This week at Crime Story we continued our presentation of series by Sean Smith and Katherine Mader. We featured a story about a disturbing development in the LAPD. And I represented Crime Story in two appearances as a commentator on Court TV.
Welcome to our summary of the week’s events at CrimeStory.com and The Crime Story Podcast.
On Friday, we presented thethird installment of our Crime Story Series: Nuremberg by Sean Smith, the timely and timeless tale of the effort to use international law to criminalize and condemn the menace embodied in the Nazi German leadership.
In Part 3 we examined the journey of German Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering from from the shell of the man that he was when arrested in the immediate aftermath of the Nazi Regime’s collapse to the defiant and confident leader of a group of men accused of crimes against humanity.
Sean’s Nuremberg Series commemorates the 75th Anniversary period of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, which runs from November 20, 2020 through October 1, 2021.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we continued our Crime Story series excerpting Inside the Robe: A Judge’s Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America, by Judge Katherine Mader (Ret.) which best selling author Michael Connelly called: “a perfect book: engrossing and telling at the same time.”
In Part 21 of Inside the Robe, Judge Mader explains the care taken to prevent jurors from discerning that a defendant is in custody, and offers some anecdotal observations about the behavior and demographics of jurors that she sees in her courtroom.
In Part 22 she explores the jury selection process from a criminal court judge’s perspective including techniques she uses to differentiate between jurors who should be disqualified and those who ought to be compelled to serve.
On Tuesday, we published a City News Service story about an allegation that an LAPD officer had alleged that a Valentine-themed social media post featuring an image of George Floyd that included the words “You take my breath away,” was circulating within the Police Department, provoking outrage from Floyd’s family, activists, the L.A.District Attorney and the police union.
And I was invited to offer commentary on Court TV twice this week about two high profile Los Angeles cases. On Tuesday, I commented on the status of the suspended trial of Robert Durst for the murder of Susan Berman. And on Friday, I spoke about the numerous sexual assault charges filed against adult film star Ron Jeremy.
Below we present Hannah Teich’s condensed curation of the week’s more interesting stories from Crime Story Daily. (Read Hannah’s full essay including links to the mentioned articles.)
On the criminal justice policy front: A piece from NBC News surveys the overall state of criminal justice and police reform, while a piece from Mother Jones focuses on gun control under the Biden administration. And the LA Times reports from California, where, after 80 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to close the state’s long-troubled and frequently violent youth prisons.
In muckraker/watchdog reporting: A piece from the New York Times focuses on American policing in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, while a piece from ProPublica examines the failures of Capitol Police. And a piece from the New Yorker goes inside the Washington, DC police force with Georgetown Law professor Rosa Brooks.
In complex crime storytelling: A piece from the Atlantic unwinds the long, complex history of “felony murder” laws through the lens of one case. And a piece from the Intercept focuses on the recent controversy over Poetry magazine, prison abolitionism, and “the limits of mercy.”
In culture/true crime: A piece from the New Yorker, from 2016, focuses on James Ridgeway, the hard-hitting investigative journalist and justice reform advocate who died this week at 84. The New York Times reviews the Netflix docuseries Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. And Texas Monthly highlights the Vox podcast “Chicano Squad,” which recounts the story of the county’s first all-Latino homicide squad.
Again, you can read Hannah’s full weekly essay and find links to each of the mentioned articles.
And finally, here is your opportunity to catch up on previous Crime Story Newsletters.
Thanks again for reading and listening.
Kary Antholis
Publisher/Editor, Crime Story
