The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation issued the State Prison Health Care Spending report. In the report, it states that state prisoner health care costs almost $8 billion annually and this amount has been declining. However, with the the increase of prisoner population aging, this figure will increase. To read the full report, click here: State Prison Health Care Spending Report July 2014.
On June 25, 2014, in the case Riley v. California, Case No. 13-132, the Supreme Court held that the search incident to arrest exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement does not extend to searches of data stored on an arrestee’s cell phone. Absent exigent circumstances, a warrant is required to search the contents of an arrestee’s cell phone. Click here to read the full opinion.
On May 12, 2014, the Deputy Attorney General released a Memorandum to all of their agencies regarding Policy Concerning Electronic Recording of Statements. The policy presumes that the FBI, DEA, ATF, and USM will electronically record statements made by individuals in their custody. The policy details the different circumstances for electronically recording statements including presumption of recordings, exceptions to the presumption, extraterritorially, administrative issues, This policy shall take effect July 11, 2014.
The Constitution Project just released a report entitled "Irreversible Error," which contains proposed reforms for the implementation of capital punishment in America. Some of its recommendations for a more just implementation of the death penalty include steps that are not being followed in Ohio at the present time. To view the full report, go to Resources - Additional Resources in our navigation bar above.
The link below is the draft of the Supreme court of Ohio and the Ohio State Bar Association Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty. Draft Report and Recommendations (March 2014)
On March 26, 2014, Sixth Circuit Judge Julia A. Gibbons testified before the House Subcommittee for Financial Services and General Government, which is one of the subcommittees associated with the House Appropriations Committee. In her testimony she discussed future funding for our federal courts, their various associated agencies, the federal defender program, and Criminal Justice Act panel lawyers. One of the items requested is a modest increase in panel rates for the upcoming fiscal year starting on October 1, 2014.
The Ohio Supreme Court’s Joint Task Force which includes judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and academics, spent two years reviewing the many problems presented in the 2007 ABA report.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine released on April 1, 2014 his office’s “Capital Crimes Annual Report” which per Ohio statute provides a background summary of individuals on Ohio’s death row and the procedural history of their cases. The Ohioans to Stop Executions released a reported as well on April 1, 2014, entitled “The Death Lottery: How Race and Geography Determine Who Goes to Ohio’s Death Row.” For muore information and to view both of the reports, please go to Resources - Additional Resources.
The ABA has begun an interactive project to measure the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. (For more information, click here.)This tool, along with the tool from the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (click here to view the tool), can provide useful information to individuals who are facing conviction or who have been convicted of criminal offenses.
The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States restores and also increases the hourly CJA panel rates to $126 for non-capital cases and $180 for capital cases. The new rates will take effect on March 1, 2014. For further information, please see Judiciary Restores Pay Rates for Panel Attorneys
