Criminal Justice

Pretrial diversion programs are effective. And expensive for participants.

Courts often charge high fees for people to get into programs that allow them to avoid prison. Alabama's Jefferson County is trying a different approach.

  • By Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector

With addiction bill passed, now Oregon faces biggest challenge

Counties have to build new treatment facilities to deflect people away from the criminal justice system but they only have a few months before possession is recriminalized.

  • By Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle

‘Tough-on-crime’ policies are back in some places that had reimagined criminal justice

Several states are considering or have already enacted legislation undoing more progressive policies.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

Report shows Ohio one of many states still prosecuting ‘HIV-related’ crimes

A new report shows more than 200 cases of "HIV-related prosecutions" in Ohio between 2014 and 2020.

  • By Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal

As xylazine surges, some lawmakers want jail time for dealers and people who use the drug

The animal sedative is cheap, easy to get and sometimes winds up in other illicit substances.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

Governors roundly condemn Alabama ruling that effectively halts IVF

Republican leadership in the state is working on legislation that would narrow the impact of the ruling after several Alabama fertility clinics halted the procedures.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

Releasing suspects pretrial doesn’t lead to higher crime rates, experts say

Some states and jurisdictions are taking different approaches to cash bail.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

‘The world is watching.’ Alabama executes inmate using nitrogen gas

The state opted for the method following a botched execution of the same inmate in 2022. Two more states have since adopted the until now never tried method.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

Shortage of prosecutors, judges leads to widespread court backlogs

The pandemic worsened problems that already had caused state and local court delays.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

Recovery Court: This judicial diversion program converts sweat equity into freedom

COMMENTARY | Recovery Court in Grayson and Carroll counties in Virginia allows some defendants to add a fitness program to their judicial interventions. The program may help some defendants stay out of jail, and the judges behind the initiative hope it will contribute to long-term recovery.

  • By Sara June Jo-Sæbo, The Daily Yonder

Expungement backlogs swamp courts

Thousands of new expungement applications are causing months-long backlogs in jurisdictions with manual and paper-based processing. Automation can help.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

How many inmates return to prison? Inconsistent reporting makes it hard to tell.

States define recidivism differently, which can result in misleading interpretations of the statistics.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline
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Philadelphia reduced school-based arrests by 91% since 2013—researchers explain the effects of keeping kids out of the legal system

COMMENTARY | Launched in 2014, the city's diversion program looks to prevent youths from being referred to the criminal justice system. In the first five years, it decreased school-based arrests by 84%, and researchers say it saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

  • By Amanda NeMoyer and Naomi Goldstein, The Conversation

Michigan to automatically register people to vote when exiting prison

The law signed this week is the first in the nation and expands the state's Department of Corrections’ current effort to restore voting rights to returning citizens.

  • By Oralandar Brand-Williams, Votebeat

Lessons from one state’s effort to modernize its criminal justice system

New York’s sweeping 2020 law sought to accelerate pre-trial processes with technology upgrades. But the state’s experience offers lessons for other jurisdictions undertaking similar efforts to modernize the justice system.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

High fees, long waits cast shadow over new criminal expungement laws

A clear record helps people seeking employment, housing and education.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

Education linked to better employment prospects upon release from prison

People who get an education while serving time are less likely to return to prison and more likely to enter the job market, an analysis finds.

  • By Ben Stickle and Steven Sprick Schuster, The Conversation

Cash bail policies are under fresh scrutiny

Some places have done away with the system, while others are considering stricter guidelines.

  • By Amanda Hernández, Stateline

Communities look to end prison-to-homelessness pipeline

Incarceration and homelessness are inextricably linked, each cycling into the other. As the housing crisis drags on, state and local governments are looking to prevent former inmates from becoming homeless in the first place.

  • By Molly Bolan

Police resistance and politics undercut the authority of prosecutors trying to reform the justice system

After major American cities began electing prosecutors who campaigned on the promise of systemic reform, law enforcement unions labeled these DAs as soft on crime while lawmakers made legal and legislative efforts to remove them from office.

  • By Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica

The parent-child bond is critical–even when prison walls separate them

In New Hampshire, a program helps incarcerated parents maintain relationships with their children. Data suggests it reduces recidivism, helps break the cycle of incarceration in families and improves resident behavior.

  • By Amanda Pirani, New Hampshire Bulletin