Mears Law Office

03/24/2022

There were interesting players in this long quest for exoneration. One was someone in the state's Attorney General's office. Another was some Innocence projects and students at law schools.
However these brothers were incarcerated for 25 years.

Prosecutors said that Melvin and George DeJesus were falsely accused of killing a woman in 1995 in what the Michigan attorney general called “a total miscarriage of justice.”

03/20/2022

Some things are so awful that it is difficult to imagine them in today's world. Unfortunately that can make a long list.
The death penalty is one of them.
But firing squads? oh my.

The option was added after the state was unable to obtain the drugs necessary to carry out lethal injections.

03/19/2022

While it is just one vote, it will be an important vote. She must get selected. Remember Chuck Grassley. You are up for election.

In an overlooked, once-anonymous article from her student days, Biden’s nominee emphasized the human impact of law on the most hated people in America.

03/16/2022

Of all the jobs one can have as a lawyer, representing people who are accused of doing bad things should be one that is regarded with respect, if not honor. Then there are the lawyers who represent people who in fact have done bad things.
I am proud to be in this latter group.
I am for that reason amazed, but not surprised, at the vilification piled on Judge Ketanji Jackson.
Her background is so needed on the Supreme Court.

Republicans have vilified Biden’s judicial nominees who have represented criminal suspects. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, for the Supreme Court, is the most prominent.

03/04/2022

Having a justice who was once a public defender is a wonderful thought. I hope it happens.

Diversity has many dimensions, perspective among them.

02/27/2022

Would this be taught in school today? I certainly never heard of it when I was in school.

In what officials now call one the most unjust military trials in the nation’s history, 19 Black soldiers were sentenced to death in 1917 after a clash with the police.

02/18/2022

Imagine that the judge used to be someone who worked for an Innocence project. That is the quality of some of President Biden's choices for lifetime appointments to be federal judges.
Of course I would hope that freeing truly innocent people would be something that you could have agreement across the political divide.
What this exposes is that some Republican's are just opposed to everything.

Republicans are trying to make a judicial nominee the face of violent crime after she has spent her career getting false convictions overturned. President Joe Biden nominated Nina Morrison, an attorney with the Innocence Project, to serve on the U.S....

02/17/2022

I hope everyone knows about the Marshall Project.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/about

They provide an important piece of news not otherwise heard from other sources of news.
As with many places you can subscribe to their newsletters.

The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system.

02/15/2022

Solitary confinement are words that prompt many reactions. Whether referring to persons in prison or children in time outs the term continues to show up.
This article talks about a person named Hope, who lives in the Texas prison system.

Dennis Hope, who has been held in solitary confinement in a Texas prison for more than half his life, asked the Supreme Court to set limits on prolonged isolation.

01/27/2022

OFFICE ASSISTANT

Rate of Pay: Commensurate with experience

Work Schedule:
Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, minimally one-year commitment

Job Beginning/Ending Dates:
Training may begin as early as availability allows.

Duties:
We are a two-lawyer firm looking for an office assistant. Primary duties include:
- Answering phones
- Preparing and sorting mail
- Accounts payable and receivable
- Opening and closing files
- Directing email, calendaring & making appointments
- Maintaining office supplies

The position is full-time, but schedules can be flexible during training.

Qualifications:
Ability to multi-task, strong organizational skills, detail oriented, great people and communication skills. Health insurance and paid holidays. Interest in law preferred. Please submit cover letter and resume
to mearslaw .com.

05/09/2021

A SPECIAL EVENING WITH IJAN

Tuesday May 11, 6:30 – 8 PM

Part ll of the Tragedy at Anamosa

IJAN invites you to zoom in to this panel discussion to hear how life has progressed for the incarcerated people and their loved ones at Anamosa since the tragic murders last month. Allow these people to update you on conditions, perceptions and morale. Panelists are:

Tim Diesberg----Board Member of Iowa Prison Industries, former Department of Corrections employee and organizer of the Apprenticeship Programs for Iowa’s incarcerated individuals.

Eddie Walker----Returned citizen who served 17.5 years in Iowa prisons, numerous of those years at Anamosa

Walter Herman----Loved one of an incarcerated individual currently at Anamosa State Penitentiary

Anji----A loved one of an maintenance worker at Anamosa at the time of the murders who, along with other maintenance workers has since been transferred to Iowa State Penitentiary.

IJAN board member----Will read several o-mails from individuals housed at Anamosa.

Questions from you will be addressed by panelists.



Join us, Tuesday May 11, at 6:30 PM

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12/30/2020

In Iowa over 3500 inmates have tested positive. )Total population is about 7500.) 13 have died. 2 staff have died. The Newton Correctional facility is the latest prison to have an outbreak. I have a lot of clients there. The facility is on lockdown as the cases have increased from a few to 145 in a week. The DOC publishes daily statistics which show positive cases and deaths. The numbers do not tell you about how many have symptoms or are hospitalized.
I am not in a position to determine how careful the DOC prevention efforts have been. I do appreciate how difficult that job would be. Iowa has not particularly done much of a job in the overall population.
It is so difficult to be that vigilant for so long.

China said one of its candidates was effective. A congressman-elect from Louisiana has died of Covid-19 complications. Long-term symptoms are sending patients back to the hospital. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.