Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore’s stretch in solitary is one of the longest in the country. Some states are curtailing the practice, in part because it’s so expensive. Critics say that years without human contact can exacerbate mental illness.
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
“Stand your ground” becoming commonplace, but prosecutions uneven
As more states adopt legislation to protect those who use deadly force, an investigation has found the likelihood of a person being charged with or convicted of a crime after a claim of self-defense involving a firearm may depend more on the state or region where the shooting occurred than the circumstances of the case. Even cases in the same area have produced disparate outcomes.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Local law enforcement agencies receive snow camouflage, mine-resistant vehicle from federal government
Pentagon program puts materiel in hands of local law-enforcement agencies, similar to police in Ferguson, Missouri.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Toddlers to teens are dying every day from guns, new national study shows
Louisiana has the highest rate of gun homicides for young people in the country.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Battle over gun regulations in U.S. heats up after Sandy Hook shooting
For years, the NRA has dominated public debate over gun regulations, with millions in the bank and millions of members. But in the past two years, the gun control movement has gotten more organized and raised more money.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hospital that supplied execution drug says prison requested it for “medical patient”
State Department of Safety and Corrections declines to comment on how it sought lethal-injection drug.
Posted inCriminal Justice
In rush to find lethal injection drug, prison officials turned to a hospital
The state refused to say where it got a lethal injection drug just days before a scheduled execution in February. Now sources tell The Lens that it came from Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. “Had we known of the real use,” said a member of the board of directors, “we never would have done it.”
Posted inCriminal Justice
Louisiana’s death-penalty protocol uses same drugs as lengthy Arizona execution
State prison officials are considering alternatives to current methods as death-row inmate awaits hearing.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Quatrevaux criticizes sheriff’s plan to award jail contract behind closed doors
A Sheriff’s Office committee selected a company in private, but the agency won’t say who it is.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Warden considers ending Angola inmate’s solitary confinement after 28 straight years
Inmate Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that it’s unconstitutional to be held in solitary confinement for so long. Warden Burl Cain said he may take him out, but he’s concerned about the inmate’s affiliation with the Black Panther Party.