D.C. Violates ADA By Sending Police to Mental Health Crises: ACLU
A new lawsuit alleges that the city is discriminating against people with mental health disabilities by continuing to send armed officers to mental health calls.
Meg O'Connor Jul 06, 2023
A Lonely Child Finds His Way Out of Abuse and Homelessness, It Lands Him Behind Bars
First in a three-part series on a teenager with a tumultuous childhood sent to die in prison, and where his life would lead. The following narrative was compiled from interviews and court records.
Sylvia A. Harvey Jan 30, 2023
‘Rage Induced Policing’: Hacked Documents Reveal D.C. Police’s Aggressive Robbery Crackdowns
Internal emails and their attachments show that a roving Metropolitan Police Department unit attempted to suppress robberies in 2012 and 2013 by stopping and frisking and surveilling residents of Black neighborhoods.
Chris Gelardi Dec 06, 2021
‘Let Me See That Waistband’
A veteran D.C. police officer says the Metropolitan Police Department’s Gun Recovery Unit deploys illegitimate tactics in a war on guns that have fostered an adversarial relationship between the department and the communities they are supposed to serve.
Brandon Soderberg Apr 14, 2021
D.C. May Give People Convicted As Young Adults A Chance At Resentencing
The D.C. Council is set to vote on a bill aimed at giving people who committed serious crimes before their 25th birthday an opportunity to petition a judge for resentencing.
Meg O'Connor Dec 14, 2020
The Limitations of Police ‘No Chase’ Policies
Two moped riders were left dead or injured after recent police pursuits in Washington, D.C., and Providence, Rhode Island.
Ella Fassler Dec 02, 2020
3 Transformational Candidates That the Working Families Party Is Excited About
The party’s national director tells The Appeal about candidates in New York, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico that the WFP would like to see oust the establishment.
Joshua Vaughn Oct 28, 2020
Closure of D.C.’s Only Men’s Halfway House Leaves Residents Scrambling For A Safe Place To Live
The Bureau of Prisons could send those without homes to alternative halfway houses far from D.C. or back to prison at the end of the month.
Kira Lerner Apr 23, 2020
Washington, D.C. Continues Low-level Arrests Amid Pandemic
The Metropolitan Police Department has discussed reducing arrests, but it has not formally announced any policy changes.
Jon Campbell Mar 18, 2020
Potential Second Chances For Prisoners In D.C.
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, Washington D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B voted unanimously to pass a resolution in favor of the city’s proposed second-look bill, which would let incarcerated people who committed […]
Sarah Lustbader Sep 26, 2019
The First Beneficiary of a Sentence Review Unit Walks Free
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 […]
Sarah Lustbader Aug 08, 2019
D.C. Shows Mercy For People Who Committed Crimes As Children, But Prosecutors Are Fighting Back
U.S. attorneys in D.C. have opposed the resentencing of all 14 people who have petitioned for early release under a local law.
Kira Lerner May 23, 2019