California Is Considering Ending Criminal Court Fees and Wiping Out Billions in Debt
Susann Prautsch/Getty Three years ago, during Brandon Greene’s first week working as a lawyer in a new clinic affiliated with the East Bay Community Law Center, he was handed a stack of cases to review. Each involved a client who was struggling to pay down the fines and fees that easily accumulate in California’s criminal justice system. It was his job…
The Trump Administration Is Trying to Use the Scott Warren Case to Scare Activists. It’s Not Working.
Scott Warren (center) speaks after his high-profile court case ends in a mistrial. Astrid Galvan/AP The highly publicized federal case against humanitarian aid worker Scott Warren, who was accused of helping migrants at the US-Mexico border, ended in a mistrial on Tuesday. Warren, a volunteer with the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, was charged…
Racist Laws Took the Vote Away From Prisoners. After Serving Time, One Man Is Fighting to Give It Back to Them.
tzahiV/iStock/Getty On November 2, 2004, not long after starting his sentence at a federal prison in New Jersey, Corwin Knight sat down in front of the common area’s television to watch the returns for the presidential election. He was tired of the Bush administration’s policies and hoped John Kerry would win, but he quickly grew…
Wasted Funds, Destroyed Property: How Sheriffs Undermined Their Successors After Losing Reelection
This story was originally published by ProPublica, which produced the article in partnership with AL.com, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Shortly after Phil Sims became the sheriff of Marshall County, Alabama, at 12 a.m. on Jan. 14, he found a cardboard box in a storage closet containing five government-issued smartphones, each with multiple holes…
Why It Matters That a City Council in Louisiana Repealed a Ban on Saggy Pants
A young man walks down a sidewalk wearing sagging pants.Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMA Lawmakers in Shreveport, Louisiana voted 6-1 on Tuesday to repeal a 12-year-old ordinance banning pants that sag below the waist after outcry over the death of Anthony Childs, who was stopped by police for violating the law. Childs was walking down a sidewalk…
Prisoners In Just Two States Can Vote. Here’s Why Few Do.
Prisoners at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, Vermont, register to vote in 2008. Only two states, Vermont and Maine allow people to vote while they’re in prison.Toby Talbot/AP This story was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the US criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter, or…