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!
During the 1980s, gun tracing was in vogue, but thanks to changes in federal funding and regulations, many police agencies around the U.S. no longer bother. That can have deadly consequences, a newspaper investigation in South Carolina showed.
Charles Rivers spent 30 years cycling in and out of the justice system. He finally broke the cycle after conquering the demons of his own past, and learning the life skills that he now teaches others.
African-American teens in Pennsylvania’s second-most populous county were 20 times more likely than their white peers to be arrested and charged as adults in 2016 and 2017, according to a newspaper investigation.
New Jersey cops were ordered by state officials almost two decades ago to document all incidents when police used force. A team of reporters built a database after locating the reports and found what they called a “monument to failure.”
Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, federal investigators must conduct audits of prison facilities to monitor compliance with standards aimed at eliminating sexual abuse. But an investigation by WitnessLA suggests the audits leave a lot to be desired.
Terminally ill Vermont inmate Bobby Hutt made it home to die, thanks to the fierce advocacy of his sisters. But although nearly all states allow “compassionate release,” it’s often underused.
Jail space in Indiana’s rural Clark County is already at a premium, and the region’s opioid crisis is likely to make the situation even worse. County officials have requested approval from the state legislature for two new judges to help courts handle the load, but it may still not be enough.
The growing population of offenders with mental health or substance abuse issues is a nationwide problem, but it’s especially challenging in rural communities. One Wisconsin jail has risen to the challenge.
After a report criticized his court for setting high money bonds that resulted in a “bloated” local jail population, Kentucky Circuit Court Judge Darren Peckler changed course.
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.