Crime Story Editor

Sean Smith presents Part 17 of his week by week analysis of the news stories aggregated in Crime Story Daily related to COVID-19 and our carceral system. You can find links to each of Sean’s analysis pieces here. This article covers the week beginning July 5. WEEK 17 (JULY 5-11) New daily cases of COVID-19 in the US hit 48,606 Sunday, July 5, setting a record high for the 27th day in a row. Many faulted premature business reopenings throughout the South and Southwest. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego rued, “We opened way too early in Arizona.” Unexpected demand for tests prompted two major diagnostic...

Prison By Any Other Name: An Interview with Victoria Law and Maya Schenwar By Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson In Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms, Victoria Law and Maya Schenwar warn criminal justice reformers against pursuing what are considered more humane forms of punitive surveillance and control ― such as electronic monitoring, house arrest, and extended probation ― as solutions to mass incarceration. Indeed, Law and Schenwar endeavor to show how these alternatives might actually exacerbate the underlying causes of criminal behavior. Instead, they lay out the abolitionist alternative, rooted in broad decriminalization and a...

Sean Smith presents Part 16 of his week by week analysis of the news stories aggregated in Crime Story Daily related to COVID-19 and our carceral system. You can find links to each of Sean’s analysis pieces here. This article covers the week beginning June 28. WEEK 16 (JUNE 28-JULY 4)  There were unexpected surges in coronavirus infections in states including Arizona and Florida during the week of June 28, forcing several governors to roll back their reopenings. On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned a Senate committee that the number of new COVID-19 cases...

Links to all of CRIME STORY'S coverage of the Robert Durst trial are here. Episode 11: No Evidence is Evidence Episode Synopsis In the penultimate episode of Season 1, David Chesnoff takes over the defense team’s opening statement and establishes his mantra for the day: “No evidence is evidence.” By this he suggests that the jurors should lean into their desire for forensic evidence in assessing Robert Durst’s culpability, and if they find such evidence lacking, they should consider that to be evidence in and of itself. Chesnoff then tries to pick apart portions of the prosecution’s narrative of what happened to Kathie...

Shifting Priorities: An Interview with Maricopa County Democratic candidate Julie Gunnigle Often, the most impactful criminal justice reform happens at the local level. And perhaps no one is more powerful in any community than the county prosecutor, who has the power to shape the destinies of its most vulnerable citizens. The changes they make ripple out and upwards, and can steer our conversations at the national level. One such crucible in the battle between progressive and reactionary forces in the world of criminal justice is Maricopa County in Arizona. From 2006 through 2009, progressive George Gascon served as police chief of...

Project for the Innocent: An Interview with Laurie Levenson and Adam Grant By Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson Professors Laurie Levenson and Adam Grant are co-founders of the Project for the Innocent based at Loyola Law School of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The clinic provides Loyola law students the opportunity to work with faculty to represent wrongfully convicted individuals in their post-conviction appeals. Amanda Knox I was wondering if you both could talk to me about your origins as criminal defense attorneys and advocates. Laurie Levenson   I started as a prosecutor, to be honest with you. I was a federal prosecutor out of...