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 Slate focuses on Virginia, where lawmakers recently passed a landmark piece of bipartisan legislation to abolish the death penalty. Gov. Ralph Northam has promised to sign the bill, which will make Virginia the 23rd state in the country with no death penalty law on the books. The Commonwealth of Virginia has carried out 1,390 executions since 1608 – the most of any other state in US history. The move comes as part of a larger legislative push towards...

PM Stories In Biden’s early days, signs of Trump-era problems at border Nomaan Merchant, AP News Biden admin to name refugee advocate director of task force to reunite separated families, say sources Julia Ainsley, Jacob Soboroff, and Geoff Bennett, NBC News These Young People Were Told They Could Stay in the US. They Might Get Deported Anyway. Andrew R. Calderón, The Marshall Project ICE Threatened to Expose Asylum-Seekers to COVID-19 if They Did Not Accept Deportation John Washington, The Intercept “They Want to Do Me In”: The Prisoner Who Fought COVID Overcrowding Kevin Sawyer, Filter Magazine New York City Has People on Parole In Jails...

PM Stories Why It’s So Significant That Virginia Looks Set To Abolish the Death Penalty Madeleine Carlisle, Time Alabama prepares to execute another Black man, under laws going back to slavery Liz Granderson, Los Angeles Times Alabama moving ahead with first execution in COVID-19 pandemic Melissa Brown, Montgomery Advertiser ‘No way of stopping it’: How COVID-19 invaded Sacramento jail, triggering major outbreak Michael Finch II and Jason Pohl, Sacramento Bee Los Angeles voters support releasing people as jail population rises amid COVID surge Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza and Sean McElwee, The Appeal ‘You just want to… have a chance’: Ex-offenders struggle to find jobs amid COVID-19 Charisse...

PM Stories The death penalty is in the death throes David Von Drehle, Washington Post What 120 Executions Tell Us About Criminal Justice in America Tom Meagher, The Marshall Project Did Tennessee Execute an Innocent Man? Emily Bazelon, New York Times Alabama prepares to execute another Black man, under laws going back to slavery Liz Granderson, Los Angeles Times Putting Smith to death puts others at risk: Stop Alabama executions during COVID-19 pandemic Stephen Cooper, Montgomery Advertiser I’m A Public Defender. My Clients Keep Getting COVID-19 While Incarcerated. Liz Oyer, BuzzFeed News North Carolina Claims Prisoners Who Died of COVID Didn’t Die of COVID Hannah Critchfield...

PM Stories ‘A death sentence’: US prisons could receive COVID vaccines last despite being hotspots Kiran Misra, The Guardian Inmates at St. Louis jail set fires, break windows over coronavirus restrictions, concerns Heather Hollingsworth, USA Today After St. Louis jail unrest, inmates’ advocates allege desperate conditions while officials defend pandemic response Eric Berger and Mark Berman, Washington Post Death row inmate convicted in Harris County case dies after battling COVID, other health issues Rebecca Hennes, Houston Chronicle Advocates Call For Reform As ‘People Are Needlessly Dying In Prison’ During The Pandemic Allison Sherry, Colorado Public Radio The Biden Administration Can Act on Criminal Justice Reform...

PM Stories Trump’s Execution Spree Laid Bare the Death Penalty’s Fundamental Flaws Sister Helen Prejean, The Nation After Trump’s Execution Spree, Lingering Trauma and a Push for Abolition Liliana Segura, The Intercept Federal executions likely a COVID superspreader Michael Tarm, Michael Balsamo, and Michael R. Sisak, AP News ‘Deep indifference to human suffering’ at Harris County Jail, lawyers say Gabrielle Banks and Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle Trapped in the Dungeon Adamu Chan, Slate Medical parole not always compassionate Sarah Betancourt, Commonwealth Magazine A Last-Minute Trump Move Threatens to Send Released Prisoners Back to Prison After the Pandemic Madison Pauly, Mother Jones New York Under Fire for Vaccinating...