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Criminal Justice

Accountability in Crime and Law

476 stories published since 2008

Early Results on DNA Evidence From Decades-Old Rape Cases Are Both Promising and Alarming

by Catherine Rentz,

Public Defenders and Defense Attorneys: Help ProPublica Report on Criminal Justice

by Josh Peck and Imani White,

Richard Glossip Has Eaten Three Last Meals on Death Row. Years Later, the State Is Still Trying to Execute Him.

by Ziva Branstetter,

Michigan Proposes Juvenile Justice Reforms After Story of Teen Locked Up for Missing Homework Exposed Gaps in System

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Two Cities Took Different Approaches to Pandemic Court Closures. They Got Different Results.

by Alec MacGillis,

Louisiana Limits Solitary Confinement for Youth

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project, and Erin Einhorn, NBC News,

Shielded From Public View, Misconduct by Corrections Staff in Illinois Prisons Received Scant Discipline

by Shannon Heffernan, WBEZ,

Trial Diary: A Journalist Sits on a Baltimore Jury

by Alec MacGillis,

Daniel Taylor Was Innocent. He Spent Decades in Prison Trying to Fix the State’s Mistake.

by Steve Mills,

Wrongly Convicted Man Receives $7.5 Million Settlement in Indiana

by Marek Mazurek, South Bend Tribune,

They Built the Wall. Problems Remain After Founder’s Guilty Plea.

by Jeremy Schwartz and Perla Trevizo,

Louisiana Lawmakers Could Limit Solitary Confinement for Teens Following Alarming Revelations

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project, and Erin Einhorn, NBC News,

Maine Will Soon Hire Its First Five Public Defenders. Most of the State Remains Without Them.

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

Conditions at Mississippi’s Most Notorious Prison Violate the Constitution, DOJ Says

by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting,

Changes in Police Policy, Payouts to Latino Victims of Traffic Stops and Arrests Following Investigations

by Dale Russakoff and Deborah Sontag,

The Invisible Hand of Steve Twist

by Nicole Santa Cruz,

St. Louis’ Murder Total Has Fallen, but Some Killings Went Uncounted

by Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, and Tom Scheck, APM Reports,

DOJ Charges Defendants With Harassing and Spying On Chinese Americans for Beijing

by Sebastian Rotella,

Shackles and Solitary: Inside Louisiana’s Harshest Juvenile Lockup

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica; Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project; and Erin Einhorn, NBC News,

ACLU Sues Maine for Providing Ineffective Defense Counsel

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

Testing Rape Kits Can Deliver Exonerations, Closure and Cost Savings. Why Does It Still Take So Long to Do?

by Catherine Rentz,

Years Before a Police Union Leader Was Raided by the FBI, Local Investigators Didn’t Pursue Allegations Against Him

by Jake Pearson,

Citizens Hide From Active Shooters as Alaska Is Slow to Deliver on 2019 Promise of Village Troopers

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Judge Says NYPD Illegally Withheld Footage in Police Shootings

by Eric Umansky,

Police Watchdog Calls for Full Access to Body Cam Footage. The NYPD Says No.

by Eric Umansky,

A Union Scandal Landed Hundreds of NYPD Officers on a Secret Watchlist. That Hasn’t Stopped Some From Jeopardizing Cases.

by Jake Pearson,

Tennessee Children Were Illegally Jailed. Now Members of Congress Are Asking For an Investigation.

by Meribah Knight, Nashville Public Radio, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

A Guantanamo Detainee’s Case Has Been Languishing Without Action Since 2008. The Supreme Court Wants to Know Why.

by Raymond Bonner,

​​Will the United States Officially Acknowledge That It Had a Secret Torture Site in Poland?

by Raymond Bonner,

Survivors and Families of Victims of a 1981 El Salvador Massacre See Justice Slip Away Again

by Raymond Bonner and Nelson Rauda for ProPublica,

This State’s Legislators Want to Overhaul the System That Lets Law Enforcement Keep People’s Money

by Shannon Dooling and Saurabh Datar, WBUR,

He Admitted to a Rape 41 Years After the Fact. For One Survivor: “It’s the Most Freeing Experience in the World”

by Catherine Rentz,

Massachusetts Police Can Easily Seize Your Money. The DA of One County Makes It Nearly Impossible to Get It Back.

by Saurabh Datar and Shannon Dooling, WBUR,

School District That Employed Principal Despite Sex Abuse Complaints Will Pay $3.8 Million to His Victims

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Alaskan Law Requires DNA From Accused Criminals, but Officials Failed to Collect Samples From 21,000 People

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

What Philadelphia Reveals About America’s Homicide Surge

by Alec MacGillis, photography by Hannah Price/Magnum Photos, special to ProPublica,

Michigan Supreme Court Limits Use of Restraints on Juveniles

by Jodi S. Cohen,

County Officials in Texas Settle Lawsuit Alleging Mishandling of Sexual Assault Cases

by Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey, Newsy,

Facing New Complaint, South Carolina Magistrate Removed as County’s Chief Judge

by Joseph Cranney and Avery G. Wilks, The Post and Courier,

New Records Show the NYPD’s Favored Punishment: Less Vacation Time

by Moiz Syed and Derek Willis,

How Our Investigation Into Untested DNA Evidence Helped Solve a 1983 Murder

by Catherine Rentz,

Few Cops We Found Using Force on George Floyd Protesters Are Known to Have Faced Discipline

by Mollie Simon,

“The Best Bargain in the History of Law Enforcement” — and the High Cost of Not Testing Backlogged Rape Kits

by Catherine Rentz,

After NYPD Found “No Wrongdoing” in Officer’s Killing of Kawaski Trawick, a Watchdog Finds Fireable Offenses

by Eric Umansky,

“City Hall Put the Kibosh on That”: The Inside Story of How de Blasio Promised, Then Thwarted NYPD Accountability

by Eric Umansky and Jake Pearson,

After Grace’s Story, Michigan Will Study Its Juvenile Justice System

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press,

Amid Calls for Reform, Maine’s Criminal Defense System Reaches a “Breaking Point”

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

There Have Been Huge Gaps in FBI Hate Crime Data for Years. A New Law Aims to Fix That.

by Ken Schwencke,

Following a DUI Arrest, Maine Defense Lawyer Banned From Representing Defendants

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

“A Horror Movie in Reverse”: How I Investigated Decades of Untested Rape Kits

by Catherine Rentz,