skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

MO Parole-Reform Lawsuit Moves Forward as a Class Action

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 9, 2019   

ST. LOUIS - A class-action lawsuit seeking major reforms of Missouri's parole system just got the go-ahead from a federal judge in St. Louis.

The case, Gasca vs. Precythe, alleges that the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole violates people's due-process rights by not sufficiently educating them about their right to a hearing, and not screening them quickly or thoroughly to determine if they qualify for a court-appointed attorney.

Amy Breihan, director of the MacArthur Justice Center, which brought the case, said that about 6,000 people in Missouri are accused of violating parole each year and 90 percent are sent back to prison - many for things such as losing a job or missing a meeting with their parole officer.

"Thousands of people are being reincarcerated in Missouri, mostly for technical violations, not breaking the law," she said, "and they're never told about some of their very basic constitutional rights, and they're never afforded those rights."

The state has argued that people on parole are informed of their rights but that most simply waive them. The lawsuit seeks no monetary damages; rather, it asks that the Missouri Department of Corrections make major changes to its practices.

Breihan noted that the case originally concerned the fate of seven plaintiffs, but the judge's new decision consolidates them into a class-action suit that includes the 15,000 people currently on parole in Missouri.

"What it means is that the court recognized that the issues that we have highlighted in the case are systemic," she said. "Hopefully, if we're able to obtain a good outcome in the case, it will have a bigger impact for folks who are on parole supervision, beyond just the seven named plaintiffs in the case."

The MacArthur Center has asked for a summary judgment in its favor. If that isn't granted, the case will go to trial in the fall.

More information is online at macarthurjustice.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


Data show Oak Ridge residents pay $2.67 million in taxes toward nuclear weapons programs. (fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021