Victims

Our legal system focuses on punishing those who cause harm without considering what victims need, a former prosecutor writes.

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. In 2014, Morgan Godvin’s best friend, Justin DeLong, experienced a fatal drug overdose. She had sold him the heroin he used. The next night, police officers raided […]

Alternative approaches to rehabilitation and healing still face resistance, even though the criminal legal system’s reliance on punishment has done little to move the needle on addressing sexual violence.

In a letter to the sentencing judge, the Minnesota representative called for compassion toward the man who pleaded guilty to threatening to kill her.

Attorney General William Barr has ordered the resumption of executions by the federal government. Five executions were scheduled for December and January before a federal appeal court granted a stay in the case of Lezmond Mitchell.

This November, Ohio voters will consider a ballot measure that, if approved, will add new crime victim protections to the state constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment is called the Ohio Crime Victims Bill of Rights or Marsy’s Law. It is based on a similar victims rights bill enacted in California in 2008, named for Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas, a University […]