Donald Jones, 1/18/12

Professor of law, The University of Miami

The Miami police announced they have dedicated a nine-man police squad to focus on a single Liberty City apartment complex. Is this life imitating film?

Bennett L. Gershman and Joel Cohen, 1/18/12

In a day when so many miscarriages of justice have been exposed, particularly by way of indisputable proof of actual innocence, the guidelines for pardons should be far more stringent.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, 1/17/12

Civil rights activist

The next time you attend a graduation, remember that the gowns worn by the graduates are likely to have been made by South Carolina prison labor.

Raul A. Reyes, 1/17/12

Attorney; 'USA Today' Columnist

Besides trampling on constitutional, human, and civil rights, sheriff Joe Arpaio has neglected other duties of his office and failed to make his community safer. In short, his tenure has not only been bad for undocumented immigrants, it's been bad for Latinos and Arizona as well.

Joshua Kors, 1/17/12

Investigative Reporter, The Nation

"One of the great ironies of this three-film, two-decade mission is that we thought we were making a film about bad children, the inside story of why kids kill."

Scott Morgan, 1/17/12

Associate Editor, StoptheDrugWar.org

Let's take a moment to review some of the tactics on display here, which may go a long way towards illustrating why modern drug war apologists have been losing traction in the growing public debate over American drug policy.

Katherine Redmond, 1/17/12

Founder, National Coalition Against Violent Athletes

After the Penn State scandal broke, I was asked if this was finally the tipping point. Would colleges now take sexual assault seriously? Doubtful. And a new case of a university run amok has emerged to serve as evidence.

Marianne Mollmann, 1/17/12

Senior Policy Advisor, Amnesty International

Last week, a Belgian tourist said he believed he had been cut some slack by the New York City police mainly because he was white. Indeed, even a perfunctory look at US criminal justice figures reveals that something is not quite right.

Joel John Roberts, 1/12/12

CEO, People Assisting the Homeless; Publisher of www.PovertyInsights.org

If you are homeless in Orange County or its adjacent county in Los Angeles, there is a frightfully valid concern over being stabbed in the middle of the night.

Andrea Lyon, 1/13/12

Author, attorney and professor of law, DePaul University

When there is publicity associated with a criminal prosecution, the ability for jurors, judges, and prosecutors and yes, sometimes even defense lawyers, to presume innocence becomes even more circumscribed.

Wray Herbert, 1/12/12

Author, 'On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind's Hard-Wired Habits'

Confessions are powerful and damning evidence, which is a good thing if the defendant is guilty. But what if the defendant is innocent?

Regina Weinreich, 1/12/12

Co-producer/Director, 'Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider'

Last October when the documentary Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory premiered at the New York Film Festival, filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky celebrated an unanticipated event: the release from prison of the West Memphis 3.

Michael Waterstone, 1/13/12

Associate dean of research and academic centers and professor of law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

Today, the idea of the state medically taking away someone's right to procreate against their will seems impossible. But from the 1930s to the late 1970s, North Carolina used eugenics to justify mandatory sterilization of people with mental disabilities, criminals and other undesirables.

Kate Martin, 1/12/12

Director, Center for National Security Studies

There is an extraordinary claim being widely circulated: that the defense bill recently signed by the president authorizes the detention without charge of Americans and other terrorist suspects found in the United States. That is simply untrue.

Matt Semino, 1/11/12

Attorney and Legal Analyst

As a Peruvian court decides Joran van der Sloot's sentence, it is imperative that it truly measures the gravity of his crime, considering carefully how the depravity of his actions robbed Stephany Flores of her bright future and her family of a beloved daughter.

Amnesty International, 1/12/12

Defending Human Rights Worldwide

By closing Guantánamo, President Obama could take a critical first step to restoring human rights and ensuring that justice, equality before the law, and fair and humane treatment triumph over the politics of fear.

Diane Dimond, 1/12/12

Television journalist, author, syndicated columnist

Government lawyers who act as bullies do more than waste taxpayer's money -- they erode citizens respect for the institution. A nearly unbelievable case in point...