Blue Wave Aside, There Was a Tide of Criminal Justice Victories
Referendums, proseutors, sheriffs: A walk-through the November 6 results
Sarah Lustbader Nov 07, 2018
On Marijuana, Four States Are Holding Six Referendums
Michigan and North Dakota vote on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and Missouri and Utah for medical use.
Daniel Nichanian Oct 18, 2018
Ohio’s Issue 1 Ballot Initiative Could ‘Deal a Blow’ to Mass Incarceration
Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative could ‘deal a blow’ to mass incarceration
Sarah Lustbader Oct 18, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Marsy's Law (FL, GA, KY, NC, NV, OK)
In November, six states are holding referenda on whether to adopt “Marsy’s Law.”
Daniel Nichanian Oct 18, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Measure 105, Oregon
Oregon’s 30-year-old ‘sanctuary’ law is under threat
Daniel Nichanian Oct 18, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Amendment 2, Louisiana
Amendment 2 would require unanimous jury verdicts, as in 48 other states
Daniel Nichanian Oct 18, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Amendment 4, Florida
Voters could overhaul Florida’s regime of mass disenfranchisement.
Daniel Nichanian Oct 18, 2018
Local Cooperation with ICE Is on These Counties’ Ballot in Nov. 2018
Local officials wield great power over a county’s immigration policies. Many of their decisions escape widespread attention, but the organizing against ICE partnerships broke through in primaries this year, helping topple incumbent sheriffs in Milwaukee and in Charlotte. The scope of local immigration enforcement is now on the ballot in November. Below I profile 9 counties where the stakes […]
Daniel Nichanian Oct 11, 2018
Will Orange County Keep Circumventing California's ‘Sanctuary’ Law?
Will Orange County continue circumventing California’s ‘sanctuary state’ law?
Daniel Nichanian Oct 10, 2018
Sheriff Race in Doña Ana, New Mexico Puts Spotlight on Operation Stonegarden
This article is part of the Political Report’s coverage of criminal justice in the 2018 elections.
Daniel Nichanian Oct 04, 2018
Portland District Attorney Candidates at Odds on Even Basic Reform Steps
Portland district attorney candidates at odds on even basic reform steps.
Daniel Nichanian Oct 04, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Prosecutor of King County, Washington
Challenger to Seattle’s chief prosecutor suspends campaign
Daniel Nichanian Sep 28, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Payne and Logan, Oklahoma
Can a candidate for prosecutor make Payne and Logan counties “a mecca for criminal justice reform?”
Daniel Nichanian Sep 28, 2018
2018 Election Preview: U.S. Senator from Texas
Watch and read Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke debate policing in Texas In a Sept. 21 debate, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and his Democratic challenger Representative Beto O’Rourke were asked about Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer who killed Botham Jean in his own apartment. Cruz promptly attacked O’Rourke for disrespecting police officers. “I think it […]
Bergen County Sheriff Resigns After Racist Remarks. What’s Next in New Jersey?
Bergen County sheriff resigns after racist remarks. What’s next in New Jersey?
Daniel Nichanian Sep 27, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Marin County, California
Candidates disagree on the county’s cooperation with ICE and on the treatment of young defendants.
Daniel Nichanian Sep 20, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Tulsa County, Oklahoma
In Tulsa’s DA race, challenger wants to shift criminal justice conversation Daniel Nichanian Jenny Proehl-Day, the Democratic nominee for Tulsa County district attorney, begins answering an ACLU questionnaire by noting that she is a former prosecutor: “I contributed to the issue of mass incarceration and now I am trying to be a part of the solution,” she […]
Daniel Nichanian Sep 20, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County DA faces former employee who assails his ethics and policies Daniel Nichanian Massachusetts’s Sept. 4 elections resolved three hotly disputed Democratic primaries for district attorney—and they also added a Democratic candidate where there was none: John Bradley received enough write-in votes in Plymouth County (south of Boston) to make it onto the ballot as the Democratic […]
Daniel Nichanian Sep 20, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Governor of Maryland
In challenging Larry Hogan, Ben Jealous details decarceration goals.
Daniel Nichanian Sep 20, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Sheriff of Ulster County, New York
Election for Ulster County sheriff fought over over immigration, opoids.
Daniel Nichanian Sep 20, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Democrats select Rachael Rollins, who faces independent Mike Maloney in November Daniel Nichanian Boston voters selected Rachael Rollins as the Democratic nominee for district attorney of Suffolk County. In so doing, they shifted away from the record of outgoing DA Dan Conley, a Democrat who has resisted criminal justice reform. Rollins defeated Gregory Henning (the candidate endorsed […]
Daniel Nichanian Sep 06, 2018
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County debates guidelines and data necessary to achieve reform Daniel Nichanian The district attorney of Middlesex County—the state’s most populous county, home to Lowell and Cambridge—is campaigning for re-election as a progressive who has already been reforming the county’s criminal justice system. Her opponent in the Sept. 4 Democratic primary rejects that characterization, questioning the […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 30, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Governor of Florida
Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis divided on criminal justice reform
2018 Election Preview: State's Attorney of Bennington County, Vermont
Punitive practices are at issue in the race to be prosecutor of Bennington County. Daniel Nichanian “Bennington Locks Up More People Than Any Other Vermont County,” Seven Days reported in 2016. Led by State’s Attorney Erica Marthage since 2006, county prosecutors have consistently “thrown the book” at defendants, this investigation documents. Marthage’s office charged a man with murder […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 28, 2018
2018 Election Preview: State Attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit, Florida
Amira Fox secures GOP nomination for state attorney after sharply negative primary.
Daniel Nichanian Aug 23, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Michigan Will Vote on Recreational Marijuana
Recreational marijuana initiative headlines Michigan’s November ballot
Daniel Nichanian Aug 16, 2018
Cole County Prosecutor Known for Prosecuting Clergy Protest Loses Reelection
Daniel Nichanian Eyes were glued on St. Louis County on Aug. 7, but another Missouri prosecutor was also ousted that same night. Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Richardson was seeking a fourth term, but he lost in the Republican primary to Assistant State Attorney General Locke Thompson. Cole County includes the state capital Jefferson City, […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 14, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Prosecuting attorney of Platte County, Missouri
Reprimanded by state Supreme Court, prosecutor heads toward re-election Daniel Nichanian Platte County’s longtime prosecuting attorney Eric Zahnd was disciplined this year, just months before he is to face voters in this county north of Kansas City. In 2015, Zahnd oversaw the prosecution of a man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child. At […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 10, 2018
Milwaukee Votes for Sheriff after David Clarke’s Lengthy Tenure
Daniel Nichanian Seven people died in the Milwaukee County Jail under Sheriff David Clarke’s tenure. One man died in 2016 after being denied water for seven days, and a criminal complaint later described “an institutional practice of punitively shutting off water to unruly inmates.” Clarke was also known nationally for harsh policies toward immigrants, disparaging comments toward Black Lives Matter, and […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 09, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Wisconsin's Immigration Protests Do Not Structure Sheriff Elections
Daniel Nichanian The Wisconsin counties that are cooperating closely with ICE have drawn protests from immigrants’ rights activists, but the issue is not resonating in the sheriff elections they are holding this year. In fact, Sheriff Eric Severson is running unopposed in Waukesha County (a populous and conservative county in the Milwaukee suburbs). In 2017, […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 09, 2018
St. Louis Prosecutor Faces First Opponent Since Ferguson Protests
Daniel Nichanian St. Louis County’s longtime prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch is seeking an eighth four-year term, four years after the 2014 Ferguson protests. That year, he drew heavy criticism for the way he handled his investigation into Michael Brown’s shooting and for his failure to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Brown. His actions fit a […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 02, 2018
2018 Election Preview: First Congressional District of Missouri
Ferguson activist challenges Democratic representative Criminal justice and policing reform are in the spotlight in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which includes St. Louis and Ferguson. One of the candidates in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary is Cori Bush, a pastor who participated in the 2014 Ferguson protests and other local initiatives, and helped organize subsequent […]
Criminal Justice Reform is a Defining Issue in the Georgia Governor's Race
The Appeal: Political Report previews the governor’s race in Georgia. Daniel Nichanian Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, has made criminal justice reform central to her unusually progressive campaign. She has laid out a detailed platform with the stated goals of decreasing incarceration and facilitating the re-entry of people released from prison. The first priority she […]
Daniel Nichanian Aug 02, 2018
Cooperation with ICE Looms over Hennepin County's Sheriff Race
ICE looms over Hennepin sheriff’s race.
Daniel Nichanian Jul 23, 2018
Legislative Candidate Attacked over Support for Second Chances in Washington State
Legislative candidate attacked over support for second chances
Daniel Nichanian Jul 23, 2018
Will Alabama end the practice of sheriffs pocketing food funds?
Morgan County to decide whether to bar their sheriff from pocketing jail food funds.
Daniel Nichanian Jul 23, 2018
2018 Election Preview: Attorney General of Colorado
This article is part of the Political Report’s coverage of the 2018 criminal justice elections. The Democratic primary for attorney general of Colorado pitted state Representative Joe Salazar against Phil Weiser, a law professor at the University of Colorado. Both articulated a series of reform-oriented positions: support for the state’s marijuana legalization and bail reform, opposition […]
2018 Election Preview: 14th Congressional District of New York
Criminal justice reform front-and-center in New York’s 14th Congressional District Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a victory heard around the country on June 26, becoming the Democratic nominee in New York’s 14th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of the Bronx and Queens. Ocasio-Cortez is heavily favored to win the general election. She published an essay on the “urgency of criminal […]
2018 Election Preview: District Attorney of Tulsa County, Oklahoma (GOP Primary)
Steve Kunzweiler faces primary challenge, with the prosecution of a police officer in background
2018 Election Preview: State's Attorney of Baltimore City, Maryland
This article is part of the Political Report’s coverage of the 2018 criminal justice elections. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby faces two challengers in Baltimore’s Democratic primary: former Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah and Ivan Bates, a former assistant state’s attorney who now works as a defense attorney. Mosby is known nationally for prosecuting six police officers over […]