After Years Locked up for Stealing Cold Medicine, Reginald Randolph Is Released Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jan 25, 2022
COVID-19 is Spreading Faster Than Ever. Jail Populations are Surging, Too Jerry Iannelli Feb 03, 2021
There Are Too Many Prosecutors On the Bench. Take It From Me, a Prosecutor Sarah Fair George Jan 08, 2021
Supreme Court’s Decision To Bar Restrictions On Religious Services In New York Is An Ominous Sign Leah Litman Dec 09, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett’s Record on Criminal Justice Is ‘Deeply Troubling,’ Reform Advocates Say Joshua Vaughn Oct 22, 2020
Reform Advocates Want To Oust Illinois Judge Who Fought To Detain Young Children Kira Lerner Oct 16, 2020
Abolish The Filibuster And Pack The Court The stakes could not be higher following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Jay Willis | September 18, 2020
Virtual Hearings Have Created A ‘Caste System’ In America’s Courts Precautions meant to minimize the spread of COVID-19—like remote hearings by video conferencing—have drastically changed the way people experience the judicial process, leaving some at a distinct disadvantage. Elizabeth Brico | July 31, 2020
Racial Disparity Among Prosecutors and Trial Judges Translates to Unequal Justice, Activists Say Studies show that 95 percent of the nation’s prosecutors are white and that the lack of Black and brown representation in courts negatively affect outcomes for people of color. Dawn R. Wolfe | July 24, 2020
New York City Public Defenders Oppose Resuming In-Person Court Appearances The advocates describe the reopening as unsafe and unnecessary amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Gelardi | July 23, 2020
A National Evictions Cliff Is Coming. America’s Failing Legal System Will Make It Worse COVID-19 is disproportionately putting Black and Latinx people at higher risk of eviction, fueling a housing crisis that is already in progress. Jay Willis | July 14, 2020
Requiring a Bar Exam in 2020 Perpetuates Systemic Inequities in the Legal System Prioritizing bar examiners’ gatekeeping function during a pandemic and economic crisis means putting aspiring lawyers at risk and making it harder for nonwhite and low-income people to enter the legal profession. Lauren Hutton-Work, Rae Guyse July 6, 2020
New Orleans Judge Steered People to Wear Ankle Monitors From Company Run by Campaign Donors, Lawsuit Says Judge Paul Bonin improperly required people who appeared in his courtroom to purchase ankle monitors from a private company run by one of his former law partners, a lawsuit says. Ko Bragg | June 30, 2020
Georgia Budget Cuts Threaten Prisoners’ Ability To Challenge Convictions Citing the pandemic, state legislators asked all agencies to trim their budgets. The cuts could eliminate positions for public defenders who can show a trial or sentence was unjust, overturn convictions, or reduce a person’s time. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | June 24, 2020
The Supreme Court’s War on Miranda Rights in America For decades, the Court has been carving out generous exceptions and crafting new rules that limit the Miranda warning’s real-world impact. Jay Willis | June 23, 2020
Judges Must Also Be Centered In Demands To Defund And Divest From Mass Criminalization Calls to defund the police must also be accompanied with divesting power and discretion from judges. Gina Clayton-Johnson | June 17, 2020
Despite COVID-19 Cases, Mississippi Is Slow to Review Jail Populations For Release The state’s public defender asked the state Supreme Court in April to speed up reviews of people held pretrial, but advocates say it’s unclear if district courts have complied. Ko Bragg | May 28, 2020
Sluggish LA County Courts Are Leaving Young People Locked Up During the Pandemic While adults in the county have been granted expedited release in groups, the juvenile court continues to review cases individually. LJ Dawson | May 6, 2020
The Public Health Risks of Jailing People for Poverty In Hillsborough County, Florida, the jail population is bloated by cash bail, fines, and fees, perpetuating health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | May 4, 2020
The Supreme Court Buys Into Donald Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Fearmongering Using language evoking pernicious stereotypes about immigration and crime, the Court’s conservative majority clears the way for the Trump administration to deport legal permanent residents for crimes committed long ago. Jay Willis | April 29, 2020
Judges Are Exploiting the COVID-19 Pandemic to Advance the Conservative Agenda A trio of cases in Wisconsin and Texas illustrates how Republican judges are feigning helplessness in the face of a public health crisis while furthering their own ends. Jay Willis | April 22, 2020
The Supreme Court Just Struck Down the Last State Law Allowing Split Jury Verdicts Ramos v. Louisiana is a long-overdue affirmation of the constitutional rights of criminal defendants—and sets the stage for dramatic Supreme Court fights in the years ahead. Jay Willis | April 20, 2020
Colorado Supreme Court Fails To Protect State Residents As Coronavirus Grows ‘Exponentially’ In Jails People behind bars are too often forgotten and treated as expendable. We cannot afford to forget them. Our shared survival and shared humanity demand action. Aya Gruber, Benjamin Levin April 17, 2020
California Makes Major Bail Change To Slow the Spread of Coronavirus In Jails Bail will be set at $0 for most misdemeanors and low-level felony offenses. Kira Lerner | April 6, 2020
As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Panic and Confusion at Immigration Courts Across The U.S. Lawyers, judges, and advocates for migrant children wonder what it will take to close all 69 immigration courts. ‘I hope that it won’t take a death, but I worry that it will,’ one lawyer said. Liz Robbins | April 3, 2020
Closing California Courts Won’t Prevent A COVID-19 Crisis in Jails Los Angeles County judges must move quickly to release a broad group of people in custody. Alicia Virani | April 2, 2020
In California, Coronavirus Threatens Due Process Delaying trials will mean more people stay in jail while a life-threatening disease spreads throughout the state. Kyle C. Barry | April 1, 2020
Coronavirus Raises Questions On How To Meet Court-Ordered Obligations Many programs for people on parole, probation, or supervision take place in group settings—the exact opposite of what public health officials are recommending in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. Elizabeth Brico | March 27, 2020
New York City Courts Still Dangerous For Spread of Coronavirus, Public Defenders Say While those facing charges appear by video at arraignments, all others—attorneys, officers, the judge—are in the courtroom in close quarters, defense attorneys say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 20, 2020
A Federal District Court in Ohio Delays All Trials Because of Coronavirus Judicial responses to the pandemic have varied and are changing rapidly. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | March 13, 2020
