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criminal justice

Posted inEditor's Pick

Trump’s Killing Spree: The Inside Story of His Race to Execute Every Prisoner He Could

by Seyward Darby January 30, 2023January 30, 2023

“Before 2020, there had been three federal executions in 60 years. Then Trump put 13 people to death in six months.”

Posted inEditor's Pick

The Cause of the Crime Wave Is Hiding in Plain Sight

by Peter Rubin July 19, 2022October 19, 2022

When crime goes up, divining the root of the problem is usually as ideologically fraught as it is practically impossible. But this probing feature from Alec MacGillis eludes both traps. Instead, it examines two American cities and comes to a conclusion that’s all the more compelling for its obviousness: stop letting people rot in jail. […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

When Innocence Isn’t Enough

by Cheri Lucas Rowlands June 24, 2022October 19, 2022

Christopher Dunn has been in prison for over 30 years for a murder in St. Louis that he and others say he didn’t commit. Even though new evidence has emerged in favor of Dunn, the state of Missouri says he must stay in prison — because he wasn’t sentenced to death. He continued, “This Court does […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

A Jim Crow–Era Murder. A Family Secret. Decades Later, What Does Justice Look Like?

by Peter Rubin October 19, 2021October 19, 2022

“Today, the official records of these older killings are often inaccurate. If they aren’t corrected soon, the true stories may never come out; many witnesses to the crimes of the Jim Crow era are aging and dying.”

Posted inEditor's Pick

The Case That Made Texas the Death Penalty Capital

by Cheri Lucas Rowlands February 1, 2021October 19, 2022

“As one of the first death sentences under the new law, Jurek’s case would become a test case, playing a key role in both the nationwide rise of the death penalty and Texas’s place at the center.”

Posted inEditor's Pick

After Killing His Cousin, Clyde Meikle Found Purpose in Prison Through Service. Now He’s Asking to Go Home.

by Cheri Lucas Rowlands January 20, 2021October 19, 2022

Incarceration led to a rebirth for Clyde Meikle.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Kamala Harris, Mass Incarceration and Me

by Cheri Lucas Rowlands October 22, 2020October 19, 2022

“Many progressives mistrust her for her past as a prosecutor. As an ex-convict — and also the son of a crime victim — I can tell you it’s not that simple.”

Posted inCrime, Featured, Highlight, Quotes

The PTSD of Everyday Life

by michelleweber June 9, 2020October 19, 2022

The mental and physical toll of life in a white supremacist state is unavoidable for BIPOC, even if it manifests differently for different people.

Posted inBlog Post, Crime, Nonfiction, Reading List

15 True Crime Longreads and the Questions We Should Ask Ourselves When Reading Them

by Catherine Cusick March 11, 2020October 19, 2022

By bringing new dimensions to an unjust process, a well-told story has the power to impact some of our most flawed systems.

Posted inCrime, Current Events, Featured, Highlight, Quotes

‘What’s this guy doing loose in Malheur County?’

by michelleweber February 26, 2020October 19, 2022

He faked an insanity defense, got out, and immediately committed another crime, and this time people are dead. He’s going to plead insanity again.

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