ShotSpotter Scrutiny, IL Bail Reform Law Upheld & More

Here are five things you should know about criminal justice reform this week: 

"The state promised the Angola facility would close in the spring. The state promised the kids wouldn’t be held in solitary. The state promised the kids would receive their education and treatment. None of this has come to pass."
 
One year after Governor John Bel Edwards announced a controversial plan to house dozens of incarcerated youth at the adult maximum security prison, Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola), attorneys for some of the youth have filed an emergency motion seeking their removal from the prison, saying they have been confined in sleeping quarters without air conditioning, held in extended isolation, and forced to shower while shackled and handcuffed. Louisiana law requires air conditioning in all juvenile detention centers, but these youth have been housed in the old Death Row building with no air conditioning access as the state has experienced record-breaking heat over the past few weeks.
 
"We don't teach about [public defense] in law school. We don't make it a viable career opportunity, and we’ve priced everybody out of practicing in rural areas."
 
Public defenders are a critical component of a fair and effective American justice system, but chronic underinvestment may be compromising not just their ability to do their jobs -- but their availability to indigent defendants at all. As the Marshall Project reports on "legal deserts," in places like Colorado, some experts worry a defense crisis is just around the corner. At the federal level, federal defenders may be facing a severe budget cut, which would almost certainly precipitate layoffs, office closures, and a crisis in federal defense. 
 
"Someone’s experience with the criminal justice system should not vary based on their income level."

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the recently enacted SAFE-T Act which reforms the state’s pre-trial system this week, finding that Democratic legislators acted properly when they passed the law. As a result of this ruling, the use of cash bail as a condition of pre-trial release will end in Illinois. The law goes into effect on September 18th. 
 
"Every one of these deployments creates a dangerous, high-intensity situation where police are primed by ShotSpotter to expect to find a person who is armed and has just fired a weapon."
 
Some cities, such as Dayton, Ohio, have recently decided to not renew their contracts with the controversial public safety technology company, SpotShotter (recently rebranded as SoundThinker) amid both criticism of its effectiveness in identifying gunshots through its proprietary software and concern that the popular technology is creating dangerous situations for law enforcement and the public. However, many cities are still committed to utilizing detection systems to deploy officers in high-risk neighborhoods, and the company currently has microphones in over 150 cities.
 
"It was so disorganized, but so intentional. They seemed set on traumatizing everyone."
 
New York City has agreed to pay out $13 million dollars to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. If approved by a judge, the settlement would be among the most expensive payouts ever awarded in a lawsuit over mass arrests and allow the city to avoid a trial that could be both expensive and politically fraught. Attorneys for the city maintain there was no systematic effort to deprive people of their right to protest.