While she did not halt the use of stop-and-frisk, Scheindlin appointed a federal court monitor to oversee a series of reforms. The city appealed Scheindlin’s ruling, saying it made officers...
Updated: November 1, 2013
November 3, 2015, New York – Today, in response to the court-appointed monitor in the landmark stop-and-frisk case Floyd v. City of New York launching a website on the Joint Remedial Process that...
Donita Judge is Associate Executive Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. She has responsibility for the organization’s operational planning and provides leadership in the implementation...
Marsha Scaggs is 56 years old and is currently imprisoned at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs in Pennsylvania. Marsha is serving a Death By Incarceration sentence (more commonly known as Life Without Parole) after being convicted of felony murder. Marsha was prosecuted after an altercation with the victim in her case resulted in her co-defendant killing the victim; she was not responsible for the killing nor did she have any intention for that to happen. She was 23 years old at the time. Marsha has been incarcerated since 1987 and has spent over 30 years—more than half of her life—in prison. She is a plaintiff in Scott v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, a lawsuit that argues that Pennsylvania's mandatory life sentences without the eligibility for parole for felony murder are unconstitutional.
When asked what she wants the outside world to know about people serving life sentences, she said, "We are human beings who have made mistakes but we are not defined by those mistakes. There are lifers that have taken the necessary steps to redeem ourselves and if given the opportunity, we will rise to the occasion and be role models."
Marsha wants to be released from prison. She wants the chance to use the certification and degree that she worked so hard to get while incarcerated. During her incarceration, she has lost loved ones on the outside. She wants to be free to be able to spend time with friends and family outside of the prison walls. Marsha says she also wants the chance to do things that many people on the outside take for granted. She wants to get a job, pay bills, and do her taxes.
Marsha says that aging in prison is, "no picnic...you do not get the proper medical attention that is needed, and the more you age, you can see and feel your body deteriorate. It's like a loss of life emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually."
How has Black feminism ushered in our current understanding and practice of abolition? On the 48th episode of the Activist Files, advocacy associate maya finoh speaks with Andrea Ritchie , an...
Updated: March 24, 2022
March 7, 2024, New York – In response to the governor of New York’s announcement of a five-point “subway safety” plan, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement: The Center...
April 2010Advocacy groups are suing the federal government to uncover records related to the Secure Communities program, which has come under fire locally this week for a case involving a Prince George's...
September 25, 2015Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in Manhattan made history by arresting officials at the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, on charges of racketeering and money...
More than a decade after graphic images of the American-run prison camp Abu Ghraib in Iraq were leaked, four of the cleared detainees are finally getting their day in court. But will accountability...
Updated: April 7, 2017
November 15, 2016...When Ben and I returned to New York, we worked with Pardiss Kebriaei and Maria LaHood at the Center for Constitutional Rights to develop a challenge to the lawfulness of the government’s kill...
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