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U.S. Reps Urge Biden to Use Clemency to Correct “Extreme Use of Incarceration”
A group of congress members says Joe Biden should pardon people or commute sentences before his term ends.
‘Fund the Police’ Backfired—and Gave Trump More Power Than Ever
Democrats spent the last four years running away from police reform. “Funding the police” didn’t just help them lose the presidency—it handed a dangerous man an even stronger police and surveillance state.
Women Languish at San Francisco’s Jail for Years Without Answers—or Sunlight
After a moral panic about crime, San Francisco’s billionaires and political leaders demanded more arrests. Pretrial detainees are now seeing the harmful effects.
Prosecutors Have Levied Serious Charges Against Pro-Palestine College Protesters
The Appeal reviewed 935 arrests that occurred on 22 campuses last Spring. Prosecutors—all of whom are running for reelection—charged students with felonies, including assaults on police officers, wearing disguises, mob action, and attempted ethnic intimidation.
Our Voting Rights Have Been Restored. Here’s How We Can Use Our Power
Changes in state law mean that many more people with felony convictions will be voting in 2024 than in previous elections.
What Incarcerated People Want Candidates to Know
Most people in prison can’t vote. That doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention.
Despite ‘Good Guy’ Image, Sheriffs Endanger Elections and People
Author Jessica Pishko’s new book argues that American sheriffs’ initial jobs were to help commit genocide against Native Americans and help settlers steal land. She warns their danger persists to this day.
She Says a Georgia Jail Forced Her to Deliver a Premature Baby Without Care. The Child Died.
On Wednesday, Tiana Hill testified before the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee that staff at the notorious Clayton County Jail insisted she wasn’t pregnant—until she gave birth on a metal bed.
Investigators Wanted to Close an Abusive ICE Facility. Biden’s Administration Extended Its Contract.
The Appeal found a systemic culture of abuse and mismanagement at the Winn Correctional Center, an ICE jail in Louisiana. Biden’s administration has kept people detained there against the wishes of government investigators and multiple U.S. senators.
The DOJ Blocked a Tennessee HIV Criminalization Law. State Lawmakers Keep Pushing Back.
In May, the federal government and Shelby County, Tennessee, reached a landmark settlement stopping the local prosecutor from enforcing a law that discriminates against people living with HIV.
Abortion ‘Trafficking’ Laws, Travel Bans, Medication Crackdowns: How the GOP is Criminalizing Abortion Post-Dobbs
Multiple states have created a new crime called “abortion trafficking,” which makes it illegal for adults to transport minors to get abortions without parental consent. Others are trying to restrict abortion medications or out-of-state travel.
Biden’s Cannabis Pardons Made Progress. A Federal Expungement Statute Would Go Further.
President Biden has pardoned thousands of people for cannabis-related offenses. But to truly give people “second chances,” he should push Congress to erase peoples’ marijuana-related criminal records entirely.
How Incarcerated People Are Building Political Power in Washington State
Incarcerated people have testified before state lawmakers about legislation that would directly impact their lives, including bills to change the cost of prison communications and rein in extreme sentencing practices and the use of solitary confinement.
Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Total Abortion Ban With Mandatory Prison Time
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state can enforce a near-total abortion ban from 1864. The ban allows no abortions except to save the life of a pregnant person and carries a mandatory two- to five-year prison sentence for people who provide abortions.
Phoenix Police Victims Want City to Stop Interfering With Federal Probe
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Phoenix Police Department for potential civil rights violations. During last week’s city council meeting, residents said city officials must stop fighting the inquiry.
Joe Biden Promised Bold Justice Reforms. So Where Are They?
My husband Nick died from COVID-19 in March 2020 while imprisoned pretrial. Joe Biden has said he’d help others like him before it’s too late. But so far, the president has yet to make good on his promises.
Public Defenders Running for Judge Want to Reduce Mass Incarceration in Los Angeles
Five public defenders are running for seats on the Los Angeles Superior Court. Tomorrow, voters will decide whether to elect candidates who support alternatives to incarceration—or maintain the status quo.
Arizona Bills Would Ban Felony Murder Law—Used to Charge Bystanders for Shootings by Police
State Sen. Anna Hernandez filed the bill following The Appeal’s investigation into the Phoenix Police Department’s shooting of Jacob Harris. Though police killed Harris, his friends were charged using the state’s felony murder statute. Tomorrow, a coalition will join Hernandez in a press conference to support the bill.
How Florida’s Sluggish Voter Registration Process Sent Ex-Prisoners Back to Jail
In multiple cases, documents obtained by The Appeal show the state told ineligible voters they could cast ballots.
New York Can Stand up for the Wrongfully Convicted—and Against Clarence Thomas
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.
Gavin Newsom Can Sign a Bill to End Price-Gouging in California Prisons
California prison canteens currently sell essential items—such as snacks and medication—at a markup of between 65 and 200 percent.
Behind the Right’s War on Prosecutors
Reform-minded prosecutors across the country have faced efforts to remove them from office or limit their powers.
Pressley, Tlaib Announce Bill to Limit Criminal Background Checks on Renters
Formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to become homeless than people without criminal backgrounds. The Housing FIRST Act would ban credit-check companies from including criminal history information on prospective tenants’ files if enacted.
Democrats Won Power in Four States. Will They Use It to Pass Bold Justice Reforms?
In Minnesota, Democrats used a newly won legislative trifecta to legalize marijuana, overhaul the pardons process, and limit no-knock warrants. But they also funneled hundreds of millions in new funding toward prisons and policing.
Post-Traumatic Prison Disorder Could Impact Millions. Congress Wants to Learn More.
Federal lawmakers are asking the National Institute of Mental Health to research the condition—also known as post-incarceration syndrome—and share its findings with lawmakers.
Congress Seeks to Create New Independent Federal Prison Oversight Body
Legislation introduced this week follows a string of reports, including in The Appeal, that have revealed widespread sexual abuse and misconduct at Bureau of Prisons facilities.
Kathy Hochul’s ‘Pro-Suffering’ Campaign Against Bail Reform
The New York governor is making an appeal to “mob justice” as she threatens to take her state back decades on issues of pretrial justice and policing.
Georgia’s Backslide Into a Carceral Hellscape
A wave of bills threatens to channel more people toward incarceration, mete out longer prison terms, and limit prosecutors’ discretion.
Washington State Bill Would Undo ‘Superpredator’-Era Sentencing Scheme
Under state law, adult prison sentences are automatically enhanced based on prior youth adjudications. New legislation would rein in the practice and allow for reconsideration of extreme sentences.
Anti-Trans Bills Flood States in ‘Centrally Coordinated’ Attack on Transgender Existence
Advocates have expressed shock at a rapid escalation in the severity of anti-trans legislation, which is increasingly seeking to restrict medical care and public expression, including with threats of criminal punishment.
To Honor MLK, Let New Yorkers in Prison Vote
Four lawmakers explain why they introduced legislation to finally end felony disenfranchisement in New York.
Voters Didn’t Buy the ‘Crime Panic’ Narrative. Democrats Should Take Note.
Americans around the country were unmoved by tough-on-crime rhetoric, and instead voted in a string of reform-minded candidates. The results show that it’s time for Democrats to rethink their approach on public safety.
A New Class of Candidates Seeks to Transform L.A.’s Approach to Housing, Justice
After a scandal engulfed some of L.A.’s most powerful politicians, a slate of progressive candidates is running on new approaches for tackling homelessness and mass incarceration.
How Imprisoned People Forced to Pick Cotton Got ‘Prison Slavery’ Bans on the Ballot
On Election Day, voters in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont will decide whether to close loopholes in their state constitutions allowing the forced labor of incarcerated people.
Chesa Boudin Looms Over the Race for the Oakland Area’s Next Prosecutor
Pamela Price is running a progressive campaign to change the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in California. She’s winning. But her opponent, longtime prosecutor Terry Wiley, is trying to paint her as the next Chesa Boudin to score votes.
Backlash on the Ballot: Three Prosecutor Races to Watch in November
The politics of criminal justice is overwhelmingly local, and elected prosecutors have some of the most direct power over how justice is dispatched.
Who Will San Francisco Blame for Crime and Disorder Now?
If Brooke Jenkins fails to deliver results with “tough-on-crime” policies, will San Franciscans blame her, just as they did her predecessor, Chesa Boudin?
Stacey Abrams’ Bold New Idea is to Tack to the Center
Stacey Abrams wants to give police officers raises. Time and again, Democrats have reacted to calls for racial justice by giving more money to cops.
Arizona Judge Blocks Law That Treats Fetuses as People
The law granted embryos and fetuses the same rights as a person. Civil rights groups sought an injunction out of concern the law could criminalize people who provide or obtain abortions.