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?
Criminal Justice
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.
New Montana Law Limits Use of Automatic License Plate Readers
And restricts how long data can be held.
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.
U. of Colorado Says No Thanks to Betsy DeVos and Her Tougher Sexual Assault Investigation Standards
This whole miscarriage of justice on campus is overblown, one CU professor says.
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.
Hate or Hoax? When It Comes to Campus Bias Incidents, We Usually Have No Idea
A confusing report from BuzzFeed suggests perpetrators are seldom caught and true motivations are often unknown.
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.
Will SCOTUS Let Fear of Sex Offenders Trump Justice?
Two cases give the Court a chance to reconsider its counterintuitive conclusions about commitment and registration.
Pot Busts Rose Last Year After Hitting a Two-Decade Low in 2015
The total was still 25 percent lower than the 2008 peak, although it was three times as high as the number of marijuana arrests in 1991.
9 Lessons from the Trump/NFL Anthem Wars
Let's start by allowing unwitting taxpayers to quit financing a lucrative entertainment industry.
Study: NYPD Slowdown in Petty Law Enforcement Saw Reduction in Major Crimes Complaints
Evidence against broken windows policing.
N.C. Body Camera Law Used to Shield Greensboro Police from Accusations of Abuse
A year after law passed exempting footage from public records laws, the inevitable consequences.
Violent Crime Rose in 2016 for the Second Year in a Row
Criminal justice experts say the rise is worrying, but still far below the crime rates of the '80s and '90s.
Is Minnesota's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders Punitive or Therapeutic?
An appeal asks SCOTUS to decide the question, noting that the program has released just one "patient" in 23 years.
Human-Trafficking Arrests Are Very Rare in Most States
The exceptions in 2016 were Minnesota and Texas, according to newly released FBI data.
There's Nothing Funny About Trump's Troubling Policing Edicts
The president is sending a message that law enforcement has more latitude now to bend and break the rules.
'We Own This Property…It's Ours Until We Are Done'
Cops raid the wrong house...again.
U.S. Troops Watch TV Shows Cops, NCIS to Train Afghan Security
Training locals is cited as a reason to stay in Afghanistan 16 years after the war started.
Ohio Republicans Move to Ban Sexting Between Teens
The bill is being pitched as a way to help teens avoid harsh child-porn laws.
