Delhi High Court Recognizes Inmate Rights in Parole Ruling

Recent analysis highlights how a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions have significantly contributed to the country's high incarceration rates, surpassing those of many Western democracies and even some authoritarian regimes. Legal scholar Rachel Elise Barkow argues that the Court enabled mass incarceration by upholding harsh sentencing laws, expanding pretrial detention, endorsing coercive plea bargains, and tolerating overcrowded prisons and racial disparities in the justice system. These rulings, she claims, often compromised constitutional protections to facilitate tougher law enforcement policies. Barkow suggests that, given the current Court's willingness to revisit precedent, there may be an opportunity to challenge these decisions using arguments based on constitutional text and history. The issue is underscored by the fact that jails hold a significant portion of the nearly 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S. today. This critique encourages a reevaluation of the legal framework that has shaped America's approach to crime and punishment.