Debt

A case before the Kentucky Supreme Court involves a challenge to the practice of charging people for the time they are held in jail even if they are ultimately not convicted of the charges against them.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. “Ours is an unforgiving age.” This is the first sentence of law professor Martha Minow’s recent book, “When Should Law Forgive?” The U.S., she writes, “is particularly punitive in […]

Lawyers and advocates in Miami-Dade County will roll out a new plan to counter the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions.

The criminal and juvenile legal systems are drivers of poverty. Presidential candidates should recognize that.

The state’s “theft of leased property” statute allows prosecutors to seek felony charges for Pennsylvanians who miss payments on rental items.

San Francisco just became the first city in the nation to stop charging court fines and fees, but the rest of the state has a long way to go.

Throughout his life, Nick has battled mental illness and an addiction to crack cocaine. He was convicted three times in the 1990’s for offenses that are characteristic of someone struggling with addiction, and served more than four years in a Washington State prison. But despite his fierce desire to remain sober and gainfully employed since […]