Jan 26 Obama bans solitary confinement for juveniles in fed prisons By Kathleen Hennessey, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Monday he will ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile and low-level offenders in federal prisons, citing the potential for "devastating, lasting psychological consequences" from the use of the isolation as punishment. Continue reading
Jan 16 Watch 9:53 How NYC is tackling 1.4 million open arrest warrants for ‘quality-of-life’ crimes By PBS News Hour There are more than 1.4 million outstanding arrest warrants in New York City stemming from lapsed summonses for "quality-of-life" crimes - things like biking on the sidewalk or being in a park after closing. Critics say they burden the court… Continue watching
Jan 07 Watch 6:38 ‘Making a Murderer’ interrogates fairness of justice system By PBS News Hour "Making a Murderer," a new true crime documentary on Netflix, tells the story of Steven Avery, a man exonerated of a sexual assault after serving 18 years in prison, only to be charged and convicted of murder. Presenting recorded police… Continue watching
Dec 23 More than 3,000 Washington prisoners mistakenly freed early By Rachel La Corte, Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. -- More than 3,000 prisoners in Washington have been mistakenly released early since 2002 because of an error by the state's Department of Corrections that resulted in wrongly calculated sentences for about 3 percent of the prison population. Continue reading
Sep 12 ‘I am beautiful’: Meet once incarcerated girls who turned their lives around By Megan Thompson Programs launched by child advocates in Jacksonville, Florida, aim to rehabilitate rather than simply incarcerate delinquent girls. And they're working. Meet three formerly incarcerated girls who have come out of the juvenile justice system on the other side. Continue reading
Jul 16 Obama visits Oklahoma prison amid push for criminal justice reform By Darlene Superville, Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — President Barack Obama's push for a fairer justice system is literally sending him to prison. Continue reading
Jun 24 Watch 5:25 At Boston bombing sentencing, Tsarnaev apologizes and victims address their attacker By PBS News Hour Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two men responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people, was formally sentenced to death today. In the courtroom, Tsarnaev apologized to the victims’ families, and said he was sorry for all the suffering… Continue watching
Jun 23 Watch 6:02 How Kalief Browder became the face of Rikers Island abuse By PBS News Hour New York City has announced sweeping reforms at Rikers Island, following a class action lawsuit over the abuse of inmates. Earlier this month, Kalief Browder, a former Rikers prisoner, committed suicide. He was held for more than 1,000 days without… Continue watching
Jun 08 Watch 8:52 How ‘Serial’ shined a light on our troubled justice system By PBS News Hour It’s a true crime story that captivated a nation more than 15 years after it happened: Adnan Syed is serving a life sentence after being convicted of the 1999 killing of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in Baltimore. Continue watching
Apr 30 Watch 8:38 Criminal justice is so broken, Democrats and Republicans are working together to fix it By PBS News Hour The U.S. accounts for just 5 percent of the world’s population, but it houses more than 20 percent of its prisoners. Now groups on opposite sides of the political spectrum are working together to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system. Continue watching