Criminal Justice Reform

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled a wide-reaching plan on Tuesday with goals to reduce prison populations, create a more just society, and increase community safety.

Alex Villanueva says he'll reduce the number of misdemeanors considered grounds for deportation, but will continue to allow ICE contractors to transfer undocumented inmates into ICE custody.

Research has long shown that detention of youth can cause harm and is ineffective at preventing crime.

The presidential candidate has an interesting record of championing reform while working within political constraints.

Even if a record is officially wiped clean, it's legal for criminal justice agencies and other websites to keep criminal records online.

Pre-trial detention hurts defendants and taxpayers.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice currently has an ombudsman within the agency, but two state politicians argue that making the position independent will lead to more objectivity.

Across the country, jails are often used as holding pens for people who can't afford to pay bail. Local groups are working to change that.

At least six million United States citizens cannot vote in the U.S. because they have been convicted of a felony, but there is a growing movement to change that.

A recent vote over a proposed tool to predict the risk that a person would pose a threat to public safety in Pennsylvania stirred a debate over its unintended consequences.

According to a new report, while the overall number of inmates in the U.S. is declining, some states are still seeing their prison populations rise.

The First Step Act has passed the House, but it's likely to face opposition from both sides of the aisle in the Senate.

A new policy brief uses psychotropic medications as a proxy for mental illness, and finds that, despite criminal justice reforms in the state, the population of mentally ill inmates in jails is growing.

A conversation with Jasmine Heiss from the Vera Institute of Justice about a recent poll that uncovers American's souring sentiment toward incarceration policy.

A new poll from the MacArthur Foundation finds most Americans' sentiments about the justice system are at odds with the Trump administration's punitive policies.

An interview with Ruby Pinto about a series of new exhibitions across Chicago that make a powerful case for police abolition.

Advocates in Chicago, New York, and beyond are fighting GOP moneymen, and major insurance companies, to end the predatory practice.