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Criminal Justice

Accountability in Crime and Law

353 stories published since 2015

Police Watchdog Calls for Full Access to Body Cam Footage. The NYPD Says No.

by Eric Umansky,

A Union Scandal Landed Hundreds of NYPD Officers on a Secret Watchlist. That Hasn’t Stopped Some From Jeopardizing Cases.

by Jake Pearson,

Tennessee Children Were Illegally Jailed. Now Members of Congress Are Asking For an Investigation.

by Meribah Knight, Nashville Public Radio, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

A Guantanamo Detainee’s Case Has Been Languishing Without Action Since 2008. The Supreme Court Wants to Know Why.

by Raymond Bonner,

​​Will the United States Officially Acknowledge That It Had a Secret Torture Site in Poland?

by Raymond Bonner,

Survivors and Families of Victims of a 1981 El Salvador Massacre See Justice Slip Away Again

by Raymond Bonner and Nelson Rauda for ProPublica,

This State’s Legislators Want to Overhaul the System That Lets Law Enforcement Keep People’s Money

by Shannon Dooling and Saurabh Datar, WBUR,

He Admitted to a Rape 41 Years After the Fact. For One Survivor: “It’s the Most Freeing Experience in the World”

by Catherine Rentz,

Massachusetts Police Can Easily Seize Your Money. The DA of One County Makes It Nearly Impossible to Get It Back.

by Saurabh Datar and Shannon Dooling, WBUR,

School District That Employed Principal Despite Sex Abuse Complaints Will Pay $3.8 Million to His Victims

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Alaskan Law Requires DNA From Accused Criminals, but Officials Failed to Collect Samples From 21,000 People

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

What Philadelphia Reveals About America’s Homicide Surge

by Alec MacGillis, photography by Hannah Price/Magnum Photos, special to ProPublica,

Michigan Supreme Court Limits Use of Restraints on Juveniles

by Jodi S. Cohen,

County Officials in Texas Settle Lawsuit Alleging Mishandling of Sexual Assault Cases

by Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey, Newsy,

Facing New Complaint, South Carolina Magistrate Removed as County’s Chief Judge

by Joseph Cranney and Avery G. Wilks, The Post and Courier,

New Records Show the NYPD’s Favored Punishment: Less Vacation Time

by Moiz Syed and Derek Willis,

How Our Investigation Into Untested DNA Evidence Helped Solve a 1983 Murder

by Catherine Rentz,

Few Cops We Found Using Force on George Floyd Protesters Are Known to Have Faced Discipline

by Mollie Simon,

“The Best Bargain in the History of Law Enforcement” — and the High Cost of Not Testing Backlogged Rape Kits

by Catherine Rentz,

After NYPD Found “No Wrongdoing” in Officer’s Killing of Kawaski Trawick, a Watchdog Finds Fireable Offenses

by Eric Umansky,

“City Hall Put the Kibosh on That”: The Inside Story of How de Blasio Promised, Then Thwarted NYPD Accountability

by Eric Umansky and Jake Pearson,

After Grace’s Story, Michigan Will Study Its Juvenile Justice System

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press,

Amid Calls for Reform, Maine’s Criminal Defense System Reaches a “Breaking Point”

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

There Have Been Huge Gaps in FBI Hate Crime Data for Years. A New Law Aims to Fix That.

by Ken Schwencke,

Following a DUI Arrest, Maine Defense Lawyer Banned From Representing Defendants

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

“A Horror Movie in Reverse”: How I Investigated Decades of Untested Rape Kits

by Catherine Rentz,

Eugene Clemons May Be Ineligible for the Death Penalty. A Rigid Clinton-Era Law Could Force Him to Be Executed Anyway.

by Seth Freed Wessler,

“This Is How You Get Your Power Back”

by Catherine Rentz; Illustrations by Isabel Seliger, special to ProPublica,

“You Save as Long as You Have To”

by Catherine Rentz; Illustrations by Isabel Seliger, special to ProPublica,

“Who Is This Monster?”

by Catherine Rentz; Illustrations by Isabel Seliger, special to ProPublica,

How NYPD’s Vice Unit Got Prostitution Policing All Wrong

by Stephen Engelberg,

What Police Impunity Looks Like: “There Was No Discipline as No Wrongdoing Was Found”

by Eric Umansky,

Inspecting the NYPD “Puzzle Palace”

by Topher Sanders,

California Sent $8 Billion to Counties to Improve Jails and Services but Failed to Track the Money, Says Auditor

by Jason Pohl, The Sacramento Bee,

A Police Union Contract Puts Taxpayers on the Hook to Defend Officers When the City Won’t

by Jake Pearson,

As New York City Moves to Address Racialized Policing of Sex Work, Advocates and Lawyers Say It’s Not Enough

by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien,

Only Two NYPD Officers Face Serious Discipline From a Watchdog’s Investigations Into Abuse of Black Lives Matter Protesters

by Eric Umansky,

Over 700 Complaints About NYPD Officers Abusing Black Lives Matter Protesters, Then Silence

by Eric Umansky,

Ruling on Murder Case by Judge Suffering From Dementia Will Stand, Court Says

by Joe Sexton,

A Las Vegas Judge Approves $1.4 Million Payment to Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Served More Than Two Decades

by Megan Rose,

The Murder Chicago Didn’t Want to Solve

by Mick Dumke,

Lawyers Who Were Ineligible to Handle Serious Criminal Charges Were Given Thousands of These Cases Anyway

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor, and Agnel Philip, ProPublica,

A Federal Appeals Court Has Ruled in Favor of Releasing NYPD Discipline Records

by Eric Umansky,

New York City Council Proposes Sweeping NYPD Reforms

by Eric Umansky and Joaquin Sapien,

Has Your Family Paid Fees or Fines to a Juvenile Justice System?

by Jodi S. Cohen and Adriana Gallardo,

Still Can’t Breathe

by Topher Sanders, ProPublica, and Yoav Gonen, THE CITY, video by Lucas Waldron, ProPublica,

New York City Paid an NBA Star Millions After an NYPD Officer Broke His Leg. The Officer Paid Little Price.

by Mike Hayes for ProPublica,

Domestic Terrorism: A More Urgent Threat, but Weaker Laws

by Sebastian Rotella,

Magistrate Judges Took Bribes, Stole Money and Mishandled Cases. South Carolina Officials Now Want Reform.

by Joseph Cranney, The Post and Courier,

“Nobody” Hurt, “Just a Perp,” Say Officers After NYPD Shot and Killed Man in His Own Home

by Eric Umansky,