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On the hook to repay $1.3 billion of debt this year, the nation’s largest prison telecom company, Securus, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Its failure would represent a remarkable victory for advocates—and a potential beginning of the end for the industry as we know it.
According to (admittedly flawed) FBI data, the U.S. is about as safe as it’s ever been. So why is tough-on-crime rhetoric on the rise?
Lorenzo Johnson, a former boxer, quoted Muhammad Ali in his fight against his wrongful conviction. After reading Johnson’s writing, one of Ali’s children, Khaila, demands that Pennsylvania’s governor clear Johnson’s name.
Alabama plans to execute Kenneth Smith next month by suffocating him with nitrogen. But the new method is untested—since I’m supposed to be in the room with Kenny when he dies, the state has warned me I might die too.
Poor educational opportunities in youth prisons lead to reduced earnings and increased unemployment later in life.
Georgia prosecutors have launched a first-of-its-kind racketeering case against 61 people, ranging from visitors arrested at a music festival to bail fund organizers. The mass-arraignment on November 6 showed just how much of an insane, unconscionable mess the case really is.
States can now use federal funds to ensure that people leaving prison have access to healthcare. But states first need to apply to join the program.
In response to systemic abuse, neglect, and secrecy inside New York prisons, state legislators Julia Salazar and Danny O’Donnell have introduced a bill to establish a state Office of the Correctional Ombudsman to investigate and report on correctional facilities.
By signing the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act into law, Governor Kathy Hochul can set a model of good policy for other progressive states seeking to serve as a bulwark against the conservative Supreme Court.
A controversial death in Los Angeles this year underscores the broader failure of law enforcement agencies to keep accurate data on people who die in their custody.
After a carjacking, I had to navigate a chaotic patchwork of resources in search of support. To heal, I would take recovery into my own hands.
New York families are organizing to require caseworkers to give parents a Miranda-like warning informing them of their rights in so-called “child welfare” investigations.
The severe restrictions I face while on supervision effectively serve as a ban on stable housing. The terms of this arrangement have left me technically homeless, forced to live in a motel.
In Illinois alone, around 500 people are currently serving first-degree felony murder sentences for killings they did not commit themselves or intend to commit. Reform efforts must consider past injustices as well as future abuses.
Our legal system focuses on punishing those who cause harm without considering what victims need, a former prosecutor writes.
A criminal-legal reporter ventures into Night Court—the cringy sitcom reboot and the real courtroom in Manhattan.
New “domestic terror” laws will do little to stop gun violence in America, but may pacify suburban white voters.
As politicians look to build public support for homeless encampment sweeps, they’re using tactics popularized in LA—the site of one of the nation’s most intense battles over the unhoused.
The U.S. must close its congregate care facilities and fully fund community-based alternatives for kids with mental-health issues.
In the raucous debate over bail reform, simple facts have fallen out of sight.
An incarcerated writer reflects on what her “going home” story will look like when home no longer exists.
Reporters who parrot corporate claims of out-of-control theft play into a narrative that benefits big business and perpetuates carceral policies.
This budget season, Philadelphia must hold our law enforcement accountable for their failures by redirecting resources to strategies that can help us.
Creating a commission and a new deputy mayor of housing will give directly impacted people a much-needed voice in government—and help ensure a right to housing for all.
Shelters are not meeting people’s needs, and the city is clearing encampments, says City Councilmember Roberto Treviño.
The Santa Clara County district attorney’s name has been floated for the role of the state’s top prosecutor despite his use of the death penalty against people of color.
Biden’s American Rescue Plan is a start, but more public investment is needed to address racial inequality in the labor market.
A common sense cost-benefit analysis of pretrial detention.
Getting convicted of a “minor offense” inflicts serious, long-term harm. The state can and must divert more people to counseling, group meetings, or other interventions.
It’s time for congressional Republicans to listen.
The U.S. representative has been a chief architect of mass incarceration in the state and an instigator of racial injustice.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency is responsible for ensuring the safety, soundness, and broad accessibility of financial institutions. President Biden must choose someone to lead the agency who brings expertise and relevant lived experience to the job.
The intense backlash to his recent comments criticizing $2,000 stimulus checks signal the growing momentum for guaranteed income programs—and the emerging power of voters who care more about substantive results than partisan skirmishes.
The percentage of people held pretrial for six months or longer is up six percent from January of last year, according to a UCLA School of Law report.
The California Supreme Court Justice is motivated not by politics but by making equal justice under the law a reality for all Californians.
Americans largely support progressive policies—despite objections from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Now is the time to pass them.
By appointing a reformer to replace the outgoing Xavier Becerra, Newsom has the chance to begin dismantling a sprawling, bloated system of prisons and jails that incarcerated nearly a quarter-million people as of 2018.
The historical connections were on full display during Wednesday’s violence at the Capitol.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for us to ignore this any longer.