There Are Too Many Prosecutors On the Bench. Take It From Me, a Prosecutor Courts must not overrepresent the viewpoints of the most powerful at the expense of the communities they serve. Sarah Fair George
Yes, Amy Klobuchar Is To Blame For Myon Burrell’s Unjust Conviction Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, used jailhouse informants and an unreliable gang expert, and ignored evidence of innocence to send a Black teenager to prison for life. Kyle C. Barry
Delaware Lawmakers Push Bill That Could Pay Reparations To The Wrongfully Incarcerated Elmer Daniels served nearly 40 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2018. He's one of at least three people who could receive $50,000 for every year spent behind bars. Lauren Gill
Can A Prosecutor Be Progressive And Take Sex Crimes Seriously? The rise of progressive prosecutors and the #MeToo movement has meant an increased focus on sexual assault. But justice cannot be measured in more prosecution or long sentences. Marissa Hoechstetter
New Orleans Public Defenders Punished For Locating Key Witness The attorneys said they did nothing wrong by finding a victim in a rape case who had disappeared, but a judge accused them of making her unavailable. Joshua Vaughn
Why Juries Need Expert Help Assessing Jailhouse Informants Informants are highly motivated to lie. But jurors don’t always have the information or skills to discern the truth. Alexandra Natapoff
California Supreme Court Fails To Resolve ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Created By Police Privacy Laws A narrow ruling on Brady lists ensures that protecting the police will continue to prevail over due process. Kyle C. Barry
In Third Debate, Democratic Presidential Candidates Condemn Mass Incarceration Without Naming Its Main Driver Candidates offered reforms for people accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses, but more than half of U.S. prisoners have committed a violent crime. Aaron Morrison
Harris County D.A. Seeks Execution of Intellectually Disabled Man, Lawyer Says Kim Ogg ran as a reform-minded district attorney candidate, but her office has sought two death warrants for Dexter Johnson, whose lawyer says cannot name everyday objects and has an IQ of 70. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more. Victoria Law
New York Law Removes ‘Unnecessary’ Step for Children Charged With Felonies 16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session. Lauren Gill
Number Of Young People Charged In Philadelphia’s Adult Court Drops Sharply The decline under DA Larry Krasner, who took office in 2018, marks a significant change in juvenile justice in Pennsylvania. Joshua Vaughn
San Francisco Deserves Restorative Justice Our response to crime should focus on healing and accountability, not punishment and retribution. Chesa Boudin
The Persistent History of Excluding Black Jurors in North Carolina A statewide pattern of discrimination in jury selection has gone largely uncorrected, while lives remain in the balance, advocates say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Sanders And Warren Just Released the Most Decarceral Criminal Justice Platforms Ever The 2020 presidential candidates recently unveiled national criminal justice agendas that reimagine public safety and punishment. Aaron Morrison
An Alabama Man On Death Row Says He Is Innocent. Will He Get a New Trial? In 1998, prosecutors failed to tell the defense that a key witness in Toforest Johnson’s capital murder trial would receive thousands of dollars in reward money for her testimony, Johnson’s attorneys say. Now a Birmingham judge must decide whether their argument has merit. Lauren Gill
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
California Man Charged With Murder Even Though He Didn’t Fire A Shot Last year, lawmakers repealed the felony murder rule, which allowed prosecutors to charge defendants with murders they didn‘t commit. Prosecutors are trying to overturn the new law, but AG Xavier Becerra believes that the reform should stand. Darwin BondGraham
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
When Cops Lie, Should Prosecutors Rely Upon Their Testimony At Trial? In California, Texas and Florida, advocates sent letters to district attorneys, demanding that they refuse to work with officers with histories of misconduct. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Pennsylvania Democrats Had a Chance to Reject Law Limiting Philly D.A.’s Authority Lawmakers say Republicans used deceptive tactics to pass the controversial bill. The legislative record tells a different story. Joshua Vaughn
In Alabama, Decades-Delayed Justice In A Double Homicide—Or A Brand New Injustice? Police in Ozark said they solved the 1999 murders of two teenage girls using a genealogy database. But Coley McCraney‘s attorneys say that the case against their client is far from certain. Lauren Gill
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
Pleading Guilty to Get Out of Jail The criminalization of poverty in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has led to a staggering increase in incarcerated people, all at a huge cost for defendants and taxpayers alike. Joshua Vaughn
Video Hearings: The Choice ‘Between Efficiency and Rights’ Many jurisdictions across the country use video instead of holding bail hearings in person, a practice that often leads to dire consequences. Bryce Covert
An Alabama Woman Got Pregnant While In Jail. She Has No Memory of Having Sex. Since 2017, LaToni Daniel has been incarcerated pretrial in a capital murder case. During that time, Daniel became pregnant, and she just delivered a baby boy. But as she brings in new life, she also faces the death penalty. Lauren Gill
‘Cage The Bastards’ Former prosecutor and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro inspires Trump’s rhetoric of dehumanization and incarceration. Kyle C. Barry
Alabama Woman Faces Life Sentence For Killing Man Who Allegedly Raped Her In 2018, Brittany Smith killed a man who she said brutally raped her. Smith was charged with murder and she now faces life in prison as well as challenges getting adequate treatment at a state psychiatric hospital. Lauren Gill
Sentenced To Life At 16 In Slaying Of Man Who She Said Pulled A Gun On Her In 1996, Michele Benjamin was sentenced to life without parole for killing a man who she said solicited her for sex and menaced her with a weapon in New Orleans. A Supreme Court decision led her to be re-sentenced to life with a chance at parole in 2016. Today, a parole hearing brings the possibility of freedom. Josie Duffy Rice
The ‘Failure to Appear’ Fallacy Prosecutors denounce bail reform efforts when people miss court dates, but ‘failure to appear’ rates obscure the fact that many who miss court aren’t on the run. Puck Lo, Ethan Corey
Pennsylvania Man Charged With Homicide Wasn’t Even Present When Victim Was Killed Darius Jacob Taylor wasn’t in the state when a robbery he was allegedly involved with ended in murder. But because of the felony murder rule, he’s charged with criminal homicide and faces life imprisonment. Joshua Vaughn
In a Pennsylvania County, Black Children Are Disproportionately Charged in Adult Court In 2016 and 2017, more than 80 percent of children charged as adults by the Allegheny County district attorney were Black. Joshua Vaughn
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
Advocates Say Brooklyn D.A.’s Office Is Prosecuting Transgender People In Self-Defense Cases Decision-making by prosecutors in such cases, says one attorney, ‘compounds, entrenches, and ultimately authorizes the initial act of violence by prosecuting the victim.’ Aviva Stahl
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Won’t Seek A Third Term. These Movements Are A Big Reason. Protesters blasting everything from punitive prosecutors to police brutality should be remembered for their role in upsetting the Windy City's political status quo. Kelly Hayes
In One Pennsylvania County, Rape Victims Rarely Find Justice Since 2015, police in Adams County have taken dozens of reports of rape, yet charges were filed in just two cases. Joshua Vaughn
In Washington State, It’s Nearly Impossible To Prosecute Police Killings This fall, however, an initiative goes to voters that would change the law on deadly force by the police, which has led to no officer there being convicted of wrongfully killing someone in the line of duty in more than 30 years. Mike Faulk
A Grand Jury Indicted An Alabama Police Officer For Murder. Then A Mayor Came To His Defense. Jeffery Parker was shot to death by a police officer in his Huntsville home. A grand jury handed up an indictment for murder, but the mayor and City Council appear to be throwing their support behind the officer. Lauren Gill
New York Woman Imprisoned For Defending Herself From Abuser Seeks Mercy Jacqueline Smalls was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a boyfriend whose ‘hands were his weapons.’ She now joins the ranks of criminalized survivors seeking clemency from Governor Cuomo. Victoria Law
Pennsylvania Prosecutors Pursue Charges For People Who Fall Behind On Rent-To-Own Payments The state’s “theft of leased property” statute allows prosecutors to seek felony charges for Pennsylvanians who miss payments on rental items. Joshua Vaughn
The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offenses—and sometimes, those with no conviction at all—to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence. Guy Hamilton-Smith
A New Rhode Island Law Allows For Life Sentences in Drug Overdoses Public health advocates are concerned that ‘Kristen's Law,’ meant to punish drug dealers, will criminalize users and fail to stem the opioid crisis. Abdullah Shihipar, Meghan Peterson
In New York, A Harm-Reduction Organization Is Leveraging Participatory Defense To Empower Its Clients Grassroots group VOCAL-NY is teaching people with substance use disorder how to avoid getting ensnared in the criminal justice system. Christopher Moraff
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
New Orleans Woman Sentenced to Life In Prison For Killing Abusive Husband Is Granted New Trial Catina Curley suffered physical abuse at the hands of her husband for more than a decade. When she turned a revolver on him, she was charged with murder and sentenced to life. Now, thanks to a court ruling, she has a chance at freedom. Josie Duffy Rice
A Pennsylvania Man Survived An Overdose Only To Be Charged With Homicide York County resident Aaron Hinds overdosed on heroin with a friend. The friend died, and Hinds now faces a 'drug delivery resulting in death' charge and a 40-year prison sentence. Joshua Vaughn
Pretrial Detainees Are Being Billed For Their Stay in Jail In jurisdictions across the country, people incarcerated before they've ever been convicted of a crime are charged a daily fee just for sitting in jail—and several courts have ruled that the practice is legal. Steven Hale
Prosecutors and Judges in Pennsylvania County Hammer Defendants in Low-Level Drug Cases In overdose-wracked Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a small-time dealer is denied bail, while the number of drug induced homicide cases has skyrocketed. Joshua Vaughn
Eric Holder May Be Considering a Presidential Run. But Has His Time Passed? As voters begin to realize that prosecutors in the world's most incarcerated nation may not be the best people to run the government, the era of the prosecutor politician could be on its way out. Chase Madar
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
No Mercy As worthy cases for clemency from Cyntoia Brown to Calvin Bryant mount in Tennessee, advocates decry the fact that a Tennessee governor hasn't commuted a prison sentence since 2011. Steven Hale
Will a $1 Million Grant To Fight Sexual Assault Change A DA’s Office Known for Jailing Rape Victims? The DOJ just gave $1 million to the New Orleans DA for rape kit testing, but advocates question whether real change can come to an office fighting allegations that it threatens, intimidates and jails rape and domestic violence victims. Meaghan Ybos
A Melee Broke Out On The Subway—and then the Bronx DA Prosecuted One Of Its Victims Walliris Velez thought the worst was behind her after she was slashed in a subway car, but then came an arrest and an attempted murder charge by the Bronx DA. George Joseph, Simon Davis-Cohen
Crime Victims Backing Philly DA Larry Krasner Don’t Want Tougher Sentences — They Want Fair Ones Maura Ewing
Rhode Island Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Faces an Unusual Foe: A Democratic Attorney General Daniel Denvir
Law Enforcement Takes Unearned Victory Lap for Capture of One of Their Own — The Golden State Killer Amelia McDonell-Parry
Lawyer for Pedro Hernandez Says Bronx DA’s Office Is Still Withholding Key Evidence Max Rivlin-Nadler
Meet The San Diego DA Who Seized On The Human Trafficking Panic to Become A Law Enforcement Superstar Melissa Gira Grant, Max Rivlin-Nadler
As Reform Stalls in New York, Defendants Plead Out Because They Can’t Afford Cash Bail Max Rivlin-Nadler
Exclusive: Leaked Police Interview Reveals Key Evidence That a Bronx Judge Has Barred in Upcoming Murder Trial Brian Solano spent over two years on Rikers Island before a potentially exonerating NYPD video interview was disclosed to his defense attorney. But that video is now being excluded from his June trial. Simon Davis-Cohen, George Joseph
In an Upstate New York Community Wracked by Overdoses, Prosecutor Pursues Users in Homicides Cases Zachary A. Siegel
A National Push For Victims’ Rights is Now Hitting Florida. But Critics Are Fighting Back. Meaghan Ybos
Eyewitness to Bronx Murder Alleges Prosecutorial Misconduct, Makes Eleventh-Hour Recantation But the witness may have flipped again, leaving the future of the conviction up in the air. Simon Davis-Cohen, George Joseph
Kim Foxx Just Released Six Years of Data — Most Prosecutors’ Offices Remain Black Boxes Josie Duffy Rice
San Antonio DA Nico LaHood, an Anti-Islam, Pro-Death Penalty Democrat, Faces Former Pal in Primary Alex Hannaford
Court Watch NYC Is Here To Hold New York City’s ‘Reformer’ District Attorneys Accountable Max Rivlin-Nadler
Protesting ICE Courthouse Arrests Doesn’t Get NYC Prosecutors Off the Hook for Everyday Injustice Nick Encalada-Malinowski
Louisiana Denies Parole to Man Behind a Supreme Court Ruling Limiting Life Sentences for Children Aviva Shen
New Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Hits Reset on the Office’s Troubled Conviction Review Unit Christopher Moraff
The False Promise of Bail Reform in Dallas County: Debate Continues While People Languish in Jail Rebecca McCray
Activists Fight Back After NYPD Turns Prosecutor To Avoid Civil Suits Max Rivlin-Nadler, Ashoka Jegroo
Why Prosecutors Keep Cheating: The Catherine Fuller Murder and the Failure of the Brady Rule Thomas Dybdahl
The Sentencing of Larry Nassar Was Not ‘Transformative Justice.’ Here’s Why. For those of us who believe our “justice” system must be transformed, moments such as this one are a test of conviction. Kelly Hayes, Mariame Kaba
The Trials of Keith Davis, Jr: How Baltimore Prosecutors Pursued a Police Shooting Victim Brandon Soderberg
Another death sentence overturned in Las Vegas due to prosecutors racial bias. This case was always about race,” defense attorney said. Larry Hannan
#ByeCy: Organizers call for embattled Manhattan D.A.’s resignation A movement to oust Cyrus Vance gains steam.
Goodbye Tent City; Philly’s Newspaper Makes A Crazy Endorsement; Oops — ICE’s Manual Tells Too Much … and more Matt Henry
Why Would Prosecutors Refuse DNA Testing? In this Oregon capital case, it could ensure that the state doesn’t execute the wrong man. Jessica Pishko
Like during the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful NFL protesters have exposed the mean-spirited bigotry of America Shaun King
Underage teenager faces life as registered sex offender for having sex with underage girlfriend Larry Hannan
Criminal cover up in St. Louis reveals “frighteningly close relationship between police and prosecutors” Larry Hannan
Contra Costa County will stop forcing families to pay for incarcerated kids The decision was unanimous. Carimah Townes
Allegations of police corruption in Chicago present a big opportunity for Kim Foxx Who is she accountable to? Carimah Townes
Ex-DA faces suspension after failing to disclose that cop planted evidence in murder case Larry Hannan
Portland is saying goodbye to its controversial gang database Police say the tool is outdated. Carimah Townes
Judge throws out “satanic” murder convictions after new evidence suggests two men weren’t killers Larry Hannan
Colorado death penalty case challenged after prosecutor bragged about his involvement “I was your worst nightmare.”
San Francisco wants safe injection sites. Law enforcement stands in its way. There are approximately 22,000 intravenous drug users in the city. Carimah Townes
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
Louisiana mother faces jail time for her children’s alleged crimes A district attorney wants to solve crime by breaking up families. Carimah Townes
Shoplifting from Wal-Mart can get you 12 years of prison time in Tennessee The price of shoplifting at Wal-Mart isn’t always low. Carimah Townes
California prosecutor punished a second time for conduct in prosecuting high profile child molestation case Larry Hannan
County attorney drops eight criminal cases due to an illegal search by New Jersey cops The officers’ credibility is under fire. Carimah Townes
Reform candidates come under attack in Contra Costa County District Attorney selection process Larry Hannan
California’s district attorneys at odds with voters over criminal justice reform District attorneys want to keep an outdated system alive. Carimah Townes
Honolulu prosecutor criticized for prosecuting woman who accused major campaign donor of sex discrimination Larry Hannan
