More Black Representation on Police Forces Will Not Solve Police Violence In the wake of more horrific police killings, it’s important to remember that Black cops cannot fix America’s fundamentally broken and racist policing system. Mustafa Ali-Smith Mar 17, 2022
The Dishonest Blame Game of Retail Store Closures and Crime Reporters who parrot corporate claims of out-of-control theft play into a narrative that benefits big business and perpetuates carceral policies. Kyle C. Barry Jun 22, 2021
How a Troubled Police Department Is Shaping Buffalo’s Mayoral Race Citing years of police brutality and racial disparities in arrests, activists are pushing candidates to embrace reforms ahead of next week’s Democratic primaries. Raina Lipsitz Jun 15, 2021
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Will Curb Prosecutions of Low-Level Traffic Violations A new diversion program will allow people charged with driving with a suspended license or without insurance to avoid jail time and fees. Joshua Vaughn Mar 29, 2021
Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer Win St. Louis Mayoral Primary The two candidates will move on to the April 6 general election after securing the most votes under the city’s new approval voting system. Meg O'Connor Mar 02, 2021
Tishaura Jones Wants to Change St. Louis Jones says her experience transforming the treasurer’s office will make her an effective mayor. Voters will let candidates know what they think next week. Meg O'Connor Feb 25, 2021
‘Captain Taser’ A Vallejo police lieutenant has a long history of excessive force allegations in a department that is under investigation by the California Department of Justice—and he continues to rise in the ranks. Brian Krans Jan 21, 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
What Public Safety Without Police Looks Like From San Francisco to Philadelphia, cities across the country are creating fully unarmed response teams to address emergencies that used to call for cops. Jerry Iannelli, Joshua Vaughn Jan 08, 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
These Cops Lied In Court. But Since The D.A. Isn’t Keeping A Brady List, They Could Testify Again The case illustrates the importance of keeping lists of police officers with histories of misconduct or dishonesty, the defense lawyer in the case says. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 18, 2020
What Prosecutors Should Learn from 2020’s Pandemic and Protests In the new year, every prosecutor’s office should commit to protecting victims and workers, holding police accountable, and keeping families together. Chesa Boudin Dec 17, 2020
Reformer Ed Gonzalez Wins Second Term As Harris County Sheriff Houston area voters re-elected Gonzalez after he supported bail reform, cleaned up the county jail, and provided aid to incarcerated people living with opioid use disorder. Jerry Iannelli Nov 04, 2020
NYPD Unit At Center Of Protest Policing Has Dozens Of Officers With Long Misconduct Histories Civil liberties experts say the Strategic Response Group’s recent crackdown on ICE protests is the most brutal suppression of protests in decades—and many of its officers are the subject of significant misconduct allegations, including a supervisor with 32 complaints. Ali Winston Oct 15, 2020
Policing Studies Measure Benefits To Crime Reduction—But Not Social Costs Research has shown only that police can be sufficient, not that they are necessary. John Pfaff Oct 02, 2020
California Needs A Community-Based Response To People In Crisis, Not Law Enforcement Governor Newsom should sign the CRISES Act into law this week and invest in community partners who support people in crisis situations. Asantewaa Boykin Sep 29, 2020
In a Small Illinois City, A Black Man Died After Officers Shoved A Baton In His Mouth. Black Officers Say They’ve Suffered At The Hands Of The Department, Too. Lawsuits from Joliet Police Department officers are among at least 12 current federal complaints against the agency. The men say their civil rights lawsuits are part of a decades-long history of discrimination. Jerry Iannelli Sep 25, 2020
Texas Family Wants Justice For Deadly No-Knock Drug Raid In February 2019, police officers in Killeen shot James Scott Reed in his home. One officer entered a guilty plea to evidence tampering, but Reed’s family is still suing the city and several officers in federal court. Jerry Iannelli Sep 04, 2020
His Brother Called For Help After He Was Acting Strangely. Police Knelt On Him Until He Was Brain Dead. Body camera video shows that Daniel Prude was complying with police when they knelt on his back and pushed his face to the ground for so long that he stopped breathing. Meg O'Connor Sep 02, 2020
NYPD Expands Use Of Controversial Subpoenas To Criminal Cases Administrative subpoenas—which do not require a judge’s approval—are typically used for the department’s internal investigations, but The Appeal has learned that they are being used in criminal cases. Ali Winston Aug 25, 2020
Social Workers Are Rejecting Calls For Them to Replace Police Some say their roles are already too close to those of law enforcement and are organizing for a radical rethinking of the profession. Mia Sato Aug 20, 2020
Officers Involved In Notorious Wrongful Conviction Aren’t On Prosecutor’s Do-Not-Call List A state investigation found that Detroit police officers fabricated evidence that helped convict a 14-year-old boy. A judge threw out his conviction after he spent nine years in prison, but the officers are still on the job and haven’t been flagged as unreliable to testify in court. Kira Lerner Aug 19, 2020
New York City Pledged to Fund Programs to Stop Domestic Violence Without Involving the Legal System. But There’s Disagreement About How to Do It. Rates of reporting domestic violence are low in immigrant communities, where survivors of abuse often don’t want to involve the police. As an alternative, the de Blasio administration promised to fund community-based domestic violence programming—but those funds were delayed, and advocates fear programs with strong community ties may not meet the city’s requirements. Roshan Abraham Aug 18, 2020
Austin Cuts Its Police Budget by About A Third The City Council passed a budget that cut nearly $150 million from the Austin Police Department. Millions will be reinvested in services like violence prevention and supportive housing. Meg O'Connor Aug 13, 2020
The Role of Police in Gentrification A lawsuit alleges Breonna Taylor died because Louisville was trying to arrest its way toward economic redevelopment. Research shows this is common. Brenden Beck Aug 04, 2020
How Prison Abolitionists Are Meeting The Moment The COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality are strengthening the case against mass incarceration, advocates argue. Emily Nonko Jul 14, 2020
Will Maryland Lawmakers Come Back to Work? In a moment of crisis, the state Senate and House are slated to be in recess until January. Jay Willis Jul 10, 2020
‘No Cop Money’ Pledge Should Extend To Consultants And Law Enforcement Super PACs Law enforcement super PACs are spending big money on district attorney races and local elections from California to New York—and respected Democratic consulting firms are helping them. Adam Eichen, Andrew Perez Jun 25, 2020
Defund The Police. Our Lives Depend On It. Safe and healthy communities start with less police and more investment in community services that work. A’Brianna Morgan
American Democracy Cannot Breathe Yes, we must radically transform policing in America. But we cannot stop there. We must transform the pervasive systems of economic and carceral injustice that are choking our common life. William J. Barber II, Saru Jayaraman Jun 17, 2020
Cops, Climate, COVID: Why There Is Only One Crisis Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are both provoked by natural phenomena, the dangers they present are just as political as the crisis of police violence. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò Jun 16, 2020
Houston Police Chief’s Speeches Supporting Protesters Were Widely Circulated—But Video Proves His Officers Cracked Down on Them Videos contradict officers’ claims that they didn’t ‘kettle’ protesters. Jerry Iannelli Jun 12, 2020
West Virginia Cities Use Evictions To Combat The Opioid Epidemic The ‘drug house’ ordinances that force landlords to kick out tenants are mostly compounding the overdose crisis, critics say. Leora Smith Jun 09, 2020
The L.A. Mayor’s ‘Unacceptable’ Budget Would Deprive Those In Need And Accelerate The City’s Slide Toward A Police State The City Council must not let Mayor Eric Garcetti’s unconscionable priorities dictate how Los Angeles responds to the COVID-19 crisis. May 21, 2020
The Carceral Kings of New York As COVID-19 spreads, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are slashing budgets, but leaving funding for police and prisons largely untouched. Ross Barkan Apr 30, 2020
Justice in America Episode 27: Junk Forensic Science Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Zak Cheney Rice talk with Radley Balko, opinion journalist at the Washington Post and author of The Cadaver and the Country Dentist, about faulty forensic science. Apr 08, 2020
Justice in America Episode 26: The Privatization of Prisons Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Donovan Ramsey talk with Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, about the privatization of America’s criminal legal system. Apr 01, 2020
Justice in America Episode 25: Conversation with Sherrilyn Ifill Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Darnell Moore talk with Sherrilyn Ifill about policing, civil rights, the criminal justice system, and more. Mar 25, 2020
Florida’s HIV Criminalization Laws Target Sex Workers. A Reform Bill Offers Little Relief. 67% of people arrested under state laws that criminalize HIV exposure and transmission are sex workers. But new legislation meant to modernize these laws would retain harsh penalties against them. Molly Minta Feb 28, 2020
A Lack Of Evidence Doesn’t Keep The New York Times From Declaring a ‘Spike In Crime’ In two articles, the Times asserts a ‘spike’ in crime since the passage of bail reform in New York, an increase that the articles themselves note they can’t prove. Adam H. Johnson Feb 10, 2020
The Appeal Podcast: Police Abuse In American Schools With journalist Roxanna Asgarian. Adam H. Johnson Feb 06, 2020
Michigan Task Force Calls On State To Significantly Reduce Mass Incarceration In County Jails A bipartisan group has recommended substantive changes to the state’s legal justice system, including cash bail reform and proposals to divert people living with mental illnesses away from incarceration. Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 03, 2020
In One California City, Police Kill With Near Impunity Since 2010, no Vallejo officer has been disciplined for using deadly force, despite multiple shootings of unarmed people—including a man holding a can of beer. And active police union leaders have been involved in the shooting investigations. Darwin BondGraham Dec 18, 2019
Boston Law Enforcement Has Been Fighting A Court Order To Release Data On Who Police Target On Snapchat District Attorney Rachael Rollins ran as a reformer who would work to increase transparency, but her office and the police department have been fighting the order. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 13, 2019
Community Policing Is Not the Answer Investing billions of government dollars into programs that embed police in Black communities will not reduce police violence, nor repair years of injustice. Philip V. McHarris Dec 02, 2019
Hundreds of Victim and Witness DNA Profiles Removed From New York City Database Advocates say the removals are more evidence of a troubling and unregulated law enforcement tool, overseen by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Aaron Morrison Nov 26, 2019
In a Private Facebook Group, California Police Brag About Breaking State Law to Help ICE Some officers have recently boasted about breaking state law and collaborating with ICE, according to messages posted in the group and obtained by The Appeal. Darwin BondGraham Nov 22, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Imagining A Post-Incarceration World With Danielle Sered of Common Justice Adam H. Johnson Nov 21, 2019
It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian. Kelly Hayes Nov 04, 2019
San Francisco Police Brutality Claim Puts Pressure on Next D.A. to Hold Cops Accountable Ahead of the city’s district attorney election on Tuesday, the alleged baton beating last month of Dacari Spiers has renewed debate over police accountability. Darwin BondGraham Nov 01, 2019
California Gang Laws Are Normalized Racism The gang database in the state gives police increased authority to approach and harass people for virtually no reason at all. Emily Galvin-Almanza Oct 04, 2019
Interim San Francisco D.A. Suzy Loftus is Running for Office as a Reformer. But Critics Say She Didn’t Do Enough to Reform the SFPD. Loftus led the San Francisco Police Commission through a bloody and turbulent era. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
What Kamala Harris’s Take on Policing Gets Wrong Rather than encouraging more faith in the police, true reform requires dismantling the system that empowers them. Alex S. Vitale
The Public Safety Myth Law enforcement’s old guard claims that policing low-level crime protects communities. That’s not just wrong; it’s dangerous. Rachael Rollins Aug 29, 2019
Philadelphia’s Progressive D.A. Is Blamed For a Standoff He Helped Defuse Sarah Lustbader Aug 16, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Qualified Immunity, A Roadblock to Reform With Appeal contributors Amir H. Ali and Emily Clark of the MacArthur Justice Center Adam H. Johnson
Spotlight: Will Chicago Get a Memorial to Honor the Survivors of Police Torture? Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 12, 2019
Spotlight: In A Study of Cops’ Facebook Accounts, 1 in 5 Had Posted Racist, Violent Content Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 03, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: NYPD-SVU’s Low Clearance Rate for Sexual Assault With Appeal contributor Meg O’Connor Adam H. Johnson May 02, 2019
Party Guests Suing Over Mass Arrest for Less Than An Ounce of Marijuana Attorneys representing the arrestees in Cartersville, Georgia, say they were mistreated in jail, lost jobs, and endured public humiliation. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 11, 2019
New Study Finds Body Cameras Aren’t Objective Witnesses People who view body cam footage of an incident are less likely to attribute blame to a police officer than those who see the same incident through the lens of a dashboard camera. Nicole Wetsman Jan 29, 2019
The Appeal’s Favorite Stories of 2018 Our staff picks 12 stories worth reading (or rereading) before the new year. Dec 27, 2018
‘Things Have Changed’: A New Texas Anti-Immigration Measure Feeds Fear of the Police SB 4 encourages officers to ask for the status of anyone they detain. Debbie Nathan Dec 10, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Black Lives Matter and Racism in the Criminal System With Angela J. Davis, Appeal contributor and professor of law at American University's Washington College of Law. Adam H. Johnson Dec 06, 2018
Secretive Campus Cops Patrol Already Overpoliced Neighborhoods Campus police forces have become more professionalized, but critics say they operate behind a veil of secrecy and often exceed their jurisdiction. Ryan Briggs Oct 15, 2018
An Inside Look At An Ohio Police Force’s Race Problem A white cop joked about bringing explosives to a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus with no consequences. A black cop joked about ‘black on black’ crime and may be fired. George Joseph Aug 13, 2018
Mayors Who Care About Child Separation Should Look in Their Own Backyards Families are torn apart by the criminal justice system every day. Josie Duffy Rice Jun 28, 2018
No Backlog: Why the Epidemic of Untested Rape Kits Is Not a Symbol of Insufficient Police Budgets But Instead a Failure to Investigate Rape Meaghan Ybos Oct 11, 2017
Brooklyn district attorney candidates spar for title of ‘most progressive’ Rebecca McCray Aug 31, 2017
#SwipeItForward & the Decriminalization of Farebeating in New York City Activists in New York City are engaging in profound acts of resistance against over-policing in the subways. Politicians are listening, but are they really hearing them? Jocelyn Simonson Aug 30, 2017
