Freelance journalist Pete Earley reports on the NYPD use of body bags to restrain mentally ill individuals. Police refer to the device as “the burrito.” Earley reports:

“The full body restraint bag is being marketed under the name EDP Bag, an acronym for Emotionally Disturbed Person bag, and was created specifically for the NYPD…

The manufacturer said the bags are well ventilated and while incapacitating a person, the fabric is strong and allows fluids to pass through, and can be cleaned and decontaminated easily after each use. Seven handles make it easy to manage and carry.

Community activists said using the bags was both “dehumanizing ” and “dangerous.” Individuals in the midst of a psychological crisis, especially veterans, might associate the EDP bag with a body bag used in wars to transport the dead. Stuffing an individual into a bag results in additional trauma and stress.

A defender of the bags said the restraints were “an imperfect solution to very difficult situations. There are no great options.”

That’s the takeaway fro Judge Rake-off’s lengthy and thoughtful review of “A War Like No Other: The Constitution in a Time of Terror” by Yale law professor Owen Fiss. As Judge Rakoff says in analyzing the very steep and slippery slope that led us to water-boarding, amongst other atrocities of the new millennium:

“The war on terror, for all its uncertainties, is in some respects a war of values: the monstrous methods of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and others are but a reflection of their authoritarian values and extremist ideologies. They hate us, not just because we are rich, but because we are, on the whole, free, liberal in thought, and humane in feelings. It would be ironic, and tragic, if in seeking to safeguard our security so as to preserve our values, we undercut, for now and for the future, the very values that make us so proud to be Americans.”

The Atlantic Monthly takes on juvenile justice issues in California with a recent article on Prop 57. Meanwhile, you can volunteer to help out on the Prop 57 campaign with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, here.

Congress is taking up the issue of re-authorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 with this year’s Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act. The bipartisan bill, according to its authors:

“Sets kids up for long-term success by helping them acquire skills necessary to grow into productive members of society and promoting opportunities to turn their lives around;

Provides state and local leaders flexibility to meet the needs of delinquent youth in their communities and improve public safety;

Helps at-risk youth avoid the juvenile justice system by supporting prevention services;

Prioritizes what works by focusing on evidence-based strategies with proven track records; and

Improves accountability and oversight to deliver positive outcomes for kids and protect taxpayers.”

Read the WBUR (Boston) stories on juvenile lifers given a second chance by the US Supreme Court in 2012 by Miller v. Alabama.

ProPublica discovers the relative immunity of prosecutors from consequences for misconduct in a 2-part series highlighting several high-profile new York cases. Their takeaway:

“A ProPublica analysis of more than a decade’s worth of state and federal court rulings found more than two dozen instances in which judges explicitly concluded that city prosecutors had committed harmful misconduct. In each instance, these abuses were sufficient to prompt courts to throw out convictions.

Yet the same appellate courts did not routinely refer prosecutors for investigation by the state disciplinary committees charged with policing lawyers. Disciplinary committees, an arm of the appellate courts, almost never took serious action against prosecutors. None of the prosecutors who oversaw cases reversed based on misconduct were disbarred, suspended, or censured …

The damage from prosecutorial misconduct can be devastating, not only allowing guilty people like Bennett to go free, but also putting innocents behind bars. In 10 cases identified by ProPublica, defendants convicted at least in part because of a prosecutor’s abuse were ultimately exonerated, often after years in prison.”

The New York Times reports on disparities in enforcement as a driving force in America’s mass-incarceration problem. The takeaway:

“The stark disparities in how counties punish crime show the limits of recent state and federal changes to reduce the number of inmates. Far from Washington and state capitals, county prosecutors and judges continue to wield great power over who goes to prison and for how long. And many of them have no interest in reducing the prison population.

“I am proud of the fact that we send more people to jail than other counties,” Aaron Negangard, the elected prosecutor in Dearborn County, said last year. “That’s how we keep it safe here.”

He added in an interview: “My constituents are the people who decide whether I keep doing my job. The governor can’t make me. The legislature can’t make me.”

According to the Innocence Project, more than a quarter of convicts who later end up exonerated through DNA evidence made a false confession or incriminating statements. Here is one of those stories from the  Center for Investigative Reporting.