Midterm Elections Deliver Some Good News for Criminal Legal Reform Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Nick Wing, Meg O'Connor
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
These Progressive Candidates Could Flip The Balance Of Power In St. Louis City Government Four first-time candidates could grant progressives a majority on the Board of Alders and transform public safety and housing policy. Eoin Higgins
The St. Louis Mayoral Race Reflects a Progressive Shift In Local Politics Two progressive candidates will move on to the general election, while Lewis Reed, a figure in St. Louis’s Democratic party establishment since 1999, couldn’t carry a single ward. Meg O'Connor
Virginia Governor Candidate Says It’s Time To ‘Treat Poverty Like the Emergency It Is’ Jennifer Carroll Foy is a former public defender and state legislator who wants to overhaul school funding and extend an eviction moratorium until the end of 2022. Eoin Higgins
New York City Mayoral Candidates Blast de Blasio’s Housing Record In a forum with people experiencing homelessness, Democratic candidates criticized the mayor’s affordable housing plans, embraced a ‘right to housing,’ and rejected police intervention on homelessness calls. Chris Gelardi
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
Michigan Lifers Are Organizing Their Families to Vote The Adolescent Redemption Project, a new group organized by Michigan prisoners sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, is advocating for progressive prosecutors. Marcia Brown
Election Night Coverage Is Broken. In 2020, It Could Be Dangerous In a presidential election likely to take weeks or months to decide, the race to name a winner on Nov. 3 could do tremendous damage to the integrity of the vote-counting process. Jay Willis
Economic Insecurity Brought On By COVID-19 Threatens To Disenfranchise Millions Of Voters Between the global pandemic and a nationwide economic crisis, voting rights advocates see a ‘perfect storm of barriers’ ahead that could prevent millions of people from casting a ballot in November. Eoin Higgins
Deadlocked San Francisco District Attorney Race Shows Strength of Progressive Prosecutor Movement Chesa Boudin is just 240 votes behind Suzy Loftus, even after local law enforcement spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat him. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
San Francisco Deserves Restorative Justice Our response to crime should focus on healing and accountability, not punishment and retribution. Chesa Boudin
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
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
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
Justice In America Episode 14: Judicial Elections Josie and Clint talk judicial elections with Alicia Bannon, program manager at the Brennan Center for Justice. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
In 2018, Activists Transformed ‘Tough on Crime’ from Asset to Liability A series of electoral victories signals a nationwide shift. Daniel Nichanian
The Appeal Podcast: Real Reform vs. Faux Reform With Appeal senior staff reporter, and co-host of the Justice in America podcast, Josie Duffy Rice. Adam H. Johnson
Boston’s New D.A. Pushes Back Against Prosecutors’ ‘Punishment-centric’ Point of View Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s promise to decline to prosecute several offenses is a rejection of the punitive tradition of prosecutors and perhaps signals a new kind of reform that spurns criminal justice as a solution to public health problems. John Pfaff
After Victory in Louisiana, Oregon Is Now The Only State Using Split Juries to Convict People As in Louisiana, Oregon’s practice is rooted in its own rich history of white supremacy. George Joseph
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
For The First Time, A Chicago Judge Could Lose His Seat For Being Too ‘Tough on Crime’ No Cook County judge has lost a retention election in 28 years. Bryce Covert
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
In Alabama, Black People Are 4 Times More Likely Than White People To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession A new report details Alabama’s “War on Marijuana” ahead of a key DA election. George Joseph
Texas D.A. Who Sent Woman To Prison For Five Years for Voting Made Her Own Election Mistake Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson prosecuted Crystal Mason for casting an illegal ballot. But Wilson escaped charges for a possible election violation of her own. Steven Yoder
In New York, Most Parolees Can Now Vote—But Many County Websites Say They Can’t As Thursday's election approaches, confusion reigns. Emma Whitford
How decriminalizing sex work became a campaign issue in 2018 State Senate candidate Julia Salazar explains how sex workers’ rights is a key part of reforming criminal justice in New York. Melissa Gira Grant
Louisiana Attorney General May Run For Governor By Fearmongering Over Criminal Justice Attorney General Jeff Landry has taken a number of extreme positions on policing and sentencing in response to reform. Kira Lerner
Justice In America Episode 7: The New Progressive Prosecutors? After Tuesday’s primary victories for reform candidates, defining a progressive agenda for prosecutors is more pressing than ever. Rashad Robinson joins Josie and Clint. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
A Massachusetts District Attorney Tries To Crown His Successor In the Berkshire County DA race, the establishment is resorting to extreme measures to ensure it maintains power and avoids change. Eoin Higgins
Santa Clara County Public Defender Explains What Judge Persky’s Recall Means For His Clients The judge who sentenced Brock Turner brought much-needed compassion to the bench, says public defender Sajid Khan. Paul DeBenedetto
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
These Public Defenders Want to Fight Bias From the Bench But their push to unseat judges is drawing backlash from a surprising source—fellow Democrats. Max Rivlin-Nadler
Dallas County Democratic DA Candidates Promise Change, But Their Plans Don’t Go Far Enough Josie Duffy Rice
Don’t Just Vote for a Legacy. Vote in a Brooklyn District Attorney that Represents Your Values for the Future of Criminal Justice. Scott Hechinger
