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Second Life

Chris Wilson takes a seat at a long wooden table in the University of Baltimore law library, 12 floors above Mt. Royal Avenue. He has the bright, airy space almost to himself in the mid-afternoon. Wearing a dark business suit, dress shirt, and wide-knotted, royal-purple tie, Wilson is all business as he lights up a […]

Patty Murray invites Gonzaga graduate to watch pontiff

WASHINGTON – The frenzy surrounding Pope Francis’ first visit to the United States comes with an extra dose of excitement for one Washington native. John Winslow, a recent Gonzaga University graduate, received Sen. Patty Murray’s one and only invitation to watch the pontiff address Congress on Thursday. Originally from Issaquah, Winslow, 23, is in Washington, D.C., to […]

Practicing the art of forgiveness

The visit and words of Pope Francis have made a big impression on me. He is about to touch down in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. That is an extended version of our town’s nickname, a version you can hear shouted repeatedly at the World Meeting of Families. By just about any […]

Anti-Racist Organizers Win as Seattle Council Votes to End Youth Incarceration

After a three-year crusade of protest, agitation, and organizing, a Seattle City Council meeting on September 21 brought a major victory to a diverse coalition of youth-prison abolitionists and anti-racist organizers. “We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the youth activists.” In a 9-0 unanimous decision, Seattle’s City Council passed a resolution that […]

Pope Francis on Prison: 'I, Too, Could Be Here'

This time tomorrow Pope Francis will arrive in Washington, D.C. and make his first papal visit to the United States. The pope’s five-day, three-city visit to the United States is jam-packed with prayer services, masses, meetings with government officials — and a visit to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia. This may seem like an […]

Public defender’s division challenges juvenile sentences

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Maryland Office of the Public Defender’s post-conviction division has adopted a strategy to help ensure juveniles convicted of crimes and serving life sentences without the possibility of parole are resentenced following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that such punishments are cruel and unusual. Under the division’s new Youth-Resentencing Project, attorneys will […]

Juvenile Justice System Failing Native Americans, Studies Show

State courts are twice as likely to incarcerate Native teens for minor crimes such as truancy and alcohol use than any other racial and ethnic group, according to the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. And juvenile detention facilities around the country have a disproportionately high number of Native American youth, according to an Indian Law […]

Florida Supreme Court orders new sentences in juvenile cases

A 33-year-old woman serving life without parole for the murder of a Panama City-area cab driver when she was 15 will get a new sentence under a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday. The court ordered new sentencing hearings for Rebecca Falcon and three other people who committed felonies as juveniles in order to comply […]