Criminal Justice
NYC Prosecutors Drop 3,000 Weed Cases
New York State as a whole seems to be moving toward legalization.
Louisiana Voters May Dump Rule Allowing Convictions Without Unanimous Verdicts
End of a Jim Crow-era law a potential win for jury nullification.
Pot Prohibition Makes Self-Defense Illegal
The case against Krissy Noble shows how drug and gun laws conspire to deprive people of a fundamental right.
Public Schools Threaten Parents With Jail Time for Truant Kids
Those tykes are worth big bucks to institutional educators, so if you don't hand 'em over, you might be slapped with fines or even incarceration.
Law & Order: Hate Crimes Is a Bad Idea Built on Worse Statistics
But if the show must exist, I have some ripped-from-the-headlines ideas for upcoming plots.
What Mass Incarceration Looks Like, State By State
The ACLU is releasing reports on what's driving mass incarceration in every state, and how to cut prison populations in each one.
Cincinnati Cop Tased 11-Year Old Girl, Told Her 'This Is Why There Aren't Any Grocery Stores in the Black Community'
The girl was in tears as firefighters removed taser barbs from her body.
Meek Mill Wants to Use His Voice for Criminal Justice Reform
The rapper criticizes the probation system's obstacles to redemption.
California Lawmakers Vote to Give Citizens Access to Records About Police Misbehavior
State law keeps misconduct secret from the public. That may be about to change.
'National Sex Trafficking Crackdown' Nets Zero Sex Traffickers
Plus: Another one of NYU professor Avital Ronell's teaching assistants talks, and Tucker Carlson goes after Amazon.
After a Shocking Murder Conviction, the Texas Cop Who Shot Jordan Edwards Is Going to Prison
A jury has sentenced Roy Oliver to 15 years in prison.
California's Bail Reform Deal Is Worse Than Doing Nothing
Bail reform is a good idea, but California lawmakers turned it into one hot mess.
In an Uncommon Development, the Texas Cop Who Shot Jordan Edwards Is Found Guilty of Murder
Jordan Edwards and his friends were driving away from a party when Roy Oliver shot and killed the 15-year-old.
Picking Locks, False Arrests, and Other Abuses of Power Lead to Indictments Against the Majority of a Texas Police Department
Two thirds of the Llano Police Department stand accused of abusing their power.
5 Cops Were 'Justified' in Brutal Beating of Unarmed Black Man, Investigators Say
His crime? Refusing to sit down.
Georgia Tech Rejects a Qualified Job Applicant Over His Teenage Criminal Record
Benjamin Paul is a single father, a college graduate, an ordained minister, and a career adviser. And he's an ex-con.
My Upcoming Speaking Engagements
My upcoming speaking engagements through November of this year. Most are free and open to the public.
No, Black Business Ownership Didn't Increase 400% in One Year
PolitiFact has the details -- but in any event, the purported statistic was suspect on its face.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Feeding the homeless, drawing the Prophet Muhammed, and Kim Kardashian's plea for executive clemency.
Reporter Says She Was Cuffed for Photographing a Cop in Public
Prosecutors have declined to file charges against the officer.
Criminal Justice Reform in Congress Is On Hold, but Advocates Remain Hopeful
Trump and Republicans will wait until after midterm elections to try to pass a long-awaited prison reform bill.
Donald Trump Should Stick it to Jeff Sessions and the 'Deep State' by Pardoning Reality Winner
The woman who leaked a report showing Russian attempts to infiltrate voting systems gets the longest sentence ever imposed for her offense.
Federal Prosecutors Love Snitches; Trump Thinks They Should Get Stitches
"Flipping" should probably be illegal, Trump says. It's one of federal prosecutors' most beloved tactics, and their go-to argument for mandatory minimums.
Mollie Tibbetts' Relatives: Stop Using Her Death as 'Political Propaganda'
After police said Tibbetts' killer is an illegal immigrant, conservatives started using her death to argue for stricter immigration enforcement.
Trump's Campaign Finance Catch-22
Is hush money to a politician's mistress "for the purpose of influencing an election" or "personal use"?
Trump Might Be a Criminal. But So Is Everyone Else.
A question that now hangs like a miasma over D.C. is "Which of my staffers would hang me out to dry in order to avoid going to federal prison?"
Saudi Arabia Wants To Execute a Female Activist for Protesting the Government
Israa al-Ghomgham would be the first female activist to be executed in Saudi Arabia.
Courts Already Declare Statutes "Void-For-Breadth"—They Just Do So Sub Silentio
At some level, the "void-for-breadth" doctrine already exists, but it needs to be excavated, clarified, and expanded.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown Talks About Her Blockbuster Backpage Story on Sirius XM
Matt Welch interviews Brown (and others, including ex-Reasoner Lauren Krisai) from 9-12 ET.
Prison Inmates in at Least 17 States Are Going on Strike Today
"For some of us it's as if we are already dead, so what do we have to lose?"
Majority of Ohio Supreme Court Justices Open to Rejecting Chevron Deference to Administrative Agencies
The Wisconsin and Mississippi Supreme Courts have recently rejected state-level Chevron deference.
New York Sets Up First Statewide Panel to Investigate Prosecutorial Misconduct
District attorneys rarely ever get punished for misbehavior that puts innocent people behind bars. Is that about to change?
The Senate Accused Them of Selling Kids for Sex. The FBI Raided Their Homes. Backpage.com's Founders Speak for the First Time.
An inside look at how indie media veterans James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
"Fair Notice" Is More Than A Formal-Announcement Principle
When a criminal law is extremely broad but perfectly clear, in what sense does it violate rule-of-law principles?
ACLU Turns Against California Bail Reform Bill It Helped Craft
The group fears the bill wouldn't really reduce unneeded pretrial detentions of the poor.
Can There Be Capitalism Without Racism?
A program at UC-Davis looks at the relationship between capitalism and racism.
Are Perceptions of Newsworthiness Contaminated by a Political Usefulness Bias?
Ha! Science now has a non-shocking answer that question: Yes, of course, they are.
Very Broad Laws Offend Due Process
Repurposing "fair notice" principles to tackle an important aspect of overcriminalization.
Opening a File After A Hash Was Made and Matched to Known Image of Child Pornography is Not a "Search," Fifth Circuit Rules
An interesting case applying the private search reconstruction doctrine.
