After spending 38 years in the Alabama prison system, one of the most violent and crowded in the nation, Larry Jordan feels lucky to live long enough to regain his freedom.

The decorated Vietnam War veteran had survived prostate cancer and hepatitis C behind bars when a judge granted him early release late last year.

“I never gave up hope,” says Jordan, 74, who lives in Alabama. “I know a lot of people in prison who did.”

At least 6,182 people died in state and federal prisons in 2020, a 46% jump from the previous year, according to data recently released by researchers from the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project.

Continue reading “When a prison sentence becomes a death sentence” →

This week, the Arc of Dreams is lit purple to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

Holly Wethor was inspired by her experiences navigating the criminal justice system as a victim; she decided to become a victim advocate and help those in abusive situations.

A victim advocate can be made available by the court system or through a counseling center. Continue reading “Arc of Dreams lit purple for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week” →

Banning TikTok has become one of the only bipartisan issues lawmakers seem to see eye to eye on.

From a Montana ban on the social media app passed this month that will impact nearly all personal devices within state lines to a unanimous Senate approval to ban it from all government devices, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers agree that the short-form video app — and its parent company, the Beijing-based ByteDance — has got to go.

Continue reading “RESTRICT Act explained: proposed TikTok ban is ‘a PATRIOT Act for the digital age,’ some lawmakers say” →

What do South Dakota’s gun laws look like?

South Dakota, known for its pheasant hunting, has a population with one of the highest gun ownership rates per capita. A number of organizations rank South Dakota as being a state friendly to gun owners or a state without strong gun laws.

Guns & Ammo ranked South Dakota No. 7 in its annual “Best states for gun owners” ranking in 2022. Guns & Ammo said South Dakota’s score got a boost in 2021 from enacting a “model stand-your-ground bill and lowering carry permit fees to $0.”

Continue reading “What to know about South Dakota’s firearm laws” →

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, criminal defendants have been the subject of a national experiment. As schools and businesses moved online to protect people from the virus, court systems also instituted a host of emergency measures to conduct court proceedings remotely. Three years later, significant questions about what this virtual transition means for the state constitutional rights of defendants remain unanswered.

While courts had previously experimented with remote technology in narrow contexts, such as immigration proceedings and bail hearings, the pandemic forced them to embrace virtual proceedings at nearly every juncture of the criminal justice system. Suddenly, the arraignments, detention hearings, suppression hearings, plea hearings, jury selections, sentencings, and witness testimony that once took place inside the four walls of a courtroom were relocated to the four sides of a computer screen or a smartphone.

Continue reading “Remote Court Three Years Later” →

Continue reading “How ‘swatting’ calls spread as schools face real threats” →

The right to counsel was established 60 years ago last month in the landmark Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright. The persistent failure to honor that right calls into question the legitimacy of our entire criminal justice system.

In the years since the decision, states have created indigent defense delivery systems staffed by public defenders — attorneys who work full time defending poor people accused of crimes — and by assigned counsel — private attorneys who agree to accept criminal cases assigned to them by the court. With its Gideon decision, the Supreme Court found that counsel is a necessity, not a luxury, but state legislatures have spent as little as possible on the defense of individuals accused of a crime.

Continue reading “Without the right to adequate counsel, is our criminal justice system legitimate?” →

All U.S. citizens have a right to an attorney when charged with a crime, even if they can’t afford one. Only 11 states, including South Dakota, use local rather than state dollars to pay for the vast majority of public defense.

Just one state relies more heavily on counties to pay the cost than South Dakota, and that state – Pennsylvania – is now considering a five-year, $50 million investment in public defense.

Continue reading “South Dakota one of few states to saddle counties with public defense costs” →

Television crime dramas are compelling to audiences because they deal not just with crimes themselves but also with issues of justice and equality and with fascinating characters. Traditionally, these shows follow those who try to solve the crimes, though in recent years, fans have also liked shows that center on the perpetrators. (These are the most evil TV villains of all time.)

Continue reading “Best Crime Shows of All Time, According to Data” →