If Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is spared the death penalty, he will likely spend the rest of his life at the most restrictive prison in America, a place so isolating that it has been called a clean version of hell.
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility — aka ADX, or “supermax” — is where the federal government sends its worst criminals, from terrorists to traitors. At this point, it is the best Tsarnaev can hope for. But as they wrap up their case against the death penalty, Tsarnaev’s lawyers are trying to persuade the jury that if they sent him to the ADX, he’d be separated from the world forever.
This week, the defense team called a retired U.S. Bureau of Prisons warden to describe the extreme isolation that Tsarnaev would face at the 490-cell prison in the barren foothills of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
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Solitary confinement in 12-by-7-foot cells with a single 4-inch-wide window
Hillary Clinton vowed on Tuesday that she would not only support immigration reform and protect deportation relief policies put forward by President Barack Obama. If elected president next year, she would expand them.
“If Congress continues to refuse to act, as president I would do everything possible under the law to go even further,” the 2016 Democratic candidate said at an event with young undocumented immigrants, held at Las Vegas’ Rancho High School.
Clinton’s remarks, which essentially ran down the wish list of immigration activists, were more detailed than most expected. She argued that she would lean in on immigration, and she used that as an attack on Republican presidential candidates who have backed away from the issue.
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Two men have been shot dead after opening fire outside of an exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in Garland, Texas, according to reports from WFAA and NBC 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The two men fired towards the Curtis Culwell Center and hit security guard Bruce Joiner, who was shot in the lower leg and suffered non-life threatening injuries, per WFAA. NBC 5 reports that Joiner has already been released after being taken to a local hospital.
The Muhammad Art Exhibit & Contest was organized by Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an anti-Islamic organization that is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
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The charges handed down against three former allies of Gov. Chris Christie in the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal provide mixed news for the Republican governor as he tries to regain momentum in support of an expected presidential bid.
Christie appears to have been cleared of any allegations that he personally participated in a scheme to shut down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. But the charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey still hit close to home: His former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and his former top appointee to the authority that controls the bridge, Bill Baroni, have both been indicted. David Wildstein, another ally, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy.
The charges also return focus to a famously bruising political style associated with Christie’s administration. The documents unveiled Friday paint the trio as vindictive and petty bullies who plotted — and then covered up — a scheme to gridlock the town of Fort Lee to punish its Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie’s re-election bid.
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Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby gave an update on the investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died after suffering a spinal cord injury while in police custody in April, calling his death a homicide.
“We have probable cause to file criminal charges,” Mosby said in a press conference Friday.
Charges including second degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault, among others, will be filed against the officers involved in Gray’s arrest, Mosby said.
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A leaked police document that claims Freddie Gray was “intentionally trying to injure himself” while in the back of a police van in Baltimore after his arrest is being questioned due to inconsistencies with earlier reports.
Gray died a week after his videotaped April 12 arrest due to injuries sustained under uncertain circumstances while in police custody, sparking protests in Baltimore and around the nation.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday night that a prisoner who was in the van with Gray allegedly told investigators he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the police vehicle, and said he believed Gray was “intentionally trying to injure himself,” according to a document written by a Baltimore police investigator.
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The U.S. Supreme Court was set on Wednesday to hear arguments in a case brought by three death row inmates challenging Oklahoma’s method of execution by lethal injection as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The three-drug process used by Oklahoma prison officials has been under scrutiny since the April 2014 botched execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett. He could be seen twisting on the gurney after death chamber staff failed to place the intravenous line properly.
Richard Glossip, John Grant and Benjamin Cole, the inmates challenging the state’s procedures, argue the sedative used by Oklahoma, midazolam, cannot achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery, making it unsuitable for executions.
The Los Angeles Police Department is ordering officers to ride in pairs because of a warning that street gangs made a pact to “take out” cops after a Baltimore man was fatally injured while in custody.
L.A. officials said they made the call to issue the so-called “blue alert” out of an abundance of caution, and until they can assess how serious the threat is.
In a statement issued earlier Monday, embattled Baltimore police announced they had received a “credible threat” that the Black Guerrilla Family, the Bloods, the Crips and other rivals planned to target officers.
Shelter, fuel, food, medicine, power, news, workers — Nepal’s earthquake-hit capital was short on everything Monday as its people searched for lost loved ones, sorted through rubble for their belongings and struggled to provide for their families’ needs. In much of the countryside, it was worse, though how much worse was only beginning to become apparent.
The official overall death toll soared past 4,000, even without a full accounting from vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach two days after the disaster.
Udav Prashad Timalsina, the top official for the Gorkha district, where Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 quake was centered, said he was in desperate need of help.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Solitary confinement in 12-by-7-foot cells with a single 4-inch-wide window
Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
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James' World 2 