Darius Jacob Taylor wasn’t in the state when a robbery he was allegedly involved with ended in murder. But because of the felony murder rule, he’s charged with criminal homicide and faces life imprisonment.
Under Raise the Age, ‘there are kids similarly situated who are being treated totally differently.’
The departing governor has chosen to pardon immigrants whose past criminal offenses put them in danger of deportation.
Advocates noted that bail gives prosecutors leverage to get guilty pleas from people who can’t afford to buy their way out of jail.
In 2016 and 2017, more than 80 percent of children charged as adults by the Allegheny County district attorney were Black.
In 2016, the office said it dismissed such cases, but Legal Aid says that’s not what’s happening.
The program was supposed to target ‘leading’ violent offenders. Today it’s sweeping up low-level, and disproportionately Black, defendants.
A petition argues that people seeking to escape the sex offender registry, including those put on it as children, deserve more than a single shot.
People caught vaping marijuana oil face the same charge as for low-level heroin possession.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s promise to decline to prosecute several offenses is a rejection of the punitive tradition of prosecutors and perhaps signals a new kind of reform that spurns criminal justice as a solution to public health problems.
Victims’ rights campaign spent more than $70 million nationwide, with more than half of that spent in Florida.
As in Louisiana, Oregon’s practice is rooted in its own rich history of white supremacy.
Republican misdemeanor judges in Houston have clung to an unconstitutional bail system. But their intransigence could cost them their seats.
The rocky implementation of New York’s Raise the Age law shows that young people in detention need love, not force.
In This Edition of the Political Report November 1, 2018: Election Day is coming in just five days. The Appeal: Political Report has previewed 45 elections on November’s ballot—referendums, elections for sheriff, county executive, and prosecutor, and more—that could change the criminal justice landscape. You can explore all previews individually here. You can also read […]
Terrance has been jailed repeatedly over court debt for fishing to feed his family.
Despite looming questions about what happened, Jhenea Pratt is now facing life without parole.
After the state cut funds for capital defense, there’s a growing wait list of people in jail without a lawyer.
Decision-making by prosecutors in such cases, says one attorney, ‘compounds, entrenches, and ultimately authorizes the initial act of violence by prosecuting the victim.’
The office has criticized the NYPD for shielding officers’ misconduct histories, but it won’t share its own information on police dishonesty.
A judge’s decision could end the practice of jailing people for soliciting money along streets and highways, but DA Spencer Merriweather has been slow to embrace the change.
Todd Spitzer blasted Global Tel Link for recording attorney-client phone calls, but his campaign won’t call on a PAC supporting his candidacy to return the company’s lobbyist’s donation.
Two teenagers are facing life without parole sentences for capital murder, though it’s not clear they pulled the trigger.
About 51 percent of the people charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana in Allegheny County are Black.
Protesters blasting everything from punitive prosecutors to police brutality should be remembered for their role in upsetting the Windy City’s political status quo.
Washington case raises questions about the role of court appointed special advocates.
Since 2015, police in Adams County have taken dozens of reports of rape, yet charges were filed in just two cases.
Arrests that result in dropped charges and dismissals are supposed to be sealed. But until recently, the NYPD used these records to target turnstile jumpers.
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson prosecuted Crystal Mason for casting an illegal ballot. But Wilson escaped charges for a possible election violation of her own.
A man sentenced to die in prison is inciting debate over ‘felony murder’ rules in Colorado.
As the federal government vows to pursue ‘swift and aggressive action’ against the sites, experts weigh in on what’s likely to happen next.
City Council Member Rory Lancman, who was debating Assistant District Attorney James Quinn over the future of Rikers Island, blasted Quinn’s comments on Browder, who spent three years incarcerated without a trial.
Legislation in California would provide a direct route to resentencing, and a new tool for activists.
Jacqueline Smalls was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a boyfriend whose ‘hands were his weapons.’ She now joins the ranks of criminalized survivors seeking clemency from Governor Cuomo.
The state’s “theft of leased property” statute allows prosecutors to seek felony charges for Pennsylvanians who miss payments on rental items.
Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offenses—and sometimes, those with no conviction at all—to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence.
A single training document uncovered in a prosecutor’s files could save Russell William Tucker’s life.
An 11-month prosecution of a ‘forcible touching’ case in Manhattan sharply diverges from the office’s treatment of Harvey Weinstein, defense attorneys say.
The ‘plea fee’ stems from a state law passed in the 1980s and can cost nearly $200, depending on the county.
Experts say New York’s Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct is an important first step, but the problem isn’t just misconduct—it’s the way prosecutors wield their discretion every day.