Kira Lerner
Kira Lerner is a staff reporter based in Washington, D.C. She is currently a Lipman Fellow at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Californians Approve an Initiative to Expand Voting Rights
Proposition 17 will enable people who are currently on parole to vote. It’s the latest in a wave of nationwide reforms that have narrowed or ended felony disenfranchisement.
Black Voters Matter Co-Founder Says Voting Enthusiasm Is Strong Despite Rampant Suppression
The group is seeing real challenges posed by the pandemic, voter suppression tactics, and threats of intimidation.
Kira Lerner Oct 20, 2020
Reform Advocates Want To Oust Illinois Judge Who Fought To Detain Young Children
A coalition of organizations is hoping Michael Toomin, who is also unwilling to implement diversion programs, loses his retention election.
Kira Lerner Oct 16, 2020
Los Angeles D.A. Candidates Spar on Police Shootings, Death Penalty
DA Jackie Lacey and challenger George Gascón outlined diverging visions for the top prosecutor’s office in the nation’s most populous county.
Kira Lerner Oct 09, 2020
California Voters Have An Opportunity To Chip Away At Jim Crow-Era Voting Law
Proposition 17 would allow people with felony convictions to cast ballots while they are on parole.
Kira Lerner Oct 06, 2020
Mail Voting Disenfranchises Native People, Advocates Warn
In a typical election, Natives face multiple forms of voter suppression. With more than one-third of Americans expected to vote by mail this year, Native communities are facing a new set of problems.
Kira Lerner Sep 24, 2020
Lawmakers Push For The Federal Government To Treat Racism As A Public Health Crisis
Members of Congress have introduced a bill that would create a National Center on Anti-Racism in Health.
Kira Lerner Sep 04, 2020
Officers Involved In Notorious Wrongful Conviction Aren’t On Prosecutor’s Do-Not-Call List
A state investigation found that Detroit police officers fabricated evidence that helped convict a 14-year-old boy. A judge threw out his conviction after he spent nine years in prison, but the officers are still on the job and haven’t been flagged as unreliable to testify in court.
Kira Lerner Aug 19, 2020
Sheriffs Have A Lot Of Power Over Whether Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Can Vote
They can either make necessary voter registration and ballot materials accessible to people in their custody, or make them impossible to obtain.
Kira Lerner Aug 10, 2020
Iowa Governor Expands Voting Rights
Governor Kim Reynolds’ executive order restores the voting rights of tens of thousands of people. But it will also leave many Iowans disenfranchised, and little time remains before the November election.
Kira Lerner Aug 05, 2020
In Detroit Prosecutor Race, a Stark Contrast on Whether Children Should Serve Life in Prison
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has taken a hardline approach toward people sentenced to life without parole as minors. Her challenger says no children should be sentenced to life.
Kira Lerner Jul 22, 2020
D.C. Is Poised To Abolish Felony Disenfranchisement
Washington, D.C., is joining Maine and Vermont in allowing incarcerated people to vote.
Police at Polling Places Could Intimidate Voters This November, Advocates Warn
This year’s presidential contest will be the first since a federal judge lifted a decades-old consent decree barring the Republican National Committee from engaging in “ballot security,” or voter intimidation at the polls.
Kira Lerner Jul 02, 2020
San Quentin Prisoners Go On Hunger Strike Amid Massive COVID-19 Outbreak
About 20 people in the prison’s Badger section have been on hunger strike for the past few days, three people incarcerated there say.
Kira Lerner Jul 01, 2020
States Expect People to Risk Their Health Even When Voting by Mail, Advocates Warn
Voting rights groups want states to stop requiring that voters get a witness or notary to sign their ballots, at least during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kira Lerner Jun 17, 2020
The Toll That Curfews Have Taken On Homeless Americans
The country’s homeless population was already struggling to access services during the pandemic.
Kira Lerner Jun 10, 2020
Amid One Of The Nation’s Worst Coronavirus Outbreaks, A Shortage Of Ankle Monitors Kept Some People In Jail
Advocates question why Chicago judges continued to order people to home detention instead of releasing them on their own recognizance.
Kira Lerner Jun 02, 2020
The Pandemic Had Prisoners’ Nerves On Edge. Then The Power Started Going Out.
For weeks, two houses in Illinois’ Vienna Correctional Center ran on generator power and had intermittent failures, multiple prisoners told The Appeal. The outages made it harder to use the shared bathroom, one of the few places they could wash their hands.
Bureau of Prisons Is ‘Shifting Deck Chairs on the Titanic’ With Quarantine Plan, Critics Say
Criminal justice reform advocates question why the BOP plans to move people around rather than reduce prison populations.
Kira Lerner May 08, 2020
Closure of D.C.’s Only Men’s Halfway House Leaves Residents Scrambling For A Safe Place To Live
The Bureau of Prisons could send those without homes to alternative halfway houses far from D.C. or back to prison at the end of the month.
Kira Lerner Apr 23, 2020
Government Enforcement of Quarantine Raises Concerns About Increased Surveillance
Louisville, Kentucky judges are ordering people with COVID-19 who have allegedly defied quarantine to wear GPS ankle monitors, raising ethical questions about the government's role in a pandemic.
Kira Lerner Apr 09, 2020
Voting Rights Advocates Sound the Alarm About Disenfranchisement of Black Voters in Wisconsin’s Primary
'We literally held an election during a pandemic.'
Kira Lerner Apr 07, 2020
California Makes Major Bail Change To Slow the Spread of Coronavirus In Jails
Bail will be set at $0 for most misdemeanors and low-level felony offenses.
Kira Lerner Apr 06, 2020
Prosecutors In This Virginia County Are Letting People Go To Jail for Low-Level Offenses In The Middle of a Pandemic
Public defenders in Fairfax County say their clients are being sent into harm’s way.
Kira Lerner Apr 02, 2020
To Prevent Coronavirus Spread, New Jersey Authorizes Major Jail Release
Up to 1,000 people will have their sentences delayed or suspended.
Kira Lerner Mar 23, 2020
First Two Coronavirus Cases Confirmed at California Prisons
The state Department of Corrections confirmed two staff cases of COVID-19. No prisoners have been confirmed to have the virus, the department said.
Kira Lerner Mar 20, 2020
As the Coronavirus Pandemic Continues, Homeless Communities Are Particularly Vulnerable
How California, which is home to more than half of the country’s unsheltered homeless population, is addressing the needs of the unhoused.
Kira Lerner Mar 18, 2020
New York Department of Corrections Investigator Dies From COVID-19
The individual had no contact with people in custody for at least the past month, according to the DOC.
Kira Lerner Mar 16, 2020
As Florida Primary Approaches, Many With Felony Convictions Remain Unclear if They Can Vote
Advocates worry the widespread confusion may have a chilling effect on eligible voters.
Ayanna Pressley’s Husband Spent 10 Years in Prison. Now He and Pressley Are Fighting for Re-Entry Reform
The U.S. representative said her husband helped her realize that when one person is incarcerated, many more are affected.
Kira Lerner Mar 04, 2020
This D.A. Election Could Bring a Big Change in How Austin, Texas Treats Drug Addiction
In Travis County, thousands of people continue to be prosecuted for low-level drug possession charges that reform-minded district attorneys elsewhere have committed to dropping.
Kira Lerner Mar 02, 2020
Florida Can’t Bar People From Voting Because of Inability to Pay, Appeals Court Says
The court found that a law that critics described as a poll tax violates the Constitution.
Kira Lerner Feb 19, 2020
Rosa Jimenez Went to Prison for Murdering a Child. Four Judges Have Said She’s Most Likely Innocent
Advocates say junk science was used to convict Jimenez. DA Margaret Moore has not yet decided whether she will drop charges or retry her.
Clemency Gave Him A Second Chance. He Won’t Forget His Friends Who Haven’t Been As Lucky
A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims.
Kira Lerner Feb 06, 2020
Elizabeth Warren Endorses José Garza in Travis County D.A. Race
Garza has promised to end cash bail and address racial inequities in the legal system.
Kira Lerner Jan 28, 2020
Kentucky Bill Would Make It Harder For Formerly Incarcerated People To Vote
The bill would disproportionately affect the 140,000 people whose voting rights were recently restored.
Kira Lerner Jan 21, 2020
U.S. Senate Candidate Endorses Ayanna Pressley’s Criminal Justice Reform Plan
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez of Texas told The Appeal about her vision for a complete overhaul of her state’s legal system.
Kira Lerner Jan 09, 2020
Her Son Couldn’t Move His Limbs Or Swallow. Jail Officials Insisted He Was Faking.
In a federal lawsuit, Hardel Sherrell’s mother accuses the staff at a Minnesota jail of allowing her son to die.
Kira Lerner Dec 12, 2019
Harris County D.A. Candidate Audia Jones Says She Won’t Prosecute Sex Work
The incumbent in the race, Jones’s former boss Kim Ogg, will not support a blanket refusal to prosecute sex workers, her office says.
Kira Lerner Dec 11, 2019
Austin Prosecutor Accused Of Perpetuating Lies About Sexual Assault Victim
District Attorney Margaret Moore continues to face accusations that her office mishandles the prosecution of sex crimes.
Kira Lerner Dec 04, 2019
Ayanna Pressley Hopes the U.S. Can Reduce Its Prison Population by Over 80 Percent
The Appeal spoke with the lawmaker about her “entirely new blueprint for a just society.”
Kira Lerner Nov 19, 2019
Civil Rights Groups Sue Mississippi Prosecutor For Illegally Striking Black Jurors
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and MacArthur Justice Center are filing a class action lawsuit against Doug Evans on behalf of every potential Black juror in the district.
Kira Lerner Nov 18, 2019
Rep. Ayanna Pressley Unveils Sweeping Plan To Reshape American Criminal Legal System
Under the proposal, localities would be incentivized to significantly decrease prison populations.
Kira Lerner Nov 14, 2019
Tuesday’s Election Boosts Voting Rights for People With Past Convictions
A claimed victory in Kentucky and wins in Virginia mean hundreds of thousands of people could have their right to vote restored.
Arizona Prosecutor Commissions Report That Argues Against Leniency For Teens Who Commit Crimes
Report attempts to discredit decades of research on the adolescent mind.
Kira Lerner Nov 01, 2019
Illinois Loosened Ankle-Monitor Restrictions, But Advocates Say It’s Too Soon To Celebrate
A Prisoner Review Board memo released in July requires a minimum of 12 hours of movement with ankle monitors, but some people say they’re still being given far less.
Kira Lerner Oct 18, 2019
Exclusive: Former Colleagues Accuse Mississippi D.A. Candidate Jody Owens Of Sexual Harassment
An EEOC complaint documents allegations against Owens, former managing attorney in the Jackson office of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Kira Lerner Oct 11, 2019
Nation’s Largest Bail Fund Plans To Stop Bailing People Out Of Jail
The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund said it doesn’t want to ‘prop up an unjust system.’
Kira Lerner Sep 30, 2019
Courts Are Intervening to Dismantle Unjust Cash Bail Systems Across the U.S.
A series of victories for advocates reflects a shift in the ‘popular narrative’ around bail.
Kira Lerner Sep 26, 2019
With Vast Surveillance Network, Pittsburgh D.A. Has ‘Created A Dystopian Reality’
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala has gotten into the surveillance game, but advocates say that raises questions about his role.
Kira Lerner Sep 20, 2019
Pushed to Curb Use of Cash Bail By January, Indiana Relies On ‘Knee-Jerk’ Alternative
Advocates warn that overuse of ankle monitors and other forms of electronic monitoring produce consequences of their own.
Kira Lerner Sep 05, 2019
Chicago’s Top Prosecutor: Clearing Marijuana Records Will Be ‘Life-Changing’
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is partnering with a technology nonprofit to expunge tens of thousands of minor marijuana convictions. Other jurisdictions could follow.
Kira Lerner Aug 30, 2019
In One Arizona County, Pay For Your Ankle Monitor Or Go To Jail
A lawsuit is challenging Mohave County’s practice of charging certain people for mandatory GPS monitoring before trial.
Kira Lerner Aug 23, 2019
Ohio Governor Wants to Detain Fewer Mentally Ill People Before Trial
In the wake of the Dayton shooting, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed creating more space in psychiatric hospitals by removing some people who are court-ordered to be there.
Kira Lerner Aug 14, 2019
In Chicago, Rethinking the Link Between Crime and Incarceration
A new report shows that a progressive approach, like the one advanced by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, can help decrease jail populations—and crime.
Kira Lerner Aug 05, 2019
Miami Officials: Most People Who Owe Fines and Fees Can Vote
Lawyers and advocates in Miami-Dade County will roll out a new plan to counter the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions.
New Reports Highlight Behavior of Port Authority Police in ‘Lewd Act’ Arrests
Expert reports in a 2017 federal lawsuit explore an alleged pattern of discrimination against men perceived to be gay.
Kira Lerner Jul 12, 2019
In Oklahoma, Private Companies Run Pretrial Services, Driving People Into Debt
A company in Cleveland County exemplifies how for-profit legal services affect poor and vulnerable individuals.
Kira Lerner Jun 26, 2019
How a D.C. Lawmaker is Challenging the Racist Roots of Prison Voting Restrictions
Right now, only the whitest states—Maine and Vermont—allow prisoners to vote. Washington, D.C., could change that.
Kira Lerner Jun 12, 2019
Virginia Teen Was Detained and Prosecuted for Saying ‘Oink Oink’ to Cop
Critics say that Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney Theo Stamos, who is being challenged in a June primary, has a pattern of treating children too harshly.
Kira Lerner Jun 04, 2019
D.C. Shows Mercy For People Who Committed Crimes As Children, But Prosecutors Are Fighting Back
U.S. attorneys in D.C. have opposed the resentencing of all 14 people who have petitioned for early release under a local law.
Kira Lerner May 23, 2019
North Carolina Jail Staff Accused Of Beating And Abusing Mentally Ill Veteran
A civil rights lawsuit claims officers pepper sprayed him, stripped him naked, and then surrounded him and beat him to death.
Kira Lerner May 17, 2019
Louisiana Bill Could Jail Defense Attorneys for Doing Their Jobs
‘The bill forces attorneys to choose between violating our ethical mandates or going to jail for following them.’
Kira Lerner May 10, 2019
‘I Can’t Afford It and I Never Will Be Able To’
Florida is poised to pass a law that imposes a ‘poll tax’ on thousands of formerly incarcerated people.
Kira Lerner May 01, 2019
New Orleans’s Youth Jail Faces Overcrowding Crisis as D.A. Targets Kids
The Orleans district attorney has said that violent youth are the city’s biggest crime problem.
Kira Lerner Apr 26, 2019
Texas Is Poised to Make It Easier to Jail People For Voting Errors
The legislation is part of a wave of bills across the country meant to criminalize mistakes in the name of voter fraud.
Kira Lerner Apr 12, 2019
Chicago is Tracking Kids With GPS Monitors That Can Call and Record Them Without Consent
Cook County has a new contract for juvenile ankle monitors that critics say are an invasion of privacy.
Kira Lerner Apr 08, 2019
Undercutting reform, Florida moves to ban certain people from ever voting again
Lawmakers are redefining certain crimes in order to carve out broad exceptions to who can regain the right to vote.
Kira Lerner Mar 20, 2019
As States Look To Cut Jail Populations, Electronic ‘Miniature Prisons’ Are On the Rise
There are more than 2,700 people on electronic monitoring in Cook County, Illinois, alone.
Kira Lerner Feb 28, 2019
‘I am a Human and I Just Ask to Be Treated as One’
A lawsuit challenging cash bail in St. Louis could help close a notorious jail.
Kira Lerner Feb 19, 2019
Iowa Moves Toward Expanding Voting Rights. But It May Require a ‘Modern Day Poll Tax.’
Lawmakers are debating whether to let people with felony convictions vote—but there could be a catch.
Kira Lerner Feb 07, 2019
In 1 Day, New Mexico Prison Had 2 Suicides In Solitary Confinement
The state uses solitary at one of the highest rates in the nation.
Kira Lerner Jan 29, 2019
‘The Sixth Amendment Doesn’t Shut Down When the Government Does’
Federal defenders say the shutdown is hurting poor people stuck in jail.
Kira Lerner Jan 24, 2019
Oklahoma Governor Releases 21 Prisoners Shut Out Of Drug Sentencing Reform
But more than 1,100 others are still serving sentences that voters decided were too harsh.
Kira Lerner Dec 19, 2018
Virginia Jail Accused of Favoring Christians Who Agree To Live In ‘God Pod’
Muslim prisoners, meanwhile, say they were starved during Ramadan and deprived of religious texts.
Kira Lerner Dec 06, 2018
A Suit on Behalf of 6,000 Women Decries Law Enforcement’s Handling of Sexual Assault Cases
In Travis County, detectives refused training that would have helped them interview victims of trauma.
Kira Lerner Nov 09, 2018
‘Worse Than Guantánamo’
Dozens of former detainees at the Gwinnett County jail in Georgia claim they were subjected to brutality at the hands of its Rapid Response Team.
Kira Lerner Oct 01, 2018
Louisiana Attorney General May Run For Governor By Fearmongering Over Criminal Justice
Attorney General Jeff Landry has taken a number of extreme positions on policing and sentencing in response to reform.
Kira Lerner Sep 06, 2018
Ohio Council Member Wants to Implant Microchips in People Awaiting Trial
Taking electronic monitoring to the next level.
Kira Lerner Aug 07, 2018
This Red State Governor Is Giving Hope To People Sentenced To Die In Prison
But after a spree of commutations, the governor recently put down his clemency pen amid tough-on-crime fear mongering.
Kira Lerner Jul 09, 2018