Criminal Justice
New York City's Jails See Two Deaths in Single Week
One at Rikers, one at a nearby jail barge, marking 12 deaths this year
The DHS Agent Who Tried To Kill Kevin Byrd Can't Be Sued—Because He Works for the Federal Government
It's almost impossible to hold federal officers to account.
The Government Let a U.S. Citizen Spend Months in a Foreign Prison for No Good Reason
Amir Meshal was never charged with a crime.
Pennsylvania Could Put a Homeless Man in Prison Over 43 Cents
Overzealous three-strikes laws claim another victim.
Rikers Island Offers a Glimpse of America's Hellhole Prisons
Formal sentences cover for informal penalties including crowding, poor sanitation, beatings, and rape.
Do We Really Need New Anti-Asian Hate Crime Laws?
A holistic look at the data shatters the narrative about bias-based violence.
Cashed Out
What happens when a community bail fund stops paying bail and starts trying to abolish it?
A New Report on the Aurora, Colorado, Police Department Documents a Pattern of Excessive Force and Racial Disparities
The report from the attorney general's office also found that Aurora paramedics used ketamine illegally to treat "excited delirium."
Arkansas Deputy Charged With Manslaughter for Fatally Shooting Teen Who Was Fixing a Truck
The Lonoke County sergeant was already fired for not turning on his body camera during the encounter.
Florida Anti-Riot Law 'Violates the First Amendment,' Says Court in Scathing Rebuke of Gov. Ron DeSantis
The law's "vagueness permits those in power to weaponize its enforcement against any group who wishes to express any message that the government disapproves of," Judge Mark Eaton Walker warns.
White House Offers Clemency for Drug Offenders on Home Confinement, but Advocates Say Plan Will Still Send Thousands Back to Prison
Clemency for nonviolent offenders would still send white-collar and other offenders back to prison after they've started putting their lives together again.
Judges Who Violate Due Process Rights For Personal Gain Just Got a Major Pass From This Federal Court
Judge Paul Bonin profited from making defendants wear ankle monitors. The victims can't sue.
The Dangerous Dream of Zero COVID in Australia
The government is ignoring the costs of lockdowns—for lives, for liberty, and for the economy.
Border Patrol Agent Wants SCOTUS To Make It Effectively Impossible To Sue Abusive Federal Officers
A precedent allowing federal officers to be held civilly liable for constitutional rights violations has come under fire.
Biased Testimony in Backpage Case Triggers Mistrial
Judge said she has concerns that the government crossed the line several times.
50 Years After Attica, Prisons Are Still the Problem No One Wants To See
The men of Attica said they had "set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization" of U.S. prisoners. For all the horror and bloodshed, not much has changed.
Police Shot a Man Driving Away, Can't Keep Their Stories Straight, Get Qualified Immunity Anyway
A federal court admitted the officers violated the man's rights. It doesn't matter.
Federal Grants Brought the Equipment of the War on Terror Home to American Police Departments
Twenty years after 9/11, weaponry and surveillance gear originally developed for the military have become commonplace in police departments around the country.
Police Broke This 73-Year-Old Woman's Arm During a Brutal Arrest. The City Will Pay Her $3 Million.
Whether or not this constitutes meaningful accountability is up for debate.
Backpage Defense Lawyers Call for Mistrial After 'Inflammatory' Opening Statements
The defendants are not on trial for child sex trafficking, yet prosecutor Reggie Jones wouldn't stop talking about it.
Apple Delays Plan To Snoop on Users' Pictures
An encryption back door will lead to abusive authoritarian surveillance—even if you present it as a way to stop child porn.
The Good and the Bad in the 666 Bills That Took Effect This Week in Texas
While libertarians will be inclined to applaud some of the new laws, others exemplify familiar conservative excesses.
Here's a Rarity: A Former Prosecutor Is Facing Criminal Charges for Violating Her Oath of Office
Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson may face accountability for her official actions in the Ahmaud Arbery investigation.
As Twitter Sex Trafficking Case Proceeds, Platforms Face an Impossible Dilemma
A federal judge says an anti-porn group's suit against Twitter can move forward, in a case that could portend a dangerous expansion of how courts define "sex trafficking."
Vaccine Passports Should Be Neither Mandatory Nor Forbidden
Pro-freedom politicians want to restrict private enterprise, while civil liberties proponents want to violate your bodily autonomy.
An Indictment Accuses Three Cops and Two Paramedics of Killing Elijah McClain With a Cascade of Legal, Tactical, and Medical Errors
The 32 charges include manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and second-degree assault.
