What you’ll read today Spotlight: What making PACER free could mean for people in prison The Appeal Podcast: How police unions are fighting California’s new transparency law Over 200 people went on hunger strike after months on lockdown at California prison 11-year old arrested after refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance Solitary confinement: ‘I equate […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: ‘This is not the only way’: County commissioners reject Houston prosecutor’s proposal to solve problems with more law enforcement ICE-friendly policies. A string of jail deaths. Why does this sheriff keep getting elected? Police policy for sale Justice in America Episode 15: Crime, justice, and the media Virginia judges and police are blocking […]
Special Edition: The Contenders Editor’s Note: In the coming months, the Daily Appeal will occasionally examine the 2020 presidential contenders’ records, platforms, and rhetoric on issues relating to criminal justice. You can find past installments here. Amy Klobuchar will not be a criminal justice ally until she reckons with her past When Kamala Harris, a […]
What you’ll read today Oakland’s renowned school restorative justice program is in jeopardy Bail activist jailed for trying to help when cops confronted man in mental health crisis Prison tech company is questioned for retaining ‘voice prints’ of people presumed innocent Harris County, home of Houston, says no to 102 new prosecutors Federal judge says Alabama prisons […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Cindy McCain and the moral panic over human trafficking I arrested a man on marijuana charges. Then he took his own life. Sentenced to life at 16 in slaying of man who she said pulled a gun on her Prosecutors should support juvenile justice law, not challenge it, professor argues […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Punitiveness of the sex offender registry ‘negates public safety justification,’ Michigan AG says DA who ran as a reformer says she needs 100 more prosecutors Corizon, the prison healthcare giant, stumbles again Arizona cops tased a father 11 times in front of his children Three prosecutors roll out more lenient […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Tennessee Republicans try to strip Nashville police oversight board of its subpoena power Iowa moves toward expanding voting rights. But it may require a ‘modern-day poll tax’ The Appeal Podcast: A pattern of jail deaths in western New York—and across the country. Supreme Court allows Alabama to deny request for […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: On facial recognition technology, can we regulate our way to safety? Suffolk County D.A. Rachael Rollins’s office is still prosecuting cases she pledged to drop How a no-knock raid in Austin turned into a lethal shootout Justice in America Episode 14: Judicial Elections Why do we ask for prosecutorial input […]
Special Edition: The Contenders Editor’s Note: In the coming months, the Daily Appeal will occasionally examine the 2020 presidential contenders’ records, platforms, and rhetoric on issues relating to criminal justice. You can find past installments here. Will Cory Booker continue talking about second chances for people convicted of violent crimes? Matthew Charles of Nashville, Tennessee, was […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: How ‘the evil of banality’ may have enabled a humanitarian crisis at a Brooklyn jail ‘I’ve made my share of wrongs, but I haven’t killed no one.’ Scotland may ban sentences below one year New report says drug prohibition drives poverty and crime in Brazil and India South Carolina law […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: The limitations of trainings for ending police abuse Family of Donna Dalton, who was shot by a Columbus police officer during arrest, demands independent inquiry Memphis’s juvenile court plagued by ‘culture of intimidation’ and ‘blatantly unfair’ practices Attorneys ask federal judge to ‘intervene immediately’ in conditions at Brooklyn jail Oregon’s ‘progressive governor’ […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Kamala Harris’s slogan, ‘for the people,’ raises the question: Who really represents the people? ‘I feel the oxygen going out of my mouth’ Public defender tweeted that prosecutor was blocking defense investigation; an hour later, prosecutor backed down Jacksonville sheriff candidate discusses police accountability and inequities in arrests Baltimore prosecutor […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Beyond unhelpful: a few ways body cameras are making the system even more unfair for defendants Prisons across the U.S. are quietly building databases of incarcerated people’s voice prints Justice in America Episode 13: Juvenile Justice In run-up to polar vortex, Chicago prisoners shoveled snow outside, without coats ‘No Pie. No […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Is a total overhaul of parole and probation possible? New study finds body cameras aren’t objective witnesses In 1 Day, New Mexico prison had 2 suicides in solitary confinement San Francisco considering ban on government use of facial recognition technology While some sheriffs have been ending ICE cooperation, one Colorado […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Underfunded mental health treatment programs mean people wait for open spots from jail cells A prison strike in Minnesota actually got results Migrants say they pay for inclusion on ‘la lista’ to make border crossing Transgender woman arrested for giving birth name to police Judge says California prisons continue to use […]
Special Edition Patrice A. James is a founder of the Black Public Defender Association (BPDA). The association launched in November as a chapter of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. James was a public defender for nearly eight years, in the Bronx and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is now the director of community justice at the Sargent Shriver National Center on […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: The ‘lack of respect for human life’ in South Carolina’s prisons ‘The Sixth Amendment doesn’t shut down when the government does’ The Appeal Podcast: Debunking the stories about federal prisoners dining on steak New York City settles lawsuit over Kalief Browder’s death Trans woman moved out of men’s prison in […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Does the police ‘code of silence’ extend to judges and journalists? Justice in America Episode 12: The Criminalization of Poverty Expansion of the largest jail system in the United States must end Death row prisoner is tired of being defined by others Private-run immigration detention centers skimp on food, inflate commissary […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: In the face of an overdose epidemic, the Bronx DA rejects a harm reduction strategy and Governor Cuomo chooses inaction New York agency declines to help trans woman allegedly harassed by law enforcement St. Louis County is profiting off the ‘muni shuffle’ long after Ferguson protests Another chance at freedom […]
Special Edition Kamala Harris was a tough-on-crime prosecutor in a Black Lives Matter era Yesterday, a few Americans spent the day giving thought to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many took advantage of the holiday to relax. On morning television, Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, chose to invoke Dr. King’s legacy […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: New York can do more than adopt Texas’s discovery laws Years after protests, NYPD retains photos of Black Lives Matter activists Migrants endure brutal conditions at border encampments Victory for police officers’ ‘blue code of silence’ in Laquan McDonald case Letter to the editor: The legally mandated form of doxing A […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Mass injustice: Judge says breathalyzers cannot be used in Massachusetts until they are proved accurate Justice in America: Public Defenders on the Front Lines Barr seems no better than Sessions on criminal justice California’s controversial bail overhaul is delayed until 2020 Supreme Court says pickpocketing can be a violent felony, and […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: As an attorney general nominee is quizzed in Washington, federal prosecutors in Arizona argue that leaving water in the desert to save lives is a crime San Francisco deputy public defender Chesa Boudin announces run for district attorney Man charged with homicide for sharing drugs with woman who later died […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: The ethics of doxing and the politics of public shaming Moving away from ‘jail for everybody’ Cannabis alarmism hinders smart regulations Prisoners in federal jail go on hunger strike after shutdown interferes with visits, medical care Texas court grants last-minute stay of execution, citing changes in bite-mark science and laws […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: What to expect in Season 2 of ‘Justice in America’ If Cyntoia Brown can be released from prison, why not trafficking survivor Alexis Martin? ‘A Convenient Scapegoat’ Philadelphia narcotics officers coerced people into acting as confidential informants Texas prepares to execute Blaine Milam, convicted and sentenced to death on the […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: ‘Reefer Madness’ redux ignites pursuit of victory, not truth Trump has turned the war on trafficking into a war on immigrants The ‘failure to appear’ fallacy Kamala Harris says she was a ‘progressive prosecutor’—but she wasn’t Maryland governor announces new program aimed at lengthening prison sentences, getting tougher on crime When […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Good news in clemency, but far from enough Disabled prisoners decry treatment in New York’s prison system The newly re-enfranchised register to vote in Florida California police departments greet new transparency law by shredding documents Supreme Court orders Virginia court to hear vindictive-prosecution claim In the Spotlight Good news in […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Let them eat steak: The disgraceful press coverage of holiday meals in federal prisons 24 prisoners have died on Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard’s watch Cyntoia Brown gets clemency, will be freed New York’s new marijuana policy brings arrests way down, but racial disparities are soaring Incoming Missouri attorney general, […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Why it makes no sense to criminalize fathers who can’t pay child support—and why we should support prosecutors who recognize that The Power of Sheriffs: An Explainer Scott Dozier dead in an apparent suicide on Nevada’s death row Federal judge finds that Virginia prison fails to provide basic standard of medical […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: In the first of a series, “The New Prosecutors,” we consider whether recently elected district attorneys can make transformative change. Caging kids is an American tradition Philadelphia will clear old convictions for minor crimes ‘Ballistic Fingerprint’ database rests on shaky science, expands anyway Nevada loosens its felony disenfranchisement rules, a […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: The real death panels––withholding medical care in prison ICE is using driver’s license applications to arrest immigrants Overdoses, riots, and escapes roil a rural Kentucky jail California police misconduct transparency law survives sheriff challenge Criminal justice in 2018, as covered by the Intercept Tallying the lives taken by police in […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Deaths in custody show the folly of immigration arrests and mass incarceration The Appeal’s favorite stories of 2018 In 2018, activists transformed ‘tough on crime’ from asset to liability Eight new chief prosecutors who promised reform take office this month How cash bail contributes to deportations Alabama ‘Beach House sheriff’ […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Looking back on 2018 Louisiana strip club dancers fear more crackdowns as ‘Anti-Trafficking’ law goes into effect Video shows Baton Rouge police pinning man to the ground and beating him Back-to-back jail deaths rock small Utah county Pretrial detention costs $15 billion a year Arrests under a constitutionally suspect statute […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Why the First Step Act is, at best, a ‘baby step’ Oklahoma governor releases 21 prisoners shut out of drug sentencing reform New Jersey cop sued over shooting ranks first in his department for use of force ‘Justice’ wins!… Merriam-Webster’s word of the year Legal loophole lets Texas hide records of jail […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: ICE Air, a little-known division of ICE, deports people in shackles and funnels tax dollars to Republican-friendly businesses ‘I gotta be strong for my babies.’ Senate passes First Step Act, a significant change to federal approach to criminal justice Republican-sponsored amendment requiring data collection on police shootings didn’t make the […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: ‘Stand Your Ground’—a law that favors white men and increases homicides—now applies to cops in Florida Is the NYPD’s Special Victims Division prematurely closing sexual assault cases? St. Louis reformer DA hasn’t taken office yet, and his staff already wants to join a police union Statue of Liberty protester found […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Cambridge, Mass., asserts community control over surveillance technology San Francisco officials wanted to close a dilapidated jail by 2019. So why is it still open? Woman held on $300 bail dies after five months in Texas jail Officers who snatched a 1-year-old from his mother’s arms did nothing wrong, according […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: We know how to make prosecution less awful, but many prosecutors work hard to resist any changes The Appeal Podcast: How local governments are pushing back against ICE Florida’s Supreme Court rules that ‘Stand Your Ground’ applies to police officers, too Debunking frightening myths spread by Arizona prosecutor Bill Montgomery Reformist […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: The waiting game—NYPD ripped 1-year-old from mother, but why did the benefits office expect her to wait for hours, standing up, with a child? Pennsylvania man charged with homicide wasn’t even present when victim was killed Man who trolled officer by playing “F*** tha Police” found not guilty With almost 15,000 […]
What you’ll read today Spotlight: Cyntoia Brown and an effort to end life imprisonment NYPD commander’s text messages show how the quota system persists Sheriff’s office allegedly tipped off ICE in violation of sanctuary law Will Kentucky end felony disenfranchisement? Many life sentences and few commutations in Pennsylvania Courts can’t be in the business of collecting […]