Lauren Gill

Lauren Gill

Lauren is a journalist writing about issues in the criminal justice system. She can be reached at lauren.gill@theappeal.org or follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill.

Articles by Lauren Gill

Georgia’s Unique Death Penalty Law Is Killing the Mentally Disabled

Georgia is the strictest state in America when it comes to proving intellectual disability in capital cases. This month, the Supreme Court could save the life of a man who says he is mentally disabled—or let the state kill him.

Mondaire Jones Is Bringing the Fight Against Systemic Racism to Congress

Jones has vowed to support expansion of the Supreme Court, back the Green New Deal, and push for criminal justice reform.

Teresa Leger Fernandez Wins In New Mexico’s Third Congressional District. She’s Fighting For ‘A Politics Of Opportunity.’

Leger Fernandez wants to pass universal healthcare and improve infrastructure in tribal and rural communities.

Cori Bush Wins, Heads To Congress Committed To ‘Fighting For The Regular Person’

Bush’s victory in Missouri’s First Congressional District makes her the first Black woman elected to represent Missouri in Congress.

Kara Eastman Looks to Represent Nebraska in Congress With An Eye On Improving Healthcare

The Second District candidate, who has been endorsed by more than 50 Black leaders in Omaha, also wants to make investments in Black and Latinx neighborhoods.

In Her First Run For Office, Teresa Leger Fernandez Wants To ‘Protect What We Love’ About New Mexico

Leger Fernandez, whose district includes Navajo Nation and several Pueblo reservations, wants to pass universal healthcare and improve infrastructure in tribal and rural communities.

Teens Younger Than 18 Could Soon Have The Right To Vote In San Francisco

A measure on the ballot next month would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, a change that advocates say would crucially expand the voting pool.

Cori Bush Wants To Make Sure That Someone Is ‘Fighting For The Regular Person’ In Washington

If she wins her bid for office in November, Bush will become the first Black woman elected to represent Missouri in Congress.

From Criminal Justice Reform To Protecting The Democracy, Mondaire Jones Wants To Bring ‘Big Structural Changes’ To Congress

Jones, who is running in New York’s 17th District, says fighting systemic racism and hyperpartisanship are top priorities.

Advocates For Domestic Workers, Voters, And Prisoners Express Alarm Over Trump’s Threat To End Stimulus Talks

Passing the HEROES Act would provide crucial protections to some of the most vulnerable essential workers, they say.

Florida Governor’s Bid To Felonize Protesting Is An Attack On Democracy, Justice Advocate Says

Legislation proposed this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis also seeks to withhold state funding from counties that move to decrease police budgets.

Lauren Gill, Jerry Iannelli

The Mississippi Program That’s Showing How Effective Direct Cash Transfers Can Be

Researchers say that programs like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which gives Black women $1,000 a month, could be crucial in reducing the racial wealth gap.

U.S. Executes Keith Dwayne Nelson, The Fifth Federal Prisoner Put To Death This Year

Nelson’s attorneys had sought to have his death sentence reversed, citing critical errors by his original trial attorneys.

U.S. Executes Lezmond Mitchell Over Objections Of The Navajo Nation

It’s the first time in modern history that the federal government has executed a Native American for a crime committed against another Native American on tribal land, his attorneys say.

Life Sentence For Missouri Woman Convicted Of Assaulting Police Officer Is ‘Extremely Distressing,’ Justice Advocate Says

Nicole Poston was sentenced in July for punching a police officer after she slipped free from a handcuff. Life sentences, even for nonhomicide offenses like Poston’s, are ‘a major factor’ in mass incarceration in the U.S., a criminal justice expert said.

Prisoners Inside Georgia’s Clayton County Jail Describe Desperate Efforts To Avoid COVID-19

They shared their stories as part of a lawsuit seeking urgent changes to protect prisoners. One prisoner wrote that a jail officer denied his request for a mask, so he tied old underwear around his face.

Mississippi Teen Who Has Languished In Jail For 17 Months Without An Indictment Is Just ‘One Of Thousands’

Sixteen-year-old William Haymon has spent more than 500 days in an adult jail in rural Lexington, Mississippi. There are no state rules governing how long a person can be incarcerated without being formally charged with a crime.

U.S. Executes Dustin Lee Honken, The Third Federal Execution In A Week

Honken, convicted of the murders of five people, died by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The federal government resumed executions this week for the first time since 2003.

U.S. Completes Second of Three Executions Set for This Week

In a 5-4 ruling early today, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the lethal injection of Wesley Ira Purkey. Lawyers had argued that killing Purkey, who had dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease, would represent cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. Government Carries Out The First Execution Of A Federal Prisoner in 17 Years

A late-night Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, despite his claims of innocence and his attorneys’ belief that DNA testing could show he was wrongly convicted.

Federal Prisoner Set To Be Executed Next Week Was Labeled A ‘Psychopath’ Because Of A Faulty Evaluation Tool

A government psychologist who used the tool to evaluate Daniel Lewis Lee—who is scheduled to die Monday in Indiana—has since disavowed it. Without it, the trial judge has written that it’s ‘very questionable’ Lee would have been sentenced to death.

Domestic Workers Face Economic Devastation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A survey published by the National Domestic Workers Alliance in April found that 55 percent of respondents were unable to pay April’s rent, and 84 percent were either not able to or didn’t know if they could afford food.

After 17 Years, Bureau Of Prisons Set To Resume Federal Executions

A civil rights advocate calls the scheduled executions of four men ‘appalling’ and a return to a ‘biased, arbitrary, and error-prone’ system.

Grim Stories From Inside An Arkansas Prison Capture The Toll Of Covid-19

The accounts by prisoners in Cummins Unit contradict messaging from the state Department of Corrections, which says it has taken aggressive steps to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Birmingham D.A. Says Alabama Man Who Has Spent Over Two Decades on Death Row Should Get New Trial

In 1998, Toforest Johnson was sentenced to die for the 1995 shooting death of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. Now, the city’s district attorney is advocating for a new trial.

Texas Prisoner Whose Case Changed the State’s Death Penalty Law Is Granted Parole

Attorneys argued for decades that Bobby Moore was intellectually disabled when he was sentenced to death in 1980. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a change in his sentence last year and cleared the way for his release.

‘I can never be more grateful.’ After Nearly 35 Years, Willie Mae Harris Is Released From Prison

Harris, now 72 and blind, had been serving a life sentence for the shooting death of her husband, a man she said had abused her for years. Last month, the Arkansas Parole Board agreed to free her.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Locks Down Prisoners and Takes Away Communications Amid Protests

After protests broke out in several cities in response to George Floyd’s death, the agency ordered the first nationwide lockdown in 25 years.

Arkansas Grants Parole To Willie Mae Harris Three Decades After She Was Convicted For Killing Her Husband

Harris, now 72 and blind, was sentenced to life in prison in 1985. Since she first started petitioning for executive clemency in 1998, the state’s parole board recommended her for release five times.

Missouri Set To Execute Walter Barton Tonight Despite Claims That He May Be Innocent

If the U.S. Supreme Court or the state’s governor doesn’t step in, Barton’s would be the first execution carried out in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advocates Push For Details On Georgia’s Response To COVID-19 In Prisons and Jails

‘Our state and local officials have a responsibility to not endanger those who are under correctional control,’ the ACLU of Georgia’s executive director said.

Arkansas Allows Employees Who Test Positive For COVID-19 To Continue Working In The State’s Prisons

Attorneys for prisoners say the policy goes against public health warnings and will ‘promote and facilitate a viral outbreak.’

Delaware Officials Defy Calls To Release Prisoners Who Are At Risk Of Dying From Coronavirus

Prisoners feel like they are ‘sitting ducks,’ said a woman whose boyfriend is incarcerated at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center.

In Alabama, Prisoners Must Sign Consent Form to Get Protective Masks

Medical ethics experts have criticized the state’s prison officials and say masks to protect against COVID-19 should be distributed ‘with no strings attached.’

Drive-By Protesters Demand Release Of All Prisoners In D.C. Amid Coronavirus

‘It seems like Black people are still being criminalized and are not free,’ one organizer said.

Alabama Reopens ‘Deplorable’ Prison To Quarantine New Prisoners

Approximately 100 men will be transported to Draper Correctional Facility, which has long been known for its nightmarish conditions.

Mother Of Slain 4-Year-Old Says Pennsylvania Should Release Death Row Prisoner With COVID-19 Symptoms

Sharon Fahy, whose daughter was murdered in 1988, asked the court to release Walter Ogrod, the man convicted in her killing.

‘It’s Absolute Hell.’ Coronavirus Derails Parole Hearings Across U.S. As Health Risks To Prisoners Grow

In Alabama and elsewhere, canceled hearings and new procedures are complicating the parole process for people hoping to be freed.

Halfway House Residents Describe ‘A Scary Situation’ As Coronavirus Sweeps The U.S.

‘It is progressively getting worse, exponentially worse,’ a resident of one halfway house told The Appeal as part of a survey of facilities. ‘Something is going to happen and it’s not going to be good.’

Coronavirus Derails Effort To Shorten Prison Terms In Oklahoma

Organizers have been collecting signatures as part of a ballot initiative known as State Question 805, which calls for the end of sentencing enhancements for people convicted of nonviolent crimes.

Pennsylvania Man On Death Row Shows Signs of Coronavirus Days Before Hearing That Could Have Freed Him

Prosecutors say Walter Ogrod is ‘likely innocent’ of the charges that sent him to prison in 1996. Now, his attorney says, ‘every day a decision and/or hearing is delayed is another day that Mr. Ogrod’s health is at grave risk.’

Rikers Island Physician Voices Coronavirus Fears As Cuomo Meets With Officials Looking To Scuttle Bail Reforms

Late Wednesday, the chief physician at the Rikers jail complex said on Twitter that judges and prosecutors must not leave New York City's jailed population ‘in harm’s way.’

Coronavirus Leaves Defense Attorneys Torn Between Visiting Their Jailed Clients And Spreading The Illness

To prevent more people from being infected with COVID-19, defense attorneys are calling for courts to release people.

Texas Court Issues Temporary Stay Of Execution Amid Coronavirus ‘Health Crisis’

John Hummel was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday. The court, citing the current health crisis, has postponed the execution for 60 days.

Alabama Executes Nathaniel Woods Despite Claims That He Was An ‘Innocent Man’

‘I think everyone involved— the governor, the attorney general, the DOC commissioner—everyone knew it,’ his lawyer said.

On Tuesday, Two Alabama Sheriffs Regained Power to Divert Jail Food Funds

“This incentivizes them once again to underfeed people in their custody if they know the extras can be used on bells and whistles or guns,” warns an Alabama advocate.

High Cost Of Prison Diversion Programs Leaves ‘Too Many People’ Imprisoned in Alabama

A survey of roughly 1,000 people found that 1 in 5 had been turned down for a diversion program because they couldn’t afford the costs of drug tests and monitoring devices.

Alabama Prepares To Execute A Man Whose Case Is Haunted By Claims Of Police Misconduct

Nathaniel Woods, who was convicted in connection with the deaths of three Birmingham police officers in 2004, is ‘100 percent innocent,’ the man who shot the officers told The Appeal.

Delaware Lawmakers Push Bill That Could Pay Reparations To The Wrongfully Incarcerated

Elmer Daniels served nearly 40 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2018. He's one of at least three people who could receive $50,000 for every year spent behind bars.

Judge Denies ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense For Alabama Woman Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist

Brittany Smith will most likely go to trial, where she faces up to a life sentence.

Woman ‘Brutally’ Beaten in Mississippi Prison Died Because Officials Failed To Give Her Medical Care, Lawsuit Alleges

The father of Nicole Rathmann says his daughter was “not made safe by employees” while incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. She was one of 16 prisoners to die in state custody in August 2018.

Arkansas Executed Ledell Lee. Posthumous Testing Will Most Likely Prove He Was Innocent, Lawsuit Says

Lee’s family wants officials in Jacksonville, Arkansas, to turn over evidence that was used to convict and sentence him to death. The family says that evidence could posthumously exonerate him.

‘He Had Already Hurt Me.’ Alabama Woman Argues For ‘Stand Your Ground’ Immunity In Killing of Alleged Rapist

Brittany Smith, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man she says brutally raped her, argued in court this week that she acted in self-defense and should be immune from prosecution.

After Deadly Week For Mississippi Prisoners, Advocates See Blood ‘On The Hands’ of Lawmakers and Prison Officials

The violence that has left at least five people dead is the result of longstanding issues that have been ignored, justice advocates and prisoners’ family members say.

For Many Prisoners, Mississippi’s Habitual Offender Laws Are Like ‘Death Sentences’

One man, Paul Houser, is serving 60 years on a drug conviction for purchasing cold medicine and batteries. He’s one of 2,600 people incarcerated as a result of the state’s three strikes laws.

New Orleans Jail Staff Supplied Fentanyl That Killed Incarcerated Man, Lawsuit Alleges

Staff at the troubled Orleans Justice Center are also accused of violating Edward Patterson’s constitutional rights by failing to treat his drug addiction.

‘It’s Just Heartbreaking’: Families Search for Answers as Death Rate Rises in Mississippi Prisons

Prison deaths in Mississippi have climbed nearly 40 percent in recent years, from 62 in fiscal year 2014 to a high of 85 in fiscal year 2018.

In Missouri, Public Defenders Push to Put Poor Defendants on Wait List in Attempt to Improve Their Legal Representation

Critics say the list, which would apply to defendants in St. Louis County, Missouri, would infringe on people’s constitutional right to a speedy trial.

Why Are Prosecutors Still Seeking to Execute People Who Have Innocence Claims and Untested DNA?

In these last two months of 2019, one man has been executed and two others are facing execution despite claims that they can show they don’t belong on death row.

A Life Sentence in Arkansas. And a Lifetime of Pain.

The state’s parole board has recommended that Willie Mae Harris, convicted of killing her husband in 1985, be freed five times. Now 72 and completely blind, her fate lies with Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Sense of ‘hopelessness’ rises among Alabama prisoners as new rules, leadership changes, limit opportunities for parole

After a two-month moratorium, the state parole board reconvened last week, granting parole to 10 out of 87 people.

Louisiana To Build New Prison For Women Displaced By 2016 Storm

More than three years after heavy rains and flooding devastated the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, officials have reached an agreement to build a new facility.

Using Nitrogen Gas For Executions Is Untested and Poorly Understood. Three States Plan to Do It Anyway.

Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama have all authorized the practice in capital punishment. So what happens now?

New Orleans Advocates Oppose Jail Expansion Plan Ahead of Public Hearing

Increasing the city’s jail capacity will lead to higher incarceration rates, advocates say.

Missouri Executes Russell Bucklew Despite Threat of Botched Execution

His legal team had pushed for clemency, arguing that Bucklew’s previous attorneys mishandled his capital murder case.

An Alabama Man Faces The Death Penalty For Two Murders. Could The Police Be Involved?

In March, Coley McCraney was arrested and charged with capital murder in the 1999 killings of two teenage girls. But his attorneys say he’s innocent, and are now seeking information related to alleged police involvement in the homicides.

DNA Testing Could Save This Texas Man’s Life. But Prosecutors Are Opposing It.

Rodney Reed, set to be executed on Nov. 20, is innocent of a rape and murder, his lawyers say, and untested evidence will prove it. But prosecutors have pushed back, arguing the evidence is contaminated.

Missouri Is Set To Execute Russell Bucklew. His Lawyers Say His Case Was Mishandled.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his execution, which experts have said will be bloody and gruesome, does not amount to cruel and unusual punishment. But problems with his case started long before that, his attorneys say.

Hundreds of Alabama Prisoners See Opportunity For Freedom Delayed After Parole Hearings Canceled

The parole board failed to comply with a new law about notifying victims, the board’s director said.

New York Law Removes ‘Unnecessary’ Step for Children Charged With Felonies

16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session.

An Alabama Man On Death Row Says He Is Innocent. Will He Get a New Trial?

In 1998, prosecutors failed to tell the defense that a key witness in Toforest Johnson’s capital murder trial would receive thousands of dollars in reward money for her testimony, Johnson’s attorneys say. Now a Birmingham judge must decide whether their argument has merit.

Chicago Police Pointed Guns At And Traumatized Children in Botched Raids, Lawsuits Allege

Children as young as 4 years old are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result, the complaints say.

LA County Supervisors to Vote on Canceling Jail Contract

Black Lives Matter and other advocates have pushed county officials to abandon the $2.2 billion project with McCarthy Builders.

Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 17 and Denied Freedom at 52

Richard Kinder thought he would die in an Alabama prison until the Supreme Court ruled mandatory juvenile life without parole unconstitutional. But last year, despite a judge concluding there was “uncontradicted evidence” that Kinder had worked to rehabilitate himself, the state parole board refused him release.

Utah Jail Nurse Faces Negligent Homicide Charge in Death of 21-Year-Old Woman

In 2016, Madison Jensen died from opiate withdrawal at the Duchesne County jail. New court filings allege that jail staff, including its nurse, ignored her rapidly deteriorating health.

In Alabama, Decades-Delayed Justice In A Double Homicide—Or A Brand New Injustice?

Police in Ozark said they solved the 1999 murders of two teenage girls using a genealogy database. But Coley McCraney‘s attorneys say that the case against their client is far from certain.

Arizona Man Faces Deportation After Filing Lawsuit Against Coconino County Sheriff

Jose Montelongo-Morales challenged the jail’s immigration detainer policy. He and some of his family members were arrested months later.

Suicides, ICE Cooperation, and Racism Allegations at Maryland Jail

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler’s office, which partners with immigration enforcement, faces jail deaths and a discrimination claim from a Legal Aid attorney.

An Alabama Woman Got Pregnant While In Jail. She Has No Memory of Having Sex.

Since 2017, LaToni Daniel has been incarcerated pretrial in a capital murder case. During that time, Daniel became pregnant, and she just delivered a baby boy. But as she brings in new life, she also faces the death penalty.

Notorious Jailhouse Informant Case Resurfaces as New Orleans D.A. Race Nears

DA Leon Cannizzarro used jailhouse informant Ronnie Morgan to convict a man in the killing of five teenagers, but the case was overturned. Now, Morgan is petitioning for a prison transfer, reviving the murder case.

Alabama Woman Faces Life Sentence For Killing Man Who Allegedly Raped Her

In 2018, Brittany Smith killed a man who she said brutally raped her. Smith was charged with murder and she now faces life in prison as well as challenges getting adequate treatment at a state psychiatric hospital.

Federal Prisons Official Used Prison Labor For Work On His Church

The Bureau of Prisons’ South Central regional director utilized incarcerated people from a Texas prison to work on a landscaping project at his church.

Back-to-Back Jail Deaths Rock Small Utah County

Two women died at the Duchesne County Jail in the span of about one week in 2016. Now their families are suing in federal court.

Georgia Woman Endured Arrest, Million-Dollar Bond, and Months of Jail Over ‘Meth’ That Was Actually Cotton Candy

A notoriously unreliable roadside drug test administered by Monroe County sheriff's deputies led to Dasha Fincher being charged with methamphetamine trafficking.

Cash Bail Yields A New Casualty

A Texas jail suicide involving a woman who couldn’t make bail in a shoplifting case highlights of the plight of pretrial detainees with mental illness.

Will Alabama Sheriffs Finally Stop Diverting Jail Food Funds To Their Own Wallets?

The governor is making sheriffs sign an oath promising they won't misuse funds meant to feed jail prisoners. But some sheriffs are already pushing back.

House of Cards

‘Cold case’ playing cards were just introduced into Delaware prisons in hopes of producing tips on unsolved homicides—but critics warn that informants cultivated behind bars can be dangerously unreliable.

A Grand Jury Indicted An Alabama Police Officer For Murder. Then A Mayor Came To His Defense.

Jeffery Parker was shot to death by a police officer in his Huntsville home. A grand jury handed up an indictment for murder, but the mayor and City Council appear to be throwing their support behind the officer.

Multiple Police Cars Summoned to Arrest Selma Civil Rights Activist for Allegedly Stealing a Campaign Sign

Faya Rose Touré, a 73-year-old former judge, says she’s determined to fight the charges against her.

New Federal Prison Policies May Put Books and Email on Ice

Texas’s First Death Sentence of 2018 Crystallizes the State’s Longstanding Capital Case Crisis

How ‘El Chapo’s’ Attorney is Fighting For His Client’s Right to a Fair Trial