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Misconduct

New York state police patch | Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS/Newscom

Transparency

Court Rules New York State Police Must Disclose Officer Names in Misconduct Records

The New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York State Police have been fighting for years over misconduct records that the state legislature made public in 2020.

C.J. Ciaramella | 7.24.2025 1:11 PM

Donald Trump | Photo: Sipa USA/Alamy

Police Abuse

Trump Deletes Database Containing Over 5,000 Police Misconduct Incidents

It's a reversal from his first term, when Trump himself ordered the creation of a database tracking excessive use of force.

C.J. Ciaramella | 5.29.2025 6:00 AM

Judge | Illustration: Lex Villena; Wisconsinart

Criminal Justice

This Judge Tried To Get Out of Jury Duty by Saying Everyone Appearing Before Him Is Guilty

"I know they are guilty," otherwise "they would not be in front of me," said town justice Richard Snyder, who resigned in December.

Emma Camp | 2.7.2025 2:09 PM

Justice Sonia Sotomayor against a background of legal documents colored red and white | Illustration: Lex Villena; Gage Skidmore

Supreme Court

Sotomayor Is Right: The Supreme Court Should Reevaluate Absolute Immunity for Prosecutors

The doctrine makes it nearly impossible for victims of prosecutorial misconduct to get recourse.

Billy Binion | 7.2.2024 5:01 PM

Reason's trophies at the Southern California Journalism Awards | Illustration Lex Villena; Courtesy of Paul Detrick

Reason

Reason Wins 7 Southern California Journalism Awards

First-place finishes include an investigative piece on egregious misconduct in federal prison, a documentary on homelessness, best magazine columnist, and more.

Billy Binion | 6.24.2024 1:51 PM

Woman with horse and lawsuit text | Illustration: Lex Villena; Estate of Alicia Upton

Criminal Justice

A Suicidal 21-Year-Old Was Jailed In California. Nine Days Later, She Was Dead.

More than 20 people died while in custody of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department last year.

Emma Camp | 1.5.2024 3:24 PM

Mississippi police. | Illustration: Lex Villena, Photographerlondon

Police Abuse

Mississippi Cops Buried a Missing Man. His Family Only Found Out When NBC News Revealed It.

An NBC investigation revealed how Jackson, Mississippi, police keep burying people in pauper's graves after failing to inform their families about their deaths.

Emma Camp | 12.12.2023 3:58 PM

Woman's shadow | Illustration: Lex Villena; Vitaliy Mitrofanenko

Jail

A Los Angeles Jail Let a Woman Die of Withdrawal, Then a Coroner Allowed Her Body To Decompose

“I couldn’t believe it was my baby,” Amanda Bews' mother said. "She looked like she was mummified."

Emma Camp | 11.29.2023 4:00 PM

Screenshot from police body camera footage | DPD Body-cam footage

Police

Denver Cop Kills Man Holding a Marker

Plus: The Atlantic says anti-racists are overcorrecting, NYC targets landlords of unlicensed cannabis growers, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 8.16.2023 9:36 AM

new york state police badge | Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS/Newscom

Transparency

Judge Rules New York State Police Must Disclose Misconduct Records

It's been nearly three years since New York repealed its police secrecy law, and departments are still fighting to hide misconduct records.

C.J. Ciaramella | 4.14.2023 3:24 PM

Nasanto Crenshaw | Illustration: Lex Villena; Wakitia Doriety

Police

A Police Officer Shot and Killed a 17-Year-Old Boy as He Fled. Now, His Mother Is Suing.

"I hurt every day," said the victim's mother. "I cry all day, every day."

Emma Camp | 3.10.2023 5:16 PM

prison cells | Moreno Novello / Dreamstime.com

Prisons

New Data Show Prison Staff Are Rarely Held Accountable for Sexual Misconduct

Prison staff were fired in less than half of substantiated incidents of sexual misconduct between 2016 and 2018, and only faced legal consequences in 6 percent of cases.

C.J. Ciaramella | 2.3.2023 1:08 PM

blue police light | Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/es/@maxfleischmann?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Max Fleischmann</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>

Police Abuse

New York Repealed Its Police Secrecy Law Two Years Ago. Departments Are Still Trying To Hide Misconduct Files.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is fighting about a dozen different lawsuits against stonewalling police departments.

C.J. Ciaramella | 12.5.2022 1:20 PM

Kimberly Bender | Reason

Criminal Justice

Washington Town To Pay $1 Million to Family of Woman Who Died by Suicide in Jail After Being Harassed by Guard

That guard would later be convicted of sexually assaulting four other incarcerated women.

C.J. Ciaramella | 11.16.2022 12:57 PM

Andrei Constantin's tweets | Illustration: Lex Villena

Police

A Seattle Cop Gets Fired for Bad Tweets Instead of His Terrible Conduct

An officer used an anonymous account to lash out at police protesters (and a Reason post). He was uncovered and fired.

Scott Shackford | 10.6.2022 1:45 PM

thumb (3) | Diana Robinson, Debra L. Rothenberg/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo Sexually Harassed 11 Women, Retaliated Against 1 Female Employee, According to A.G. Report

"There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment," Cuomo tweeted in 2013.

Liz Wolfe | 8.3.2021 3:26 PM

topicspoiltics | The Image Bank/Getty

Politics

Pandemic Rules Are Only for the Little People 

We're expected to suffer discomfort, economic pain, and emotional distress or else pay fines or serve jail time. Government officials, meanwhile, take offense when called out for violating the standards they created.

J.D. Tuccille | 11.28.2020 6:00 AM

releasebodycamimages | Associated Press

Body Cameras

Release Body Cam Footage

With the right freedom of information and use policies, wearable cameras could still be a powerful weapon to increase transparency.

Alec Ward | 9.20.2020 7:00 AM

bustthepoliceunions | Klubovy/iStock

Public Unions

Bust the Police Unions

They're a consistent force of organized resistance to calmer, safer, less aggressive policing.

Peter Suderman | 9.6.2020 7:00 AM

abolishqualifiedimmunity | Joanna Andreasson. Photos: kali9, filo/iStock

Qualified Immunity

Abolish Qualified Immunity

This court-invented doctrine shields bad cops from civil liability.

Damon Root | 9.5.2020 6:00 AM

Walter Ogrod | Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Death Penalty

After Nearly 30 Years, Pennsylvania's Walter Ogrod is Released From Death Row

False testimony and prosecutorial misconduct put Walter Ogrod on death row.

Zuri Davis | 6.5.2020 4:00 PM

University of California, San Diego | K.C. Alfred/TNS/Newscom

Title IX

What You Need to Know About the New Title IX Regulations

All the important highlights from the 2,033-page document released by the Department of Education.

Samantha Harris | 5.7.2020 9:58 AM

Aurora Officer Nathan Meier | Screenshot via The Denver Post/YouTube

Police Abuse

Colorado Prosecutor Is 'Incredibly Frustrated' Over Failure To Investigate a Cop for Driving Drunk

District Attorney George Brauchler: "Bottom line is if one of us had been in that car and not officer Nate Meier, you ask me if I think it would have been treated differently, I do."

Zuri Davis | 2.9.2020 9:40 AM

Eric Kelly | Memphis Police Department

Misconduct

A Memphis Cop Will Get $3,600 a Month, Even After Having Sex With a Suspect in a Murder Case

He gave her marijuana, too.

Zuri Davis | 1.16.2020 11:50 AM

Los Angeles Police Depatment | Kilmermedia/Dreamstime.com

Police Abuse

A California Cop's Body Camera Captured Him Fondling a Dead Woman's Breasts

The officer turned his body camera off, but the incident was still recorded.

Zuri Davis | 12.4.2019 11:10 AM

krtphotoslive868397 | Nelvin C. Cepeda/TNS/Newscom

Corruption

The Department of Homeland Security Is a Mess of Misconduct and Ineptitude

Longstanding discipline problems at DHS provide a glimpse of what fans of bigger government on the right and left would inflict on us.

J.D. Tuccille | 9.10.2019 1:00 PM

Large image on homepages | POOL/REUTERS/Newscom

Prosecutors

Controversial Arizona Prosecutor Juan Martinez May Finally Get a Taste of Justice

Martinez faces allegations of courtroom shenanigans, leaking confidential information, and sexual harassment.

J.D. Tuccille | 4.8.2019 10:00 AM

Large image on homepages | Screenshot via WXYZ Detroit

Michigan

A Detroit Cop Loses His Badge After Mocking a Black Woman on Social Media

Gary Steele made a woman with expired plates walk in below-freezing temperatures. Then he pulled his phone out.

Zuri Davis | 2.28.2019 2:15 PM

Large image for longform feature pages. | Annie Dookhan (left) and Sonja Farak, Associated Press

Criminal Justice

The Chemists and the Cover-Up

Sloppy forensics, drug skimming, and prosecutorial misconduct forced Massachusetts to throw out 47,000 convictions.

Shawn Musgrave | 2.9.2019 6:00 AM

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