August 6, 2015Say the government gets a search warrant to seize your hard drive in connection with an investigation and, rather than pull the relevant files, it just makes a copy of it all and keeps it...
Group That Led #Repeal50a Campaign Seeks to Enter Police Unions’ Lawsuit Aimed at Rolling Back 50-a Repeal and Re-Entrenching Police Secrecy July 28, 2020, New York – Today, Communities United for...
In this inaugural event of a four-part series marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11, artists, lawyers, and scholars will be reflecting on the impact of the post-9/11 “global security”...
Updated: August 26, 2021
December 31, 2014, New York – In response to the news that five men – three Yemenis and two Tunisians – were transferred from Guantánamo to Kazakhstan yesterday, the Center...
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."
Group That Led #Repeal50a Campaign to Enter Police Unions’ Lawsuit Aimed at Rolling Back 50-a Repeal and Re-Entrenching Police Secrecy August 25, 2020, New York – Today, a federal court ruled that...
June 17, 2015Last month, the Washington Supreme Court struck down the state’s anti-SLAPP law as unconstitutional, concluding only the first chapter of a lawsuit that was brought to intimidate and punish board...
December 31, 2013, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement in response to the transfer of the three remaining Uighur detainees from Guant...
In February of 2011, the United States hosted a fact-finding mission by then UN Independent Expert (now the Special Rapporteur) on the human right to safe drinking water. Ms. de Albuquerque carries...
Updated: May 8, 2015
The Cardozo International Law Society, Cardozo Students for Human Rights, and the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy present Targeting Terror: Can the Executive carry out “...
Updated: December 2, 2010
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