Last September, at his graduation from Northwestern University, Michael Broadway reconnected with his mother, Elizabeth, for the first time in two decades. Due to her ailing health, she couldn’t visit him. As an incarcerated man, he didn’t have the option to travel to her, either. For those two decades, Broadway was held inside Stateville Correctional […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Maryland Governor’s Marijuana Pardons a Win for Justice, But Is It Enough?
Stephanie Shepard has had unsettling feelings in the pit of her stomach ever since she was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. She couldn’t believe that a drug sentence’s mandatory minimum carried more weight than a homicide-related offense. Before Shepard was transferred from New York to a […]
Posted inCourts
Your Guide to This Year’s Major Supreme Court Cases
Her words sounded ominous, like a warning. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the bench’s most senior liberal member, recently recalled that, on some days, she returns to her office after the announcement of a gut-wrenching decision, closes her door — and cries: “There have been those days,” she lamented. “And there are likely to […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Acquitted of Murder Decades Ago, Virginia Man Serving Life Fights for His Freedom
This story originally published in 2024, but has been updated to reflect former President Joe Biden’s final clemency action in the days before he left the White House. The “Waverly Two” are among those set to be released this week. Terence Jerome Richardson and Ferrone Claibone were in the midst of an evidentiary hearing to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
The Racial Inequality of Felony Convictions
Depending on one’s politics, you could describe former President Donald Trump in many ways, but now he has a new descriptor: felon. On Thursday, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a hush-money scheme involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels. He’s the first former president […]
Posted inCourts
As Marilyn Mosby Faced Crucial Day In Court, Her Family and Faith Were Front and Center
It’s been a long time since Marilyn Mosby has fully relaxed and spent enough quality time with her beloved grandmother and two daughters. Having a federal conviction has forced the former Baltimore City state’s attorney to reflect on a lot lately. Mosby was convicted after two separate federal trials on two counts of perjury in […]
Posted inCourts
Former Prosecutor Avoids Prison, But How Did She Get Here?
A federal court judge spared Marilyn Mosby from spending a minute behind bars for mortgage fraud and perjury. Throughout the nearly six-hour hearing inside a Greenbelt, Maryland, courthouse were three rooms reserved for the former Baltimore City state’s attorney’s supporters who traveled from across the country. Statements were read by nearly a dozen people, including […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
The Mysterious Death of Jaylen Griffin and the Search for Answers
After nearly four years of searching for Jaylen Griffin in upstate New York, his family was given 90 minutes to process and prepare for a press conference that would reveal their everlasting grief to the world. Ten days before what would have been Jaylen’s 16th birthday, his body was found in an attic 5 miles […]
Posted inHistory, Policing, Politics & Policy
Gaza, Student Protest, and the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
Looking at the images might make you feel as if you’ve stepped back in time. Late on Tuesday, New York City police clad in riot gear entered Columbia University and removed dozens of peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstrators, leading them away with their hands zip-tied behind their backs. Over the past week, hundreds of college students calling […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Alabama Family Sues Officer Who Mayor Says Failed to ‘Know The Law’
Light from the sun beamed down onto Twyla Stallworth’s black sunglasses as she approached microphones on a podium in front of an Alabama federal courthouse. Tears instantly rolled down the Andalusia native’s cheeks as she thought about that day in February when she and her son could have lost their lives because of an arrogant […]
