Criminal Justice

Accountability in Crime and Law

453 stories published since 2008

Judge Says NYPD Illegally Withheld Footage in Police Shootings

by Eric Umansky,

Nov. 23, 2021, 1:15 p.m. EST

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

by Eric Umansky,

Nov. 8, 2021, 1 p.m. EST

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

by Jake Pearson,

Oct. 22, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

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

Oct. 20, 2021, 5:30 p.m. EDT

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

by Raymond Bonner,

Oct. 7, 2021, 10:40 a.m. EDT

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

by Raymond Bonner,

Oct. 1, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

by Raymond Bonner and Nelson Rauda for ProPublica,

Sept. 13, 2021, 11 a.m. EDT

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

by Shannon Dooling and Saurabh Datar, WBUR,

Aug. 30, 2021, 6 a.m. EDT

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,

Aug. 23, 2021, 12:30 p.m. EDT

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,

Aug. 18, 2021, 5:15 a.m. EDT

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

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Aug. 16, 2021, 6 p.m. EDT

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

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Aug. 11, 2021, 3 p.m. EDT

What Philadelphia Reveals About America’s Homicide Surge

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

July 30, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

Michigan Supreme Court Limits Use of Restraints on Juveniles

by Jodi S. Cohen,

July 28, 2021, 3:33 p.m. EDT

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

by Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey, Newsy,

July 14, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

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

July 9, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

by Moiz Syed and Derek Willis,

June 22, 2021, 1:15 p.m. EDT

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

by Catherine Rentz,

June 18, 2021, 11:50 a.m. EDT

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

by Mollie Simon,

June 17, 2021, 1:45 p.m. EDT

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

by Catherine Rentz,

June 15, 2021, 2:40 p.m. EDT

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

by Eric Umansky,

June 11, 2021, 6:06 p.m. EDT

“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,

June 11, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

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

June 9, 2021, 3:55 p.m. EDT

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

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

June 8, 2021, 11:30 a.m. EDT

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

by Ken Schwencke,

June 4, 2021, 1:10 p.m. EDT

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

by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor,

June 3, 2021, 6 a.m. EDT

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

by Catherine Rentz,

June 2, 2021, 8 a.m. EDT

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,

May 28, 2021, 11 a.m. EDT

“Have You Ever in Your Life Attended a Meeting of the Ku Klux Klan?”

by Carli Brosseau, The News & Observer,

May 27, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

“This Is How You Get Your Power Back”

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

May 25, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

“You Save as Long as You Have To”

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

May 22, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

“Who Is This Monster?”

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

May 20, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

In Exclusive Jailhouse Letter, Capitol Riot Defendant Explains Motives, Remains Boastful

by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien,

May 11, 2021, 12:30 p.m. EDT

How NYPD’s Vice Unit Got Prostitution Policing All Wrong

by Stephen Engelberg,

May 3, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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

by Eric Umansky,

April 20, 2021, 10:47 a.m. EDT

Inspecting the NYPD “Puzzle Palace”

by Topher Sanders,

April 15, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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,

March 26, 2021, 4:05 p.m. EDT

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

by Jake Pearson,

March 26, 2021, 5 a.m. EDT

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,

March 18, 2021, 2:19 p.m. EDT

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

by Eric Umansky,

March 17, 2021, 6:30 p.m. EDT

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

by Eric Umansky,

March 10, 2021, 5 a.m. EST

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

March 5, 2021, 5 a.m. EST

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

March 2, 2021, 2:18 p.m. EST

The Murder Chicago Didn’t Want to Solve

Feb. 25, 2021, 5 a.m. EST

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,

Feb. 23, 2021, 5 a.m. EST

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

by Eric Umansky,

Feb. 17, 2021, 11:40 a.m. EST

New York City Council Proposes Sweeping NYPD Reforms

by Eric Umansky and Joaquin Sapien,

Feb. 1, 2021, 1:38 p.m. EST

“This Is War”: Inside the Secret Chat Where Far-Right Extremists Devised Their Post-Capitol Plans

by Logan Jaffe and Jack Gillum,

Jan. 28, 2021, 11:27 a.m. EST

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

by Jodi S. Cohen and Adriana Gallardo,

Jan. 28, 2021, 9 a.m. EST

Still Can’t Breathe

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

Jan. 21, 2021, 5 a.m. EST