PM Stories Kim Gardner, Progressive St. Louis Prosecutor Targeted By Trump, Fends Off Dem Challenger Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post Joe Arpaio, Jerry Sheridan in dead heat for Maricopa County primary race KTAR A Historic Supreme Court Ruling Upends Courts in Oklahoma Jack Healy, New York Times Oklahoma AG Seeks Guidance on Criminal Appeals After High Court Ruling David Lee, Courthouse News  Should NY Be Jailing Parolees for Minor Lapses During a Pandemic? Ginia Bellafante, New York Times  Probation...

PM Stories Covid-19 Is Turning Prison Terms into Death Sentences Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ruth Sangree, Brennan Center for Justice Frail inmates could be sent home to prevent the spread of covid-19. Instead, some are dying in federal prisons. Justin Wm. Moyer and Neena Satija, Washington Post As Coronavirus Deaths Spike in Prisons, Americans Want Offenders Moved Out Chantal Da Silva, Newsweek Prison Reform Bills Will Offer Early Release, End Mandatory Minimum Sentences (New Jersey) Colleen O’Dea, NJ Spotlight Protesters call for release...

PM Stories Rikers Island Worker Blows Whistle On COVID-19 Risk In Infamous New York Jail Jessica Schulberg, Huffington Post Coronavirus cases, deaths at San Quentin prison blamed on mismanagement Jacob Ward, NBC News An inmate tested positive for COVID-19. Prison staff housed him with uninfected inmates, he says Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times 23 Ohio Death Row Inmates Test Positive For Coronavirus CBS Thousands are in limbo as Philly courts remain mostly stalled by coronavirus: ‘It’s just been mass confusion’ Samantha Melamed,...

This is a curated selection of highlights from Crime Story Daily this week. On the criminal justice policy front: A piece from The Marshall Project highlights one city’s experiment with police reform. Last year, officials in Olympia, Washington decided that they would not always send police officers to handle routine, nonviolent incidents involving residents with mental illness or addiction. Instead, the city dispatches unarmed, non-uniformed “crisis responders” to diffuse the situation and connect the individual with help or social services. Police officials support the program because it allows their officers to focus on...

PM Stories Tensions are boiling over between Philly DA Larry Krasner and bail reform advocates Chris Palmer, Philadelphia Inquirer Four of largest ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Colorado are in prisons, jails Meg Wingerter, Denver Post San Quentin Prison pandemic conditions a ‘living hell’ for inmates MSNBC Two more inmates die in Kentucky state prisons, bringing COVID-19 death toll to eight John Cheves, Lexington Herald-Leader ‘Can I get out of here before I die?’: Virus slows, but did NJ do enough to keep...

PM Stories COVID-19 and the Case for Prison Abolition Meera Santhanam, Chicago Maroon California’s tough-on-crime movement runs into coronavirus, Floyd activism Jeremy B. White, Politico About 20% of NJ Prisoners Could Be Freed to Avoid Virus Tracey Tully, New York Times ‘Dozens of Prisons’ Targeted in COVID-19 Civil Rights Lawsuits Michael Gelb, The Crime Report ‘I’m going to die’: What it’s like inside a federal prison where 70% have coronavirus (Texas) Tanya Eiserer and Jason Trahan, WFAA COVID-19 spike...