Young people who can’t pay court fees are getting trapped in the criminal justice system
Most jurisdictions across the United States allow courts to charge youths with administrative fees, public defender fees, probation supervision fees, fines, and an array of other charges. It is often the case that paying these fees is a condition from being cleared from the system.
But here’s the thing: If a family can’t afford the fees, the child can end up trapped in indefinite parole. More parole can mean more supervision and court fees — it snowballs and the resolution is pushed farther away. An expert tells us in some scenarios, not paying the fees can even lead to incarceration.
In 2018, California became the first state to ban all fees for incarceration, court appearances, probation, or drug testing. Two other states have introduced similar legislation.
Still, these administrative fees remain a reality across most of the country. Paul Mcleod looks at the effort to do away with them.
A new version of the Mueller report has been released in response to a BuzzFeed News lawsuit
After the initial release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, we filed a lawsuit to compel the Justice Department to explain any redactions in the document in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Yesterday, the department released a new version of Mueller’s report in response.
This new version more clearly states the reasons information was withheld in the first report. We break it down here.
SNAPSHOTS
Two Reuters reporters imprisoned in Myanmar have been freed after more than 500 days. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo received a presidential pardon from President Win Myint. The pair were sentenced to seven years in prison in September after they investigated the killings of Rohingya Muslims.
Meghan Markle has given birth to a baby boy. The wee lad will be seventh in line for the throne. Prince Harry greeted reporters, praising his wife and saying the birth has “been the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine.” The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they’re “still thinking about names.”
A drone dropped flyers with swastikas on them outside an Ariana Grande concert. The flyers said “the press is the enemy” and accused the media and government of being “infiltrated” by “prostitutes and felons.” Police said they are aware of the incident, and officers are investigating.
Police are investigating a woman’s report that she “blacked out” and may have been drugged at YouTuber Jake Paul’s party. During the party, at least one person was arrested for public intoxication, while two “sick” people were transported to hospital. Police said detectives were looking into “a possible single occurrence of unwillful impairment.”
The latest trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home shows Peter Parker grappling with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame. Just don’t watch the trailer unless you’ve already seen Endgame. But if you’ve seen it already, then please enjoy.
An Alabama “ISIS bride” wants to come home. Can we forgive her horrifying social media posts?
You’ve probably seen Hoda Muthana’s name. At 20, she ran away from her home in Hoover, Alabama to join ISIS. There, she became a bride, then a widow.
Now, she’s sitting in a Kurdish refugee camp with her son, Adam, who will turn 2 soon, begging to return to the United States. She told reporters she was wrong to join ISIS. Several media outlets accompanied their stories with a handful of her old tweets calling for violence against Americans.
Muthana has become a symbol of a new debate about the young people — and, in particular, the women — who were radicalized by ISIS. Are they monsters, or victims? And more broadly, who has traveled beyond redemption?
Our reporter Ellie Hall has been following Muthana for years — closer than most other reporters. Read her story on Muthana’s massive, troubling social media footprint.
HBO responded to that Game of Thrones scene that accidentally showed a random coffee cup
Game of Thrones is wildly expensive, boasting a production cost of about $15 million per episode for its final season.
It’s a big show, with so much money behind it, because the show’s fans are dedicated and the audience expectations are high.
So imagine the surprise of fans when this week’s episode had a shot that featured a regular ol’ modern day coffee cup sitting on the table as characters celebrated something (some spoilers). It looked like this:
HBO made it cute, tweeting that “The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”