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Cedric Hobbs Jr. was brought into the courtroom by deputy sheriffs in 2014. Hobbs is accused in Kyle Harris’ death. He is charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and kidnapping.
News May 11, 2020
A Growing Number of State Courts Are Confronting Unconscious Racism In Jury Selection
“A judge who deals with prosecutors every day is not going to say, ‘You intentionally discriminated on the basis of race, and you lied about it with pretextual reasons.’”
By
Marcus Robinson listened as Cumberland County Judge Gregory Weeks found that racial bias played a role in Robinson’s trial and sentencing, in 2012.
News August 7, 2019
Racism Tainted Their Trials. Should They Still Be Executed?
North Carolina Supreme Court hearings raise broad questions of systemic bias in the state judicial system.
By
The N.C. Supreme Court ordered relief for death row inmates if racial bias infected their case. One of the cases decided Friday was Rayford Burke, whom the prosecutor called “a big black bull” during closing arguments to an all-white jury.
News June 11, 2020
New Hope for People Who Claim Racism Tainted Their Death Sentence
The North Carolina state Supreme Court has upheld the controversial Racial Justice Act, which opponents repealed in 2013
By and
Life Inside December 3, 2020
Coronavirus Has Sparked Another Epidemic in My Prison: Anti-Asian Racism
The racial slurs, dumb comments and news reports of hate violence have me on edge.
By Felix Sitthivong
Commentary July 8, 2015
Why Dylann Roof’s Racism Will Only be Nurtured in Prison
An author and former prisoner reflects on the white supremacist’s potential fate.
By James Kilgore
A woman with medium-toned skin and dark hair holds a painting of her son, Ronald Green, a Black man wearing a blue baseball cap.
Closing Argument November 19, 2022
Policing the Police: A Week of Racism, Abuse and Misconduct
Federal civil rights investigations can examine an entire agency — but they are not the only way to check for police misconduct.
By
Bronx Criminal Court on 161st Street in New York City.
Life Inside August 11, 2016
I’m a Judge and I Think Criminal Court Is Horrifying
“I was shocked at the ​casual racism emanating from the bench.​”
By Hon. Shelley C. Chapman
An illustration in grayscale shows, on the left, a person's head with a speech bubble coming out of their mouth, with a pair of handcuffs in it. On the right, there is a person’s head with “VOTE” in a speech bubble coming out of their mouth.
Election 2024 November 8, 2024
‘What Now?’ People Behind Bars React to Trump’s Win
Most people in prison can’t vote. But they share concerns about inflation, misinformation, racism and the state of our democracy.
By , and
Justices on the United States Supreme Court in 1976.
Commentary March 30, 2016
It’s Been 40 Years Since the Supreme Court Tried to Fix the Death Penalty — Here’s How It Failed
A close look at the grand compromise of 1976.
By Evan J. Mandery
A collage of items related to policing, the Black Shield Police Association and the author’s family. The items include: a police helmet; a baton; a gun; bullets; a sergeant’s badge; a newspaper clipping related to police misconduct and another related to use of force by police; and a photo of former police officer Vincent Montague.
Feature May 23, 2024
Out of the Blue: The Rise and Fall of a Black Cop
After Cleveland officer Vincent Montague shot a Black man, he got promoted. Then he allied with Black Lives Matter, and his life went off the rails.
By
Looking Back March 1, 2018
The Kerner Omission
How a landmark report on the 1960s race riots fell short on police reform
By
Justice Lab January 15, 2015
‘Blame Liberals’
A new book faults Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and the NAACP for our prison state.
By
Andrew Wilson said he was punched, kicked, smothered with a plastic bag, electrically shocked and forced against a hot radiator by Chicago police officers in 1982.
Southside October 30, 2018
Payback
Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his crew tortured false confessions out of hundreds of black men. Decades later, the survivors fought for reparations.
By Natalie Y. Moore
A man held a flag with a thin blue line at a vigil for five police officers killed in Dallas in 2016.
News June 8, 2020
The Short, Fraught History of the ‘Thin Blue Line’ American Flag
The controversial version of the U.S. flag has been hailed as a sign of police solidarity and criticized as a symbol of white supremacy.
By and
A black-and-white photo shows a group of uniformed police officers, including both men and women, standing in several rows on stairs. The officers are all wearing dark uniforms and caps, and they are posing for a formal group portrait inside a building.
Cleveland June 13, 2024
Behind the Black Shield: The History of a Cleveland Institution
How one of the oldest Black policing organizations in the country shaped law enforcement in Cleveland.
By
Analysis February 22, 2017
The Case of Duane Buck
Was he sentenced to death “because he is black”?
By
Q&A July 15, 2016
Dallas’s Deputy Chief on Race, Despair, and Learning from Police Shootings
“My life has to matter, too.”
By
Life Inside August 24, 2017
“Prison is a Real-Life Example of the World White Supremacists Want”
Charlottesville: Views from the cellblock.
By The Marshall Project
A collage made up of figures of, from left: Texas pastor Mark Collins dressed as George Washington; Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb; activist Randy Weaver; former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff Richard Mack; and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association logo, which is an eagle. Sheriff's badges are scattered above the collage.
Feature October 18, 2022
Does Your Sheriff Think He’s More Powerful Than the President?
Richard Mack has built a “Constitutional sheriff” movement to resist state and federal authority on guns, COVID-19 and now election results. A new survey shows just how many sheriffs agree with him.
By
Commentary November 21, 2014
Is the Criminal Justice System Defensible?
A debate between Judge Harvie Wilkinson III and Stephen Bright.
By
News February 4, 2015
When Police Go Rogue on Facebook
And you thought it was only teenagers...
By
Q&A April 29, 2015
David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish
Freddie Gray, the drug war, and the decline of “real policing.”
By
News June 19, 2015
When is a Crime a Hate Crime?
Dylann Roof and the challenges of proving bias.
By
Commentary February 8, 2016
Black and Unarmed: Behind the Numbers
What the Black Lives Matter movement misses about those police shootings.
By Heather Mac Donald
Perry at her gun shop in Boise, Idaho
Feature September 24, 2017
How Conservatives Learned to Love Free Lawyers for the Poor
By reframing the issue around the evils of big government, Republicans are notching victories that have eluded more liberal legislatures.
By
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