Tag: cruel and unusual
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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10th Circuit opens door wider for courts to dismiss prisoners’ civil rights lawsuits
The federal appeals court based in Denver made it easier on Tuesday for prison officials to defeat lawsuits from incarcerated plaintiffs by moving them to a different facility outside a circuit court’s jurisdiction before judges have a chance to rule. Michael Bacote Jr., a prisoner with an intellectual disability and history of mental illness, spent…