Crime and punishment in the age of mass incarceration
Next America: Criminal Justice is a project of The Atlantic, supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (More)
What Should the Feds Do About Bad Cops?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the ousted top federal prosecutor for Chicago offered two different visions this week.
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Mark Kauzlarich / Reuters A ‘Constitutional Crisis’ in Missouri
In a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday, a group of defendants argued the state’s public-defender system is too underfunded and overworked to meet the Sixth Amendment’s standards.
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Brendan McDermid / Reuters Why Trump's Dismissal of Preet Bharara Matters
The move revives questions about the independence of federal prosecutors from political interference.
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Patrick Fallon / Reuters Customs Agents' Unreasonable Demand
Why the immigration authorities ID search of a domestic flight at JFK is on weak legal ground.
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Bryan Snyder / Reuters The Trump Administration's Dramatic Narrowing of Its Travel Ban
A new executive order issued on Monday tightens the scope of the controversial policy, excluding those who already hold valid visas.
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John Moore / Getty Images Rethinking Mass Incarceration in America
A new book challenges the popular understanding of how the U.S. prison population skyrocketed.
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Steve Dipaola / Reuters The New Legislation Targeting Protesters
Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states are mulling bills that target recent protesting tactics.
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Yuri Gripas / Reuters 'Some Toxins Can Be Deadly in Small Doses'
The U.S. Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, overturns a death-penalty sentence after an expert witness testified the defendant was more likely to commit future crimes because he is black.
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Jose Luis Gonzales / Reuters Is the Southern Border a Constitution-Free Zone?
The Supreme Court considers a case involving a youth on the Mexican side of the border killed by an American border patrol agent on the U.S. side.
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Evan Vucci / AP Trump Concedes Defeat on Travel Ban—for Now
The Justice Department said Thursday it would issue a revised version of its controversial travel ban after federal judges blocked its implementation.
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Yuri Gripas / Reuters Should Jeff Sessions Recuse Himself From the Russia Inquiries?
Justice Department regulations appear to suggest the attorney general should not be involved in any investigations into Trump associates’ ties to Russia.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Trump's Illusory Answers to Imaginary Crime Problems
The president’s latest executive orders achieve little while trying to answer a crime wave that data doesn’t support.
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Yuri Grigas / Reuters When Your Judge Isn't A Lawyer
In some states, justices of the peace don’t need a law degree to put defendants behind bars.
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Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP How Trump Is Changing Immigration Enforcement
The president’s directive on immigration might resemble the record deportations of Obama’s first term—but without the corresponding push for legalization.
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J. David Ake / AP A Dramatic Showdown at the Department of Justice
Donald Trump dismissed the acting attorney general for insubordination, after she refused to defend his immigration order in court.
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Jim Young / Reuters What's Causing Chicago’s Homicide Spike?
President Trump is vowing to “send in the Feds,” but researchers aren’t convinced they understand the rise, or how to stop it.
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Associated Press President Obama's Last Clemency Push
A list of the new pardons and commutations from the White House includes Chelsea Manning.
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Teresa Crawford / AP What the Investigation Into the Chicago Police Department Found
The year-long inquiry uncovered “systemic” violations of Chicago residents’ civil rights.
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Shannon Stapleton / Reuters Baltimore Police Agree to Stop Abusing Their Power
Under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, the troubled force will employ a variety of measures to protect constitutional rights and correct racial disparities.
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Yuri Gripas / Reuters Can States Make People Pay Even When Their Convictions Are Overturned?
The Supreme Court considers whether states that charge inmates with fees and restitution have to return that money if their convictions are set aside.
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Stephen Lam / Reuters A Blueprint to End Mass Incarceration
A Brennan Center report argues that releasing the “unnecessarily incarcerated” could reduce U.S. prison populations by almost 40 percent.
