Commentary
October 8, 2021

Why Our Fixation On The Murder Rate Is Killing Us
By John Pfaff

Deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and car accidents are all strongly influenced by our reliance on—and unwillingness to move away from—policing.

More in Archive

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.
By John Pfaff

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...

Continue reading

By John Pfaff

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.
By James Forman and Lara Bazelon

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.
By Zachary Siegel

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.
By Brandon Soderberg

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
By Sean Campbell

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.
By Lara Bazelon

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.
By Sean Campbell

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.
By Sean Campbell

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.
By Lisa Riordan-Seville

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.
By Jacob Biba