Activists Say Chicago Mayor’s Police Reform Promises Ring Hollow
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has hampered the process of installing a police oversight council, activists say, despite making it a major part of her public safety platform during her mayoral run.
Maya Dukmasova Jun 23, 2020
Protesters Say Hamilton County Sheriff Held Them Overnight Without Food, Water, Bathrooms
Two people, arrested and detained in Cincinnati after protesting the police killing of George Floyd, recall being held at the jail, outside, for hours.
Caleb Brennan Jun 22, 2020
George Floyd’s Death Puts Spotlight On Controversial Syndrome Called ‘Excited Delirium’
Coroners and police departments have cited the condition in cases across the country, often clearing officers of wrongdoing when people die in their custody. In Floyd’s case, experts say, the diagnosis is irrelevant to his death.
Tana Ganeva Jun 11, 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
Oakland County Jail Ordered To Identify Prisoners Who Should Be Released To Protect Them From COVID-19
A U.S. district court judge said the Michigan jail has demonstrated ‘deliberate indifference’ to the lives of ‘medically vulnerable’ prisoners who are at particular risk of the novel coronavirus.
Dawn R. Wolfe May 21, 2020
‘I’m Pretty Sure I Should Be Going Home’
As COVID-19 deaths mount in Michigan prisons, the review of questionable convictions has slowed, leaving prisoners vulnerable to the disease.
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.
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.
Lauren Gill May 19, 2020
Lawsuit Seeks The Release Of ‘Medically Vulnerable’ People Held At Oakland County Jail In Michigan
A district court judge who issued a temporary restraining order in the case said jail officials had not ‘imposed even the most basic safety measures recommended by health experts.’
Dawn R. Wolfe May 15, 2020
Ohio Federal Prison, Struggling to Contain Coronavirus, Loses Challenge to Stall Releases
An appellate court says officials at Federal Correctional Institution, Elkton, must begin identifying prisoners vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.
Marcia Brown May 05, 2020
Dozens Of Reports From Inside Cook County Jail Paint A Grim Picture As COVID-19 Cases Soar
Prisoners say the jail, which has seen more than 800 confirmed cases, is a ‘death trap’ plagued by sanitary issues and a lack of testing. Their testimonies stand at stark odds with the sheriff’s office, which says it is keeping ‘staff and detainees as safe as possible.’
Maya Dukmasova Apr 28, 2020
Advocates Say Ohio’s Governor Is Failing To Protect Prisoners From Coronavirus
Governor Mike DeWine, critics say, ‘is risking turning low-level prison sentences into death sentences.’
Dawn R. Wolfe Apr 16, 2020
Federal Judge Blocks Michigan From Enforcing State’s Sex Offender Registry ‘Until COVID-19 Crisis Has Ended’
Michigan was one of several states requiring registrants to report to local police stations in person despite the risk to public health from coronavirus.
Dawn R. Wolfe 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
Prisoners in Illinois Describe Dire Conditions Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
It took a prisoner’s death ‘just for them to pass out a single extra bar of soap,’ one incarcerated man said.
Despite Coronavirus Fears, ICE Fights to Keep a Sick Michigan Man It Can’t Deport Locked Up
ICE has adopted no policies aimed at releasing any of the 38,000 people it keeps in county jails and private detention centers across the country.
Chris Gelardi Apr 01, 2020
Admissions to Illinois State Prisons Suspended, With Few Exceptions, Due to Coronavirus
Prisoners are “especially vulnerable to contracting and spreading COVID-19,” Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker wrote in his executive order.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 27, 2020
Kim Foxx Aims To Rewrite An ‘Inequitable’ Legal Justice System As Challengers Fight To Topple Her
With one term under her belt as Chicago's top prosecutor, Foxx says she has more work to do to right a system that has been "unfair, and totally unjust."
Mari Cohen Mar 16, 2020
A Federal District Court in Ohio Delays All Trials Because of Coronavirus
Judicial responses to the pandemic have varied and are changing rapidly.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 13, 2020
Indiana Advocates Call on Governor to Release Elderly And Infirm Prisoners As Coronavirus Spreads
More than 100 people signed an open letter to Eric Holcomb requesting that he begin releasing people most likely to be seriously harmed or killed by the coronavirus.
Joshua Vaughn Mar 10, 2020
Michigan Agrees to Pay $80 Million in Prison Sex Abuse Lawsuit
A complaint filed in 2013 on behalf of 500 currently and formerly incarcerated youth alleged that they were assaulted and harassed by incarcerated adults and corrections staff in adult prisons and jails across the state.
Missouri Attorney General’s Lack Of Courage In Lamar Johnson Case Is A Miscarriage of Justice
Eric Schmitt should follow the lead of a Pennsylvania prosecutor who acknowledged that a man deserved a new trial, even when it meant reversing a murder conviction.
Ben Miller Feb 25, 2020
A Man Shot by Chicago Police Is Receiving $10 Million From the City. In 2013, Rahm Emanuel Praised the Officers Responsible.
The former mayor issued a city resolution honoring officers for their ‘bravery’ in a shooting that paralyzed Tarance Etheredge, who will receive a payout from a civil rights lawsuit.
Joshua Vaughn Feb 21, 2020
Study Finds Stark Racial Disparities for Low-Level Drug Offenses In Travis County, Texas
The authors reported that 29.4 percent of the possession cases involved Black individuals in a county where Black people make up only 8.9 percent of the population.
Criminal Justice Group Drops Support For Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools As Ohio Justices Seek To Block Their Use
Reform advocates say the risk assessments are racially biased and are not effective at their key tasks: predicting the likelihood someone will return to court.
Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 12, 2020
Michigan Task Force Calls On State To Significantly Reduce Mass Incarceration In County Jails
A bipartisan group has recommended substantive changes to the state’s legal justice system, including cash bail reform and proposals to divert people living with mental illnesses away from incarceration.
Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 03, 2020
Wisconsin Came Close To Changing A Rule That Often Leaves People On Sex Offense Registries Homeless
Republicans are leading an effort to get rid of blanket restrictions on where some people with sex-offense records can live. A Democratic governor is blocking them.
Steven Yoder Jan 03, 2020
Illinois Man Alleges Police Illegally Forced Him To Undergo A Strip Search, Rectal Exam
According to a complaint, police in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, subjected Tylus Allen Jr. to invasive searches, all of which turned up nothing.
Aaron Morrison Dec 19, 2019
Chicago’s Gang Database Can Have ‘Devastating’ Consequences, But There’s No Way To Be Removed From It.
Social media posts, tattoos, or the unvetted word of an officer can lead to inclusion on the list, which is overwhelmingly composed of people of color.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 18, 2019
ICE’s Fake University Seemed To Be More About Creating Fear Than Addressing Fraud
Vaidya Gullapalli Dec 16, 2019
Ohio Jail Faces $2.8 Million Lawsuit After Claims of Abuse Are Made By Dozens of Men
The suit is the latest of at least three complaints filed against the Portage County Jail this year.
New Lawsuit Alleges Abuse At ‘One Of The Worst’ County Jails In America
Officers at the Cuyahoga County Jail in Ohio are accused of pepper-spraying and assaulting a man for merely asking about his release date.
Joshua Vaughn Dec 12, 2019
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.
The Supreme Court Ruled That Sentences Like Hers Are Unconstitutional. Prosecutors Are Fighting To Keep Her Incarcerated.
Prosecutor Jessica Cooper of Oakland County, Michigan, has aggressively pursued life without the possibility of parole for children, critics say. She recommended the sentence for Barbara Hernández, who at 16 was a ‘slave’ to an abusive boyfriend who drew her into a plan that ended in murder.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 09, 2019
Kansas City Chooses Free Public Transit
Vaidya Gullapalli Dec 06, 2019
Why Prisoners Get The Doctors No One Else Wants
Even after a major class action suit required Illinois to revamp its prison healthcare system, doctors whose alleged neglect resulted in major injury or death still remain on the prison system payroll.
Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge Nov 08, 2019
Chicago Teachers Fought For Support Staff And Restorative Justice In Schools
Vaidya Gullapalli Nov 04, 2019
Illinois Department of Corrections Revises Book Ban Policy
Earlier this year, Danville prison removed about 200 books, many of which dealt with race issues. But the new rules don’t go far enough, says one advocate.
It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State
The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian.
The Failures Of Re-entry For Returning Citizens And Their Communities
Vaidya Gullapalli Oct 25, 2019
Despite Flat Crime Rates, More Cleveland-Area Young People Are Being Tried As Adults
District Attorney Michael O’Malley’s 2016 election was viewed by some as a win for Black Lives Matter, but the number of children transferred to adult court in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has increased more than 100 percent.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 22, 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
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.
Lauren Gill Oct 02, 2019
The Felony Murder Rule As A ‘Representation Of What’s Wrong In Our Criminal Legal System’
Vaidya Gullapalli Sep 23, 2019
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.
Lauren Gill Sep 20, 2019
South Dakota Leads Nation on Jail Admissions, New Report Finds
Nearly half of all arrests in the state are drug or alcohol related, compared to just 29 percent nationally.
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice
In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more.
Victoria Law Sep 06, 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
Assuming Guilt While Reporting on Mass Arrests
Kansas City news outlets called scores of people ‘violent criminals’ based solely on the word of police and the federal government.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 03, 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
Bail Isn’t Supposed to Be a Punishment. Why Does the Media Keep Acting Like it Is?
How high or low bond is isn’t a measure of how severe the state considers a crime.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 28, 2019
A Michigan Prosecutor’s ‘Mistake’ Becomes A Family’s ‘Nightmare’
A 10-year-old was charged with assault for throwing a ball at a classmate. The case was dropped, but its effect is still felt.
Raven Rakia Aug 22, 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
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.
How a Tool to Help Judges May Be Leading Them Astray
In Cook County, Illinois, 99 percent of defendants deemed ‘high risk’ for pretrial violence don’t reoffend.
Ethan Corey Aug 08, 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
The Struggle to Be Trans in Minnesota’s Sex Offender Program
Four transgender women say clinicians and staff deny them gender-affirming care and see their identity as in conflict with sex offender treatment.
Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard Jul 15, 2019
Media Frame: Chicago ‘Bean’ Graffiti Outrage Prioritizes Property Over People
Outlets ran over 200 articles covering the vandalism. The outsize attention will likely damage young lives.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 11, 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
Spotlight: Will Chicago Get a Memorial to Honor the Survivors of Police Torture?
Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 12, 2019
It’s Time to Make Chicago Police Pay For Their Misdeeds—Out Of Their Own Budget
Chicago hands out millions in settlements and legal fees for police misconduct. Its newly inaugurated mayor should take a dollar from the department’s budget for every dollar the city spends settling with its victims.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem May 29, 2019
Baby’s Death in Mother’s Bed Leads to 5-Year Prison Term. But Was It Her Fault?
An autopsy blamed the sleeping situation, but forensic experts aren’t so sure. And the same Ohio county just charged another mom in a similar case.
Cassi Feldman May 28, 2019
Wisconsin’s ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Is Forcing People To Sit in Jail Without a Lawyer
At least two people have killed themselves in jail after waiting for more than a week to be appointed a lawyer.
Mario Koran May 20, 2019
Veteran’s Death Highlights ‘Inhumane’ Conditions in an Ohio Jail
A newly amended class-action lawsuit accuses the Cuyahoga County jail of neglect and mistreatment.
Raven Rakia May 14, 2019
How Jails Are Replacing Visits With Video
Two sheriffs in Missouri have cut off all in-person visitation in favor of costly video technology.
Teresa Mathew Apr 22, 2019
St. Louis County Jailed a Pregnant Woman For 39 Days Because She Refused a Paternity Test
Adrianna Thurman said she was informed by jail staff after her release that she had ‘slipped through the cracks.’
Katie Rose Quandt Apr 19, 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
Women Describe How A Columbus Vice Cop Pressured Them to Trade Sex for Rent
Andrew Mitchell, a former officer in Ohio who was recently indicted on charges he kidnapped women and forced them to have sex for their freedom, will soon face a grand jury for killing Donna Dalton during a prostitution arrest.
Melissa Gira Grant Mar 28, 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
Chicago Cop’s Sentence For Killing A Black Teenager Is ‘Exceptionally Short’
Jason Van Dyke’s sentence for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald is approximately half the average sentence for a person convicted of second-degree murder in Cook County, Illinois.
Rob Arthur Feb 25, 2019
Justice in America Episode 16: A Conversation with Kim Foxx
Josie and Clint talk to Cook County's head prosecutor.
‘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
Family of Donna Dalton, Who Was Shot By a Columbus Police Officer During Arrest, Demands Independent Inquiry
Advocates say the case hasn’t been handled fairly and there’s little hope for justice.
Melissa Gira Grant Feb 01, 2019
St. Louis County Is Profiting Off the ‘Muni Shuffle’ Long After Ferguson Protests
A new proposal to abolish small police forces seeks to end the cycle of debt and incarceration.
Teresa Mathew Jan 18, 2019
If Cyntoia Brown Can Be Released from Prison, Why Not Trafficking Survivor Alexis Martin?
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam just granted clemency to Brown, who was forced to trade sex for money, but Ohio’s governor declined this week to do the same for Martin.
Melissa Gira Grant Jan 11, 2019
‘No Shower, Wearing Diapers, Laying There For So Long’
Lawsuits that challenge mental healthcare and medical care for incarcerated people advance in Illinois.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 05, 2018
Immigrant Who Fled Gangs and Torture Challenges ICE Detainers
Attorneys for a Honduran woman are suing over the widespread jailhouse practice of honoring ICE requests to hold incarcerated immigrants for pickup.
Debbie Nathan Dec 03, 2018
New Evidence Reveals Columbus Police Filed Misleading Reports on Stormy Daniels Arrest
In internal documents obtained by The Appeal, the vice unit’s supervisor admits no specific complaints were lodged against Daniels or the club before the police took action.
George Joseph Nov 12, 2018
Communicating While Queer Is Being Punished in Prison
A lawsuit accuses Illinois of cutting off LGBTQ prisoners’ lifeline to supporters.
Raven Rakia Nov 08, 2018
For The First Time, A Chicago Judge Could Lose His Seat For Being Too ‘Tough on Crime’
No Cook County judge has lost a retention election in 28 years.
Bryce Covert Nov 05, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: How Activists Brought Down the Most Powerful Man in Chicago
With writer Kelly Hayes.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 11, 2018
Suit Filed by Strip Club Workers in Columbus Sheds Light on Troubled Vice Squad
The women, who were arrested alongside Stormy Daniels in July, allege that they were smeared by arresting officers, but they’re just the latest to raise concerns.
Melissa Gira Grant Oct 05, 2018
One Year After Cook County’s Bail Reform, Court Watchers Say Things Are Getting Worse
Judges are still setting bail at unaffordable levels, and more people are being held without bond.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Won’t Seek A Third Term. These Movements Are A Big Reason.
Protesters blasting everything from punitive prosecutors to police brutality should be remembered for their role in upsetting the Windy City's political status quo.
Kelly Hayes Oct 02, 2018
Ohio State Rep: If Police Tase or Shoot a Child, She Probably Acted ‘Stupid’ or Was ‘a Punk’
Rep. John Becker doubles down on his recent comments about the tasing of an 11-year-old for allegedly shoplifting.
Melissa Gira Grant Sep 14, 2018
Just 6% of Columbus Police Officers Account for Half of All Force Reports
Between 2001 and 2017, the department justified officers in 99 percent of use-of-force cases, according to data released through a public records request.
Columbus Officer Was Under Investigation When He Shot and Killed Donna Dalton
Community outrage mounts over Officer Andrew Mitchell’s killing of Dalton during an attempted prostitution arrest.
Melissa Gira Grant Aug 30, 2018
An Inside Look At An Ohio Police Force’s Race Problem
A white cop joked about bringing explosives to a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus with no consequences. A black cop joked about ‘black on black’ crime and may be fired.
George Joseph Aug 13, 2018
Milwaukee Candidates Clash In Race to Succeed The Infamous Sheriff Clarke
Several candidates are vying to become Milwaukee Sheriff in the wake of Sheriff David Clarke's resignation last fall. But will they truly spurn his legacy of jail deaths and cooperation with ICE?
Raven Rakia Aug 10, 2018
Ohio Council Member Wants to Implant Microchips in People Awaiting Trial
Taking electronic monitoring to the next level.
Kira Lerner Aug 07, 2018
St. Louis County Could Oust The Prosecutor Who Helped Ignite Ferguson Protests
His opponent in Tuesday’s primary helped establish new police accountability and court reforms in Ferguson after the police shooting of Michael Brown.
Amanda Sakuma Aug 06, 2018
‘You Never Want to go to the Workhouse’
Activists launch a new campaign to close an infamous St. Louis jail.
Sylvia A. Harvey Jun 18, 2018
Illinois Prisoners Speak Out—and Then Lose a Cherished Debate Program
Debate coach Katrina Burlet says she was banned from state’s prisons after prisoners in her program argued for parole.
Michael Sainato Jun 11, 2018
A Flurry of Bills Followed Larry Nassar’s Conviction. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.
Natasha Lennard May 25, 2018
‘You’re Breaking the Law As Soon as You Stop Walking’: How Colorado Cities Criminalize Homelessness
Bryce Covert Apr 02, 2018
Do Conviction Integrity Units Work?
Josie Duffy Rice Mar 22, 2018
Columbus Activists Turn Out to Support ‘Black Pride 4’ Protesters During Sentencing
Prince Shakur Mar 15, 2018
13-Year-Old Charged with First-Degree Murder in Oklahoma, Faces Life in Prison
Raven Rakia Feb 07, 2018
Ditching the Bondsman is Only Part of the Battle for Bail Reform
The five states that have done away with commercial bond outlets still struggle with inequity when it comes to cash bail.
Rebecca McCray Nov 22, 2017
Indianapolis Police Officers Will Not Be Criminally Charged for Shooting Unarmed Black Man
But the police chief recommends the officers’ dismissal
Larry Hannan Nov 09, 2017
Features: Sex-Shamed To Death
How Oklahoma Prosecutors Used Sex And Infidelity To Put A Woman On Death Row
Marc Bookman Oct 10, 2017
Federal monitors go where they’re not wanted: Juvenile Court
Memphis critic says Juvenile Court Judge’s resistance to reforms has ‘emasculated’ Department of Justice
Wendi C. Thomas Oct 05, 2017
Indiana man free after misconduct leads to his murder conviction being thrown out
Larry Hannan Oct 02, 2017
St. Louis Police Team Up with Media to Smear Black Lives Matter Protesters
Adam H. Johnson Sep 28, 2017
A Step Toward Justice: Facing Race and Fear in the Criminal Justice System
Vincent M. Southerland Sep 25, 2017
Ex-DA faces suspension after failing to disclose that cop planted evidence in murder case
Larry Hannan Sep 20, 2017
Judge throws out “satanic” murder convictions after new evidence suggests two men weren’t killers
Larry Hannan Sep 12, 2017
Indiana law that allows law enforcement to seize vehicles of people not convicted of crime unconstitutional
Larry Hannan Sep 01, 2017
Yet another example of the danger of relying on eyewitness testimony
Ohio man freed after another man confesses to crime