New York Attorney General Letitia James is “grateful” after a grand jury declined to reindict her on mortgage fraud charges. On Thursday, the grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case just days after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case, sources familiar with the case told multiple news […]
Christina Carrega
Christina Carrega is the criminal justice reporter at Capital B. Follow her on Bluesky @chriscarrega.bsky.social.
Posted inCriminal Justice
After 17 Police Bullets Killed This N.C. Mom, a Judge Has Dismissed Her Family’s Case
Jada Elizabeth Johnson’s daughter is excelling in kindergarten, absorbing lessons like a sponge and earning high marks that remind her family of Jada. But she still has hard moments, her great-grandfather Rick Iwanski said. The 6-year-old has anxiety, especially at bedtime, when dreams sometimes turn into nightmares of July 1, 2022, when a police officer […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Officer Found Not Guilty in Killing of Pregnant Black Mother Ta’Kiya Young
The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta’Kiya Young was acquitted Friday on all counts, including murder. Young was an excited mom of two little boys, and pregnant with her first daughter, when she encountered Connor Grubb at a Kroger supermarket parking lot on Aug. 24, 2023. She was accused of shoplifting by a […]
Posted inGun Violence, Politics & Policy, Public Safety
After DOJ Pulls Millions for Public Safety, Nonprofits and Neighborhoods Step In
JACKSON, Mississippi — Sharon Brown seemed destined from birth to be a changemaker in her hometown. She grew up reading old newspaper clippings about her mother and aunt protesting for women’s rights in the 1960s, and watching them help neighbors with whatever they could — from child care to groceries. Years later, her mother urged […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Employment
‘Clean Slate’ Laws Could Help Millions of Black Americans Clear Their Records
The 11th day of April means more to Elvina Smith than her daughters will ever know. For 17 years, a shoplifting conviction that led to six days in a Wayne County, Michigan, jail and a year of probation impacted every aspect of Smith’s otherwise law-abiding life. From 2006 to 2007, Smith traveled for miles outside […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
From Fighting the Klan to Fighting DEI: The Justice Department’s Shift on Civil Rights
WASHINGTON — Consent decrees meant to hold police departments accountable for misconduct have been dismantled in several cities. Voting rights cases have been thrown out and replaced with investigations into alleged voter fraud. Civil rights laws have been used to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A Child Shot His Teacher, and Now a Former Assistant Principal Could Face Prison
As one chapter closes in the nearly three-year battle to hold someone accountable in the case of a Virginia first-grader shooting his teacher, another will open in the weeks ahead. Former assistant principal Ebony Parker faces up to four years in prison if convicted in criminal court. The trial is expected to start on Nov. […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Lives Matter Facing Financial Scrutiny — Again
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc. denied on Friday being “a target of any federal criminal investigation” in light of a report that the federal government was looking into fraud allegations. The response comes after anonymous sources told the Associated Press that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether leaders in the Black […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Former Deputy Convicted in Killing of Sonya Massey After 15-Month Wait for Justice
An Illinois jury on Wednesday convicted a former sheriff’s deputy of second-degree murder in the death of Sonya Massey, who was shot inside her apartment last year after moving a pot of hot water into a sink. The 36-year-old mother of two called the police for help. She was shot dead on her kitchen floor. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Indiana Man Seeks Clemency With Help From Jury Foreperson
After spending more than three decades in prison, Kofi Modibo Ajabu believed he had exhausted all legal avenues to reduce his 240-year sentence. Ajabu was a college student when he was convicted along with two other men in the March 1994 stabbing deaths of two Indiana teenagers and one of their friends in what prosecutors […]