The COVID-19 Homicide Spike Has Vanished
August 28, 2024
Commentary
There's a story for politicians to tell of not just crime declines, but non-police interventions that made cities safer.
Articles
Claim of racial bias in Rowan County death penalty case cites U.S. Supreme Court decision
August 1, 2024
interviews
This story was produced in partnership with WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jacob Biba, a reporter based in Asheville,...
Taking a hard look at Baltimore’s Gun Violence Reduction Strategy
July 26, 2024
Investigations
An analysis of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's key anti-violence strategy.
Were Black jurors in North Carolina struck because of their race?
July 8, 2024
Investigations
The question looms over capital cases in the state.
The Biggest Myth About the 1994 Crime Bill Still Haunts Joe Biden. It Shouldn’t.
June 22, 2024
Commentary
The law is routinely blamed for a very real problem it had nothing to do with.
Feds Closed a Prison Notorious for Abuse. Things Only Got Worse
June 8, 2024
Investigations
Dozens of women were assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, California, before it was shut down. Now, prisoners are facing “mass retaliation and bullying”
New Laws Are Turning Police Into ‘Super Citizens’
May 10, 2024
Commentary
A series of legislative and judicial efforts have removed police oversight from oversight boards and communities.
GOP Senate Candidate’s Error-Laden Memoir Villainized Baltimore, Freddie Gray
April 19, 2024
Latest
Larry Hogan, the former Maryland Republican governor, has a moderate reputation — but spent his career wrongfully demonizing Baltimore
In historic North Carolina hearing, Joe Freeman Britt’s troubled past as prosecutor looms
March 29, 2024
Latest
The proceedings are before a Johnston County Superior judge, but former Roberson and Scotland County prosecutor Britt's legacy hangs over them.
Baltimore’s Spy Plane Was Ruled Unconstitutional in 2021. So Why Did One Murder Case Go to Trial Years Later?
March 21, 2024
Investigations
Terrence Carter spent three years in jail and on house arrest in a case in which police and prosecutors relied on the surveillance plane.
A Potent Weapon For State Legislatures To Undermine Reform Prosecutors
February 24, 2024
Commentary
Preemption is being used by red and blue states alike to roll back the power of reform prosecutors.
Kim Ogg: DA Under Fire
February 23, 2024
Features
Harris County had big plans to reform its criminal justice system. What went wrong?
An ‘Execute-Them-At-Any-Cost Mentality’: The Supreme Court’s New, Bloodthirsty Era
January 22, 2024
Features
The death penalty survived decades of decline. Now it’s back, thanks to capital punishment-prone prosecutors and a compliant Supreme Court.
How Phase III Came To Be
January 3, 2024
Features
Though they once applauded the jail’s federal reforms, community groups and political leaders in New Orleans oppose a key mandate: the construction of a $109 million mental health jail.
Here We Go Again
December 25, 2023
Investigations
The short history and long tail of “zero tolerance” policing in Baltimore.
Baltimore Police Unit Under Fire for Deadly Shootings, Questionable Stops
November 15, 2023
Investigations
District Action Team officers fatally shot someone again on Tuesday. But concerns about the unit have been rising for months.
Reality Policing TV Is Back And More Pervasive Than Ever
November 14, 2023
Latest
After George Floyd's murder, reality policing shows were cancelled, and network execs promised they'd never return. But three years later, they're back—and thriving.
Does The Allegheny County DA’s Criminal Justice Strategy Unfairly Punish Black people?
November 3, 2023
Investigations
An analysis of the county's criminal court cases shows that Black people have been prosecuted by the DA’s office at 5.8 times the rate of white people, and charged with felonies more frequently.
In Louisiana, Police Reform Led Directly To A “Torture Warehouse.”
October 13, 2023
Latest
This story was produced in partnership with Slate.
A new lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleges that the Baton...
Former Death Row Prisoner Files Lawsuit Against Moonlighting Prosecutor
September 20, 2023
Latest
Clinton Young is suing a prosecutor who simultaneously worked for judges presiding over his cases.
Florida Has Found A New Way To Thwart Reform Prosecutors
September 19, 2023
Commentary
A plan in Florida to review its judicial circuits will disenfranchise Black voters, the most reliable political base for reform prosecutors.
Texas Takes Attacks on Austin to New Level With “Death Star” Law
August 23, 2023
Commentary
This story was produced in partnership with Slate.
On Sept. 1, a bill with the pithy title “An Act Relating...
Aim Lower
July 6, 2023
Commentary
Liberals have lost the Supreme Court for a generation. Their only hope is to seize state courts and launch a counterrevolution.
Data Undercuts Key Law Enforcement Claim About San Francisco’s Fentanyl Trafficking Crackdown
May 26, 2023
Latest
San Francisco’s top prosecutor says massive resources are needed to rebut human trafficking defenses, but it’s hard to find many instances where that has happened.
After The Gun Trace Task Force Scandal, BPD Established New Plainclothes Units. Are They More Of The Same?
May 4, 2023
Investigations
"We establish our own probable cause," a District Action Team officer said in a piece of video footage captured after a 2022 arrest.
This Cop Unleashed A Reign Of Terror, Say The Wrongfully Accused
April 13, 2023
Features
For years, people in Raleigh were arrested for heroin possession—without having the drug. Now, they’re demanding answers
What If The Worst Crime Imaginable Never Happened
March 23, 2023
Investigations
Jimmie Duncan is on death row in Louisiana based on fraudulent science—but that might not matter if the state’s governorship flips this fall.
A Jail In Crisis
March 16, 2023
Features
Deaths, Use of Solitary Soar At The Allegheny County Jail Even As Its Population Has Dropped From Pre-Pandemic Highs.
Justice Denied
March 10, 2023
Features
Last year, Gerald Thomas was sent to the Allegheny County Jail after charges against him were dropped, and died inside 17 days later. The judge who berated him is now facing a federal lawsuit.
A Cop Sexually Assaulted Their Son. Then Child Protective Services Retaliated.
February 14, 2023
Features
How a family in Missouri almost lost their kid, and couldn't fight back thanks to qualified immunity laws.
Why Are So Few Being Released?
February 1, 2023
Features
They were sentenced to long prison terms for crimes they committed in their teens. But North Carolina opened a potential door to get them out.
Celeb Prosecutor’s Own Kidnapping Is Now A True Crime Fiasco
January 30, 2023
Features
She survived a brutal kidnapping and attempted rape—and wrote a book about it. But did it happen the way she says?
The Fashionable Police Strategy That Is Just Mass Incarceration By Another Name
November 2, 2022
Commentary
This story was published in partnership with Slate.
Police departments, politicians, academics, and policymakers are again embracing focused deterrence, a...
Biden’s Focus on Marijuana Is Part of the Problem
October 21, 2022
Commentary
This story was published in partnership with Slate.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden released a three-prong plan to fulfill a...
The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom
October 20, 2022
Features
Like his pals Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, Sacks is using his wealth and online clout to unite conservatives and former leftists in a reactionary movement against liberalism.
The NYPD Brutalized Protesters in 2020. Will It Face a Reckoning?
October 8, 2022
Features
This story was produced in partnership with New York Magazine.
On June 4, 2020, hundreds of protesters marched through the Mott...
Police Are Bragging About Big Fentanyl Busts, Repeating the Drug War’s Dark History
September 20, 2022
Latest
Politicians and lawmakers are equating large-scale fentanyl seizures with progress in combating the drug’s epidemic, forgetting the lessons from the age of crack.
Why Even Progressive Prosecutors Won’t Be Able to Keep Women Who Have Abortions Out of Jail
July 13, 2022
Commentary
This article was published in partnership with Slate.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....
How States Will Target Pregnant People Now that Roe Has Fallen
June 24, 2022
Latest
After the Dobbs decision, every pregnancy is a potential crime scene.
What the San Francisco DA Recall Really Tells Us. And What it Doesn’t.
June 9, 2022
Commentary
The city's demographics mattered, as did Chesa Boudin's outsider status. But the politics of punishment are still too complicated to draw a neat conclusion.
School Police Don’t Stop Shootings. So What Are They For?
June 7, 2022
Latest
This story was published in partnership with Slate.
Each day following the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left...
‘We don’t know how many women are out there like that’
May 16, 2022
Features
Anna Borkowski accused three men of rape. Why did prosecutors stop her?
Hochul’s Regressive Bail Rollbacks Untethered From Evidence
April 11, 2022
Commentary
The bail reform debate turns on data from data from New York State’s Office of Court Administration. But that data cannot answer the question of whether reform works.
How Texas Became the Most Virulently Anti-Trans State in America
April 5, 2022
Features
Governor Greg Abbott’s notorious order to investigate gender-affirming care as child abuse was years in the making.
The Wrong Prosecutors Are Getting Recalled
March 25, 2022
Commentary
Some prosecutors confront recalls over their policies, while others facing misconduct allegations could be re-elected.
The Real Reason Democrats Can’t Agree On How To Address Rising Crime
March 8, 2022
Commentary
The criminal legal reform divide is between moderate mayors and progressive prosecutors.
The Biggest Threat to Trans Kids in Texas is Child Protective Services
March 2, 2022
Investigations
Texas Is targeting trans kids. But weaponizing Child Protective Services against them could be a threat everywhere.
Prescription Opioids Aren’t Driving the Overdose Crisis. Illicitly Manufactured Synthetic Opioids Are.
February 15, 2022
Commentary
Myths about the role of prescription opioids have fueled decades of misguided policies. A new report from The Stanford-Lancet Commission reinforces those falsehoods.
What an Analysis of 2,000 Shootings Tells Us About How to End Gun Violence
February 14, 2022
Commentary
This story was published in partnership with Slate.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” received...
Eric Adams’ “Blueprint To End Gun Violence” Is a Trojan Horse
January 28, 2022
Commentary
The New York Mayor’s blueprint isn’t really an anti-violence plan—it's an assault on modest discovery, bail and juvenile justice reforms.
The Manhattan DA Started a Panic with Supposedly Soft-on-Crime Policies. His Critics Are Wrong.
January 18, 2022
Commentary
Like other progressive prosecutors, Alvin Bragg is trying to acknowledge that prison time doesn’t fight crime.
Major Media Outlets Can’t Stop Describing Police Violence As ‘Officer Involved’ Incidents
January 13, 2022
Reports
Following the murder of George Floyd, The Associated Press issued guidance that reporters should not describe instances where police shot someone with neutral language. It didn't work.
David Simon Made Baltimore Detectives Famous. Now Their Cases Are Falling Apart.
January 12, 2022
Features
Has reality caught up to the “Murder Police”?
She Was Open To Her Child Being Trans. Then The State Separated Them.
December 15, 2021
Features
Is the case of Katee Churchill just the beginning?
Give People Safe Drugs
November 24, 2021
Commentary
Over 100,000 overdose deaths happened last year, driven by volatile and lethal fentanyl. The safe supply movement may have an answer for the crisis.
North Carolina Appeals Courts Have Never Found That Prosecutors Discriminated Against Black Jurors. Two Cases Could Change That.
November 8, 2021
Features
The state’s appellate courts could give new trials to two Black men who claim prosecutors discriminated against potential jurors.
Human Trafficking Sting Nets No Human Trafficking Charges
October 29, 2021
Investigations
A Florida sheriff boasted of 125 arrests as part of a massive anti-human trafficking operation. But none of the charges were for human trafficking—nearly all were for misdemeanor solicitation.
Crime Rates Rise And Fall. The Police Mostly Have Nothing To Do With It.
October 26, 2021
Commentary
Policing expansions don't do much to reduce crime. Instead, they manage people and communities to serve the interests of the powerful.
Why Our Fixation On The Murder Rate Is Killing Us
October 8, 2021
Commentary
Deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and car accidents are all strongly influenced by our reliance on—and unwillingness to move away from—policing.
White Riot
October 4, 2021
Features
In 1992, thousands of furious, drunken cops descended on City Hall — and changed New York history.