With 274 homicides, 2023 was the deadliest year in Washington, D.C., in more than two decades.

They wield the important power of determining a victim’s manner of death—but they’re susceptible to both political pressure and racial bias.

Disappointed in Mayor Sylvester Turner, progressives wonder if they’ll be stuck with John Whitmire, a pro-labor conservative Democrat.

The departure of a controversial Republican sheriff gave hope to reformers in Western New York. But very little has changed.

The Supreme Court might end an infuriatingly unjust practice in criminal sentencing.

Christopher Dunn has spent more than 30 years in prison for a murder he and others say he didn’t commit. The state of Missouri says he must stay there—because he wasn’t sentenced to death.

Police unions, the retail lobby, and other critics of criminal justice reform have seized on viral images of package theft and shoplifting to push for a rollback of California’s efforts to reduce its prison population.

Gavin Newsom’s refusal to let Kennedy’s 77-year-old killer die at home after a half-century behind bars is nothing more than a cynical political stunt.

Like other progressive prosecutors, Alvin Bragg is trying to acknowledge that prison time doesn’t fight crime.

Democratic lawmakers will return from the holidays with a long list of uncompleted chores and unresolved issues.

India Walton won the Democratic primary fair and square. Then the man she beat teamed up with the party establishment—and Republican donors—to take her down.

Voters in Western New York have the chance to issue a strong statement about the dire conditions in American jails.

The junior senator from New Jersey continues to believe in the power of interpersonal relationships in effecting policy.

Biden has taken some critical first steps in making the Department of Justice more representative of America, but there’s more work to be done.

The same billionaire who refashioned the American political system to suit his needs is now calling for bipartisan cooperation—on his terms.

Organizers and thinkers on where we are in the major fights of our moment—from prison abolition to climate justice and the housing crisis—and where we go next.

Why Black officers have to be at the forefront of efforts to transform America’s racist police culture.

In her historic DNC speech, the former prosecutor elided most of her resume to craft a different image of her record.

Inside the hell of solitary confinement

An abolitionist demand rose to mainstream prominence. Now every politician and cable news talking head is suddenly an expert.