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Medical examiners and cover-ups

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Medical examiners and cover-ups Baltimore’s ‘eye in the sky’ plane is back with a new pitch: surveil the police An execution scheduled in South Dakota today makes a mockery of constitutional protections A sheriff blocks get-out-the-vote efforts Prison Legal News seeks Supreme Court review of Florida’s ban Detroit police seized […]

New York’s long-overdue ‘Raise the Age’ law will protect 16- and 17-year-olds from Rikers Island, but not upstate prison

What you’ll read today Spotlight: New York’s long-overdue ‘Raise the Age’ law will protect 16- and 17-year-olds from Rikers Island, but not upstate prison The Appeal Podcast Episode 19: Prison strikes are the front line against mass incarceration Georgia mayor plans to round up paroled sex offenders while kids trick or treat North Carolina county’s […]

How Amazon and other tech giants became crucial enablers of Trump’s immigration and law enforcement agenda

What you’ll read today Spotlight: How Amazon and other tech giants became crucial enablers of Trump’s immigration and law enforcement agenda Program meant to fight terrorism and narcotrafficking is being used to target the undocumented community Advocates say Brooklyn DA’s office is prosecuting transgender people in self-defense cases ICE arrested a man after he testified […]

People laughed when Kanye called for abolishing the ‘trap door’ in the 13th Amendment; now Coloradans are voting on theirs

What you’ll read today Spotlight: People laughed when Kanye called for abolishing the ‘trap door’ in the 13th Amendment; now Coloradans are voting on theirs This Florida county’s sheriff is controversial. But his election won’t be close Lawsuit: Manhattan DA’s office tracks cops with credibility problems, but refuses to release its list USDA quietly funds rural […]

Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative could ‘deal a blow’ to mass incarceration

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative could ‘deal a blow’ to mass incarceration In Alabama, Black people are 4 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession Washington Supreme Court bars life sentences for minors But Illinois Supreme Court upholds life sentence for 18-year-old Dashboard camera footage […]

Why many aren’t cheering for officers who don’t shoot civilians

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Why many aren’t cheering for officers who don’t shoot civilians Man convicted of obstruction for refusing to open his door to police Mother’s lawsuit says Oklahoma prison failed to prevent her daughter’s death New York prosecutors sue to prevent oversight Recent police killing hits close to home for Silicon Valley […]

Could voting out judges end mass incarceration?

What you’ll read today Spotlight:  Voting out judges to end mass incarceration Is Orange County DA candidate sending mixed signals on jail phone company’s contract? Charlotte district attorney says he won’t stop prosecuting panhandlers Former probation commissioners call for an end to marijuana testing Michigan police place a 12-year-old in handcuffs Allegation that Virginia prison […]

Missouri’s parole board can no longer ignore the rehabilitation of people sentenced to juvenile life without parole

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Missouri’s parole board can no longer ignore the rehabilitation of people sentenced to juvenile life without parole Introducing the ‘Appeal: Political Report’ website Secretive campus cops patrol already overpoliced neighborhoods People charged with illegal entry posting bail, but judges find new ways to deny freedom Women in prison punished more […]

The community and care that people in prison offer one another

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Community behind the prison walls At Angola Prison, ‘People are suffering. People are dying’ Cash bail yields a new casualty Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from Florida prisons Dangerous and illegal drug raids by Little Rock, Arkansas, police Canadian pension fund’s investment in US private prison companies keeps growing Autopsy […]

Washington State’s death penalty ruled racially biased, unconstitutional

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Washington State’s death penalty ruled racially biased, unconstitutional Prisons crack down on an opioid treatment, endangering lives The Appeal Podcast Episode 18: How activists brought down the most powerful man in Chicago Ohio voters have a chance to ‘deal a blow’ to mass incarceration this November Massachusetts court throws out […]

Join rapper Common as he bails out a stranger

Special Edition Join rapper Common as he bails out a stranger It was nearly 1 p.m. last Wednesday, and Common, the 46-year-old rapper, actor, and criminal justice reform advocate, stood on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, smiling nervously. He wore subtly tapered black pants, gray laceless sneakers, and a fashionable auburn T-shirt. Kerry Kennedy, the president of […]

Time to fight for better judges in criminal court, too

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Time to fight for better judges in criminal court, too Suit filed by strip club workers in Columbus sheds light on troubled vice squad One year after Cook County’s bail reform, court watchers say things are getting worse Tennessee man set for execution says he prefers electric chair over lethal […]

The blue wall of silence came up for the cop who killed Laquan McDonald

What you’ll read today Spotlight: The blue wall of silence came up for the cop who killed Laquan McDonald The Appeal Podcast Episode 17: The cruelty of felony murder laws An Alabama prosecutor locked up four teens for a murder they didn’t commit. Now he’s trying two more. San Francisco police sued over undercover drug arrests that […]

‘Burned alive. On fire. Choking on toxic fumes’: Being pepper sprayed in prison

What you’ll read today Spotlight:  ‘Burned alive. On fire. Choking on toxic fumes’: Being pepper sprayed in prison After Pittsburgh decriminalizes pot, Black people are still disproportionately charged with possession After jail deaths, judge will not set cash bail for people charged with nonviolent offenses Sergeant who recorded attorney-client conversations faces felony charges An argument […]

Locking up mothers in Oklahoma

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Locking up mothers in Oklahoma Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won’t seek a third term. These movements are a big reason NYC prosecutors are stoking fear about the mass bailout, but their arguments don’t add up San Francisco’s DA will not seek re-election Plans to create Philadelphia’s first safe consumption site, […]

In new video game, Spider-Man helps the cops beat up drug dealers

What you’ll read today Spotlight: In new video game, Spider-Man helps the cops beat up drug dealers Claims of racism and brutality dog Los Angeles County Sheriff ‘deputy gangs’ Parents fight for daughter after ‘pervasive and egregious’ violations by family court volunteers California laws end era of secrecy around police misconduct Phase one of New […]

What Kavanaugh Could Learn About Criminal Justice From Yesterday’s Ordeal

What you’ll read today Spotlight: What Kavanaugh could learn about criminal justice from yesterday’s ordeal House of cards The Appeal Podcast Episode 16: Why police accountability is as elusive as ever Museum of Broken Windows expresses the pain inflicted by policing Proposed bills would impose oversight on NYPD Mistrial in Texas police shooting of fleeing unarmed Black man In the Spotlight What Kavanaugh should learn about criminal justice […]

What Kavanaugh should learn about criminal justice from yesterday’s ordeal

What you’ll read today Spotlight: What Kavanaugh should learn about criminal justice from yesterday’s ordeal House of cards The Appeal Podcast Episode 16: Why police accountability is as elusive as ever Museum of Broken Windows expresses the pain inflicted by policing Proposed bills would impose oversight on NYPD Mistrial in Texas police shooting of fleeing […]

Advocates score rare victory as Virginia prisons back down from tampon ban

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Advocates score rare victory as Virginia prisons back down from tampon ban ‘Will I get out today?’ Justice in America Episode 10: A Conversation With Ta-Nehisi Coates Trump administration quietly authorized new restraining devices to be used on immigration detainees Attorney accused of exploiting wrongfully convicted, mentally disabled brothers Prosecutor […]

As overdose deaths climb, Arizona fills prisons with people charged with low-level drug offenses

What you’ll read today Spotlight: As overdose deaths climb, Arizona fills prisons with people charged with low-level drug offenses Pennsylvania prisons hired a private company to intercept and store prisoners’ mail Capital punishment in the United States: Explained Police chief fires Dallas officer who killed unarmed man in his own apartment 18 exonerations in Chicago […]

The limits on justice for Native women and girls

What you’ll read today Spotlight: The limits on justice for Native women and girls Inside NY courts where sex workers are ‘painted as victims and treated as criminals’ Federal judge orders Dallas to halt use of its cash bail system California DAs ask governor to veto reform bills Chicago groups win fight to ‘dump’ judge accused […]

Wrongful conviction reversed—thanks to Golf Digest

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Wrongful conviction reversed—thanks to Golf Digest In Washington State, it’s nearly impossible to prosecute police killings The incalculable costs of mass incarceration The Appeal Podcast Episode 15: On the ground in Dallas’s high stakes DA race Democratic New Jersey sheriff confirms fears about law enforcement with racist remarks Massachusetts prosecutor […]

Those calling for forgiveness for Brett Kavanaugh are ignoring their own criminal justice system

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Those calling for forgiveness for Brett Kavanaugh are ignoring their own criminal justice system Facing lawsuit, NYPD changes how officers use sealed arrest data Justice in America Episode 9: How Democrats and Republicans created mass incarceration Chicago police commander who presided over torture and misconduct dies at 70 NYPD sued […]

Envisioning an end to ‘death by incarceration’

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Envisioning an end to ‘death by incarceration’ Curtis Brooks didn’t kill anyone. So why is he labeled a murderer for life? Texas DA who sent woman to prison for five years for voting made her own election mistake One year after Cook County bail reform, the number of people in […]

When will Governor Cuomo act to end racism in his corrections department?

What you’ll read today Spotlight: When will Governor Cuomo act to end racism in his corrections department? Public defenders say New York’s new policy to reduce marijuana arrests doesn’t go far enough Day 1 of murder trial for officer who killed Laquan McDonald Boys spend months in solitary confinement at a Montana youth prison Memphis […]

How police and media portrayals demonize Black victims of police violence

What you’ll read today Spotlight: How police and media portrayals demonize Black victims of police violence ‘Safer to leave them there’: Why non-evacuation of prisoners during hurricanes is a political decision Ohio state rep: If police tase or shoot a child, she probably acted ‘stupid,’ or was a ‘punk.’ Trial of police officer who killed […]

Boston’s DA nominee embraces the next frontier of criminal justice reforms: declining cases

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Boston’s DA nominee embraces the next frontier of criminal justice reforms: declining cases The Appeal Podcast Episode 14: The Prison-to-School Pipeline Safe injection sites are on the way. But will prosecutions follow? Just 6% of Columbus police officers account for half of all use-of-force reports California report details just how […]

In a new genre of criminal justice programming, incarcerated people are the creators

What you’ll read today Spotlight: In a new genre of criminal justice programming, incarcerated people are the creators Justice in America Episode 8: Crimmigration In New York, most parolees can now vote—but many websites say they can’t Ohio state representative blames 11-year-old girl for getting tased by cop In NYC, turnstile jumping arrests down, but […]

As hurricane nears, South Carolina won’t evacuate over 900 prisoners in a red zone

What you’ll read today Spotlight: As hurricane nears, South Carolina won’t evacuate over 900 prisoners in a red zone Man sentenced as ‘career criminal’ gets his first chance at freedom in 48 years Deported before his case was closed Florida voters might lose their chance to reduce incarceration levels Scholar argues to fix, not eliminate, […]

In Chicago, organizers say #ByeRahm and chart a course for the future

What you’ll read today Spotlight: In Chicago, organizers say #ByeRahm and chart a course for the future Queens prosecutor: Kalief Browder’s suicide wasn’t about Rikers A grand jury indicted an Alabama police officer for murder. Then a mayor came to his defense Prisons turn to solitary confinement to punish participants in the national prison strike […]

A police officer and his union defended the arrest and tasing of an 11-year-old girl

What you’ll read today Spotlight:  A police officer and his union defended the arrest and tasing of an 11-year-old girl How decriminalizing sex work became a campaign issue in 2018 A new power for prosecutors is on the horizon—reducing harsh sentences Dallas police officer arrested three days after fatal shooting of Botham Shem Jean Harris […]

Officer who killed Laquan McDonald wants a venue change—and is more likely to get one than the people he’s arrested

What you’ll read today Spotlight: Officer who killed Laquan McDonald wants a venue change—and is more likely to get one than the people he’s arrested ‘Just let him kick’: Lawsuits allege that a private Tennessee prison neglected diabetic prisoners Louisiana attorney general may run for governor by fear-mongering over criminal justice The Appeal Podcast Episode […]

We never seem to see the headline: ‘Native-born American arrested’

What you’ll read today Spotlight: We never seem to see the headline: ‘Native-born American arrested’ Justice in America Episode 7: The new progressive prosecutors? New York woman imprisoned for defending herself from abuser seeks clemency ‘There’s an all-out manhunt’: A strike organizer speaks from prison ACLU releases blueprints for reducing mass incarceration New season of […]

The success of the 2018 prison strike will depend on us

What you’ll read today Spotlight: The success of the 2018 prison strike will depend on us Did prosecutors use a ‘cheat sheet’ to strike black jurors in North Carolina death penalty case? The endless punishment of civil commitment Pennsylvania prosecutors pursue charges for people who fall behind on rent-to-own payments Boston DA candidate who vowed […]

A progressive Democrat wins the Florida governor primary and calls for ‘real criminal justice reform’

What you’ll read today Spotlight: A progressive Democrat wins the Florida governor primary and calls for ‘real criminal justice reform’ As national prison strike continues, incarcerated people face retaliation Two measures for police transparency pass California legislature Jail staff let a woman in withdrawal die of seizures In Dallas County, bail is set in a matter […]

What if John McCain had been a prisoner in this country?

What you’ll read today Spotlight: What if John McCain had been a prisoner in this country? ‘We thought it was important to knock down doors.’ Columbus officer was under investigation when he shot and killed Donna Dalton Kavanaugh gutted habeas rights for detainees St. Louis prosecutor won’t work with certain cops anymore South Carolina city profits […]