Ella Fassler Ella Fassler Ella Fassler is a freelance writer, researcher, and prison abolitionist based in Washington D.C. Her work has appeared in The Nation, the Taylor & Francis journal, and at several American Public Health Association conferences. She has conducted corporate corruption-related research for plaintiff lawyers in civil litigation across the country. She can be reached on Twitter at @EllaFassler.
Massachusetts Could Loosen Life Without Parole Restrictions For Young People Justices in the state’s highest court are weighing whether it is unconstitutional to sentence people convicted of murder and aged 18 to 20 to life without parole. Ella Fassler
The Limitations of Police ‘No Chase’ Policies Two moped riders were left dead or injured after recent police pursuits in Washington, D.C., and Providence, Rhode Island. Ella Fassler
Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Homelessness Report Calls for Defunding of Police A June report from the county’s independent judicial arm urges local government to reallocate law enforcement resources to social services. Ella Fassler
ICE Protester to Face Trial in ‘Build the Wall’ Sheriff’s Massachusetts County Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who once offered prisoners at his jails as laborers to build the border wall, is one of many sheriffs who partners with the agency. Ella Fassler
Confession Throws Prison Uprising Trials Into Chaos A judge excluded a confession that exonerated defendants in one trial related to a Delaware prison uprising, but a pair of defendants were nonetheless acquitted, promising further problems for prosecutors. Ella Fassler
Battle Over Fare Evasion Decriminalization Boils Over in D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed decriminalization legislation that advocates say would curb the discriminatory policing tactics associated with fare evasion enforcement. Today, the D.C. City Council will decide if it will override her veto. Ella Fassler
Black Lives Matter DC’s Battle to End Stop-and-Frisk In The Nation’s Capital Advocates say the city has dragged its feet on legislation meant to ensure transparency on the police practice, and that data released so far—from 2010 to 2016, nearly 82 percent of stops involved Black people—signals that it’s time to end stop-and-frisk entirely. Ella Fassler
