether it is the pro-Fascist newspapers that have done the most harm. It is the left-wing papers, the News Chronicle and the Daily Worker, with their far subtler methods of distortion, that have prevented the British public from grasping the real nature of the struggle.
The Black Panthers
Ashanti Alston on the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas
What we could have done in the 60s at our height, is what the Zapatistas I see doing now. Their vision, their style of working with people, how they draw from their own cultures, how they're open to pulling knowledge information from other areas of the world.
The Weather Underground
National Union of Mineworkers
Zapatista Solidarity Network
Ashanti Alston on the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas
Anarchist Rebellion in Greece
Information Bulletin From Greece, Issue No 19, Anarchist News
The Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front Communiques
Cracks in a Grey Sky: An Anthology of Do or Die
Former ELF/Green Scare Prisoner “Exile” Now a Fascist
The Workmates Collective
Traveller Solidarity Network
Interview with an Anarchist at Dale Farm
Kurdish Solidarity Network
An Anti-Authoritarian Analysis of Syria’s Uprising and Civil War
Campaigns & Remembrances of Anna Campbell
Rojava & Revolution with Josh Walker (YPG)
Struggles for Autonomy in Kurdistan
“The Struggle Is not for Martyrdom but for Life”
Smashing the State in Rojava and Beyond
A Mountain River Has Many Bends
Palestine Action
The Anarchist Defence of the Ukrainian People
Ukrainian Anarchists Mobilize for Armed Defense, Draw Solidarity from Abroad as Russia Invades
The Gray
The Luddites
What the Luddites Really Fought Against
Good Old-Fashioned Trade Unionism
The Making of the English Working Class
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
Nestor Makhno has been called a revolutionary anarchist, a peasant rebel, the Ukrainian Robin Hood, a mass-murderer, a pogromist, and a devil. These epithets had their origins in the Russian Civil War (1917-1921), where the military forces of the peasant-anarchist Nestor Makhno and Mennonite colonists in southern Ukraine came into conflict. In autumn 1919, Makhnovist troops and local peasant sympathizers murdered more than 800 Mennonites in a series of large-scale massacres. The history of that conflict has been fraught with folklore, ideological battles and radically divergent cultural memories, in which fact and fiction often seamlessly blend, conjuring a multitude of Makhnos, each one shouting its message over the other.
The Red Brigades
The Red Army Faction
Remembering the Armed Struggle
The Vancouver Five
Writings of the Vancouver Five
The Provisional Irish Republican Army
Revolutionary Subversive Faction-Commando Unabomber
Revolutionary Subversive Faction-Commando Unabomber Communiques
Information Bulletin From Greece, Issue No 19, Anarchist News
Political Violence Against Americans, 1998
International Revolutionary Front
Open Letter To The Anarchist & Anti-Authoritarian Movement
‘Do not say that we are few’ – Statement from the Italian FAI
Athens: 27/6/12 – Full communiqué for the high-profile vehicle-bomb against Microsoft
Toby Shone and the spectre of ‘anarchist terror’
The Bad
Nazism
Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself
Bolshevism
When the Party Commits Suicide
The Khmer Rouge
A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)
The MOVE organization
Ex-MOVE members say they were raised in a ‘cult’ where abuse and homophobia ran rampant
We don’t believe in this reform world system — the government, the military, industry and big business. They have historically abused, raped and bartered Life for the sake of money. These rulers and policy-makers don’t care who they kill, enslave, cripple, poison or disease in their quest for money. They have made material wealth a priority over Life. Marvels of science and technological so called advancements all stem from the system’s greed for money and disrespect for life. But a person who is suffocating or drowning doesn’t call out for diamonds, gold or wads of money. Each person will do a11 in their power for a breath of air, because is a necessity and money is worthless. Over the last century, industry has raped the earth of countless tons of minerals, bled billions of gallons of oil from the ground, and enslaved millions of people to manufacture cars, trucks, planes and trains that further pollute the air with their use. And because of the billions of dollars in profits to be made, the system will favor artificial transportation over the legs and feet Mama gave us to Walk and run with. Big business and industry are responsible for the mass production and mass manufacturing of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs, which are used to extract further profits from people while keeping them sick and addicted. Politicians are put in place to legalize, endorse and protect industry and big business, therefore we don’t believe in politics at all.
The Unabomber
The Bombings & Communications of Ted Kaczynski as part of his Terror Campaign
1. The aim of the Freedom Club is the complete and permanent destruction of modern industrial society in every part of the world. This means no more airplanes, no more radios, no more miracle drugs, no more paved roads, and so forth. Today a large and growing number of people are coming to recognize the industrial-technological system as the greatest enemy of freedom. ...
4. Man is a social animal, meant to live in groups. But only in SMALL groups, say up to 100 people, in which all members know one another intimately. Man is not meant to live as an insignificant atom in a vast organization, which is the only way he can live in any form of industrialized society.
Committee for the Liquidation and Subversion of Computers
Individualists Tending to the Wild
Mexico Government and New School of Tech. Targeted with Butane Gas Bomb
Satanist ITS Members Communique and Arrest Report
They Declare Guilty the "Individualist Tending to the Wild" for Explosive Attacks in the RM
Other Attacks
An Analysis of the Attack on the Metcalf Substation on April 16th, 2013
Glue, Spraypaint and Disorder in Cambridge against the System (UK)
Power restored to North Carolina county affected by shooting
O9A Rising: The Spread of Britain’s Occultist Militant Group
Criminals
The Good
Judge takes pity on dad who stole food from Tesco to feed his family
A judge asked prosecutors ‘how are they expected to live?’ when Paul and Kerry Barker were brought before the courts.
They had been caught on camera looking through bins for food for their family. They told police who arrested them they were hungry and charged with theft.
Publishers clash with students over textbook copying
Indian academics and university students are fiercely defending their right to use copyrighted reading material for free as Indian publishers intensify their fight against the photocopying and organised counterfeiting of books.
First squatter jailed under new law
A 21-year-old man arrested at a flat in Pimlico, central London, has become the first person to be jailed under the government's anti-squatting legislation.
Alex Haigh, originally from Plymouth, has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to occupying a housing association flat without permission.
She was jailed for losing a pregnancy. Her nightmare could become more common
“The DA’s extraordinarily broad and very dangerous interpretation of the statute means that if a woman does any kind of activity that could be considered reckless while she’s pregnant, and she loses her fetus, she’s up for murder,” said Mary McNamara, Perez’s lawyer. “If she works at a dangerous factory while she’s pregnant and loses her child, that’s murder. If she is ill and needs cancer treatment that could harm her fetus, that’s murder.”
For wanting take-away food... Two foraging dumpster divers were recently sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and were hit with a fine for 'stealing' food that had been thrown out by a fruit shop in Colorado, US. This in a country that wastes an estimated 43 million kilos of food every year!
Battered women who kill their abusers
Convicted aged 17 of murder, Emma spent 10 years in prison before being released by the Court of Appeal in 1995. She was welcomed by hundreds of cheering supporters, her case having changed the law for battered women who kill. Emma’s tragic death, three years later, from an accidental overdose of prescribed medication, created shock waves for those who saw her as the ultimate survivor.
The controversial story of the woman at the centre of one of Britain’s most famous legal cases. In February 1990 Sara Thornton was jailed for life for killing her violent alcoholic husband. Eighteen months later - as a man walked free having killed his alcoholic wife (who, in the words of the judge, 'would have tried the patience of a saint')- Sara's appeal was turned down. As she began a hunger strike and thousands started to campaign for her release, the case became a cause celebre.
The Gray
Crime as a way to adventure
The Bad
Opportunist killers abused as children
The Unfinished Autobiography of Aileen Wuornos
Dear Dawn; Aileen Wuornos in Her Own Words
Mass shooters
The Story of Lindsay Souvannarath
Cults
Fugitives
The Good
France: Detention and an escape + Letter of Ivan
Wednesday 11th of March, Ivan and Farid were called by the examining magistrate for an audition on the ongoing investigation. But above all, the prosecution and the judges wanted to ask their incarceration under the pretext that they would be in recidivism of judiciary control violation. The cops would have seen them together at certain gatherings in solidarity with Isa (still in prison at that moment). The judiciary control forbade them to «enter in contact in any way».
Disappearing From State Control
[A] translated text that was written by anarchist comrade Lukáš Borl in September 2015, shortly after he made the decision to become a fugitive following serious police harassment and surveillance in the Czech Republic for suspected involvement with SRB / Network of Revolutionary Cells…
The Story of Huw ‘Badger’ Norfolk
Two months have passed since the police execution of Mark Duggan tipped the already-fragile balance of power in the UK, unlocking an orgy of defiance across this island. A well of frustrations finally boiled over and the system was left reeling by a determined insurrection from a wide range of people. Following these days and nights of brazen attacks in Bristol (as in other places) a house is raided in a police and media orchestrated scene as part of their revenge operation for the blows they have both received in the uprising – they leave without the hostage they sought there, but I am made aware by their blunder that I am on their wanted list.
The Gray
Former Red Army Faction members linked to botched robbery
The fascination in the phenomenon of ageing, on-the-run, former RAF terrorists, has spawned a number of novels, films and crime dramas in recent years in which typically their erstwhile romantic exploits disintegrate into hit and miss attempts at survival by ageing and crotchety pensioners whose dreams of revolution have long-since expired.
The Bad
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Informants
The Good
In May 1978 the first bomb attributed to the Unabomber exploded at Northwestern University outside Chicago, injuring a security guard. As far as the Kaczynskis knew, Ted was in Montana, eking out a sparse existence. A few months later Ted returned home to the Chicago area, and began working at a foam rubber factory where his father, Ted Sr., was a manager and David also worked, at times as a fill-in supervisor. After a female co-worker refused to go out with Ted on a third date, he posted insulting limericks about her around the building. David, in what he now sees as a foreshadowing, was the one who fired him. Ted angrily locked himself in his room for days. Several months later he moved back to Montana, this time for good.
The Gray
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The Bad
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--- Investigations ---
The Good
This is a true story built upon over six years of research and interviews with dozens of sources, including Charles Cullen.
Charlie is a proud and complicated man who, aside from our conversations, never issued a public statement or granted a single media interview. Our communication spanned several years, beginning with his attempt to donate a kidney from prison. He sees no reason to talk further.
Eugène François Vidocq, French Criminal Turned Detective
The genius of Eugène François Vidocq lay in one simple principle. In order to catch a criminal, you had to be able think like a criminal. And in his case that was easy, because he was one. He’s sometimes referred to as “the French Jonathan Wild”, but that’s hardly fair. Vidocq was smart enough to realise that his profit lay in staying on the right side of the law. And in doing so, he revolutionised how we think of policing.
A Journey to the Center of the Mind
Jim Fitzgerald recounts his experiences during the 1960s and 1970s in this sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but always moving portrait of an FBI profiler as a young man. From his first-ever successful investigation at six years old, face-offs with childhood bullies, and encounters with naked-ish neighborhood interlopers; to high school and college antics, lifeguard summers, friends, including a future convicted killer "friend"; from early admiration for and later run-ins with law enforcement to his stint as store detective and ultimately his graduation from the Police Academy, Fitzgerald shares the good, the bad, and the not-so-pretty of his early life's journey.
The Gray
The Ears and the Eyes (and the GPS trackers)
We noticed the lack of information available around us concerning this kind of surveillance. What is the real use of these devices by intelligence agencies? Which kind of devices are used? In which contexts? How efficiently? What can we do to oppose this kind of surveillance?
List of found surveillance devices
This list is edited by the autonomous group « Ears and Eyes » in order to gather informations about physical surveillance devices (hidden microphones, cameras, GPS trackers...) hidden by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to surveil people or groups engaged in subversive activities. On our website you will find the latest versions of this document, as well as high resolution photos of many of the devices listed here.
You can see by looking at the timing of the actions by the state and the police that the initial raid timing was suspiciously close to us contacting and conversing with imprisoned underground anti-state activists, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Given the information revealed by the cops during the interview, the raid was apparently 2 days after the initial crime was alleged to have happened, something our solicitor said was not normal in any way and he had never encountered it before. also, upon inspection of the warrant, we discovered THE WARRANT FOR THAT RAID WAS DATED 2 DAYS BEFORE THE CRIME IS ALLEGED TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE.
The Bad
HORRIFIC Failings Of Met Police Allowed Serial Killer to Murder
Late in the summer of 2014, a body was found by a dog Walker in the grounds of Saint Margaret's Church in Barking. The body was that of 22 year old Gabriel Chavarria also known as Gabriel Klein. Just three weeks later another body was found. It was 21 year old Daniel Whitworth who was found by the very same dog Walker in the very same spot in the churchyard. Both men were gay. Both had died of GHB overdoses and both were found in the same position, propped up against the churchyard wall. Their T-shirts lifted up to expose their stomachs. Less than a year later, the body of a third Man, 25 year old Jack Taylor, was found. He was propped up on the other side of the churchyard wall. His T-shirt lifted up his midriff exposed. He, too, had died from a GHB overdose.
Bug found in a comrade's car, Lecco (Italy)
A few days ago a comrade in Lecco found unwanted guests in his car. Some nice bastard had in fact placed, linking it to the electricity supply of the light of the passenger seat, a bug made from a modified cellphone, and aerial, a GPS sensor and a microphone (see photographs). The instrument was placed between the bodywork and the inside covering, fixed by two magnets.
An Editor of a 'Kaczynskist' Journal Had His House Raided & Phone Seized
On July 4th, I and others who will remain anonymous collaborated to publish legal--albeit sensitive--information in Issue 3 of our magazine. We have remained within the boundaries of the First Amendment in every possible way, and violated no laws in our publication.
However, on August 10th, the Department of Homeland Security raided my home and seized my phone without a warrant. Since then, my Instagram and Discord have been deleted.
Truth Versus Lies (Original Draft)
After my arrest on April 3, 1996, FBI agents and officials began disclosing to the media massive amounts of information concerning the alleged evidence found in my cabin, and other supposed evidence against me — though much of the “information” was in fact false. Even if all of the information had been true, its release would have been unethical and contrary to regulations.
--- Interventions ---
The Good
...
The Gray
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The Bad
One sad consequence of the briefly improved Cuba-America relations was the nabbing of an ex-ELF member on an airport stop over in Cuba, one of the first to be deported from Cuba to the US I think since the independence revolution over 50 years ago:
DIBEE: This guy comes up to me. They get me out and put me in this car, I was driven to some sort of jail basically, they put me in this outdoor cage for a while.
LEAH: Until Joe says he's moved to a room, an interrogation room.
DIBEE: They've got this document and he wanted to know about arson and trying to get me to say this is me. And of course I'm not too eager to do that. They'd stripped me naked at this point and I was naked. They get this other guy, he unrolls a bunch of tools in front of me. We're trying to communicate through my limited Spanish, some limited English, better Russian. It had like very serious ramifications, right? The guys standing there, he's got his tools and I don't get what they're trying to ask.
Reflections on the ZAD: Another History
One narrative that surfaced was that “people deserve the repression they are subjected to.” This arose in different ways, from conflict in assemblies to physical attacks. As tensions increased under pressure, fractures opened or deepened along political lines. One disturbing example was when someone who had allegedly sabotaged the road construction was forcibly taken from bed, viciously beaten, and left in front of a psychiatric hospital, as described in this statement from the movement legal team and this article in the regional media. When he arrived at the General Assembly in a wheelchair that evening, people were more or less indifferent.
Position of the Legal Team About the Militia Actions on the ZAD
Last Tuesday morning, March 20th, 5 people with ski masks, armed with baseball bats and pepper spray entered a squat on the ZAD. They beat the people present, and took one of them, hogtied, with duct tape over his eyes and mouth. They put him in the trunk of a car and left. Further on, they beat him again, breaking an arm and a leg, before abandoning him on the sidewalk in front of the psychiatric hospital.
Racist Murder In America And The Bifurcation Of The Modern World System
Michael brown was a fresh high school graduate who had worked tirelessly to achieve this honor in a school system where drop out was the norm. When walking in the street with a friend he was confronted by officer Darren Wilson. Wilson shot brown 7 times delivering two head shots to kill the young man. All the physical evidence and legitimate eye witness testimony (which was thrown out in court in favor of testimony from someone who was not even in the area at the time) suggest beyond reasonable doubt that Wilson killed Michael in cold blood. This includes Wilson’s own testimony which expects us to accept that a police officer could not handle a black adolescent without purposefully shooting him in the head from a distance. Wilson was never brought to court because the white police department and prosecutor essentially ignored the case. Wilson himself confirms that he was allowed to drive himself back to the station and tamper with evidence up to washing off Michael’s blood. There was never even a real incident report.
Theo and the distinctly sexual flavour of French racism
On 2 February, a 22-year-old black French man named Theo was allegedly violently raped with a police truncheon, gang assaulted and racially abused by four French police officers in the Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois. So severe were the anal injuries sustained by Theo that he needed major surgery after the incident. As I write, Theo remains in a stable condition in hospital after having been visited by president Hollande. The incident occurred less than a year after the suspicious death of Adama Traore in police custody and, led to renewed accusations of police brutality and racism in France. Old wounds have been re-opened and the city is gripped with protests.
--- Accountability Processes ---
Prosecutions
The Good
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The Gray
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The Bad
How the U.K. Prosecuted a Student on Terrorism Charges for Downloading a Book
Last summer, Walker traveled from London to Syria, where he joined the Kurdish-led YPG militia in its fight against the so-called Islamic State. After serving with the group for some six months, Walker returned to England, where he was charged under an anti-terrorism law.
Man falsely accused of sexual assault on actress wants apology from CPS over 'bemusing' case
Mr Pearson was accused of attacking the actress, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as he made his way across a crowded concourse.
But CCTV footage shows the 51-year-old artist and picture framer did not break his stride as he walked past his alleged victim.
In the footage Mr Pearson can be seen with a newspaper in his left hand and a bag in his right.
Defenses
The Good
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The Gray
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The Bad
Bill Babbitt's brother had a court appointed attorney and I get this who had never tried a criminal case before.
He was drunk every day of the trial.
He later was disbarred.
Manny Babbitt gets sentenced to death.
USA v. Theodore Kaczynski: One of the Most Famous Non-Trials in Legal History
I believe that Kaczynski's lawyers and not Kaczynski himself, were responsible for the disruption that occurred in the Kaczynski non-trial. In the months leading up to the trial, Kaczynski lawyers kept him in the dark about the defence that they planned to raise and by the time Kaczynski figured out what his lawyers had planned, it was as a practical matter too late for him to change lawyers.
Incompetent Lawyers
Hypocrisy Imbues Tale of 'Aileen Wuornos'
Finally, there is Steven Glazer, the bearded, pot-smoking, ex-musician attorney, whom Wuornos hired after seeing his commercial on television. Together with Pralle, he convinced Wuornos to plead guilty to all the murders so she could "right herself with God." As a result, they were in essence dusting off the hot seat-or "Old Sparky," as one of the victim's relatives calls it-for Wuornos, not to mention setting themselves up for a big payday down the line.
CCR: Lawyer did a bad job in serial killer case
The state's capital collateral office, representing Wuornos, told a judge Monday her attorney did a rotten job of defending her in Pasco and other counties. Now, facing six death sentences for her highway killings in 1989 and 1990, Wuornos deserves new trials, her state-appointed defense team argued at a hearing to determine if she needs a full-blown hearing with witnesses and testimony.
Witnesses
The Good
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The Gray
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The Bad
'I refuse to be like them': why the man shot while protesting Milo Yiannopoulos doesn't want revenge
A very respectable anarchist for having his emotions in check, decided to stand by his prison abolitionist principles and not contribute to a court case which could lead to the person who shot him spending years in prison.
However, I think the consequentialist outcomes of this decision still lead to unethical outcomes because the severity of the actions aren’t able to be debated fully in the courtroom, the perpetrators justifications aren’t challenged as hard as they would have been and so neither are people with similar beliefs to the perpetrators when they are found not guilty.
Jurors
The Good
Rejecting the Death Penalty
A juror had the courage to stand firm in their position against giving the perpetrator the death penalty.
“There was one with a hard ‘no’ – she couldn’t do it. And there was another two that ended up voting the same way,” Thomas said. The woman who was against it “didn’t believe, because he was mentally ill, he should get the death penalty,” Thomas said.
Jury Nullification
Jury Nullification Results In Hung Jury For Climate Activist
As much as the courts detest the doctrine of jury nullification, it may offer the best hope for people who wish to publicly dissent from the policies of the various states and the federal government when it comes to climate action, particularly since the Mouth That Roared took over the Oval Office. The only way that potential jurors will learn of their power not to convict is to spread the word. It is an imperfect shield against official misconduct, but it may be the best one available.
The Gray
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The Bad
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Judges
The Good
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The Gray
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The Bad
Report: Florida Judge In Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Case Has ‘Ties’ To Key Players
The judge who has refused to unseal grand jury records related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 2006 charges in Florida may have a conflict of interest in her ties to three officials involved who could benefit from those records remaining sealed off from the public, the Miami Herald reported Saturday.
State of Georgia Vs. Mr. Allen Transcript
THE COURT: Listen to me.
MR. ALLEN: Go fuck yourself. I'm through here, Are y'all done?
THE COURT: I-I am finding-I'm finding you in contempt of Court.
MR. ALLEN: I don't care.
THE COURT: I know you don't. And I'm sentence you to twenty days for that. And if you say anything else, I'm going to add twenty days for everything you say.
MR. ALLEN: Fuck you.
THE COURT: Forty days.
MR. ALLEN: Fuck you again.
Survivors
The Good
Survivor-Led Vigilantism
Sexual assault and abuse continue to plague anarchist circles and spaces. In response, we’ve developed processes to hold each other accountable outside of the state. But why can’t we seem to get them right? This essay examines the context in which these community accountability models emerged and analyzes the pitfalls we’ve encountered in trying to apply them. To move beyond the impasse around sexual violence within our scenes, we need to challenge the idea of community itself and take our resistance in new directions.
The Gray
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The Bad
...
--- Confinement ---
Prison Staff
The Good
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The Gray
...
The Bad
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Prison Inmates
The Good
...
The Gray
...
The Bad
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Prison Escapes
The Good
The Unbelievable Story Of Richard Lee McNair – The Man Who Mailed Himself Out Of Prison
Just after the escape, a police officer saw McNair jogging near railroad tracks in Ball, La. and, knowing that there had been a prison escape nearby, stopped him. The officer’s dashboard camera captured the whole exchange:
Despite not having any identification on him and matching the description of the escapee that the officer had received before stopping him, Richard Lee McNair was able to talk his way out of it. He told the officer his name was “Robert Jones” and that he was just a man out for a jog. When he slipped and said his name was “Jimmy Jones” a few minutes later, the officer didn’t notice.
A Normal Life by Vassilis Palaiokostas
A Normal Life is the autobiography of Vassilis Palaiokostas, known to the public as the “Greek Robin Hood,” to police as “The Uncatchable.” His is an illegalist existence lived in defiance of the police and of the state, and for decades, it has been a life lived as a fugitive.
The Gray
This book talks about freedom, the urgent need for freedom and the impossibility of living without it. This book says that freedom must be taken back at all costs and that is exactly what the protagonists of Adiós Prisión, Spanish prisoners under the infamous FIES regime, did: they took back their freedom using all means necessary, challenging the impossible, ready to kill for it if necessary. There is no room for political correctness or abstract morals concerning human life here: if the screws keep you locked up and your life, even in its most banal and insignificant aspects, is at the mercy of their caprice, violence and stupidity, your only choice is to eliminate them if they put themselves between you and your freedom.
Greece: Anarchist Giannis Michailidis has escaped from Tyrintha prison
The anarchist prisoner Giannis Michailidis [sometimes the name is reported as Yannis and the surname as Mihailidis] escaped a few days ago from the so-called rural prison of Tyrintha (Tiryns), in Peloponnese. He was arrested on 1 February 2013 following the double robbery that took place in Velventos (Kozani region, in Greece)
The Bad
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