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.
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.
16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session.
Our response to crime should focus on healing and accountability, not punishment and retribution.
At 16, Larry Rosser was imprisoned for killing a woman who sexually and physically abused him. He served 22 years in the California prison system before being released in 2017, after parole commissioners became convinced he was a rehabilitated victim.
A statewide pattern of discrimination in jury selection has gone largely uncorrected, while lives remain in the balance, advocates say.
The 2020 presidential candidates recently unveiled national criminal justice agendas that reimagine public safety and punishment.
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.
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Last week, San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan reported that a 57-year-old man has become the first person freed under a new law that lets prosecutors review […]
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.
In California, Texas and Florida, advocates sent letters to district attorneys, demanding that they refuse to work with officers with histories of misconduct.
Lawmakers say Republicans used deceptive tactics to pass the controversial bill. The legislative record tells a different story.
Editor’s Note: The Daily Appeal is occasionally examining the 2020 presidential contenders’ records, platforms, and rhetoric on issues relating to criminal justice. You can find past installments here. An article by Campbell Robertson in the New York Times today looks at the case of Angelo Robinson, in prison in Ohio since 1997 for the murder of […]
The backlash is underway against a recent wave of prosecutors who champion criminal justice reform. Here are some methods of attack.
A new DA in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, is treating the overdose crisis as a criminal matter rather than a community health issue.
The office of Paul Howard supported early release for a woman convicted of armed robbery. But a judge and advocates questioned the move since thousands of others don’t get that consideration.
What if Justice Roberts gave criminal defendants do-overs like he did for the Trump administration?
The California county has a thin blue line that appears to protect not just the police, but also the DA’s office, criminal justice advocates say.
“I had stared at death before. I was way too familiar with the vagaries of murder.” So begins “Deadfall,” a novel written by celebrity prosecutor Linda Fairstein. She continues: “I had seen it flex its muscles on the cracked pavement of New York City sidewalks and behind grimy stairwells in housing projects. I knew that […]
Four women leave water and food in a place where desperately hungry and thirsty people are likely to find them. The hope is to save lives. Others come along and, sneering, pour out the water. One, laughing, calls it “trash.” Another kicks the jugs, violently. A video capturing these acts on several occasions between 2010 and […]
Records show Kim Ogg’s office appeared to misrepresent felony prosecutor caseloads in its $21 million budget request.
Prosecutors are supremely powerful and have played an outsize role in mass incarceration. What can be done?
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.
The ACLU of Arizona is suing Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s office over its alleged lack of transparency.
‘The bill forces attorneys to choose between violating our ethical mandates or going to jail for following them.’
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.
In a wide-ranging interview, Boudin, a progressive reform candidate, told The Appeal he wants to redefine ‘public safety’ to encompass the rights of both victims and defendants.
A series of electoral victories signals a nationwide shift.
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.
A new report details Alabama’s “War on Marijuana” ahead of a key DA election.
Since 2015, police in Adams County have taken dozens of reports of rape, yet charges were filed in just two cases.
Despite a 2015 Supreme Court ruling limiting the mandatory minimum law, few people are seeing relief.
Legislation in California would provide a direct route to resentencing, and a new tool for activists.
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.
The ‘plea fee’ stems from a state law passed in the 1980s and can cost nearly $200, depending on the county.
Josie and Clint talk with the artist about criminal justice reform and his #FREEAMERICA campaign.
With journalist Jessica Pishko.
A podcast from The Appeal, featuring Josie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith.
His opponent in Tuesday’s primary helped establish new police accountability and court reforms in Ferguson after the police shooting of Michael Brown.
Unfortunately for millions of Americans, only one case matters: Trump’s.