Criminal Justice Reform
Oakland Police Conducted An Illegal Search And Then Lied About It. But They May Be Spared From Discipline.
A California Superior Court ruling gives officers accused of misconduct access to investigator notes and files while cases are in progress.
Media Frame: Fentanyl Panic Is Worsening the Overdose Crisis
Sensational and false news reports about the drug are pushing lawmakers to enact harmful policies.
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.
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.
Alaska Passed Sweeping Criminal Justice Reforms. Its New Governor Just Unraveled Them.
Republican Mike Dunleavy was elected on a platform to ‘Make Alaska Safe Again’ and has rolled back recent changes.
Media Frame: A ‘War on Cops’ Narrative Without Evidence
ABC News claims anti-police violence is on the rise but offers no data.
San Francisco Is Paying For Jamal Trulove’s Wrongful Conviction. Will Kamala Harris?
Police and prosecutors framed a father of four in a 2007 murder case with local and national political implications.
New Orleans Youth Crime: The Epidemic That Wasn’t
In rhetoric reminiscent of the ‘superpredator‘ scare of the 1990s, the New Orleans District Attorney warned of ‘a brazen population of delinquent teens.‘ But advocates and crime analysts alike say the data doesn’t support his fearmongering claims about kids and crime.
Media Frame: Time to Ban Ride-Along Police TV
Reality shows like ‘The First 48,’ ‘Live PD,’ and ‘Cops’ are interfering in legal cases, exploiting people of color, and threatening lives.
Fremont Police Said a Man Wielded a Deadly Weapon When They Shot Him. But Records Reveal He Waved a Tent Pole.
The police union’s newly elected vice president led the investigation into the shooting that cleared Officer William Gourley of any wrongdoing.
The Carceral Feminism Of Linda Fairstein
A nearly 30-year-old New York Times Magazine profile of the infamous prosecutor may reveal as much about Linda Fairstein as Ava DuVernay‘s acclaimed new Netflix series.
Media Frame: Using Gun Fears to Demagogue Bail Reform
CBS 2 Chicago relied on police voices and irrelevant data to question efforts to end cash bail.
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.
Body Cameras And Tasers Rake In Billions For Axon, But They’re No Panacea For Police Violence
The popularity of Axon’s tech soared after the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014, but it may be doing more harm than good in protecting people from excessive force.
Data Raises Questions About Harris County D.A.’s Push for More Lawyers
Records show Kim Ogg’s office appeared to misrepresent felony prosecutor caseloads in its $21 million budget request.
Media Frame: Stoking Panic Over ‘Flood’ of ‘Juveniles’ in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
The sensationalist coverage of a handful of fights highlights local media’s misplaced priorities.
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.
Indefinite Solitary Confinement in New York Is Finally Put to the Test
Court challenges and a sweeping reform bill are offering hope to men trapped in isolation for decades.
New Orleans Police Appear to Use Surveillance to Initiate Investigations
City officials say its vast network of cameras are simply a tool when responding to 911 calls and complaints of criminal activity. But several cases suggest the system serves an additional purpose.
An Alabama Woman Got Pregnant While In Jail. She Has No Memory of Having Sex.
Since 2017, LaToni Daniel has been incarcerated pretrial in a capital murder case. During that time, Daniel became pregnant, and she just delivered a baby boy. But as she brings in new life, she also faces the death penalty.
The Appeal Podcast: Criminal Justice Reform Hits Roadblock in Arizona
With Caroline Isaacs of the American Friends Service Committee
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.
Commander Of Major California Narcotics Task Force Fired For A String Of Thefts And Lies
Newly released records show that task force members faced allegations of theft and questionable overtime, all under the watch of a commander later fired for lying as the misconduct was investigated.
D.C. Shows Mercy For People Who Committed Crimes As Children, But Prosecutors Are Fighting Back
U.S. attorneys in D.C. have opposed the resentencing of all 14 people who have petitioned for early release under a local law.
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.
New York Prisons Offer ‘Tough Love’ Boot Camp Programs. But Prisoners Say They’re ‘Torture’ And ‘Hell.’
Prisoners can shave time off their sentences by participating in shock incarceration programs. More than a dozen former shock prisoners say that comes at a steep cost.
State Trooper Said Man Took Bag From Fentanyl Supplier, But Video Demonstrated That The Deal Never Went Down
Trooper testimony inconsistent with video and misconduct among state and local law enforcement in New Hampshire and Massachusetts have caused at least 15 drug cases to unravel.
Johns Hopkins University’s Private Police Force Would Bring More Cops To An Overpoliced Baltimore
A former Baltimore officer says the Hopkins plan should be viewed skeptically because campus police have a history of deadly force and its officials come from troubled Baltimore Police units.
Incarceration Is Always a Policy Failure
Instead of building ‘humane jails’ to replace Rikers Island, let’s push the NYPD to cut down on arrests.
Bronx Cops Celebrated A Copwatcher’s Arrest. They Had No Idea They Were Caught On Tape.
New York City just paid Jose LaSalle of the Copwatch Patrol Unit nearly $900,000 over claims of false arrest related to the 2016 incident, but his fight for justice is far from over.
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.
Police In California Are Killing Sleeping People
The fatal shooting by Oakland police of an unconscious man as he woke is putting pressure on the California department to rethink its deployment of force.
‘They Sent Him to His Cell to Die’
Rashad McNulty entered a guilty plea in a series of federal gang indictments in New York that have been criticized as racist and overly punitive. But before McNulty was even sentenced, he died in jail. Now, his family is seeking justice.
Deputies ‘Tortured, Then Killed’ Man At Georgia Jail On ‘Taser Tuesday,’ Attorneys Say
Antonio May, a 32 year-old father of three, died in the Fulton County Jail in September after deputies pepper-sprayed and shot him with a Taser.
Houston Cop Who Led Botched Drug Raid Overwhelmingly Arrested Black People
After a drug bust involving Houston narcotics officer Gerald Goines turned deadly, questions are being raised about how he operated during his time on the force.