The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/focus/page/2/)
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!
Inmates leaving the Harris County jail in Texas will soon be offered monthly Vivitrol injections to help them combat heroin and opioid addiction. The innovative pilot program has sparked some criticism, but defenders say the treatment can help keep addicts out of the justice system.
The so-called “1033” program providing free surplus defense equipment to police, revived by the Trump administration, has been the subject of fierce controversy. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo says it was a lifesaver for residents trapped during Hurricane Harvey, but critics still question the program’s rationale.
A Las Vegas TV station takes a hard look at the impact of the opioid epidemic on chronic pain patients in Nevada in a special investigation called “The Other Side of Opioids.”
A bill introduced by a California assemblywoman aims to stop the practice, currently followed by the San Diego Police Department—after a Voice of San Diego investigation revealed it. It’s already illegal to collect DNA from minors without parental consent, a warrant or criminal conviction, but the San Diego cops argue that only applies if they send the DNA to state or national databases.
An Arizona public broadcasting investigation finds that the state and Corizon Health, its private contract health care provider, haven’t lived up to the terms of a 2015 settlement with Arizona inmates over alleged flaws in dental, medical and health care in the state’s 10 prisons.
Two months before Chicago cops shot and killed Laquan McDonald in a controversial incident for which three officers were later indicted, another teenager was slain by a police bullet. A CNN reporter who investigated the less-publicized event has raised similar questions about whether the earlier shooting was justified.
California’s efforts to implement two major new laws to help sex-trafficked kids are hampered by cultural stereotypes held by law enforcement and some legislators that criminalize the youngsters, a Los Angeles journalist discovers.
A Pennsylvania DA says authorities should avoid the temptation to apply the maximum charges possible to ensure a conviction. He’s backed up by a reporter who found disparities in overcharging in six of the state’s counties, using a database created by Measures for Justice.
A Louisiana newspaper investigation finds a significant number of prisoner lawsuits alleging inhumane conditions in a facility that says it is committed to rehabilitation. Finding the truth is complicated by the fact that U.S. inmates get little professional legal help to press their case, say advocates.
A nationwide justice storytelling project hears grim tales from former inmates of the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, who say it should be on the list of substandard U.S. corrections institutions that need to be shuttered.