This article was originally published on The New York Times by Bill Killer on Dec. 16th, 2016 It’s no wonder criminal-justice reformers woke up from Election Day 2016 with a sense of existential gloom. Given candidate Donald J. Trump’s law-and-order bluster, his dystopian portrayal of rising crime and an ostensible war on the police, and a posse […]

This article was originally published on The Huffington Post by Ed Mazza on December 14, 2016 A convicted violent sex offender once deemed to have a “high risk to offend” again was allegedly caught working as Santa Claus at an in-store Christmas event at a Petco in Wytheville, Virginia over the weekend. Leonard Russell Kidd, 37, pleaded guilty in 2002 to aggravated sexual battery for

This article was originally published on Reading Eagle by Samantha Melamed on Thursday, November 24th 2016 Last summer, Kameelah Davis-Spears was just one year out of homelessness. She found a house for herself and her four children in West Philadelphia using a Section 8 voucher. And, between food stamps and her job, for which she earns $10.20

This article was originally published on The New York Times by Adam Liptak on December 12, 2016  WASHINGTON — Continuing his sustained critique of the American capital justice system, Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Monday issued an unusual dissent from the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case of a Florida death row inmate who said his conviction

This article was originally published on YourErie.com by Nick Valencia, Catherine E. Shoichet and Keith O’Shea on Dec. 15, 2016 CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) Esther Lance was torn over how to punish Dylann Roof, the man found guilty of killing her mother and eight others at a Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina last year. “Yes, I

This article was originally published on The Huffington Post by Steven Hoffer on Dec. 14, 2016 Not exactly well done. Two Kentucky men were arrested on Saturday after they accidentally called 911, tipping off authorities to their alleged plan to rob a BBQ restaurant where the local police chief happened to be dining. Robert Bourne and David

This article was originally published on 6abc.com by Erin O’Hearn on Thursday, December 1, 2016  In this week’s Your Life, we’re talking about divorce. More than half of marriages end in divorce, but although the splitting of spouses has become commonplace, the process of separating hasn’t become any easier. But now, in Pennsylvania, there is

This article was originally published on indianagazette.com by Anthony McCartney on November 10, 2016 LOS ANGELES — An investigation into whether Brad Pitt was abusive toward his son on a private flight in September says the case has been closed with no finding of abuse by the actor, a source familiar with the inquiry said Wednesday. The

This article was originally published on kwwl.com by Sara Belmont on December 2, 2016 (IOWA CITY) — An Iowa State Patrol commander has lost his job, weeks after a state agency said he failed to pay child support for years to a former dispatcher with whom he has a daughter. Records show Lt. Kelly Hindman’s failure to

This article was originally published on The Huffington Post by John A. Tures on December 2, 2016 This week, the death penalty is under fire, as the Supreme Court debates whether or not the death penalty can be applied to convicted murderers with a low IQ, as justices question whether a person can be held accountable for actions that may