criminal justice

Dr. Nneka Tapia was warden of the Cook County Jail in Chicago; now she is an advocate for prison reform. Tapia came to the criminal justice system with a unique background — a psychologist whose own father had been incarcerated. Today, she is using she perspective she gained on both sides of the system to push for change.

While most criminal justice overhauls require action from local officials or legislation, reforming the federal prison system is something President Joe Biden and his Justice Department control.

Many dating apps prohibit users with a criminal record, but don’t enforce that policy until there’s a complaint. Now a background check process could result in banning many people with a nonviolent record.

Multiple dating apps are planning to add background checks in an effort to root out sex offenders or other potentially dangerous people. But a blanket ban on all people with prior convictions could disproportionately harm Black people and people with prior drug offenses who have recovered, says Keri Blakinger of The Marshall Project.

Under the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act — which would not be implemented until January 2023, after a two-year rollout plan — charged individuals will either be held or not held, eliminating any element of money. Along with the end of cash bond, there will be a new, strictly defined process to guide the decision-making for detention, NBC News reports.

Reality television star Kim Kardashian surprised a class of criminal justice students over Zoom at a northwest Indiana university Thursday.

In his final weeks in the White House, President Trump is rushing to approve execution methods such as firing squads and hanging for federal death-row inmates. The Marshall Project’s Keri Blakinger explains what these new rules really mean for prisoners.

In many states across the country, people with felony convictions are prohibited from voting, or only allowed to vote under certain conditions, even after they’ve served their sentence. Jay Jordan, who served time in prison as a young man and is currently the Director for Californians for Safety and Justice, explains how limiting their rights hurts more than just former...

An anonymous grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case has revealed that the jury was never asked to consider charges directly linked to her death. Attorney Michael Starr Hopkins joined LX News to discuss what may come next in the case, and said more charges against the police officers involved in her shooting are still possible.

Proposition 25 would uphold Senate Bill 10, which would replace cash bail with risk assessments for detained suspects awaiting trials. NBC4’s Conan Nolan explains.

In Florida, African Americans make up 16% of the voting population but account for more than 20% of those who have lost their right to vote due to prior felony convictions. Even after a permanent ban on voting was lifted for people with felonies on their records, the state continues to bar them from casting ballots until they have paid...

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...

A Southern California man who spent 19 years in prison for a gang-related shooting will be released, a judge ordered Friday. Emon Barnes, 34, of Compton, is expected to be freed next week from San Quentin State Prison after the judge approved a re-sentencing request from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. Barnes was 15 when he was arrested…

The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the case of a man convicted of gunning down a South Los Angeles market owner in front of the merchant’s 9-year-old daughter during a robbery about three decades ago. A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Marcus Lynn Perkins guilty in July 2017 of first-degree murder for the July 24, 1990, shooting…

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.

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.

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...