The Trump Administration Announced It’s Bringing Back the Federal Death Penalty. Is It That Simple?
The execution chamber at the US Penitentiary in Terre HauteScott Olson/Getty After a 16-year hiatus, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it would be resuming the execution of inmates who are on federal death row. The executions will begin in December, when five inmates charged with grisly murders will be sent to the federal…
Progressive Insurgent Tiffany Cabán Declares Victory in the Primary for Queens DA
Queens District Attorney candidate Tiffany Cabán embraces a supporter on June 11 after a press conference of civil rights activists calling for an investigation into the false conviction of the Central Park Five. Bebeto Matthews/AP Update, 11:30 p.m. ET: Tiffany Cabán has declared victory in the primary election for district attorney in Queens. With 99.5…
The Los Angeles County DA Has Put 22 People on Death Row. Not One of Them Was White.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie LaceyAlex J. Berliner/AP In Los Angeles County, only people of color have been sentenced to death in the last seven years. In a new report titled “The California Death Penalty Is Discriminatory, Unfair, and Officially Suspended: So Why Does Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey Still Seek to Use…
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…
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…