At Least 5 Capitol Rally Participants Were In A Violent ‘Patriot March’ In San Diego Right-wingers and ultranationalists convened in the city days after the Washington insurrection, but the police crackdown that day fell on counterprotesters. James Stout Feb 03, 2021
Trump Turned the Justice System Into a Black Box. Biden Could Fix It The Bureau of Justice Statistics has suffered from years of poor funding and political interference by the Trump administration. Fixing it could be one of the most important tasks on Biden’s criminal justice reform agenda. Ethan Corey Feb 02, 2021
The Cops at the Capitol Law enforcement officers from around the country attended and supported last week’s rally in support of President Trump that sparked a riot. Jonathan Ben-Menachem Jan 13, 2021
Partners in Crime: The Siege on the Capitol, Police, and White Supremacy The historical connections were on full display during Wednesday’s violence at the Capitol. Jerry Iannelli Jan 08, 2021
Terry McAuliffe’s Record on the Death Penalty Is Out of Step With National Trends McAuliffe is running to become Virginia governor a second time. If he wins, he would be the only active Democratic governor to have carried out executions in office. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 11, 2020
Brandon Bernard’s Death Sentence Should Be Commuted Immediately By President Trump A reasonable society does not meet trauma with more trauma in the name of justice. Ayanna Pressley Dec 10, 2020
Joe Biden Has to Be More Than the Man Who Defeated Trump A Democratic president who politely listens to progressive rhetoric while failing to act on it is one who just watches the planet burn a little more slowly. Jay Willis Nov 12, 2020
Women Have The Power To End This Presidency Trump’s presidency began with women marching in record numbers. Now it’s going to end with women voting in record numbers. Rachel O’Leary Carmona Nov 02, 2020
A Media Guide For Free And Fair Election Reporting The media, more than ever, has an important role in preserving our democracy during this election season. The more that members of the media expose false, misleading, or manipulative claims for what they are, the less likely it is for Americans to fall for President Donald Trump’s insidious tactics on and after Election Day. Anna Kurien, Emily Galvin-Almanza and Alana Sivin Oct 29, 2020
A Trumpist Texas Sheriff is Running for Congress. If He Wins, His Brother Might Take Over the Sheriff’s Office. Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls wants voters to send him to Congress despite his department’s history of jail deaths and allegations of racial-profiling. Jerry Iannelli Oct 23, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett’s Record on Criminal Justice Is ‘Deeply Troubling,’ Reform Advocates Say In the midst of a national debate about changing the criminal legal system, Barrett is set to take a lifetime seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Advocates see her addition as a potential setback to creating a more fair system. Joshua Vaughn Oct 22, 2020
Federal Judge Halts Trump’s Law Enforcement Commission The ruling said the commission wasn’t diverse enough and gave little voice to communities affected by policing. Joshua Vaughn Oct 01, 2020
Feuding With Donald Trump Is Not Police Reform Mayors of liberal cities love to criticize the president’s incendiary law-and-order rhetoric, but do precious little to check police violence and bloated budgets in their own backyards. Jay Willis Sep 30, 2020
Communities Need And Deserve A Reset Of Policing And The Justice System. Trump Has Created A Sham Process that Excludes Them. Under the guise of restoring public confidence in law enforcement, President Trump’s secretive and regressive Commission on Law Enforcement is stacked with old-guard failed tough-on-crime thinking that precipitated the crisis of confidence we now face. Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Joe Brann Sep 29, 2020
Yes, Pack The Court – Pack It With Public Interest Lawyers No intellect or doctrine can overcome a judiciary inclined to favor government and the powerful against the accused and the vulnerable. And that is the federal judiciary we now have. Matthew Segal Sep 28, 2020
Expanding the Supreme Court Is Not ‘Radical’ Rebalancing the nation’s highest court is a reasonable, proportionate response to a system that failed a long time ago. Jay Willis Sep 25, 2020
The Federal Government Is Failing Communities Suffering From Food Insecurity Food insecurity is not an acute emergency, but rather a chronic condition for low-income Americans that existed long before the current public health emergency. Ona Balkus Sep 22, 2020
The Trump Administration Is Pushing To Make It Harder For Trans People To Seek Shelter During The Pandemic The Trump administration mishandled COVID-19, creating conditions that left transgender people even more vulnerable to housing instability than before. Now it’s pushing for a rule change that would allow homeless shelters to discriminate against trans people. Gillian Branstetter, Sarah Saadian Sep 17, 2020
Trump’s Voter Fraud Lie Is the Oldest Trick in the Book The president’s fearmongering over mail-in ballots is part of a long history of politicians denying members of marginalized communities, and particularly Black people, the right to vote. Jay Willis Sep 02, 2020
Prosecutors Are Using Gang Laws To Criminalize Protest Prosecutors in states ranging from New York to Utah are using decades-old gang laws to target participants in the largest uprising against police brutality in U.S. history. Ali Winston Sep 01, 2020
Operation Legend Is Another Attempt to ‘Federalize’ Policing. Organizers Are Pushing Back. President Trump and the DOJ are funding federal policing programs in cities like Detroit, Chicago, and Baltimore, but advocates say they’re unnecessary, harmful, and ineffective. Marcia Brown Aug 13, 2020
The Roger Stone Commutation Was Bad. Congress Shouldn’t Make Things Worse. Democrats in Congress must still their impulse to legislate restrictions on clemency. Not only would such a law be unconstitutional, but it may deter future presidents from using clemency the way that the framers intended. Mark Osler Jul 15, 2020
Trump’s Planned Trip To Mount Rushmore Puts Lives And A Fragile Ecosystem At Risk The July 4th event will only serve to endanger the Black Hills National Forest, spread contagion, and continue the president’s pattern of sowing hatred and division. Ruth Hopkins Jun 29, 2020
How the Federal Government Lost Track of Deaths in Custody The Department of Justice is leaving researchers, policymakers, and advocates in the dark about deaths in police custody, prisons, and jails. Ethan Corey Jun 24, 2020
As The Trump Administration Restricts Legal Immigration, It’s Expanding A Class Of Vulnerable Guest Workers Farmworker and labor advocates say these workers are among the most exploited in the country. Madeline Leung Coleman Jun 10, 2020
For Trump, There Is No Policing Without Violence A president who openly endorses police brutality struggles with a nation rejecting it. Jay Willis Jun 03, 2020
Coronavirus In Jails and Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis Jun 01, 2020
Don’t Look to the DOJ to Keep Federal Prisons and Their Surrounding Communities Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic Experts are urging large-scale releases. But the Department of Justice often operates contrary to expertise. Shon Hopwood Apr 08, 2020
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina For The COVID-19 Recovery To Come Powerful interests exploited Katrina to enrich themselves and transform the city. As a reporter who covered the fallout explains, our government’s lax oversight means the same could happen now, leaving those who most need help behind. Gary Rivlin Apr 07, 2020
The Voices Warning Trump About COVID-19 In Prisons Are Growing Louder. Will He Listen? There are no good reasons for the president to keep vulnerable people behind bars any longer. Jay Willis Mar 31, 2020
Our Leaders Have the Power to Release People in Prison. Now They Must Use It. State governors and the president have the authority to grant commutations and reprieves to people in prison across the country as COVID-19 spreads. Rachel Barkow Mar 27, 2020
The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Brought Out Society’s Alarming Disregard for People With Disabilities Politicians and the general public are ignoring the health and safety needs of those with disabilities and chronic conditions. Robyn Powell Mar 25, 2020
One Thing Barr Gets right: The Sentencing Guidelines Are Indeed Too Harsh Sarah Lustbader Feb 18, 2020
In A Florida County, Sex Workers Are Ensnared In ‘Trafficking’ Raids Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister’s stings, conducted under the guise of targeting human trafficking, netted the largest number of arrests there since 2008. Sex workers say the operations put them at risk. Molly Minta Jan 28, 2020
A No-Holds-Barred Assault on Prosecutors Attorney General William Barr pushed back against reforms by progressive prosecutors—but perhaps his greatest vitriol was reserved for the Boston DA’s attempt to rein in police. John Pfaff Aug 13, 2019
Spotlight: The Citizenship Question, the Supreme Court, and Who Deserves a Do-Over Sarah Lustbader Jun 28, 2019
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. Meaghan Ybos Jun 19, 2019
‘Cage The Bastards’ Former prosecutor and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro inspires Trump’s rhetoric of dehumanization and incarceration. Kyle C. Barry Apr 10, 2019
Trump Has Turned the War on Trafficking Into a War on Immigrants The president is drawing on two decades of bipartisan support for crackdowns on traffickers to secure support for his agenda at the border. Melissa Gira Grant, Debbie Nathan Jan 09, 2019
California Governor Jerry Brown is Fighting Trump With Pardons. Will Other Governors Follow Suit? The departing governor has chosen to pardon immigrants whose past criminal offenses put them in danger of deportation. Melissa Gira Grant Nov 29, 2018
A Trump Favorite For His Hardline Anti-Immigration Stance, Maryland Sheriff Now Faces Re-Election Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins seeks a fourth term as critics blast him for a record that includes poor jail conditions, in-custody suicides, and the deaths of two young people at the hands of his deputies. Raven Rakia Oct 31, 2018
Rural Oregon Sheriffs Lead Charge to Repeal State’s Sanctuary Law More than one dozen sheriffs support Measure 105 that would allow for cooperation with federal authorities even when an immigrant suspect has not been apprehended for any crime. Mike Faulk Oct 30, 2018
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 Aug 15, 2018
US Attorney’s Office That Prosecuted Inauguration Day Protesters Has History of Misconduct Findings Prosecutors on the "J20" case faced grave allegations of misconduct after withholding exculpatory evidence contained in videos from defense attorneys. But this is far from the first time that this office has found itself in hot water. Jessica Brand, Ethan Brown Jul 30, 2018
What Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court Would Mean for Criminal Justice Trump’s pick to replace Justice Kennedy would most likely undermine the rights of criminal defendants and stall progress on solitary confinement, prisoners’ rights, and the death penalty. Kyle C. Barry Jul 13, 2018
Conservatives Are Obsessed With Prosecutorial Overreach Unfortunately for millions of Americans, only one case matters: Trump's. Josie Duffy Rice Jul 11, 2018
Trump’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy Has an Antidote New bail funds aren’t just getting immigrants out of detention—they’re helping them stay in the country permanently. Max Rivlin-Nadler Jul 10, 2018
Alice Marie Johnson is free. Now it’s time to free thousands more prisoners with unjustly long sentences. Kim Kardashian's successful campaign to free a 63-year-old grandmother serving a life sentence in a drug case is a reminder that we need to go big on clemency. A 52-year-old grandfather named Euka Wadlington, also doing life in a drug case, would be a great place to start. Shaun King Jun 15, 2018
Chaos in the Courthouse as Border Arrests Surge Public defenders say immigrants arrested under Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy are being denied their due process rights. Max Rivlin-Nadler Jun 12, 2018
