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Some district attorneys, including San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan, have publicly pushed back on sentencing reductions.
News July 2, 2019
The New Price of a Plea Bargain in California
Lawmakers cut criminal sentences; some DAs push back using plea deals.
By
Steven Odiase, center, was convicted of killing a teenage boy in the Bronx in 2009. He was exonerated this year after defense attorneys discovered prosecutors had withheld key witness statements that could have helped prove Odiase’s innocence.
News November 8, 2017
New York Courts Say: Hand It Over
A new order reminds prosecutors to show their evidence.
By
Bronx Criminal Court on 161st Street in New York City.
Commentary October 23, 2017
When Race Tips the Scales in Plea Bargaining
New research finds that prosecutors give white defendants better deals than black defendants.
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta and Alice Fontier
Prisoners at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. Abolitionists do not propose bulldozing prisons and jails tomorrow; rather they are focused on a practical program of change.
Commentary June 19, 2019
The Case for Abolition
“We have grown weary of worn-out debates over the feasibility of a world without prisons.”
By Ruth Wilson Gilmore and James Kilgore
News May 2, 2016
Do Public Defenders Spend Less Time on Black Clients?
Some suspect “implicit bias” is not just a problem for police, prosecutors, and judges.
By
News December 9, 2015
Could Trees Help Stop Crime?
Researchers think turning more vacant lots green might work.
By
Life Inside August 16, 2018
What It’s Like to be a Cutter in Prison
"This isn’t a place that provides treatment, help, or even empathy to those who suffer from stress, depression, and mental illness."
By Deidre Mcdonald
News September 22, 2015
Life Without Parole: For Juveniles, 5 Tough Counties
New study places a quarter of the sentences in a handful of urban areas.
By
The entrance to New York County Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street in Manhattan.
Life Inside October 27, 2015
Confessions of a Grand Juror
Ten days in a room with 22 other jurors. What could possibly go wrong?
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A White male police officer holds a police vest, pointing out its body camera.
Closing Argument December 16, 2023
What Bodycams Tell Us About the Challenges of Policing the Police
The cameras and other police accountability steps are popular with the public — but not always particularly effective.
By
Commentary December 26, 2014
Plea Bargaining and the Innocent
It’s up to judges to restore balance
By U.S. District Judge John L. Kane
Commentary February 13, 2015
The Exoneration of Brandon Olebar
A prosecutor considers one his office got wrong.
By Mark Larson
Life Inside June 6, 2019
Coulda Been a Contender
I had a shot at being the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Then I was convicted of murder.
By Kassan Messiah as told to
David Perdue, R-Ga., center, voted against the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 last month.
Analysis November 6, 2015
The Dissenters
Not everybody is aboard the criminal justice reform bandwagon. Here’s why.
By
News August 1, 2019
One Lawyer. Five Years. 3,802 Cases.
In Detroit, court-appointed lawyers for the poor are encouraged to take on large caseloads at the expense of their clients, a new report says.
By
Feature July 2, 2015
California’s Jail-building Boom
What comes after mass incarceration? Local incarceration.
By
An illustration shows two people with a medium-dark skin tone pulling a model of a detention facility from opposite ends. Only their hands and arms are visible. One person is wearing a brown sheriff’s uniform while the other is wearing a beige suit.
Jackson March 26
A Court May Soon Control the Hinds County Jail. Here’s What May Happen Next.
When death and violence plagued the jail, the federal courts stepped in. We talked with an expert about what to expect from a receivership.
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The top portion of a document shows search warrant text and a state of Mississippi stamp on a yellow background. A handwritten note that reads "This is a no-knock warrant." is highlighted in black.
Jackson Newsletter April 3
Investigating No-Knock Search Warrants in Mississippi
Experts said dozens of no-knock search warrants from across the state had no written justification.
By The Marshall Project - Jackson
An illustration shows a closeup view of a man looking at a paper with the words “conduct report” at the top. Ripped scans of mail documents are layered on top of the illustration.
Cleveland June 23
How Ohio Prison Staff Open and Read Confidential Legal Mail
An anti-drug smuggling policy has slowed the delivery of time-sensitive court documents as prison staff read letters protected by attorney-client privilege.
By
Commentary November 21, 2014
Is the Criminal Justice System Defensible?
A debate between Judge Harvie Wilkinson III and Stephen Bright.
By
Feature December 17, 2014
The Slow Death of the Death Penalty
The public supports it, but the costs are lethal.
By
From left, Sheriff Willis McCall, jailer Reuben Hatcher, Walter Irvin, Charles Greenlee and Samuel Shepherd, at the Lake County Jail in 1949.
Feature May 15, 2017
Sixty-eight Years Later, Apologies in Lake County
For the lives ruined, for justice denied, sorry.
By Gilbert King
Sgt. Steve Bowles of the Seal Beach Detention Center in Seal Beach, Calif., gives a tour of a jail dorm where pay-to-stay participants can watch television.
Feature March 9, 2017
Afraid of Jail? Buy an Upgrade
How California’s pay-to-stay jails create a two-tiered justice system.
By , Victoria Kim
and
News April 4, 2022
Texas Border Operation’s Largest Share of Arrests: Trespassing On Private Property
About 40% of people arrested by Operation Lone Star over seven months face only this charge. They often spend months in prison, but the tactic does not appear to have slowed migration.
By Jolie Mccullough, The Texas Tribune
Andrew Goldstein is in Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison for pushing Kendra Webdale to her death on subway tracks in Manhattan and is scheduled to be released on Sept. 14.
Feature September 3, 2018
A Turbulent Mind
Andrew Goldstein’s crime set in motion a dramatic shift in how we care for the violent mentally ill. Including for himself—when he’s released this month.
By and
Chris Turner was paroled in 2010 after serving more than 25 years in prison.
Feature March 22, 2017
“Harmless Errors”
Eight young men and the murder story that sent them away for life
By Thomas Dybdahl
Feature July 10, 2015
Life Without Parole
Inside the secretive world of parole boards, where your freedom may depend on politics and whim.
By
Feature March 24, 2021
A Bestselling Author Became Obsessed With Freeing a Man From Prison. It Nearly Ruined Her Life.
After the success of her novel Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen spent years trying to prove a man’s innocence. Now she’s “absolutely broke” and “seriously ill,” and her next book is “years past deadline.”
By Abbott Kahler
Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland
An illustration shows a yellow silhouette walking on top of a circle outline against a grunge burgundy and yellow background. Three yellow outlined silhouettes walk in different directions around the circle outline.
Violation May 3, 2023
‘No Safe Place’: On Memory, Trauma and Truth
Part Seven of the “Violation” podcast reveals new information about Jake Wideman’s past and explains what happens next in his legal case.
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