Some pediatricians are trained to determine whether kids’ injuries are accidental. Their assessments can be subjective—but they’re often accepted as fact. And when they’re wrong, parents can needlessly end up in jail.
As the pandemic threatens the lives of those behind bars, the country must confront a system that has never had rehabilitation as its priority.
A new approach to fighting the opioid crisis as it quietly rages on
Crime-free-housing programs are quietly giving police widespread influence over landlords and their tenants.
Harvey Weinstein may be headed to prison, but few women will ever see their perpetrators brought to justice.
A class developed in Duluth, Minnesota, has heavily influenced how domestic abusers are rehabilitated across the U.S. But critics question whether it works.
Drug companies are courting jails and judges through sophisticated marketing efforts.
Paroled from prison, Kelly Savage entered a world that could feel as restrictive as the one she left.
Incarcerated people who are dying can apply for “compassionate release” in some states—but very few of them get it. This is the story of one who did.
Women in jail typically have limited prenatal support and return to custody soon after giving birth. One program is testing a different approach.
A nonprofit is trying to match newly released prisoners with hosts who can support them. But it’s hard to find funding for unconventional ideas.
Slack, one of Silicon Valley’s more diverse companies, has hired three formerly incarcerated coders.
Where mistrust between communities and law enforcement runs high, can people with criminal histories bridge the gap?
Arrestees who are mentally incompetent to stand trial are supposed to be sent for treatment. But thousands are being warehoused in jails for months without a conviction.
Jails and prisons are becoming substance-abuse treatment facilities—even for those who haven’t been accused of a crime.
Bill Clinton took responsibility for contributing to mass incarceration. He has yet to say he’s sorry for his role in mass deportation.
My friend Twist and I are both incarcerated. But I’m getting a college degree, and he, like most prisoners in recent decades, hasn’t been able to.
Dozens of states and D.C. have restricted when companies can ask about job applicants’ criminal records—but many aren’t following the rules.
When a longtime resident started stealing her neighbors’ Amazon packages, she entered a vortex of smart cameras, Nextdoor rants, and cellphone surveillance.
As a progressive district attorney in one of the reddest states, Dallas County’s John Creuzot is a controversial figure.
Teens are paying the price for school-shooting threats—whether they’re real or not.
Imprisoned for decades for a crime he committed as a juvenile, “Red Dog” Fennell was released as an old man into a baffling world.
One company has become the biggest provider of jail health care. Sheriffs are worried: “If you’re the only dance in town, you can pretty much call your own shots.”
Why aren’t more cities using it?
FOIA documents and a whistle-blower uncover how the Obama and Trump administrations used solitary in ways that critics say are arbitrary, cruel, and in violation of federal rules.
A campaign for suffrage is growing inside prisons. Is anyone listening?
How a Pakistani-born retired pilot took on a controversial, data-driven policing program in Los Angeles—and won
A set of unusual cases in North Carolina brings new attention to racism in death-penalty trials.
Violence perpetrated by cops doesn’t simply boil down to individual bad actors—it’s also a systemic, judicial failing.
When a Nashville officer killed a black man, his mother and other activists didn’t just seek an indictment—they fought to give citizens oversight of the whole police department.
While cities are trying to reform their criminal-justice systems, smaller, more far-flung locales are struggling to provide basic services.
What new research reveals about sexual predators, and why police fail to catch them
Garry McFadden is taking a stand. But will North Carolina’s legislature strip his office of the powers he’s using?
Many states and cities are putting Americans’ fates in the hands of algorithms.
In 1987, the Supreme Court came within one vote of eliminating capital punishment in Georgia based on evidence of racial disparities. Instead, it created a precedent that civil-rights advocates have been fighting for decades.
Republican state legislators across the country have joined with Democrats to ban capital punishment—including in New Hampshire, which recently became the 21st state to end the practice.
New laws in New York and elsewhere could keep women out of prison for crimes against their abusers.
Activists have swept a new wave of prosecutors into office. Is the focus now shifting to the judiciary?
The justices strike a blow against policing for profit.
The “permanent campaign” made some Republicans fear being cast as soft on crime.
Roughly half of the state could be designated as reservation land. No one’s sure what that would mean for Native inmates whose crimes occurred within those boundaries.
Why were police officers called to the scene in the first place?
A reader weighs in on the Chicago Police Department’s culture of intimidation, and describes her own experience processing the shooting of the 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
For the first time, police have compelled a suspect to unlock his phone using Face ID. The case reveals an interesting inversion: More advanced password technology is less protected from police seizure.
A white policeman was convicted of murder in the killing of a black teen—an outcome that goes against the many forces aligned to prevent the officer from facing consequences.
They worry that algorithms used to determine a person’s flight risk will only perpetuate racial discrimination.
A ballot amendment in the November election could restore voting rights to 1.5 million felons in Florida, one of just three states that permanently bars felons from voting.
The unicorn start-up Slack is launching an apprenticeship program for formerly incarcerated people. But will the industry ever hire from the inside en masse?
It doesn’t make the police or public any safer. But figuring that out exposed the dearth of useable data on law-enforcement practices.
The change may be the biggest help to low-income students of color, who are disproportionately likely to have been convicted of a crime.
In America’s deadliest big city, the task of announcing each new murder falls to police spokesman T. J. Smith. One year ago, he confronted a killing like no other.
Across political, racial, and geographic lines, more Americans seem ready to move past the age of mass incarceration.
Joe Arpaio made his name by building a harsh jail in the desert. Now, Trump is promising to take his punitive approach to immigration national.
On Tuesday, the district attorney in Durham, North Carolina, dismissed all remaining charges in the August case. What does that mean for the future of statues around the country?
At the height of the Black Power movement, the Bureau focused on the unlikeliest of public enemies: black independent booksellers.
Officers involved in fatal incidents keep getting acquitted, but a team of Baltimore cops who stole from suspects and taxpayers alike during a years-long criminal spree are facing serious jail time.
This week a detective gave stunning testimony about abuses by the city’s gun-trace task force and an officer was charged with fabricating evidence.
The COMPAS tool is widely used to assess a defendant’s risk of committing more crimes, but a new study puts its usefulness into perspective.
Under Governor Terry McAuliffe, the state embarked on a campaign to grant clemency more often, and to restore the civil rights of convicted felons.
The public wants it, and the Tenth Amendment demands it.
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