The COVID-19 Homicide Spike Has Vanished
August 28, 2024
There's a story for politicians to tell of not just crime declines, but non-police interventions that made cities safer.
Commentary
December 23, 2024
Democratic Pundits Have A Pernicious Crime Problem
They say fact-checking perceptions of crime is a fool’s errand because they’re rooted in vibes. But they ignore that the vibes are coming from somewhere: media.
More in Commentary
The Biggest Myth About the 1994 Crime Bill Still Haunts Joe Biden. It Shouldn’t.
June 22, 2024
The law is routinely blamed for a very real problem it had nothing to do with.
New Laws Are Turning Police Into ‘Super Citizens’
May 10, 2024
A series of legislative and judicial efforts have removed police oversight from oversight boards and communities.
A Potent Weapon For State Legislatures To Undermine Reform Prosecutors
February 24, 2024
Preemption is being used by red and blue states alike to roll back the power of reform prosecutors.
Florida Has Found A New Way To Thwart Reform Prosecutors
September 19, 2023
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
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
Liberals have lost the Supreme Court for a generation. Their only hope is to seize state courts and launch a counterrevolution.
The Fashionable Police Strategy That Is Just Mass Incarceration By Another Name
November 2, 2022
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
This story was published in partnership with Slate.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden released a three-prong plan to fulfill a...
Why Even Progressive Prosecutors Won’t Be Able to Keep Women Who Have Abortions Out of Jail
July 13, 2022
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In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....
What the San Francisco DA Recall Really Tells Us. And What it Doesn’t.
June 9, 2022
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.
Hochul’s Regressive Bail Rollbacks Untethered From Evidence
April 11, 2022
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.
The Wrong Prosecutors Are Getting Recalled
March 25, 2022
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
The criminal legal reform divide is between moderate mayors and progressive prosecutors.
Prescription Opioids Aren’t Driving the Overdose Crisis. Illicitly Manufactured Synthetic Opioids Are.
February 15, 2022
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
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
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
Like other progressive prosecutors, Alvin Bragg is trying to acknowledge that prison time doesn’t fight crime.
Give People Safe Drugs
November 24, 2021
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.
Crime Rates Rise And Fall. The Police Mostly Have Nothing To Do With It.
October 26, 2021
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
Deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and car accidents are all strongly influenced by our reliance on—and unwillingness to move away from—policing.