The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/focus/)
This section features the best criminal justice reporting around the nation, produced by our media partners and collaborators, and journalists who have participated in the Criminal Justice Reporting Fellowship programs sponsored by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, TCR’s parent organization. For a more comprehensive list of Fellows’ work, please check out the “programs” section—and monitor this site for information on upcoming programs and how to apply!
The Hampton Roads Regional Jail in historic coastal Virginia has been struggling with inmate deaths, staff shortages, and funding issues for more than a decade. But getting help from local and state politicians has been an uphill battle.
Both the prosecutor and defender advised pretrial release of Matthew Aldous, who was caught writing graffiti in the city’s historic district. But a judge set his bail at $10,000, effectively placing behind bars an individual who advocates said should have been diverted to mental health services.
Washington detains more children for status offenses such as truancy and running away than any other state in the country. State lawmakers want to change that.
Authorities in Bloomington-Normal, Ill., created a task force after a spike in opioid-related drug overdoses. But nothing similar happened after a record increase in gun violence, and a grieving mother wants to know why.
Sixteen-year-old Dinso Pop Yat left his home in Guatemala with just $500 in his pocket to venture alone on a nerve-shattering 2,500-mile journey north, hoping to realize a new life in the U.S. Now he’s attending college.
As the state began implementing its ‘Raise the Age’ law this month, advocates worry whether the system can handle the extra burden on juvenile detention facilities—and keep the young people safe.
A report prepared by Birmingham university students documents the lynchings of 30 African Americans between 1883-1940 in an effort to spark a dialogue about racial injustice. After preparing the report, one student said, the past ‘doesn’t feel distant at all.”
So far the tech giant Apple has swatted away lawsuits linked to fatalities caused by texting drivers. But as U.S. distracted driving-related deaths climbed past 3,000 in 2017, experts say it may take just one judge to change the story.
In Virginia’s Newport News region, some 65 percent of killings in 2018 remain unsolved. It’s a nationwide problem that experts blame partly on overworked police and on the “no snitching” culture.
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.