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A column that examines the science, social science and technology of criminal justice
Justice Lab October 28, 2020
When Does Murder Make The News? It Depends On The Victim’s Race.
Mainstream media is less likely to cover Black homicide victims and less likely to portray them as complex human beings, a new study shows.
By Beth Schwartzapfel
Abd’Allah Lateef was a teenager when he entered prison and was middle-aged when he got out. He now advocates for much shorter sentences for juveniles.
Justice Lab January 30, 2020
What’s the Meaning of “Life” When Sentencing Kids?
The Supreme Court ended automatic life without parole for children. What replaces it remains unclear.
By Eli Hager
Kevin Johns comforts Kathy Bowling at their son Jared Johns’ grave at Cannon Memorial Park in Fountain Inn, South Carolina.
Justice Lab November 11, 2019
How Did They Run an Elaborate “Sextortion” Scam From Prison? Cellphones.
Victim’s family pushes for a high-tech crackdown—but it may not work.
By Joseph Darius Jaafari
A person released from the Cook County Jail in Chicago wears an electronic monitoring device similar to those used by many former prisoners in Illinois.
Justice Lab July 15, 2019
Illinois puts ankle monitors on thousands. Now it has to figure out who gets tracked—and why
Corrections officials have little data on the electronic monitoring of former prisoners. A new bill aims to change that.
By Joseph Darius Jaafari
Prisoners wait for a morning head count at the Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell, Fla.
Justice Lab April 14, 2019
Can Better Data Fix Florida’s Prisons?
A landmark law lets the state track people through the justice system. But that’s tougher than it sounds.
By Nicole Lewis
A new study in the journal Language found that witnesses who speak in cultural or regional dialects are more likely to be misunderstood in the courts.
Justice Lab February 14, 2019
In Court, Where Are Siri and Alexa?
When it comes to setting the record straight, court reporting technology is still not up to speed.
By Joseph Darius Jaafari and Nicole Lewis
Justice Lab August 14, 2018
A Dangerous Brain
Can neuroscience predict how likely someone is to commit another crime?
By Andrew Rodriguez Calderón
The police patrol a residential neighborhood in east Baltimore minutes after a curfew law took effect in Baltimore in August 2014.
Justice Lab July 31, 2018
The Curfew Myth
How a ‘90s panic spawned an anti-crime measure that doesn’t make you safer.
By Ivonne Roman
Justice Lab May 24, 2018
Your Home is Your...Snitch?
When your appliances work as police informants.
By Daniel Zwerdling
Women at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Ill., in 2016.
Justice Lab December 15, 2017
A Mass Incarceration Mystery
Why are black imprisonment rates going down? Four theories.
By Eli Hager
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