The word “torture” conjures images of Abu Ghraib in Iraq, or waterboarding at CIA black sites. But in the 70s and 80s, torture went on in parts of the Chicago Police Department for years. We’ll learn what happened, and we’ll talk about the consequences for civilians and the justice system.
Read MoreWe know there are real criminals out there, people who need to go to prison. But what happens when a criminal admits his crimes, but goes to prison for something he swears he did not do -- a notorious double homicide? This is the story of drug dealer Calvin Buari, presented by journalist Steve Fishman in the new podcast Empire on Blood.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Justice enforces the federal Constitution and statutes, and has the lead role in upholding the rule of law. But in the last year and a half, DOJ has received withering criticism and outright denunciation from the president. What’s the impact on the Department, and the rule of law?
Read MoreIn the US, there have been almost two thousand wrongful convictions Yet in so many cases, prosecutors, police, judges and even defense attorneys simply refuse to acknowledge these catastrophic mistakes. Our guest – a former prosecutor – explains why we blind ourselves to these injustices.
Read MoreProsecutors must disclose any evidence that goes against guilt or lessens punishment. The Constitution says so. But some state laws allow them to withhold the evidence until just before trial, so defendant have to make plea decisions without it. This skews the whole system, and is long overdue for change.
Read MoreFor people attempting to re-enter society from jail, a job is key to staying straight. And a driver’s license is a must for lots of jobs. So why does the law in so many states suspend drivers licenses for crimes having nothing to do with driving?
Read MoreIn U.S. courts using bail for pretrial release, those with enough money to get out before trial, but those without cash stay in. But support for reform has been building, and New Jersey did away with cash bail almost entirely in 2017. What happens instead of bail, and how is it working so far?
Read MoreIn the U.S., judges set bail – an amount of money defendants must deposit with the court -- to make sure people appear in court. Defendants must pay the bail amount to get released to wait for trial. Those with enough money to get out before trial, but those without cash stay in jail – regardless of the risk they pose. Could a data-based system do a better job of assessing these risks, and keep the poor out of jail before trial?
Read MorePrivate prisons hold over 100,000 people in the U.S. Some say they provide needed flexibility as corrections populations change and budgets shrink. But what really happens when punishment is about profit?
Read MoreWhy has the US prison population grown for decades, surpassing two million? We’ve put more people in jail, but new research shows it’s not just how many people go to prison. What counts, for prison growth, is how long they stay.
Read MoreThe criminal justice system is designed to enforce accountability when bad things happen. But when it comes to preventing them from happening in the first place, courts and law enforcement agencies could learn a thing or two from the aviation and healthcare industries.
Read MoreAn important rule of legal ethics is the obligation to keep client information confidential. Lawyers say that rule is fundamental to the attorney-client relationship, so clients can speak freely. But what happens when following that rule keep someone else – an innocent person – in prison? That’s what happened to Alton Logan, who sat in prison in Illinois for 26 years, even though two lawyers who represented the real killer knew the truth all along.
Read MoreWhen bad behavior by a police officer makes news, police often say that it’s just about one bad officer. But police departments seldom make the character of each officer the biggest factor in who they hire.
Read MoreThree years after Ferguson, criminal justice reform has spurred discussion about police, courts and incarceration. PAC leader Whitney Tymas sees prosecutors as the key to fundamental change. She explains how her organization tackles local elections and what they’re trying to accomplish.
Read MoreSince they began in the early 20th century, juvenile courts always treated kids differently – as people who were young enough to change. This began to change in the 1980s and 1990s when crime really spiked and we began putting some kids in adult courts and prisons – even giving life without parole and death penalties.Marsha Levick, deputy director and chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, explains what changed.
Read MorePolice have endured harsh public scrutiny over use of force cases, but prosecutors have also taken heat for choosing not to pursue cases when civilians are shot by police.
Older, traditional prosecutorial professional organizations, such as the National District Attorneys Association, have fought against any changes. But one group, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, has taken a more open approach, arguing for the importance of prosecutorial independence and transparency.
David LaBahn is the CEO and president for the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.
Read MoreGun violence kills thousands of Americans every year. It carries massive consequences in lives lost, injuries and medical treatment, but what about the economic cost – in jobs, businesses and community development? How can we measure the economic opportunity costs of gun violence?
Read MoreThe death penalty – once a constant in U.S. criminal justice – has actually declined for more than a decade. In the last few years, it’s fallen dramatically, with death sentences handed down and executions way off. Why? And what does it mean for the rest of the criminal justice system?
Read MoreThe Chicago Police Department has a big problem with misconduct against civilians – both now and in the past. How much does this cost the city financially? What do the patterns of misconduct tell us? And why has the city done almost nothing to address those patterns?
Read MorePolice killings of unarmed black men, stop-and-frisk policies and racially disproportionate prison populations have all been called symptoms of a broken criminal justice system.
Georgetown law professor and author Paul Butler says no – this is exactly the way the system was designed to work.
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