criminal justice
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How to Stop Locking Up Kids
Editor’s note: This is the first of two essays The Root is publishing in partnership with Caught, a new podcast from WNYC Studios about the juvenile-justice system. We hope to generate a conversation about how we can support rather than merely punish young people who are in crisis, and we want to hear from you…
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Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Invests in App Aimed at Improving Our Criminal-Justice System
Want to know what phase the moon is in? There’s an app for that. Want to track your meals? There are dozens of apps for that. Want to see which works of art your face resembles? There’s an app for that, too. Want to address mass incarceration? Well, Jay-Z—and many others—are hoping a new app…
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Meek Mill vs. Brock Turner: The Injustice of Our Criminal-Justice System
As Meek Mill sits in jail on parole-violation charges related to a case he caught when he was just 19 years old, his mother is appealing to the newly elected district attorney in Philadelphia to help her son get the justice she feels he deserves. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that during a brief news conference…
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Watch: History of the Juvenile Justice System
America incarcerates more juveniles than any country in the world. In 2015, black children were five times more likely than white children to be incarcerated. So while 86 of 100,000 white children in the United States were behind bars, 433 of 100,000 black children found themselves locked up. To understand how we got here, let’s…
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A Texas Judge Used Electric Shocks to Force a Defendant to Cooperate: Report
To understand this story, you first have to know that in Tarrant County, Texas, courtrooms, stun belts capable of carrying electric shocks are sometimes strapped to defendants’ legs. These belts are intended as a safety precaution, used to shock defendants should they get violent or try to escape. But as the Washington Post reports, that’s…
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Former Texas Prosecutor Withheld Email That Could Have Prevented Innocent Man From Landing on Death Row: Report
In an announcement late Friday, Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Kim Ogg revealed that a former prosecutor withheld a key email that could have prevented Alfred Dewayne Brown from receiving the death penalty. As the Houston Chronicle reports, the email helped establish “a clear alibi” for Brown, who was convicted in a high-profile murder case…
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Texas Judge Denied Bail for Over 10 Years to ‘Tainted’ Defendants; Blames BLM
The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is calling for an investigation of Houston’s longest-serving felony-court judge, claiming that his no-bond policies and recent remarks on black men and Black Lives Matter display “flagrant racism.” In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Texas District Judge Michael McSpadden said that, as policy, he denied…
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Missouri Restaurant Owner Pushes State to Let Him Hire More People With Felony Convictions
Missourians across the state are pushing to change laws that bar felons from working certain jobs, and lawmakers are listening. A bill passed out of a state committee earlier this week would reverse current legislation that prohibits people convicted of a felony from participating in the sale of alcohol and lottery tickets. Among the bill’s…
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Washington State Takes Crucial Step Toward Abolishing the Death Penalty
The Washington state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would ban the death penalty, leading the state one step closer to ending the practice for good. As the Seattle Times reports, the bill passed the Democratic-led Senate with bipartisan support. The measure would strike the death penalty from being considered as a sentencing option for…
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A Clean Slate: San Francisco to Toss Out Thousands of Marijuana Convictions
In an unprecedented move, the city of San Francisco will throw out thousands of marijuana convictions going back decades. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said Wednesday that city prosecutors will retroactively apply California’s marijuana-legalization laws to past criminal cases dating all the way back to 1975. With no…