Criminal Justice Stories
- WI Ballot Question Sparks Calls to End Cash Bail In the coming months, Wisconsin residents will hear plenty of arguments before they vote on a constitutional amendment to change state policy on cash bail. Some say there is a need to protect the public, while others say it is simply time to end the practice. […]
- New Report Reviews VA Parole Board Duties, Issues The Virginia Parole Board has issued a report that outlines its past problems and the steps it could take to rebuild public trust. The work began in 2021, when Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an Executive Order firing the previous parole board and requesting a review of its […]
- Police Gunshot Detector Continues to Roil Portland Community Community members continue to voice concerns about gunshot-detecting technology being considered in Portland. At a recent Inter-Faith Peace and Action Collaborative meeting, opponents of the technology known as ShotSpotter pointed out its weaknesses. Jonathan Manes, attorney at the MacArthur Justice Center in Chicago, where the ShotSpotter surveillance […]
- Iowa Takes Aim at Human Trafficking January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Iowa is working to address the problem by educating businesses about the potential signs and dangers. Although officials say it is hard to pinpoint exact numbers, the frequency of reported trafficking cases is on the rise. Half of the calls to a […]
- College Courses Show Benefits for Incarcerated Youth in UT Utah is one of a few states where juveniles behind bars can earn college credit. Utah's Higher Education for Incarcerated Youth program lets young people study a wide range of subjects while in custody. It offers primarily virtual classes in collaboration with Utah Tech University, which […]
- Death Penalty Opponents Seek End to Federal Executions Virginia is the only Southern state to have abolished the death penalty, and there's a new push in the new year to end it nationally as well. Almost 300 organizations are demanding that President Joe Biden abolish the federal death penalty. This comes as members of Congress […]
- Data on CA Police Stops Confirms Continuing Racial Disparities Black teenagers ages 15 to 17 are six times more likely to be searched by police compared with their white counterparts, according to a report from the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board released this week. The board crunched the numbers from more than 3 […]
- Report: Nebraska Needs to Rethink Court Fines, Bail System Some Nebraska judges are failing to follow state laws related to cash bail, court fees and court fines, according to a two-year study in Douglas and Lancaster counties. The report by the ACLU of Nebraska found defendants are not always being asked about their ability to […]