On NYPD Oversight, Manhattan’s D.A. Candidates Are Split Candidates running in Tuesday’s election vow to sideline untrustworthy officers and purge past convictions. The outgoing DA has drawn fire for his handling of police misconduct. Sam Mellins Jun 17, 2021
The Las Vegas D.A. Is Seeking The Death Penalty More Than Nearly Any Other Steven Wolfson, the Clark County DA, says the death penalty is reserved for ‘very rare’ circumstances, but advocates and public defenders say his actions show otherwise. Sam Mellins May 19, 2021
A Manhattan D.A. Candidate Touts Her Leadership of a Conviction Review Unit. Why Did It Exonerate So Few People? Under Tali Farhadian Weinstein’s leadership, Brooklyn’s unit exonerated just four people—a far lower rate than in previous years. Sam Mellins May 17, 2021
How Pittsburgh Activists Are Seizing a Rare Chance To Reshape Courts Grassroots groups are backing a slate of judge candidates in the May 18 primary. If elected, they could curb bail, high sentences, and other drivers of mass incarceration. Sam Mellins Apr 29, 2021
Some Manhattan D.A. Candidates Draw A Line Against Life in Prison Sentences Thousands of New Yorkers are in prison for life. Now candidates who are running in Manhattan’s June primary say they will help more people receive parole and stop seeking decades-long sentences. Sam Mellins Apr 28, 2021
In Manhattan D.A. Race, Momentum Builds to Decriminalize Sex Work Most candidates running in the June election for DA say they would not prosecute cases involving consensual sex work, a striking sign of local activists’ success. Sam Mellins Mar 04, 2021
Will Manhattan’s Next D.A. Break Ranks With Tough-on-Crime Colleagues? New York’s association of state DAs has fought measures such as bail reform, but three candidates in Manhattan’s DA election say they would not join it. Sam Mellins Feb 02, 2021
How Public Defenders Rocked Las Vegas Judge Elections Community organizing in Nevada’s Clark County helped judicial candidates "flip the bench" to challenge cash bail and mass incarceration. Sam Mellins Dec 21, 2020
The Election That Could Thwart New York City’s War On Drugs The office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor is on the chopping block in Manhattan’s 2021 DA race. Sam Mellins Dec 17, 2020
