The Crime Report

TCR Special Reports

Justice for Domestic Violence Victims Depends on Where You Live

By Megan Hadley | 1 hour ago

A Crime Report investigation finds stark differences in how states and cities deal with domestic violence survivors. Some have developed innovative programs, but others are well behind the curve, with tragic consequences.

Reforming the System

NAACP Wins First Battle in Lawsuit to End Prison Gerrymandering in CT

By Megan Hadley | 1 hour ago

In the first lawsuit of its kind, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) won a key ruling Tuesday allowing a federal lawsuit challenging the State of Connecticut’s discriminatory practice known as “prison gerrymandering” to proceed.

Supreme court

'Excessive Fines' Ban Applies to States, High Court Rules

By TCR Staff | 1 hour ago

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the case for concluding that the excessive fines clause applies to the states “overwhelming.” The unanimous ruling backed an Indiana man whose $42,000 Land Rover was seized in a minor drug case.

Guns

IL Shooting Highlights Overtaxed Gun Check System

By Crime and Justice News | 5 hours ago

Gun sales can be completed after three days whether or not a background check is completed. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives must seize thousands of guns each year after they were sold.

U.S. Department of Justice

Trump Denies Trying to Influence Campaign Probe

By Crime and Justice News | 6 hours ago

The New York Times says the president tried to get an ally to take charge of the probe into his role in silencing women with hush payments. Trump calls the report “fake news.”

Policing

Police Get Cellphone Location Data From Google

By Crime and Justice News | 6 hours ago

Known as “reverse location search warrants,” legal mandates allow law enforcement to sweep up the coordinates and movements of every cellphone in a broad area.

Capital Punishment

DeWine Halts OH Executions In Review of Lethal Injections

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

“As long as the status quo remains, where we don’t have a protocol that has been found to be OK, we certainly cannot have any executions in Ohio,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. He already has postponed one execution from Feb. 13 to Sept. 12.

Terrorism

U.S. Terror Watchlist Shared With 1,400 Private Entities

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

The federal government shares its Terrorist Screening Database with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities, prompting concerns that those mistakenly placed on the list could face a variety of hassles in their daily lives.

Policing

How CA Police Department's Wellness Network Helps Cops

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

Stockton, California’s efforts to address police officer’s wellness is a national model. More officers die from suicide than from shootings and traffic accident combined.

School Shootings

Do School Shooting Drills Cause too Much Fear?

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

The scale of preparedness for an on-campus shooter in schools is out of proportion to the risk. Could the effort be better spent on something else?

U.S. Department of Justice

‘Seasoned Bureaucrat’ Rosen Tapped as Deputy AG

Jeffrey Rosen, the No. 2 official at the Transportation Department and a longtime colleague of Attorney General William Barr, was formally nominated as the Barr’s top deputy, replacing Rod Rosenstein.

Drugs

House Members Favor Allowing Pot Industry to Use Banks

A bipartisan coalition agrees with financial industry trade groups on a bill that would allow the rapidly expanding cannabis industry to use banks and credit unions if the firms comply with state law.

Policing

NY Court OKs Public Access to Police Body-Cam Footage

An appeals court rejected a challenge from New York City’s largest police union that would have blocked public access to body-cam footage of three police shootings.

School Crime

Charges Dropped Against FL Youth over Pledge of Allegiance

Florida prosecutor will not pursue charges against a Florida boy, 11, who was arrested after he refused to take part in his class’ Pledge of Allegiance.

Immigration

Lawsuits Could Push Wall Issue Into 2020 Campaign

Sixteen states filed suit challenging President Trump’s national-emergency declaration to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The case sets up a showdown with the administration that could go to the Supreme Court and last through the 2020 election.

Research & Analysis

Drugs

Prescription Opioids Lead to More Fatal Car Crashes: Study

The use of prescription opioids by drivers is increasingly implicated as a contributory cause in fatal motor vehicle crashes, according to a new study published in the JAMA Network Open.
Media

How Well Does the US Media Cover Criminal Justice?

The verdict is mixed, according to The Crime Report’s annual survey released Friday. Despite some bright spots, continued layoffs and closures have forced many smaller news outlets to reduce their coverage, leaving millions of Americans in the dark about the practices of local courts, law enforcement and justice agencies.
Drugs

Why Opioids Wreak Havoc on White Communities

A new study of prescribing practices in California found that between 2011 and 2015, residents of neighborhoods with the highest proportions of white people were more than twice as likely to be prescribed an opioid pain reliever than residents of neighborhoods where whites were scarce.
Reforming the System

More Social Justice=Better Criminal Justice?

A “reimagined” justice system should pay more attention to poverty, housing and unemployment, says Bruce Western, one of the nation’s leading experts on mass incarceration.
Drugs

Marijuana Arrests Plummet in NY; Still High for Blacks, Hispanics: Study

Marijuana possession arrests have dropped in New York City and in upstate New York since their peak in 2011, but African Americans and Hispanics still had higher rates of arrests compared to whites, according to a new report from John Jay College.
Reforming the System

Prosecutors Must ‘Lead the Charge’ in Ending Justice System Racism

The nation’s prosecutors today have an historic opportunity to eliminate the charging practices that have caused the imprisonment of disproportionate numbers of African Americans, says the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College.

WORTH A READ

TCR Special Reports

Miami-Dade Sex Offenders ‘Forced to be Homeless’
By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg | February 19, 2019
An ordinance that bans anyone convicted of a sex offense with a minor from living near schools effectively puts most of the county out of reach for hundreds of individuals. The ACLU argues the ordinance, like similar statutes elsewhere, is unconstitutional.
rural justice

Increase in Female Inmates Linked to Opioid Crisis, Poverty
By Renatta Signorini/Tribune-Review | February 19, 2019
Jail authorities in one western Pennsylvania county saw a 54 percent increase in the number of females, many of them single mothers, compared to 3.5 percent for men. It’s part of a national trend that some ascribe to the opioid crisis and others to the inequities created by money bail.
Drugs

Do Marijuana Dispensaries Cause Rise in Crime?
By TCR Staff | February 19, 2019
A new study found an association between marijuana dispensaries and increases in rates of crime and disorder in neighborhoods in Denver, shortly after Colorado commenced legal retail sales of marijuana.
Crime Trends

Upsurge in NYC Hate Crimes Targets Jewish Communities
By TCR Staff | February 19, 2019
There were 55 hate crimes reported in NYC this year as of Feb. 17, an increase of 72 percent over the same period last year, the NYPD said. Anti-Semitic crimes made up almost two-thirds of that, for a total of 36 crimes reported so far this year, compared with 21 last year.

Featured

Bill Moyers Speaks Out on Justice. Watch the Video.

By TCR Staff | December 1, 2017

Moyers received TCR’s annual “Justice Trailblazer” award at a John Jay College dinner Feb. 15. See the video of his remarks here.

The Crime Report - Your Complete Criminal Justice Resource

Guns

IL Shooting Highlights Overtaxed Gun Check System

By Crime and Justice News | 5 hours ago

U.S. Department of Justice

Trump Denies Trying to Influence Campaign Probe

By Crime and Justice News | 6 hours ago

Policing

Police Get Cellphone Location Data From Google

By Crime and Justice News | 6 hours ago

Capital Punishment

DeWine Halts OH Executions In Review of Lethal Injections

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

Terrorism

U.S. Terror Watchlist Shared With 1,400 Private Entities

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

Policing

How CA Police Department's Wellness Network Helps Cops

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

School Shootings

Do School Shooting Drills Cause too Much Fear?

By Crime and Justice News | 7 hours ago

U.S. Department of Justice

‘Seasoned Bureaucrat’ Rosen Tapped as Deputy AG

Drugs

House Members Favor Allowing Pot Industry to Use Banks

Policing

NY Court OKs Public Access to Police Body-Cam Footage

School Crime

Charges Dropped Against FL Youth over Pledge of Allegiance

Immigration

Lawsuits Could Push Wall Issue Into 2020 Campaign

GOP in Six States Works to Repeal the Death Penalty

Supreme Court Voids Texas Death Penalty, 6-3

Stone Apologizes to Judge for Photo With Crosshairs

More States Allow Removal of Arrest, Conviction Records