• US: Maryland Expected to Abolish Death Penalty
    Mar 15, 2013
    Press release
    Maryland is on the verge of becoming the sixth US state in six years to abolish the death penalty, though five men may continue to sit on the state’s death row.
  • US: Injustices Filling the Prisons
    Jan 31, 2013
    Press release
    The enormous prison population in the United States partly reflects harsh sentencing practices contrary to international law, Human Rights Watch said in the US chapter of its World Report 2013.
  • US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Nov 30, 2012
    Press release
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • US/New York: Few Arrested for Pot Become Violent Criminals
    Nov 23, 2012
    Press release
    Few of those who enter New York City’s criminal justice system as a result of marijuana possession arrests become dangerous criminals
  • US/California: Continue Effort to Halt Death Penalty
    Nov 7, 2012
    Press release
    California voters’ failure to abolish the death penalty perpetuates a barbaric practice and places the state out of step with national trends
  • US/California: ‘Three-Strikes’ Vote a Humane Step
    Nov 7, 2012
    Press release
    Voters’ approval of Proposition 36, which limits the reach of California’s “three-strikes” statute, is an important step toward a more humane sentencing system in the state.
  • US: Teens in Solitary Confinement
    Oct 10, 2012
    Press release
    Young people are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States, often for weeks or months at a time.
  • US/California: New Hope for Youth Offenders
    Sep 30, 2012
    Press release
    The law on youth sentencing signed by Governor Jerry Brown of California on September 30, 2012, provides hope for nearly 300 youth offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today. The new law, Senate Bill 9, will allow people who were under age 18 at the time of their crime to ask the sentencing court to review their case and consider a new sentence permitting parole after serving 25 years in prison.
  • US/California: Chance for Justice for Youth
    Aug 16, 2012
    Press release
    The California State Assembly’s approval on August 16, 2012, of a bill to allow review of life without parole sentences for youth offenders is a step toward justice.
  • US/Texas: Halt Execution of Man with Intellectual Disabilities
    Aug 7, 2012
    Press release
    Texas should not execute a man who has significant intellectual disabilities. Marvin Lee Wilson, who was sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a police drug informant in 1992, is scheduled to be executed on August 7, 2012.