The allure and shame of watching America’s last public hanging.
criminal justice
Posted inEditor's Pick
Weighing Justice With a Jury of Her ‘Peers’
While serving as foreperson on a grand jury in Alabama, Susana Morris confronts power and privilege in the criminal justice system.
Posted inCrime, Nonfiction, Quotes
‘Everyone is Guilty All the Time’
Is prosecuting crimes about justice, or conviction rates? In Shelby County, Tennessee, the answer isn’t so clear.
Posted inEditor's Pick
She Was Convicted of Killing Her Mother. Prosecutors Withheld the Evidence That Would Have Freed Her.
By the time Noura Jackson’s conviction was overturned, she had spent nine years in prison. This type of prosecutorial error is almost never punished.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Ray Spencer Didn’t Molest His Kids. So Why Did He Spend 20 Years in Prison for It?
Ray Spencer spent nearly half his life in prison, convicted of raping his own children. It’s a crime he doesn’t remember committing, and as adults, his grown children began questioning their own memories and set out to find justice for their father.
Posted inCrime, Nonfiction, Quotes
Schrödinger’s Convict: Actually Innocent, Actually a Felon
An “Alford plea” gets an innocent man out of jail, but keeps him on the books as a convicted felon.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Kafka in Vegas
Despite a judge’s proclamation of of convict Fred Steese’s innocence, in light of new evidence and prosecutorial misconduct, the state offered him a bizarre deal called an Alford plea: go free, but remain a convicted felon.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes
The Complicated Power of DIY Justice
Canadian vigilantes with names like Creep Hunters make popular videos busting pedophiles, and many are now refining their tactics to try and go mainstream.
Posted inCurrent Events, History, Nonfiction, Quotes
Arkansas’ Capital Punishment Spree: ‘It Ain’t Gonna Work on Some of Them’
The state prepares to kill seven men this month with a soon-to-expire supply of lethal injection drugs.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Arkansas’ Tradition of Assembly-Line Killing
Arkansas plans to execute seven people by lethal injection this month — with an untested, nearly-expired drug.