Midterm Elections Deliver Some Good News for Criminal Legal Reform Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Nick Wing, Meg O'Connor
Bail Reform Helps Countless People. Why Don’t We Hear More of Their Stories? Personal narratives can help the public understand the benefits of bail reform, but telling these success stories presents its own share of challenges. Bryce Covert
It’s Time to Take a Clearer Look at Bail Reform In the raucous debate over bail reform, simple facts have fallen out of sight. Bryce Covert
California’s New Attorney General Has A Reputation As A Criminal Justice Reformer. But His Biggest Test Is Yet To Come Rob Bonta’s career has hinged on the idea that the law can be used to engender social justice. His elevation to California’s “top cop” position, where he will become responsible for the vast bureaucracy of the state’s criminal legal system, will be a crucible for that belief. Piper French
The Successes and Shortcomings of Larry Krasner’s Trailblazing First Term Philadelphia’s top prosecutor has made good on promises to reduce incarceration in the city. His re-election bid will be a litmus test for the progressive prosecutor movement he helped start. Joshua Vaughn
Philadelphia Jails Have Black Mold, Rats, Poor Heating, Say Women Held There The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, which recorded and published the complaints, paid for the release of some incarcerated women on Saturday. Joshua Vaughn
America’s Biggest City Was Hit Hard By COVID-19. Its Jails Are Filling Up Again New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say dishonest fearmongering about bail reform—and the politicians who capitulated to it—have created a very real safety crisis. Joshua Manson
New York Watchdogs Lack Data to Track Judges’ Compliance With Bail Reform Although the new law took effect in January, state data showing how courts are applying it won’t be available until July 2021. And without funding, courts in small towns and villages may never collect the data. Steven Yoder
New Orleans Judge Steered People to Wear Ankle Monitors From Company Run by Campaign Donors, Lawsuit Says Judge Paul Bonin improperly required people who appeared in his courtroom to purchase ankle monitors from a private company run by one of his former law partners, a lawsuit says. Ko Bragg
Judges Must Also Be Centered In Demands To Defund And Divest From Mass Criminalization Calls to defund the police must also be accompanied with divesting power and discretion from judges. Gina Clayton-Johnson
Law Enforcement Leaders Agree: Money Bail Has To End, Especially In A Pandemic The current coronavirus crisis underscores our urgent need to look hard at our pretrial justice system. Eliminating money bail is a necessary first step. Ronal Serpas, Taryn Merkl
California Makes Major Bail Change To Slow the Spread of Coronavirus In Jails Bail will be set at $0 for most misdemeanors and low-level felony offenses. Kira Lerner
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.’ Lauren Gill
Despite Risk of Spreading Virus, Judges Continue to Impose Cash Bail in Pennsylvania In Northampton County, advocates say the practice is putting the people charged for minor offenses, and the broader community, in danger. Joshua Vaughn
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
Critics Of Progressive Judges Find A Willing Ally In Local Newsrooms With few exceptions, news outlets in Harris County, Texas, spotlight singular instances of crime to allege that legal reform policy is a threat to the public. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Cash Bail Is Creating a Crisis in Rural Jails A federal lawsuit alleges lack of due process in a rural Tennessee county, and reform advocates say its jail is hardly an outlier. Jessica Pishko
New Data Suggests Risk Assessment Tools Have Little Impact on Pretrial Incarceration Around one-third of counties in the United States use the tools when making release decisions, but few monitor whether they work as intended. Ethan Corey
Major County Jails Are Decarcerating, But Violence, Deaths Persist Jails in New Orleans and Cleveland have had significant population drops, yet conditions of confinement remain poor. Communities harmed by these jails should experiment with new accountability measures to maintain political pressure against jail administrators. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
How New York’s Bail Reforms Are Playing Out in a Queens Court Despite dire-sounding headlines, the state’s cash bail reforms are having a positive impact on the people they are meant to help. Bryce Covert
Pretrial Reform Must Go Beyond Ending Cash Bail As a society, we can’t continue to subject hundreds of thousands of people to the trauma of incarceration before they face a jury of their peers. Andy Philipson
In New Orleans, Drug Testing Is Imposed More Frequently on People Released Without Money Bail People freed from jail on their own recognizance miss more court appearances because of disproportionate conditions placed on their release, a new study suggests. Joshua Vaughn
Police and Sheriff’s Departments Join Media Campaign Against Bail Reform In New York State A wave of sensationalist press is not just coming from New York City, but also from county sheriff and city police departments frustrated by bail reform that they claim is ‘too broad.’ Adam H. Johnson
The Media’s Misguided Backlash Against Criminal Justice Reforms in D.C. and New York Many liberals support reform in theory. But when unpopular decisions need to be made, it’s back to the 1990s “Tough on Crime” playbook. Adam H. Johnson
Queens County D.A. Reiterates Commitment to Ending Cash Bail After Critics Say She Reneged Melinda Katz, who was inaugurated Monday, is facing criticism over what some say is a broken campaign promise. Aaron Morrison
Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg Didn’t Deliver On Her Promise Of Reform. Now Another One Of Her Former Prosecutors Is Running Against Her. Carvana Cloud, until recently the chief of the Special Victims Bureau, is entering the race to unseat her former boss. Roxanna Asgarian
Rep. Ayanna Pressley Unveils Sweeping Plan To Reshape American Criminal Legal System Under the proposal, localities would be incentivized to significantly decrease prison populations. Kira Lerner
The Appeal Podcast: When Criminal Justice Reform Preserves The Status Quo With Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis Adam H. Johnson
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. Kelly Hayes
Massachusetts Prosecutors Are Using ‘Dangerousness’ Holds To Keep People Incarcerated Pretrial Advocates say that despite the election of several progressive prosecutors in the state, there’s a substantial increase in such detentions, which are stymieing gains made through policies to limit cash bail. Joshua Vaughn
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty. Adam H. Johnson
Nation’s Largest Bail Fund Plans To Stop Bailing People Out Of Jail The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund said it doesn’t want to ‘prop up an unjust system.’ Kira Lerner
Courts Are Intervening to Dismantle Unjust Cash Bail Systems Across the U.S. A series of victories for advocates reflects a shift in the ‘popular narrative’ around bail. Kira Lerner
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
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
Sanders And Warren Just Released the Most Decarceral Criminal Justice Platforms Ever The 2020 presidential candidates recently unveiled national criminal justice agendas that reimagine public safety and punishment. Aaron Morrison
In One Arizona County, Pay For Your Ankle Monitor Or Go To Jail A lawsuit is challenging Mohave County’s practice of charging certain people for mandatory GPS monitoring before trial. Kira Lerner
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
In Queens D.A. Race, Criminal Justice Reform Is The Real Winner Establishment candidate Melinda Katz declared a narrow victory in the New York City borough’s district attorney primary, but progressive Tiffany Cabán pushed the race to the left on issues like marijuana and sex work. Aaron Morrison
Decarceration Activist Janos Marton Launches Run For Manhattan D.A. An organizer in the effort to close New York City’s Rikers Island jails is challenging Cyrus Vance Jr., whom he calls ‘the city’s leading jailer.’ Aaron Morrison
Media Frame: 5 Common Tactics Used to Discredit Reform D.A.s The backlash is underway against a recent wave of prosecutors who champion criminal justice reform. Here are some methods of attack. Adam H. Johnson
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
Progressive Philly D.A. Larry Krasner’s Bail Reform Plans Seem Stalled, Advocates Say Krasner’s office acknowledges ‘there’s room to move forward and do more.’ Bryce Covert
A Troubled Virginia Jail Looks To Add Guards, But Advocates Push For Decarceration As the Hampton Roads Regional Jail proposes spending $7 million for 113 new guards, advocates renew calls for officials to improve conditions—and an Appeal analysis suggests that the jail could save millions by incarcerating fewer people with mental illness. Aaron Morrison, Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Pleading Guilty to Get Out of Jail The criminalization of poverty in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has led to a staggering increase in incarcerated people, all at a huge cost for defendants and taxpayers alike. Joshua Vaughn
New Data Reveals the Racial Disparities in Pennsylvania’s Money Bail Industry Despite accounting for less than 12 percent of the state’s adult population, roughly 40 percent of all bail bonds were issued in cases involving a Black defendant. Joshua Vaughn
Atlanta Bail Reform Is Leaving Behind Homeless and Mentally Ill People A number of people spent multiple days at the Atlanta City Detention Center for low-level offenses, including for driving while using a cell phone and for walking in the roadway. Aaron Morrison
New Orleans Bail Companies Owed Millions In Illegal Fees. Now They May Get To Keep The Money. The bail bonds industry was caught overcharging 50,000 families $6 million over 14 years, according to SPLC. Bryce Covert
A White Woman Was Caught On Tape Selling Heroin, But Police Arrested A Black Woman Instead In a case of mistaken identity, Jada Noone was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police, spent 15 days in jail and faced a felony drug case before charges were dismissed. She’s now suing over her false arrest. Joshua Vaughn
New York City Looks To Eliminate Hidden Bail Fees As they await statewide action to eliminate cash bail, city councilmembers are looking for ways to reduce the financial burden on families of incarcerated people. Bryce Covert
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
‘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
Bail Activist Jailed For Trying To Help When Cops Confronted Man In Mental Health Crisis Colorado-based attorney and bail activist Elisabeth Epps was just released after serving a short jail stint related to a 2015 encounter with Aurora Police. The experience gave her a new understanding of the experiences of the people she has bailed out. Aaron Morrison
D.A. Who Ran as a Reformer Says She Needs 100 More Prosecutors ‘How are we making sure that we’re not just building and building a system that we know is not necessarily effective?’ Roxanna Asgarian
Suffolk County D.A. Rachael Rollins’s Office is Still Prosecuting Cases She Pledged to Drop Boston’s top prosecutor says big changes are in the works; advocates plan to keep pushing. Emma Whitford
San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Chesa Boudin Announces Run for District Attorney In a wide-ranging interview, Boudin, a progressive reform candidate, told The Appeal he wants to redefine ‘public safety’ to encompass the rights of both victims and defendants. Melissa Gira Grant
Moving Away From ‘Jail for Everybody’ Harris County Judge Darrell Jordan discusses his newly elected colleagues’ decision to withdraw an appeal of a landmark bail reform lawsuit. Roxanna Asgarian
The ‘Failure to Appear’ Fallacy Prosecutors denounce bail reform efforts when people miss court dates, but ‘failure to appear’ rates obscure the fact that many who miss court aren’t on the run. Puck Lo, Ethan Corey
New Orleans Prosecutor Calls New Bail Fund ‘Extremely Disturbing’ Advocates noted that bail gives prosecutors leverage to get guilty pleas from people who can’t afford to buy their way out of jail. Raven Rakia
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. Lauren Gill
Your Essential Criminal Justice Guide to Election Night From sheriffs to bail to marijuana, and more—here’s what you need to know. Daniel Nichanian
Harris County Judges May Face a Reckoning Over Bail On Election Day Republican misdemeanor judges in Houston have clung to an unconstitutional bail system. But their intransigence could cost them their seats. Maura Ewing
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. Lauren Gill
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. Bryce Covert
NYC Prosecutors Are Stoking Fear About the Mass Bailout, But Their Arguments Don’t Add Up District attorneys’ comments belie the true purpose of bail in New York and ignore the safety risks of jail itself. John Pfaff
California could soon end money bail, but at what cost? The passage of Senate Bill 10 would decimate the bail industry, but many advocates say it falls short of true reform. Max Rivlin-Nadler
Justice in America Episode 4: A Conversation With John Legend Josie and Clint talk with the artist about criminal justice reform and his #FREEAMERICA campaign. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
New Orleans Court Ordered To Stop Funding Itself On The Backs Of The Poor The criminal court was funneling millions of dollars a year from poor communities. Bryce Covert
Harris County D.A. Ran as a Reformer. So Why is She Pushing High Bail for Minor Offenses? An email obtained by The Appeal shows Kim Ogg’s office is intentionally asking for unaffordable bail amounts to hold certain people in jail in Texas. Alex Hannaford
Ohio Council Member Wants to Implant Microchips in People Awaiting Trial Taking electronic monitoring to the next level. Kira Lerner
Philadelphia Courts are Running a Financial Scheme That Profits Off The Poor And padding city and state coffers with millions of dollars. Maura Ewing
The Appeal Podcast Episode 9: The History––and Promise––of the Bail Abolition Movement With journalist Bryce Covert. Adam H. Johnson
Justice in America Episode 1: Justice for the Rich, Money Bail Introducing a new podcast from The Appeal, featuring Josie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith III. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
EXCLUSIVE: Documents Reveal Bronx DA’s Office Is Still Withholding Key Evidence In Prosecution of Bronx Teen Pedro Hernandez’s case has inspired calls for reform, but he’s still being targeted for an alleged cell phone theft. Simon Davis-Cohen, George Joseph
The Court Watch Movement Wants To Expose The ‘House of Cards’ Prosecutors and judges across the country are starting to feel eyes on them. Bryce Covert
Prosecutors and Judges in Pennsylvania County Hammer Defendants in Low-Level Drug Cases In overdose-wracked Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a small-time dealer is denied bail, while the number of drug induced homicide cases has skyrocketed. Joshua Vaughn
Criminal Justice Reformers Get A Chilly Reception In California Across the state, most incumbents successfully fended off progressive challengers during the June 5 primary. Max Rivlin-Nadler
As Reform Stalls in New York, Defendants Plead Out Because They Can’t Afford Cash Bail Max Rivlin-Nadler
As Bail Reform Moves Forward in California, Defendant Who Advanced It Remains Incarcerated Max Rivlin-Nadler
The False Promise of Bail Reform in Dallas County: Debate Continues While People Languish in Jail Rebecca McCray
This Deep Red State Just Ended Cash Bail Alaska’s new comprehensive criminal justice reform law will reduce the prison population by 13% and save taxpayers $380 million. Bryce Covert
Cryptocurrency is the Next Frontier in the Quest to Abolish Cash Bail A new app seeks to liberate people from more than “liberal malaise.” Rebecca McCray
Texas Sheriff Says Jail Population Must Be Reduced Jail isn’t the “appropriate place” for all that get arrested, he says Larry Hannan
A county in North Carolina wants to give its bail system a serious makeover A local solution to a national problem. Carimah Townes
Bronx prosecutor, detectives allegedly bullied witnesses to make case against Pedro Hernandez Carimah Townes
