Crime Story Daily

This is a curated selection of highlights from Crime Story Daily this week. On the criminal justice policy front: A piece from the New Yorker centers on “the return of mass shootings” in America. For all the horrors of this pandemic year, many found some small relief in the momentary absence, with schools and businesses closed, of the “gun massacre.” Now, as the country begins to “open up,” mass shootings, too, have returned with a vengeance: seven in the past seven days, with eight people killed in three shootings in Atlanta, ten in a grocery store in Boulder, and four...

PM Stories Stop the Executions, President Biden Editorial Board, New York Times Living With Survivor’s Guilt on Federal Death Row Billie J. Allen, The Marshall Project COVID Infections Soared in Prisons Where Testing Was ‘Limited’: Report Nancy Bilyeau, The Crime Report Colorado’s COVID-19 outbreaks drop overall, but rise in prisons Meg Wingerter, Denver Post Kentucky’s Prison Coronavirus Defense Is Failing Jared Bennett, WFPL Inmates’ Distrust Of Prison Health Care Fuels Distrust Of COVID Vaccines Eric Berger, St. Louis Public Radio As COVID-19 continues to impact Philly’s criminal courts, some lawyers say a lack of vaccines is ‘life-threatening’ Chris Palmer, Philadelphia Inquirer Waiting for Justice Robert Lewis, CalMatters Black...

PM Stories Here’s some hope for supporters of criminal justice reform Charles Lane, Washington Post The Biden Administration Takes a Step Toward Undoing the Damage of the War on Drugs Julia Craven, Slate “We’re Reversing 90 Years Of Prohibition”: New York State Legalizes Marijuana Christopher Robbins, Gothamist New York to Expunge Convictions With Marijuana Legalization Keshia Clukey, Bloomberg Marilyn Mosby declares war on drugs over, formalizes policy to dismiss all possession charges in Baltimore Tim Prudente, Baltimore Sun What Marijuana Legalization Means For Those Who Have Been Hurt By The War On Drugs Brian Mann, NPR Maryland House passes bill to end life without parole for...

PM Stories Can prosecutors truly be progressive? Iman Freeman and Matt Zernhelt, Baltimore Sun The Progressive Prosecutor KALW “VC Lives Matter”: Silicon Valley Investors Want to Oust San Francisco’s Reformist DA Samantha Michaels and Lil Kalish, Mother Jones Mass. AG Pays Law Firms $1M To Defend Ex-Prosecutors In Drug Lab Scandal Deborah Becker, WBUR How private prisons turned criminal justice into big business Vanessa Taylor, Mic The economic costs of pretrial detention Will Dobbie and Crystal S. Yang, Brookings Too Many People Are Locked Up for Small Thefts Editorial Board, New York Times Texas Gov. Abbott Says Bail Reform Is A Legislative Priority, But How To ‘Fix’...

PM Stories The death penalty ended sooner than expected in Virginia – and not soon enough Theresa Vargas, Washington Post Why has it been so easy to send innocent people to Florida’s death row? Editorial Board, South Florida Sun Sentinel Is this the year Nevada ends the death penalty? April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current Bill would further limit solitary confinement, require transparency about how often practice is used Michelle Rindels, Nevada Independent Lawmakers propose sentencing reforms as state prisons near crisis. Will any pass? Grace Toohey, Orlando Sentinel New York Must Offer Vaccine to All Prisoners Immediately, Judge Rules Troy Closson, New York Times As Crime...

PM Stories America’s Rural-Jail-Death Problem Katie Rose Quandt, The Atlantic Why Did a St. Louis Man Die in a Federal Prison Coronavirus Hotspot? Mike Fitzgerald, Riverfront Times As Prisons See Drop In Cases, Another Man Imprisoned In Mass. Has Died Of COVID-19 Deborah Becker, WBUR Hundreds of Texas prisoners are getting vaccinated – months after many became eligible Neelam Bohra, Texas Tribune Preparing Prisons for Passover in a Plague Year Kenneth R. Rosen, The New Yorker US bail-bond insurers spend big to keep defendants paying Alwyn Scott and Suzanne Barlyn, Reuters Could Eliminating Cash Bail Save the US Billions? Nancy Bilyeau, The Crime Report California Supreme Court...