• Disrimination and Abuse of Discretion

    Despite a commitment to equal justice for all, public officials in the United States have instituted policies that either by purpose or effect discriminate unjustly on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other characteristics. Such discrimination violates internationally protected rights. In the criminal justice arena, public officials also abuse their discretion by overstepping their authority, or by instituting policies that undermine the rule of law and deny justice to all parties, including victims of crime, witnesses, and the accused.

More news »
Subscribe to content feed

Reports

More >>

Discrimination and Abuse of Discretion

  • US: Over-Criminalization Task Force Should Examine Federal Sentencing Practices
    Jun 17, 2013
    Human Rights Watch sent this letter to members of the US Congress, regarding the scope of the new Congressional Over-Criminalization Task Force. If the task force is to be effective, it needs to tackle multiple flawed facets of the criminal justice system, including not only overcriminalization but also federal sentencing practices.
  • Congress: Stop Playing Hunger Games with the Food Stamp Program
    Jun 11, 2013
    An anti-hunger program should be no place to mete out punishment. But that, in effect, will soon start happening all over the country - unless the US Senate changes course.
  • New York Bail Reform: Letter to Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman About His Proposals
    May 3, 2013
  • US: Maryland Abolishes Death Penalty
    May 2, 2013
    Maryland on May 2, 2013, became the sixth US state in six years to abolish the death penalty, continuing a trend to end this inherently cruel punishment in the United States. Maryland’s governor should commute the sentences of the five men who remain on the state’s death row.
  • 'Too Little Justice': Misdemeanor Defendants in the US
    Mar 22, 2013
    Indigent defendants in Midland, Texas are not receiving proper instructions regarding their right to counsel, a problem leading to uneducated plea bargains.
  • US: Maryland Expected to Abolish Death Penalty
    Mar 15, 2013
    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: NY Trial Right for Bin Laden In-Law
    Mar 8, 2013
    The Obama administration’s decision to try an alleged al Qaeda figure in federal court rather than before a military commission at Guantanamo best serves the interests of justice. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who had been an al Qaeda spokesman, was indicted on a criminal charge of conspiracy to kill United States citizens. He appeared in US District Court in Manhattan on March 8, 2013, and pleaded not guilty.
  • US: Injustices Filling the Prisons
    Jan 31, 2013

    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: Human Rights Watch Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee
    Jan 4, 2013
    Human Rights Watch submitted this statement to inform the Human Rights Committee’s understanding of the US government’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
  • US/New York: Few Arrested for Pot Become Violent Criminals
    Nov 23, 2012

    Few of those who enter New York City’s criminal justice system as a result of marijuana possession arrests become dangerous criminals

more documents on this topic »