Stopping Cop City.
criminal justice
Posted inEditor's Pick
Frank Smith Was Locked Up for Eight Decades. At 98, What Would It Mean to Be Free?
“Likely the longest-serving prisoner in America, he’s been paroled into a Connecticut nursing home. But he’s still not out.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition highlights stories by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, David Gauvey Herbert, Kit Chellel, Ashley Stimpson, and Nate Rogers.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Trump’s Killing Spree: The Inside Story of His Race to Execute Every Prisoner He Could
“Before 2020, there had been three federal executions in 60 years. Then Trump put 13 people to death in six months.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Cause of the Crime Wave Is Hiding in Plain Sight
When crime goes up, divining the root of the problem is usually as ideologically fraught as it is practically impossible. But this probing feature from Alec MacGillis eludes both traps. Instead, it examines two American cities and comes to a conclusion that’s all the more compelling for its obviousness: stop letting people rot in jail. […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Innocence Isn’t Enough
Christopher Dunn has been in prison for over 30 years for a murder in St. Louis that he and others say he didn’t commit. Even though new evidence has emerged in favor of Dunn, the state of Missouri says he must stay in prison — because he wasn’t sentenced to death. He continued, “This Court does […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Jim Crow–Era Murder. A Family Secret. Decades Later, What Does Justice Look Like?
“Today, the official records of these older killings are often inaccurate. If they aren’t corrected soon, the true stories may never come out; many witnesses to the crimes of the Jim Crow era are aging and dying.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Case That Made Texas the Death Penalty Capital
“As one of the first death sentences under the new law, Jurek’s case would become a test case, playing a key role in both the nationwide rise of the death penalty and Texas’s place at the center.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
After Killing His Cousin, Clyde Meikle Found Purpose in Prison Through Service. Now He’s Asking to Go Home.
Incarceration led to a rebirth for Clyde Meikle.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Kamala Harris, Mass Incarceration and Me
“Many progressives mistrust her for her past as a prosecutor. As an ex-convict — and also the son of a crime victim — I can tell you it’s not that simple.”