Catching up on some criminal justice holiday commentary

A bit of a holiday blogging slow down, as well as having a pile of exams to grade, means I will need to be content here to catch up for lost time with a round-up post here. So here goes, mostly with commentary pieces along with a few notable news items:

By Carissa Byrne Hessick, “The Constitutional Right We Have Bargained Away: Instead of protecting defendants’ right to have their guilt or innocence decided by their peers, judges routinely punish defendants for exercising that right.”

By Rory Fleming, “The Lack of Prosecutor Accountability Behind Trucker’s 110-Year Sentence“

By Tony Messinger, “The Conservative Case For Prison Reform“

By Walter Pavlo, “Operation ‘Varsity Blues’ Goes Out With Perfect Prosecution Record And A Reflection Of How The System Works“

By Austin Sarat, “How 2021 Changed the Death Penalty“

By Kenneth Starr, “To uphold the rule of law, US Supreme Court must act in Texas death penalty case“

From The Hill, “Report finds groups working with incarcerated women passed over for funding by feminist organizations“

From The Marshall Project, “Omicron Has Arrived. Many Prisons and Jails Are Not Ready.”

From NBC News, “States make headway on criminal justice reform after Congress falls short“