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Gavel and handcuffs

Criminal Law

Criminal justice is administered primarily at the state and county level. The vast majority of incarcerated people in the United States are in county and state custody. Constitutional challenges in state courts usually focus on the rights of defendants and incarcerated people. 

These cases can address criminal procedure and due process, search and seizure, the right to counsel and a jury trial, criminal jury rights, the right against self-incrimination, bail and excessive fees and fines, admissibility of evidence, sentencing, the death penalty, police misconduct, prison conditions, and habeas.

States and Feds Diverge on Fair Sentencing Practices

Though U.S Supreme Court justices pledged respect for acquittals earlier this week, state courts have proven more willing to protect people from serving prison time for crimes a jury found they didn't commit.

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A project of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law