Political Report

The majority of Wisconsin counties have held no contested DA election this decade.

An incoming prosecutor says the job ought to be nonpolitical, but her campaign also illustrated the limitations of this common trope.

Two large North Carolina counties quit ICE’s 287(g) program this month.

Dismantling mass incarceration requires a new consensus that the hundreds of thousands spending decade after decade in prison should be free.

Trump nominates William Barr, who has earned a reputation as a conservative hardliner on criminal justice and immigration issues.

New Jersey attorney general limits local cooperation with ICE, postpones some decisions.

Court issued a series of major youth sentencing and death penatly rulings in 2016. But its politics could soon swing dramatically.

“What kind of state is Kentucky, truly?” asked an organizer. “What kind of democracy, if you take away folks, Black and brown folks?”

If Border Patrol agents should refuse to tear gas children at the border, should prosecutors, police, and judges not refuse some of their duties too?

Robin Davis and Michael Conlon were elected county attorney of Hillsborough County and Merrimack County. What does that mean for criminal justice reform in New Hampshire?

Here you can find the full answers that Michael Conlon, the County Attorney-Elect of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, gave The Appeal: Political Report in answer to three questions about his views on criminal justice reform. You can read the accompanying story here. Question: NH came close to abolishing the death penalty in 2018. If the […]

Mississippi has inherited the dubious distinction of being the state that disenfranchises the highest share of its residents.

In Georgia, Idaho, and Nebraska, advocates connected the dots between access to care, drug addiction, and mass incarceration.

Fines and fees are one of the many ways in which the criminal legal system places the heaviest burden on communities of color.

Since the election, groups have called for legislative reforms that will reverse the state’s tough-on-crime policies.

Voters overwhelmingly approved measures to restore voting rights and enable bolder sentencing reform.

“Ninety percent of my campaign was actually an education about what a DA is, what a DA does,” said one candidate.

Death penalty opponents seize an apparent supermajority in the Senate

Candidates who have pledged to curb pretrial detention gained in Texas, and grabbed a legislative majority in New York.

Daniel Nichanian This year, voters ousted many law enforcement officials who faced public protests over their actions if not allegations of outright misconduct. In August, St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch lost in his first contested election since the Ferguson protests of 2014. On Tuesday, voters ousted two other public officials who drew fire for their handling […]

“People showed up yesterday because they want their local communities to revolve [around] their values,” said a Maryland advocate.

On Tuesday, voters legalized marijuana while electing DAs who have pledged to curb prosecutions and governors who favor legalization.

Beto O’Rourke may have lost his Senate bid, but among the down-ballot beneficiaries of historically high Democratic turnout were judicial candidates in the state’s big cities.

Referendums, proseutors, sheriffs: A walk-through the November 6 results

Ballot measure would change law that currently makes it nearly impossible to hold police officers accountable for excessive force.

Los Angeles holds rare runoff for sheriff in a department rocked by scandals Daniel Nichanian Numerous scandals have hit the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department this year. In September, The Appeal reported about mounting allegations of abuse by the department’s deputies. In early October, the Los Angeles Times published an investigation into racial profiling that found that 69 percent of […]

A year after being charged with misconduct, a prosecutor seeks re-election

Racial disparities and police shootings under the spotlight in Hennepin County election

Candidates for Birmingham DA debate marijuana prosecution, fines and fees

Implementation of medical marijuana measure splits attorney general candidates.

San Antonio DA candidate pledges to put ‘real teeth’ into cite-and-release program

Marijuana prosecutions and bail reform at the forefront of Dallas DA race.

Candidate for attorney general centers campaign on criminal justice reform

This article is part of our series previewing 2018 local elections.  In the wake of a Nashville police officer shooting and killing Jocques Clemmons, a Black man who was running away, community groups have put a referendum on the November ballot to create an independent board empowered to investigate police misconduct. Clemmons’s mother led the […]

A sheriff challenger pledges to withdraw from ICE partnership Federal courts have repeatedly ruled against local officials who hold people in jail beyond their scheduled release based on ICE “detainer” requests. In January, ICE and 17 Florida sheriffs launched a new bid to circumvent those rulings; they announced a new sort of agreement, which they […]

People laughed when Kanye called for abolishing the “trap door” in the 13th Amendment. Now Coloradans are voting on theirs.

Michigan and North Dakota vote on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and Missouri and Utah for medical use.

Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative could ‘deal a blow’ to mass incarceration

In November, six states are holding referenda on whether to adopt “Marsy’s Law.”

Oregon’s 30-year-old ‘sanctuary’ law is under threat