Daniel Nichanian

Daniel Nichanian Eyes were glued on St. Louis County on Aug. 7, but another Missouri prosecutor was also ousted that same night. Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Richardson was seeking a fourth term, but he lost in the Republican primary to Assistant State Attorney General Locke Thompson. Cole County includes the state capital Jefferson City, […]

Reprimanded by state Supreme Court, prosecutor heads toward re-election Daniel Nichanian Platte County’s longtime prosecuting attorney Eric Zahnd was disciplined this year, just months before he is to face voters in this county north of Kansas City. In 2015, Zahnd oversaw the prosecution of a man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child. At […]

Daniel Nichanian Seven people died in the Milwaukee County Jail under Sheriff David Clarke’s tenure. One man died in 2016 after being denied water for seven days, and a criminal complaint later described “an institutional practice of punitively shutting off water to unruly inmates.” Clarke was also known nationally for harsh policies toward immigrants, disparaging comments toward Black Lives Matter, and […]

In This Edition of the Political Report The newsletter we sent out inadvertently contained some of last week’s copy. Here is the corrected version! The Aug. 7 defeat of St. Louis County’s incumbent prosecutor, four years after Michael Brown’s shooting, is transformative for criminal justice in Missouri. But new elections are already around the corner: […]

Daniel Nichanian The Wisconsin counties that are cooperating closely with ICE have drawn protests from immigrants’ rights activists, but the issue is not resonating in the sheriff elections they are holding this year. In fact, Sheriff Eric Severson is running unopposed in Waukesha County (a populous and conservative county in the Milwaukee suburbs). In 2017, […]

Utah County is debating oversight of prosecutors, and the issue features into the county attorney election. Daniel Nichanian Prosecutorial misconduct draws little accountability in Utah. “A Salt Lake Tribune analysis of court documents and public records show[s] Utah’s prosecutors are rarely disciplined, even as complaints of misconduct are brought to light during court proceedings or in the […]

Daniel Nichanian St. Louis County’s longtime prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch is seeking an eighth four-year term, four years after the 2014 Ferguson protests. That year, he drew heavy criticism for the way he handled his investigation into Michael Brown’s shooting and for his failure to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Brown. His actions fit a […]

The Appeal: Political Report previews the governor’s race in Georgia. Daniel Nichanian Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, has made criminal justice reform central to her unusually progressive campaign. She has laid out a detailed platform with the stated goals of decreasing incarceration and facilitating the re-entry of people released from prison. The first priority she […]

In This Edition of the Political Report Four years after Michael Brown’s death, the Ferguson protests are resonating in St. Louis County’s Aug. 7 elections. Today, you’ll read about those primaries and other local stories: Georgia: Criminal justice reform a defining issue in governor’s race Missouri: St. Louis prosecutor faces first opponent since Ferguson protests […]

In This Edition of the Political Report Alabama’s governor reformed a practice that enables some sheriffs to profit from money meant to feed people in jail—but much work remains to end the practice altogether. You’ll read about this and other local stories in today’s newsletter: Alabama: As the governor reforms sheriff payments, all eyes on […]

Questionnaires “should not have been perceived as controversial or adversarial,” says the executive director of the state ACLU. Daniel Nichanian The ACLU of Vermont has published responses to a policy questionnaire it sent to all candidates running for Vermont’s 14 state’s attorney positions, including the 14 incumbents who are all seeking re-election this year. To meet the […]

ICE looms over Hennepin sheriff’s race.

Legislative candidate attacked over support for second chances

Morgan County to decide whether to bar their sheriff from pocketing jail food funds.

An analysis of California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah in the 2018 midterms

In This Edition of the Political Report This newsletter highlights the stakes of under-the-radar elections, but one obstacle to championing criminal justice reform in the electoral arena is the large share of local elections that go uncontested. Today, I’ll take a deeper dive into the scope of that phenomenon, and you will also see how […]

Welcome to The Appeal: Political Report District attorneys, sheriffs, and other law enforcement officials wield immense power over the criminal justice system. A series of paradigm-shifting victories for candidates championing significant reform has reshaped district attorney and sheriff elections, and issues relating to mass incarceration, police misconduct, and immigration enforcement have grown more salient in […]