James Swift

James Swift is a freelance reporter working in metro Atlanta.

Recent posts

Massachusetts Judges to Get Long-Awaited Pay Increase

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Juvenile court judges and their clerks in Massachusetts will see more money in their paychecks in 2014 thanks to a provision in the recently passed $34 billion budget. The phased-in salary increases, the first for judges and clerks since 2006, will total $23 million annually, about 2 percent of the 2014 budget. The budget will increase the salaries of regular associate judges from nearly $130,000 annually to almost $160,000 — an increase of approximately 23 percent. The Republican reports that under the new budget — which  Gov. Deval Patrick said he will sign next month — trial court clerk salaries will increase by 22 percent, from $110,000 to approximately $135,000. Assistant court clerks will see their salaries increase by nearly $19,000, and first assistant clerks by $20,000. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Legislation, News

New Report Reveals Sexual Victimization Rates in U.S. Juvenile Facilities

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The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has released a new report detailing rates of sexual victimization in the nation’s juvenile facilities. The report, incorporating data from the 2012 National Survey of Youth in Custody, found that nearly one in 10 young people in state-operated or state-contracted juvenile facilities reported at least one sexual victimization incident last year. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Featured

ACLU Report Says Marijuana Laws Discriminate Against Blacks

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A report released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) earlier this week found that in 2010, African-Americans were approximately four times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession — this, despite that fact that national data indicates the two populations use marijuana at nearly the same rates. Furthermore, in several states, including Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, the ACLU said African-Americans were busted for pot at rates from 7.5 to 8 times higher than whites. Regardless of region, the ACLU reports that these discrepancies in arrest rate by race remain consistent. “In over 96 percent of counties with more than 30,000 people in which at least 2 percent of the residents are black,” the report reads, “blacks are arrested at higher rates than whites for marijuana possession.”

Overall, New York, Texas, California, Florida and Illinois were found to have the highest rates of marijuana possession arrests. In almost half of all states, the ACLU found that possession offenses accounted for more than 90 percent of marijuana arrests. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, drugs, Marijuana