Criminal Justice
Minnesota stops separating newborns and incarcerated mothers
The Healthy Start Act makes Minnesota the first state to stop the practice of separating incarcerated mothers from their newborns soon after delivery.
Controversial police killings are being recreated in VR
Virtual reality simulations of controversial police killings of Black Americans are being included in a police training program.
What does police reform look like in 2020?
Calls for police reform have resulted in budget cuts, new policies, and a record number of police oversight measures landing on the 2020 ballot.
Despite the pandemic, voting rights groups help register voters in jail
Voting rights groups help inmates register and vote, despite hurdles presented by the pandemic.
The law enforcement unit that responds to a crisis before it happens
The Maplewood mental health unit anticipates 911 calls and circumvents them before they happen.
Should police respond to mental health crises?
As tensions between law enforcement and the public continue to rise, many are beginning to question whether all 911 calls warrant a visit from armed officers.
Cash bail keeps poor people in jail. Here’s how we fix it
Bail reformers say it’s unconstitutional for a person to be imprisoned because they can’t afford bail. Do bail bonds begin punishing the poor before they’re even found guilty?
Volunteers build first nationwide database of police records
Thousands of volunteers are data scraping public websites to compile police records into a single national database for researchers to mine.
Qualified immunity might not protect police for much longer
The U.S. government is considering changes to qualified immunity, a doctrine that protects police from civil lawsuits.
How police spend their time
The New York Times looks at how police spend their time at work, providing insights that could be useful for “unbundling the police” efforts.