Criminal Justice
Alabama Police Use Asset Forfeiture to Ruin an Innocent Small Business Owner
"The police just fucked my life."
Do Psychedelics Make People Less Likely to Commit Crimes?
Maybe people who are inclined to try psychedelics are less antisocial to begin with.
Cop Fires Gun Randomly, Suffers Panic Attack, Is Disarmed by Paramedics, Still Has Job
The unarmed man he shot at is being charged with assault.
NYPD Says It Has No Backup of Its Asset Forfeiture Database and No Way to Retrieve It
The database cost $25 million.
Florida Woman Introduced a Friend to Her Dealer. Now She Faces Murder Charges.
An overdose death leads to an absurd prosecution.
Feds Admit Their Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users in Washington Was Illegal
After trying for years to imprison the Kettle Falls Five as drug dealers, prosecutors concede they are patients protected by federal law.
Feds 'Rescue' Women from Freedom and Money in 11th 'Operation Cross Country'
Hear from the real victims of this cruel FBI charade.
The IRS Stole $59,000 From an Innocent Veteran; Years Later, They Still Won't Return It
"They did it for money, and they destroyed a good and honest man."
New Orleans D.A. Sued for Using Fake Subpoenas to Coerce Witnesses and Crime Victims
After the media revealed the threatening, fraudulent notices, a lawsuit has targeted the practice.
Man Busted for Meth That Was Actually Donut Glaze Gets $37,500 for His Trouble
The Krispy Kreme Caper illustrates the limits of drug field tests and the cops who perform them.
Cop Roughs Up High School Girls, Tickets School Board Member Trying to Intervene
He's been "relieved of duty," but the city won't say whether he's being paid or not.
Who's 'the Harvey Weinstein of' Sex Work? The Police
This week has a lot of people wondering "who's the Harvey Weinstein?" of their industry. For sex workers, the answer is all too often a local cop.
Cases Dropped Against California Cops Accused of Statutory Rape, Prostitution With Police Dispatcher's Daughter
Judge says Bay Area cops accused of sex crimes might not have known that Oakland teenager "Celeste Guap" was underage.
The CDC, Like the FBI, Dramatically Undercounts Deaths at Hands of Police
Due to lack of information from death certificates, only half are properly recorded.
There Aren't Enough Beds in This Virginia Jail for All the Women Caught in Heroin and 'Human Trafficking' Dragnets
"We don't have enough space for them," said sheriff.
Cyrus Vance Is a Product of Dangerous One-Party Rule
When elected officials regularly run unopposed, there's no democratic accountability.
Judge Threatens Arizona Prison Officials With Contempt For 'Pervasive and Intractable Failures'
The threat comes three years after officials agreed to improve the disastrous lack of healthcare.
Supreme Court Considers: Can Cops Arrest You for Going to a Party Where You Don't Know the Host?
The case has already produced some fun SCOTUS banter. It could have major consequences for due process and police accountability.
Bump Stock Ban Retroactively Criminalizes Possession of Legally Acquired Products
Current owners of newly prohibited devices could go to prison for keeping them.
Salt Lake Police Fire Cop Who Arrested Nurse Over Blood Draw
Body camera footage has consequences.
Federal Judge Restores Drivers' Licenses to Two With Unpaid Traffic Tickets; May Be First Ruling of its Kind
Civil liberties groups say suspending drivers' licenses for unpaid court fines traps poor people in debt spiral. A federal judge appears to agree.
Bad Cops Will Keep Getting Rehired As Long As You Have Powerful Police Unions
There's a simple way to break the cycle, but it's not easy.
More Cities Join Efforts to Steer People Away From Jail
Millions of dollars in grants will go to eight different jurisdictions to keep people away from jail.
D.C. Could Become Only U.S. City to Decriminalize Prostitution
A new bill would remove all criminal penalties in the District for buying or selling sex.
The Real 'Modern Slavery'? Inside America's Court-Ordered Corporate Labor Camps
Under the guise of getting addicts treatment, courts are ordering people to do dangerous and unremunerated labor in "diversion" factory farms.
The Senate Will Try Again On Sentencing Reform This Year
A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced one of the biggest sentencing reform bills in years. Can it pass this time?
Michigan Mayor Offers Seized Money as a Citizen Reward for Drug Snitching. What Could Go Wrong?
Incentives for neighbors to turn on each other. Incentives for police to find reasons to seize people's stuff and keep it.
DEA Agents Sold Opioids, Stole Cash, and Falsely Identified Drug Suspects, Say Feds
Seize the drugs. Sell the drugs. Arrest the buyers. Repeat.
No, the U.S. Didn't Just Take a Stand for Executing Gay People
Don't believe the hype about the U.N.'s resolution on the death penalty.
Senators Want to Make Prosecutors Prove Defendants Intended to Break Laws Before Locking Them Up
In a country with so many crimes, many laws don't require proof citizens knew they were doing wrong.
New York Post Squints Hard to Find Ferguson Effect in Precinct Plagued by Misconduct Complaints
Cops in New York's 42nd District say they're afraid to do their jobs because they could get in trouble. But they've led the city in complaints for years.
Vegas Shooter's Dad, Patrick Benjamin Paddock, Was a Convicted Bank Robber Who Escaped Federal Prison, Tried to Run Down FBI Agents With His Car
Stephen Paddock was seven years old at the time of his father's arrest.
Police Violence at Catalonia Vote Reveals Thuggish Nature of Government
This is what democracy looks like.
Katherine Mangu-Ward: Using Race to Drum up Criminal Justice Outrage Is A-OK
Reason editor in chief steps into The Fifth Column.
California Cop Arrested Two Days After Allegedly Assaulting DUI Suspect
A story about a police officer being held accountable by his colleagues
Nearly 300 Baltimore Criminal Cases Dropped Over Police Misconduct
Hundreds more may still be affected.
Bogus Stoned Driving Arrests Highlight Dubious Methods of 'Drug Recognition Experts'
A lawsuit by three sober drivers who were busted for DUI questions the pot-detecting abilities of DREs.
Chicago Alderman Proposes 'Super Ticket Writers' to Fill Budget Gap
Residents already face a stream of tax increases, largely to shore up pension funds.
Reality Contradicts Study Linking Movie Guns to Fatal Firearm Accidents
As guns proliferated in movies, accidental gun deaths and violent crime fell dramatically.
Police Union Complains That Public Got to See Them Roughing Up Utah Nurse
Transparency about behavior of government employees is not a violation of due process.
