Crime Story Daily

This is a curated selection of highlights from Crime Story Daily this week. On the criminal justice policy front: New York Magazine reports that last Friday, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 270 months, or 22.5 years, in prison for the murder of George Floyd. Pieces from Vox and the Washington Post offer reactions to and reflections on Chauvin’s sentencing, reiterating the idea that while the sentence should bring “a measure of satisfaction,” it alone does not mean true justice for George Floyd – or an end to the plague of police violence in America. Meanwhile, pieces...

PM Stories In the Penal Colony Yen Pham, n+1 Despite COVID’s spread in prisons, there’s little to suggest they’ll do better next time Katie Park and Keri Blakinger, Chicago Sun-Times After COVID Emergency Ends, 4,000 Americans May Be Forced Back to Prison Anthony L. Fisher, Insider Will this be the year for parole reform? Morgan McKay, NY1 Parole Reform Bill Set to Pass in Albany After Rikers Deaths Reuven Blau, The City Massachusetts Could Loosen Life Without Parole Restrictions For Young People Ella Fassler, The Appeal Marijuana is now legal in Virginia. Advocates are already pushing for changes to the law. Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury To End...

PM Stories As COVID recedes in prisons, will any lessons learned stick? Katie Park, Keri Blakinger, and Claudia Lauer, AP News Old People in Prison Were Left to Die From COVID. It Didn’t Have to Be That Way. Lisa Armstrong, Mother Jones Prisons Have a Health Care Issue – And It Starts at the Top, Critics Say Keri Blakinger, The Marshall Project Teens Can Get Swept Into Adult Prisons. DC’s Attorney General Wants To Change That Carrie Johnson, NPR California moves to phase out its state-run youth prisons Don Thompson, AP News Department of Correction moves to end solitary confinement Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine Time to...

PM Stories As COVID recedes in prisons, will any lessons learned stick? Independent A Half-Million People Got COVID-19 in Prison. Are Officials Ready for the Next Pandemic? Katie Park, Keri Blakinger, and Claudia Lauer, The Marshall Project When Prisons Locked Down, Prisoners Were Denied Release Daniel Moritz-Rabson, The Appeal Biden faces criticism for not extending home confinement for prisoners Alex Gangitano, The Hill Opinion: Mr. President, keep your promise on the death penalty Karl A. Racine, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, and Miriam Krinsky, Washington Post A Wrongful Execution in Texas Points to the Fallability of the Death Penalty Michael Barajas, Texas Observer How race shaped the South’s punitive...

PM Stories Lost Opportunity, Lost Lives Lisa Armstrong, The Marshall Project Dozens who died in Texas prisons during the pandemic had been granted parole, new report shows Jolie McCullough, Texas Tribune 1,000 inmates still stuck in county jails – creating dangerous conditions – because state prisons won’t take them, sheriffs say Jacob Geanous and Kyra Senese, Chicago Sun-Times Court Fees Called ‘Another Layer of Punishment’ for Rural Poor Andrea Cipriano, The Crime Report ‘It’s robbery’: When plea deals hinge on promising to always have money for court fees Connor Sheets, AL.com Mass Clemency Is a Necessary Response to Mass Incarceration Nikki Trautman Baszynski, The Appeal Biden’s...

PM Stories They’re Going Back to Prison. But They Didn’t Commit New Crimes. Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project Thousands of Prisoners Were Sent Home Because of COVID. They Don’t Want to Go Back. Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Maura Turcotte, New York Times Even After Vaccine, Federal Prisons Still Have COVID-19 Concerns Walter Pavlo, Forbes CA’s Jail & Prison Populations Went Down During COVID, But Now The Jail Numbers Have Crept Back Up Celeste Fremon, WitnessLA With over 2,700 deaths behind bars and slow vaccine acceptance, prisons and jails must continue to decarcerate Emily Widra, Prison Policy Initiative New ruling requires Pa. courtrooms to return to ‘pre-pandemic’...