Staff at the troubled Orleans Justice Center are also accused of violating Edward Patterson’s constitutional rights by failing to treat his drug addiction.

Alternative approaches to rehabilitation and healing still face resistance, even though the criminal legal system’s reliance on punishment has done little to move the needle on addressing sexual violence.

Prison deaths in Mississippi have climbed nearly 40 percent in recent years, from 62 in fiscal year 2014 to a high of 85 in fiscal year 2018.

Prosecutor Jessica Cooper of Oakland County, Michigan, has aggressively pursued life without the possibility of parole for children, critics say. She recommended the sentence for Barbara Hernández, who at 16 was a ‘slave’ to an abusive boyfriend who drew her into a plan that ended in murder.

Compare this with New York where additional transit police will cost $50 million a year but a subsidized fare program cannot be fully funded.

A rule restricting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will have profound consequences for people with criminal legal system involvement.

Racial disparities in incarceration rates are dropping but still remain high. Racial disparities in sentence lengths are growing.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a 40-year-old Navy SEAL who has completed eight combat deployments, was known for seeking out the toughest assignments, where gunfire and gore were almost […]

Harris’s record as a prosecutor was representative of a politics of the past. The nation has moved on.

In California, a prison program run by people once sentenced to life shows how even the most serious offenders are more than the worst things they’ve done.

Recent reporting is a reminder of the crisis of elderly and ailing people in US prisons.

The poor healthcare that Bobbie Jean Johnson received during her more than 40 years in prison contributed to her death, family members say.

Some pretrial prisoners and immigration detainees are forced to work without pay in violation of the 13th Amendment, according to attorneys.

In a letter to the sentencing judge, the Minnesota representative called for compassion toward the man who pleaded guilty to threatening to kill her.

More than 5,400 people in the state are sentenced to life without parole. This month, The Appeal went inside one prison that helps provide end-of-life care for men.

A report from an advocacy group says that deaths in the state’s jails have soared— and that 2019 could set a record for suicides.

People held in courthouse cells were shackled for up to 15 hours a day, and some were unable to eat, change menstrual pads, or use the bathroom, advocates say.

The Appeal spoke with the lawmaker about her “entirely new blueprint for a just society.”

Efforts are underway to address life without parole sentences and free people who have been in prison for decades.

Biden believes that the jury is still out on the question of whether marijuana is a gateway to other illicit substances. But the truth is that it is not—and this has long been a matter of settled science.

Even when retaliation is likely, people speak out about the violence and abuse they experience and witness.

After a two-month moratorium, the state parole board reconvened last week, granting parole to 10 out of 87 people.

Under the proposal, localities would be incentivized to significantly decrease prison populations.

After last week’s election victories, will Virginia Democrats address gun violence in ways that don’t rely on criminalization?

Two bills, awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature, would help reduce the punitive impact of the child welfare system on kids and their families, including formerly incarcerated parents.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. “Most lawyers, as well as ordinary citizens unfamiliar with the daily procedures of criminal law administration, are astonished to learn that a person in this society may […]

Even after a major class action suit required Illinois to revamp its prison healthcare system, doctors whose alleged neglect resulted in major injury or death still remain on the prison system payroll.

A claimed victory in Kentucky and wins in Virginia mean hundreds of thousands of people could have their right to vote restored.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. At least 462 people were released early from Oklahoma prisons yesterday in the largest mass commutation in U.S. history. A total of 527 people had their sentences […]

Earlier this year, Danville prison removed about 200 books, many of which dealt with race issues. But the new rules don’t go far enough, says one advocate.

Incarcerated women, half of whom are in local jails, have histories of trauma that require care, not criminalization.

More than three years after heavy rains and flooding devastated the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, officials have reached an agreement to build a new facility.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Julián Castro’s new criminal justice plan starts off promising. The title itself, “The First Chance Plan,” is promising. “Traditionally, the conversation around criminal justice has centered on a second […]

State law must change to stop judges from using jail time to force the poor into paying penalties they can’t afford, says one advocacy group.

The South Bend, Indiana, mayor says his plan—which includes cutting the incarcerated population by half—will “rebalance” a system that is “unfair and racist in many ways.”

Something as basic as a government ID can be impossible to get, yet a requirement to have, for people returning home from prison.

Prosecutors can help implement policies that are better for families and communities.

Months or years can go by before officials admit that water is unsafe for drinking.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Last week, the family of a British teenager, Harry Dunn, who was killed in an August car crash in England, traveled to the White House to push […]

A Prisoner Review Board memo released in July requires a minimum of 12 hours of movement with ankle monitors, but some people say they’re still being given far less.