A New Class of Candidates Seeks to Transform L.A.’s Approach to Housing, Justice After a scandal engulfed some of L.A.’s most powerful politicians, a slate of progressive candidates is running on new approaches for tackling homelessness and mass incarceration. Francisco Aviles Pino
Pretrial Detention During A Pandemic Could Be A Death Sentence. Yet, Prosecutors Continue To Use It To Extract Plea Deals. A deadly pandemic should not be used as a bargaining chip against poor, detained people charged with crimes. Amanda Woog
New York City’s Public Housing Rules Could Force Many Released Prisoners Into Homelessness As thousands of people are freed from local jails, a group of nonprofits and activist organizations says the city's housing authority must revamp its policies that banish the formerly incarcerated. Jerry Iannelli
Budget Cuts May Keep Rikers Open Past 2027 Deadline Reductions in budgets related to the novel coronavirus have slowed New York City’s plan to close Rikers by building new jails, and it’s becoming increasingly possible that the city will not meet its January 2027 deadline. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
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
Coronavirus Exposes Precarity of Prison Towns Towns like Homer, Louisiana, have huge prisons, a tiny populace, and few public health resources—a potentially lethal combination as COVID-19 spreads. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Over DA’s Objections, a Man Living With Cancer Can Remain at Home While Awaiting Trial His attorney says the Suffolk County DA’s office tried to send “an innocent man to his death.” Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Pandemic Exposes The Shared Fates Of The Jailed And The Jailer Incarcerated people, corrections officers, and their families and communities are bound together by the threat of a deadly and fast-moving disease. The sooner we recognize this, and take decisive action, the more lives we will save. Cyrus Ahalt
A Public Health Doctor And Head Of Corrections Agree: We Must Immediately Release People From Jails And Prisons Decisive action by governors and the President now can save lives -- of incarcerated people, correctional and medical personnel, and nearby community members. Business as usual will not. Brie Williams, Leann Bertsch
This Tool Can Track Changes to Incarcerated Populations Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic At a time when it’s vital to reduce jail and prison populations to prevent outbreaks, this data can help advocates identify areas where that is or is not happening. Oliver Hinds
The Appeal Podcast: Imagining A Post-Incarceration World With Danielle Sered of Common Justice Adam H. Johnson
Public Defender Chesa Boudin Wins San Francisco D.A. Race In Major Victory For Progressive Prosecutor Movement Son of incarcerated parents, backed by Black Lives Matter co-founders, Boudin will be the next DA of San Francisco. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Appeal Podcast: When Criminal Justice Reform Preserves The Status Quo With Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis Adam H. Johnson
‘Medical Bonds’ Save Money For Jails. Their Use Shows How Often We Jail People Who Need Care Vaidya Gullapalli
The Appeal Podcast: Chesa Boudin And The Meaning of ‘Reform’ With Chesa Boudin, candidate for San Francisco district attorney Adam H. Johnson
Meet the Latinx 19-Year-Old Running for Sheriff in a Majority-White Louisiana Parish Jose ‘Lil Joe’ Chapa says one way to make Beauregard Parish ‘great again’ is to stop construction of a new jail and divert resources to services that keep people out of lockup altogether. Aaron Morrison
In Liberal California, A Crusader Against Criminal Justice Reform Assemblymember Jim Cooper is pushing to roll back changes that have successfully reduced incarceration. Jessica Pishko
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
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
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
