The Crime Report

Policy & Politics

Are Americans Finally Turning Away From ‘Tough-on-Crime’ Era?

By Kate Pastor | 8 hours ago

The victories of reform-minded prosecutors like John Creuzot in Dallas County last week could signal a “sea change” in public support for reductions in mass incarceration and the easing of sentencing guidelines, advocates and experts tell TCR.

Viewpoints

The Big Winners in DA Races: Women and Black Candidates

By Lauren-Brooke Eisen | 8 hours ago

For decades, the prosecutorial profession has sorely lacked diversity. This year’s midterm elections demonstrated how decisively that has changed.

Guns

25% of New California Gun Buyers Had No Background Check: Survey

By TCR Staff | 8 hours ago

The first comprehensive survey of California gun owners in over 40 years also found that roughly 25 percent of California adults live in households that possess at least one firearm. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom has promised to “raise the bar” on gun control.

Supreme Court

The Ruth Bader 'Gins-Bubble' Calms Worried Fans of 85-Year-Old Justice

By TCR Staff | 12 hours ago

Noting the flood of anxious tweets and the creation of a tongue-in-cheek protective bubble by TV host Jimmy Kimmel, after Justice Ginsburg was hospitalized last week, BBC observed that “half of America panics when this woman falls ill.”

Prisons

Fraternal Order of Police Backs Prison Reform Bill

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

FOP’s endorsement clears a significant hurdle, as does Jeff Sessions’ departure from the Justice Department. The measure is likely to be acted on during the lame-duck session of Congress that starts this week.

Mass Shootings

CA Bar Killer Posted on Social Media Before, During Attack

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

“I hope people call me insane,” said Ian Long on Facebook before he killed 12 people at a California bar last week. Facebook and Instagram, where Long also posted, deleted his accounts.

Mass Shootings

Pittsburgh Shooter: From Conservatism to White Nationalism

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

The case of synagogue shooter Robert Bowers may illustrate how the Internet and social media have created new pathways from strident ideology to radicalism.

Terrorism

U.S. Trails Europe in Security Against Terror

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

An expert at the European Jewish Congress said it would take more than a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars before U.S. houses of worship and private firms, including nightclubs, could match Europe’s security arrangements.

U.S. Department of Justice

Length of Whitaker Tenure as Acting AG Could Be Short

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

President Trump denies that he knows DOJ’s Matt Whitaker, after he called Whitaker “a great guy.” Critics worry that he could curtail or fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

Prisons

Board Says NY Could Have Prevented 50 Prisoner Deaths

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

A New York state medical review board concluded that the deaths of about 50 prisoners statewide over the past five years could have been prevented with simple medical treatment. Reviewers found that medical staff failed to conduct basic checkups and mental health screenings.

Guns

WA Gun Sales Rise After Voters Pass New Controls

After Washington voters approved raising the purchase age of semi-automatic weapons to 21, along with a $25 hike in price to cover the cost of stringent new gun regulations, gun sales are spiking as people rush to “to beat the deadline” next year, says one dealer.

Courts

‘Holistic Defense’ Reduces Jail Time, Study Finds

Defendants in New York City’s Bronx borough who were offered services to deal with their issues like housing and drug treatment were 16 percent less likely to be jailed, finds a study by the RAND Corporation and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Research & Analysis

Guns

‘Old-Fashioned’ Policing Still Needed to Stop Gun Violence, say Two Scholars

The “public health” approach to preventing gun violence won’t reduce the high levels of shootings seen in many neighborhoods around the U.S. unless traditional policing is strengthened, according to two leading criminologists.
Guns

Firearm Homicide Rates Rising: CDC Study

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a study of the most recently available data from 2015-2016, found that 43 percent of the largest 50 metropolitan areas reported increases in the rate of gun-related deaths compared to 2012-2013. Firearm suicide rates are also going up.
Policing

Does the Fourth Amendment Block Cops from Using Artificial Intelligence?

The constitutional prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures could prevent law enforcement from using the sophisticated surveillance technology made possible by artificial intelligence, according to a University of California-Davis law professor.
Reforming the System

African-American Voters Want Pretrial Change: Report

African-American voters want change at the front door—or pretrial stage—of the criminal justice system, according to a new study by the Pretrial Justice Institute. The study found that 78 percent of African-American voters want to reduce the number of arrests for low-level, nonviolent offenses by issuing citations rather than arresting people.
Reforming the System

LGBTQ Community Over-Represented in Justice System: Report

One-size-fits-all justice systems fail lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, who experience worse outcomes and are over-represented in every part of the justice system, according to a new study released by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC).
Corrections & Reentry

Risk Assessment Tools Biased Against Hispanics: Study

One of the popular software applications widely used by correctional institutions to predict an inmate’s likelihood of re-offending tends to exaggerate the risks for Hispanics, says a forthcoming study in the American Criminal Law Review.

WORTH A READ

TCR Special Reports

Failed Ohio Referendum Spurs ‘New Conversation’ on Drugs
By Megan Hadley | November 9, 2018
Although Issue 1, a criminal justice reform in Ohio that would have removed felony convictions for drug possession, failed 65 percent to 35 percent in the midterm election Tuesday, the conversation has now shifted, and more legislators are interested in treatment for drug users, rather than mass incarceration, TCR has learned.
A Prisoners’ Pen Pal Finds Making Connections is a ‘Beautiful Thing’
By Bianca Moorman/The Stand | November 8, 2018
For four decades, a Syracuse, N.Y. woman has been writing letters to death row inmates and other prisoners, enriching their lives and hers. But things got a little more personal when she began writing to someone who was a student at an elementary school where she once worked.
Immigration

Will a New Congress Revive the Hopes of DREAMers?
By J. Gabriel Ware | November 8, 2018
Even with a divided government following the midterm elections, President Trump has all the discretionary powers he needs to provide a path to citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants—if he wants to. A paper in the Lewis & Clark Law Review explains why.
Elections 2018

Florida Restores Voting Rights to Formerly Incarcerated in a ‘Ballot Cast With Love’
By J. Gabriel Ware | November 7, 2018
The measure was among numerous criminal justice-related initiatives on gun control, police training and marijuana approved by voters Tuesday. One big standout: Ohioans rejected an amendment to keep low-level drug offenders out of prison.

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

Prisons

Fraternal Order of Police Backs Prison Reform Bill

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Mass Shootings

CA Bar Killer Posted on Social Media Before, During Attack

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Mass Shootings

Pittsburgh Shooter: From Conservatism to White Nationalism

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Terrorism

U.S. Trails Europe in Security Against Terror

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

U.S. Department of Justice

Length of Whitaker Tenure as Acting AG Could Be Short

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Prisons

Board Says NY Could Have Prevented 50 Prisoner Deaths

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Guns

WA Gun Sales Rise After Voters Pass New Controls

Courts

‘Holistic Defense’ Reduces Jail Time, Study Finds

Policing

Ex-Tulsa Officer Who Killed Man Disinvited from Talk

Immigration

Border Arrests Reach Highest Total of Trump Presidency

‘Impossible’ to Predict Mass Shooters, Expert Says

Do Armed Guards Stop Mass Shootings? Evidence is Slim

House Democrats Vow Action on Gun Control

Whitaker Already Under ‘Extreme Pressure’ as Acting AG