criminal justice

A Kentucky grand jury has decided not to indict any of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor with homicide or manslaughter, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be additional charges in the future to hold the officers responsible for her death. Attorney Michael Starr Hopkins explains that federal charges could still be possible under a...

Incidents of racism have become more visible due to cell phone cameras and social media, but hate crimes are still underreported across the U.S., according to Roy L. Austin, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. The reasons include distrust between the Black community and law enforcement, and a lack of incentive for officials to report...

Roc Nation’s philanthropy arm, Team Roc, filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections earlier this year on behalf of over 150 inmates in the state’s Parchman prison in response to conditions described as “barbaric.” Attorney Jessica Rice, who is working with Team Roc, explains why this case is important in Mississippi and details the long history of...

Cyntoia Brown Long says sex trafficking is often not “black and white” and there is no “perfect victim,” as evidenced by her own case and the ongoing case of Chrystul Kizer, a teenager who is accused of killing her alleged sex trafficker and was released on bond last week.

Andrea Ritchie of the Barnard Center for Research on Women says Black women are more likely to be killed by police than Black men, as evidenced by the shooting of Breonna Taylor. She says Breonna’s Law, while a positive step, doesn’t do enough to protect them.

Months before Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by a police officer outside a Wendy’s in Atlanta, Georgia, he spoke about his experience with the U.S. criminal justice system and the struggles he faced after being incarcerated, NBC News reports. Brooks’ interview in February 2020 was conducted by Reconnect, a Maine-based public benefit corporation, as part of a project about...

Rayshard Brooks, the man who was shot and killed by police last week at an Atlanta, Georgia, drive-through, gave an interview in February about the inequalities of the U.S. criminal justice system. Brooks’ interview was conducted by Reconnect as part of a project about individuals on probation or parole.

California judicial leaders on Wednesday ended a statewide policy of imposing $0 bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies that reduced jail populations by more than 20,000 suspects during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s Judicial Council said the policy helped ease crowding in jails, which are potential hot spots for spreading the virus. But it said a…

Louis Reed, a national organizer for #CUT50 who served almost 14 years in federal prison, explained the harsh long-term consequences suffered by exonerated and released convicts.

Adam Brundage went missing in 2004. This month, his former roommate admitted to beating him in the head with a baseball bat and burying his body at a Bucks County quarry.

The next police commissioner of Philadelphia will be Portland, Oregon, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw. Outlaw, 44, has served as the top-ranking police official for the West Coast city for a little over two years, since October 2017. She was the first black woman to hold the position, according to her biography on the Portland city website. She will also be...

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Friday he will not consider a pardon request from a man convicted of rape and murder when he was a teenager whose story was documented in the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” The request from Brendan Dassey filed in October does not meet the criteria for a pardon consideration because he has not completed…

A Honolulu police officer has pleaded guilty to depriving a homeless man of his civil rights by forcing him to lick a public urinal. John Rabago says he told the man he wouldn’t be arrested if he licked the urinal. Rabago and another officer had responded to a nuisance complaint when they found the man in a stall in a...

The NBA is sending players and coaches into prisons to host pickup games with inmates as part of a new effort designed to lessen the stigmas around those behind bars. The Sacramento Kings kicked off the first in a nationwide series of contests this week at Folsom State Prison, made famous in the Johnny Cash song.