The Latest
Criminalizing Abortion Makes Cases Like Nebraska Teen’s More Common, Experts Warn
A judge sentenced 17-year-old Celeste Burgess to 90 days in jail after she ended her pregnancy at 29 weeks. Further criminalization of abortion and dwindling reproductive healthcare options will only make cases like these more common, experts say.
Meg O'Connor Sep 22, 2023
Pregnancy-Related Arrests Spiked During Last 16 Years, Report Finds
Legal experts who spoke with The Appeal warned the criminal justice system will continue to target pregnant people in the coming years.
Meg O'Connor Sep 19, 2023
Gavin Newsom Can Sign a Bill to End Price-Gouging in California Prisons
California prison canteens currently sell essential items—such as snacks and medication—at a markup of between 65 and 200 percent.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 18, 2023
Louisiana Moves Kids out of Angola Prison—for Now
State officials have appealed a federal judge’s removal order and are continuing their fight to lock up children on the grounds of the maximum security prison.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 15, 2023
America’s Most Notorious Jail Keeps Getting Worse
A horrific death and the high-profile booking of former President Donald Trump propelled Georgia’s Fulton County Jail into the national spotlight. But heightened scrutiny has done nothing to improve conditions.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 13, 2023
Ex-Phoenix Cop’s Misconduct Hangs Over Jacob Harris Case
Jacob Harris’s father is heading to appeals court on Wednesday. Federal judges will decide the fate of his wrongful death suit against the city of Phoenix.
Meg O'Connor Sep 13, 2023
Louisiana Fights to Keep Kids at Angola After Judge’s Removal Order
The state argues there would be a “near certainty” of “serious bodily injury” to children, staff, and the public if kids are transferred out of the prison.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 12, 2023
Federal Judge Orders Louisiana to Move Kids out of Angola Prison
Children in the former death row unit at Angola, one of the nation’s most infamous prisons, have been locked in solitary confinement, shackled while they eat and play, and attacked by guards.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 08, 2023
My Son Died in LA County Custody. Months Later, His Death Hasn’t Been Counted.
A controversial death in Los Angeles this year underscores the broader failure of law enforcement agencies to keep accurate data on people who die in their custody.
D. Pulane Lucas Sep 08, 2023
Unlocking the Black Box of In-Custody Deaths
Despite the frequency of in-custody deaths, their exact scope remains unknown and data is often intentionally obfuscated.
Christopher Blackwell Sep 06, 2023
Cop City Protesters Hit With RICO Charges in Latest Act of Political Repression
Organizers with the movement say the charges are meant to “send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government.”
Meg O'Connor Sep 05, 2023
It’s Long Past Time to Ban Pretextual Stops—Take It From a Public Defender
Police pretextual stops, in which traffic police pull people over as an excuse to search them, should no longer be allowed.
Dan Eichinger Aug 30, 2023
Extreme Heat is Killing People in Prison. What’s Being Done About It?
As advocates fight to provide relief to incarcerated people, officials are resisting many measures that could help prisoners combat the heat.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Nick Wing Aug 29, 2023
Florida Prison Confiscates Newspaper Over ‘Celebrity Cipher’ Word Game
Officials asserted that the puzzle, which appears next to the crossword, “may be used to create coded messages indecipherable by staff.”
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 25, 2023
Los Angeles Commits Another $1 Billion to LAPD Despite Falling Violent Crime
Police say they need pay raises to help with hiring and retention. But crime has been falling in LA, even as the department reports having its lowest number of officers in decades.
Meg O'Connor Aug 23, 2023
‘They Killed Freddie Gray’: New Book Reveals Dark, Hidden Truth About Gray’s Death
In her new book, “They Killed Freddie Gray”, Justine Barron reveals much of what the public has believed about Gray’s death is incorrect.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 23, 2023
New Jersey Took a Big Step Toward Eliminating Public Defender Fees. But Some Costs Remain.
Advocates say there is more work to be done to ensure public defenders don’t come with a price tag.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 22, 2023
As Anti-Trans Bills Target Prisoners, Some Warn of a ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’
Legislation targeting transgender people behind bars is part of a much broader campaign against LGBTQ rights. Advocates say the measures could preview future attacks by the anti-trans movement.
Adam M. Rhodes Aug 17, 2023
Advocates Fight Florida Law Used to Detain Thousands of Kids in Crisis
A law originally set up to provide humane treatment to mentally ill people in crisis has became a terrifying dragnet for kids, with Black children under 10 greatly overrepresented.
Josh McGhee, Mindsite News Aug 16, 2023
Survivor Injustice Asks Us To Reconsider What Justice Looks Like For Crime Victims
This excerpt from Survivor Injustice asks us to reconsider what justice really looks like for crime victims.
Kylie Cheung Aug 16, 2023
Why Women’s Wrongful Convictions Are So Difficult to Overcome
Outdated stereotypes and crimes that never occurred create unique challenges for women seeking exoneration.
Danielle Bernstein Aug 14, 2023
Rosa Jimenez Was Exonerated of a Crime That Didn’t Occur. Others Are Still Fighting.
Jimenez is one of more than 1,300 people who have been exonerated of crimes that never occurred. Countless others remain incarcerated, despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 09, 2023
Prison Can Be A Hostile Place. Then the Birds Came.
The birds quickly became the talk of the unit. Suddenly, everyone an ornithologist, claiming to know whether barn swallows were endangered.
Christopher Blackwell Aug 09, 2023
Behind the Right’s War on Prosecutors
Reform-minded prosecutors across the country have faced efforts to remove them from office or limit their powers.
Eric Tegethoff Aug 03, 2023
Facing the Climate Crisis From a Texas Prison Cell
For the past seven summers, I have lived in solitary confinement without air conditioning. A trip to medical during a heat wave helped put the climate crisis into perspective.
Kwaneta Harris Jul 28, 2023
Atlanta Voters Want to Decide the Future of Cop City. Will Their Leaders Let Them?
Organizers say they’ve collected thousands of signatures for a referendum to put Cop City on the November ballot. But local officials seem intent on making sure it doesn’t reach a vote.
Aja Arnold Jul 27, 2023
Milwaukee Judges Tried to Shut Down the City’s Court Diversion Program. No One’s Saying Why.
Municipal Court officials refuse to comment on efforts to cancel JusticePoint’s contract without lining up an alternative provider. A legal ruling allows the services to continue—for now.
Jonmaesha Beltran, Devin Blake Jul 27, 2023
The Two Months I Didn’t Eat: Inside the Longest Prison Hunger Strike in California History
Ten years ago this month, nearly 29,000 people in California prisons staged a hunger strike to protest solitary confinement.
Brian Quintanilla Jul 25, 2023
SCOTUS Conviction Ruling Already Harming Innocent People, Lawyers Say
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in some instances, incarcerated people can be barred from filing multiple claims of innocence, even if they did not commit the crime for which they’re in prison. Federal defense attorneys told The Appeal the ruling is already causing harm.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 20, 2023
The Right’s New Solution To Mass Shootings: Ban Trans People, Not Guns
The blame game against trans people is just one of the many diversionary tactics the right has used in our intractable gun violence debate.
Adam M. Rhodes Jul 19, 2023
133 Degrees and No AC: Kids at Angola Prison Kept in Potentially Deadly Heat
With heat indexes in the area regularly hitting triple digits, children incarcerated at Louisiana’s Angola prison have been locked in windowless cells for nearly 24 hours a day. One medical expert says the conditions put lives at risk.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 18, 2023
I Spent Over a Year in Solitary Because of One Man’s Imagination
The conditions I faced were outrageous. But the prison administration’s justification for keeping me in the hole was even worse.
Kevin Light-Roth Jul 13, 2023
In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom
Lacino Hamilton spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before being exonerated in 2020 after DNA evidence cleared him.
Lacino Hamilton Jul 12, 2023
How Missouri’s ‘Felony Murder’ Law Traps People for Defending Themselves
An investigation by The Appeal and the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab reveals how prosecutors use the state’s felony murder statute to imprison people who say they acted in self-defense. The majority of those convicted under the law since 2010 are Black. “I had to take the plea because they’re using this law to get people to stay locked up,” one man said.
Thomas Birmingham Jul 10, 2023
D.C. Violates ADA By Sending Police to Mental Health Crises: ACLU
A new lawsuit alleges that the city is discriminating against people with mental health disabilities by continuing to send armed officers to mental health calls.
Meg O'Connor Jul 06, 2023
How Toxic Masculinity Drives Homophobia in Prison
The phrase “toxic masculinity” is ubiquitous these days, but there are few places where it’s more all-consuming than in a men’s prison
Christopher Blackwell Jul 05, 2023
How LA County’s Zero-Bail Rules Can Help Others Like Me
Los Angeles County lawmakers should enshrine the zero-bail rules into law so people in Los Angeles County jails can see their families.
Angel Lopez Jun 28, 2023
LASD Says It Wants to Keep Hitting People in the Head
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has taken legal action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to stop deputies from hitting incarcerated people in the head so often. Yesterday, LASD said it should not be forced to change.
Meg O'Connor Jun 27, 2023
‘Inside of an Oven’: Climate Change is Cooking California Prisoners, Report Warns
A new survey of more than 500 people incarcerated in California state prisons warns that large numbers of people have been subjected to extreme heat, dangerous cold, flooding, and wildfires.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 22, 2023
Cops and Republicans Are Criminalizing Pregnant People Without Roe
Lawmakers in seven states proposed bills to make abortion murder punishable by death. Cops arrested three women for their pregnancy outcomes.
Meg O'Connor Jun 21, 2023