Category: Civil Law

Anyone looking for an example of how crime is killing the soul of New York need look no further than the case of Jose Alba. The outrageous arrest of the bodega worker who fatally stabbed a career criminal while defending himself perfectly illustrates the random danger of city life and the ass-backwardness of the criminal justice system.

The dead man, Austin Simon, was a thug who attacked the 61-year-old Alba, who was working alone at night in the small store on Broadway and 139th Street. Simon, 35, was on probation for assault and has reportedly been arrested at least 27 times previously.

Yes, you read that right, 27 arrests, and Simon reportedly did a stint in state prison for assaulting a cop. Yet there he was, free to hassle and attack an innocent man doing an honest job in a dangerous neighborhood.

In a sane and more just world, Alba

While the nation’s imprisoned population has declined since peaking in 2009incarceration levels still remain extraordinarily high.

Continued efforts to lower incarceration rates will stall unless we address the role that revenue plays in the daily operation of police departments, courts, jails and prisons across the country. So much of these entities’ time and effort goes into generating revenue that the goals of pursuing justice and improving public safety often get pushed to the side.

A new Brennan Center for Justice report delves into the interlocking economic incentives that underpin our justice system. Many of these practices rely on a simple calculus: More people in the justice system means more dollars for agencies, governments and contracted for-profit firms

Some of the revenue streams flow straight out of the pockets of the people who are ticketed, searched, arrested, jailed, tried and sent to jail or prison, while others arise from a