By Zoltan Istvan Motherboard The death penalty is one of America’s most contentious issues. Critics complain that capital punishment is inhumane, pointing out how some executions have failed to quickly kill […]
By Lauren Kirchner Pacific Standard “First of all, let’s get one thing straight: crack is cheap,” Whitney Houston told Diane Sawyer, defiantly, in a now-infamous 2002 interview. “I make too […]
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Ben Casselman, & Dana Goldstein FiveThirtyEight Criminal sentencing has long been based on the present crime and, sometimes, the defendant’s past criminal record. In Pennsylvania, judges […]
By Ana Swanson The Washington Post We like to believe that decisions made in U.S. courts are determined by the wisdom of the Constitution, and guided by fair-minded judges and juries of […]
By Beth Schwartzapfel The Marshall Project America’s prisons hold tens of thousands of people like Rodriguez — people primarily confined not by the verdicts of a judge or a jury […]
By Eli Saslow The Washington Post “My hands are tied on your sentence,” he said. “I’m sorry. This isn’t up to me.” How many times had U.S. District Judge Mark […]
By Jessica Benko The New York Times Magazine To anyone familiar with the American correctional system, Halden seems alien. Its modern, cheerful and well-appointed facilities, the relative freedom of movement […]
The Thresh 