News Roundup

This week Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  Barrett took the Constitutional Oath, administered by Justice Thomas, in an evening ceremony at the White House South Lawn on Monday.  On Tuesday morning, Chief Justice Roberts administered Barrett’s Judicial Oath at a private ceremony at the Supreme Court Building.  Barrett’s swearing in followed a confirmation vote in the Senate that fell largely along party lines, with 52 senators voting to confirm her to the court and 48 voting against.  Susan Collins cast the only Republican vote against Barrett’s confirmation, saying the vote was not related to Barrett’s qualifications but a reflection of her view that the vote should have taken place after the upcoming election.  Keep reading for more news. New SOG Bulletins.  Ian Mance from the SOG’s Public Defense Education group recently published two new bulletins on COVID-19 and criminal defense practice.  One deals with issues of pretrial release, examining arguments defendants have made when moving for bond reductions.  The other looks at access to counsel issues arising from the increased restrictions on visitation in many facilities.  Like Ian’s previous bulletins, both are available for free in the Public Defense Education’s COVID-19 Tool Kit. CJIL Newsletter.  Regular blog readers know that Jessie has been doing a lot of interesting work in the SOG’s Criminal Justice Innovation Lab, including recent projects on jail occupancy rates, charging data, and pretrial release practice.  This week the Lab announced its newsletter - Lab Notes.  The [...]