Mental Health
Saving Troubled Minds
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Mental health courts can offer alternatives to prison for individuals caught in the criminal justice system. The story of one Texas young man shows what happens when they’re not available.
Drugs
Why the ‘Wall’ Won’t Stop Mexican Drug Smugglers
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A new US government report on lesser-used drug trafficking techniques such as tunnels and ultralight aircraft further undermines claims that building a border wall will halt the flow of illegal drugs into the country.
Forensics
Flawed Forensics: Wrong by a Hair
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The FBI has acknowledged that at least 13 individuals in Wisconsin were convicted as a result of flawed evidence involving hair and fiber, according to Wisconsin Watch. Such errors –a factor in one-fifth of all DNA exonerations— add fuel to the burgeoning national debate over the validity of forensic evidence.
Policy & Politics
7 Things the Trump Administration Gets Wrong about MS13
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One of Latin America’s most violent gangs has become a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s campaign to go after the criminal activities it says are committed by undocumented migrants—but the facts it is relying upon are open to question.
Juvenile Justice
Dead at 23: The Tragedy of Ronald Freedom
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A photographer’s search for answers about the death of a troubled young man gives him a lesson in the dysfunctions of America’s juvenile justice system.
Did the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Defraud the Feds?
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An FBI investigation into an alleged switch of engines for Sea King helicopters borrowed under the government’s law enforcement assistance program failed to produce charges. But an investigation by WitnessLA suggests that troubling questions remain.
One Student Takes On Injustices in Minnesota’s Bail System
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University of Minnesota student Simon Cecil’s Freedom Fund, a nonprofit that aims to level the playing field by helping low-income people post bail has picked up support from local judges. It’s one of 10 similar funds around the country.
Juvenile Justice
How to Keep Kids Out of the Criminal Justice System
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In La Crosse County, Wisconsin, the ‘System of Care’ focuses on schools—the place where police most often come into contact with juvenile offenders. One of a handful of similar programs around the country, it offers middle- and high school students therapy, workshops and counseling to address the kind of behavior that otherwise might have landed them in court.
Policing
Too Quick to Shoot?
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A suburb of California’s capital is the newest addition to the national debate over officer-involved shootings. According to the Sacramento Bee, the community of Citrus Heights leads the state in the per capita rate of civilians killed by cops, adding to concerns that smaller jurisdictions around the nation cannot or will not pursue greater oversight of their police forces.
Stories From Our Network: Inside Criminal Justice
Waiting for Justice: Still No Reprieve for Terrence Graham
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The young man at the center of the Supreme Court’s landmark Graham v Florida ruling on juvenile lifers is still behind bars. But former inmates from around the country tell Terrence Graham the court’s 2010 ban on sentencing juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses to life without parole saved their lives.