More from Jerry Iannelli

Democrats spent the last four years running away from police reform. “Funding the police” didn’t just help them lose the presidency—it handed a dangerous man an even stronger police and surveillance state.

The Appeal contacted more than 120 prosecutors and city attorneys to ask if they’ll file criminal cases against campus demonstrators. So far, only four expressed apprehension at doing so.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state can enforce a near-total abortion ban from 1864. The ban allows no abortions except to save the life of a pregnant person and carries a mandatory two- to five-year prison sentence for people who provide abortions.

The federal Bureau of Prisons has suggested banning imprisoned people from using social media—but First Amendment defenders say the rule would chill free speech and silence whistleblowers.

BOP Director Colette Peters blamed understaffing and “crumbling” facilities for the increasing number of deaths in federal prisons during hearings last week.

Jenkins won’t charge the security guard who shot Banko Brown to death. That’s precisely why San Franciscans elected her in the first place.

Newsom’s measure—called “CARE Court”—paves the way for family members, state officials, and first responders to force more unhoused people into court-ordered treatment programs for a period of up to two years.

New York law can leave people who are involuntarily committed financially liable for their hospital bills and ambulance ride

Multiple major cities including San Francisco and Oakland this year have considered obtaining armed police robots that can kill people.

Americans around the country were unmoved by tough-on-crime rhetoric, and instead voted in a string of reform-minded candidates. The results show that it’s time for Democrats to rethink their approach on public safety.

Law-enforcement spent weeks scaremongering about opioids showing up in candy this Halloween. Despite the media frenzy, no drugs seem to have actually turned up.

After a six-year investigation, the DOJ says Orange County law-enforcement unconstitutionally used jailhouse informants to elicit confessions and incriminating evidence from people for years.

Florida seems to be sprinting in the opposite direction of progress. A new law allows cops to pull people over for driving loud cars.

If the Democratic Party wants to run away from those candidates, it will only be running towards its own demise.

For the wealthy backers of the Boudin recall, “progressive” prosecutors are the perfect scapegoat for what they see as threats to a system that treats them just fine.

The racketeering charges against Young Thug, Gunna, and YSL are over-broad, over-stated and unnecessarily harsh.

In February, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón became the latest local Democratic politician to fold to conservative critics when he walked back two major campaign promises that had swept him into office just over a year before.

The specific ways in which Frey and other local leaders failed to respond to Floyd’s death seem frankly astonishing when laid out on paper. But the story of this failure is, in fact, the only future offered by the centrist “police reformer” set. 

Last month, Glamour magazine featured “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay on the cover of its “Women of the Year” issue. On Nov. 8, an avalanche of A-list celebrities — including “SVU” co-stars Christopher Meloni and Ice-T, actress Melissa McCarthy, and #MeToo co-founder Tarana Burke — honored Hargitay at the Women of the Year Awards which was held at the Rainbow Room, a ballroom that serves as one of the epicenters of New York City high-society.

It’s Giving Tuesday! And a generous donor has pledged to match the first $5,000 we receive today. If you love this newsletter and The Appeal’s reporting, now is the best time to give. With your help we can make major headway toward funding more vital journalism in 2022. Photo by Joseph Ngabo at Unsplash Police […]

We’re excited to share that we’re kicking off our year-end fundraising campaign through NewsMatch, an industry-wide program to sustain journalism through matching gifts on the local and national level. Through Dec. 31, NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation (at 12 times the value), or double your one-time gift, all up to $1,000. In total, […]

That one of the nation’s premier newspapers still uses such police-centric language more than one year after the international uprising following the murder of George Floyd is a microcosm of the sad state that American media finds itself in at the moment.

The ACLU’s ongoing battle to force the Florida Department of Corrections to release the formulas it uses to calculate release dates for imprisoned people.

Local activists have soured on incumbent Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and no other candidate offers a compelling alternative.

In various offices across two decades, Mayor Lightfoot has failed to bring change to the Chicago Police Department.

A new proposal would make Denver the latest major city to provide legal defense for residents facing evictions.

Democratic prosecutors in Tampa and Miami campaigned for the 2018 initiative that paved the way for this new ruling.

Days before the election, campaign finance reports show that real-estate and construction industries favor Cara Spencer over Tishaura Jones.

The city joins the national trend of guaranteeing counsel in eviction court, which data shows can save people’s homes.

Two years’ worth of data shows how disproportionately the city’s police and prosecutors target certain neighborhoods.

One of the leading candidates for Anchorage’s mayoral race is backed by a far-right Facebook group tied to the U.S. Capitol riot.

As Texas lifts its COVID-19 restrictions, the city’s jail remains overcrowded and its police and prosecutors continue to operate as normal.

New evidence suggests more accounting troubles for the CDAA.

An amendment to end felony disenfranchisement failed in the House of Representatives. But the measure shows how far the fight has come in a short number of years.

State officials funded by power companies have been warned, since at least 1989, that the power grid was at risk of failure in cold weather. They have consistently failed to act.

A coalition of environmental groups urges the legislature to force the repayment and dissociate from the CDAA.

Now, advocacy groups are struggling to keep unhoused people safe.

Gascón is battling a lawsuit, filed by his own line prosecutors and backed by the state DA association, against his criminal justice reforms.

The political paradigm emerging in Louisville is being formed by newcomers to local politics.

In many of America’s major cities, the early efforts to reduce incarceration during the pandemic have been reversed.