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Articles on Criminal justice

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Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, listens as attorneys speak outside the Glynn County Courthouse on July 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Georgia. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

‘Southern hospitality’ doesn’t always apply to Black people, as revealed in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

The murder of Ahmaud Arbery exemplifies the racial, often violent barriers still remaining in the US. The 25-year-old Black man was out for a jog. But three white men thought he was a criminal.
Defense set to claim that the three men accused over death of unarmed Black man were trying to conduct a citizen’s arrest. Glynn County Detention Center via AP, File

Trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s accused killers will scrutinize the use – and abuse – of ‘outdated’ citizen’s arrest laws

Three men who pursued a black jogger who died of a shotgun wound in the confrontation claim they were trying to conduct a citizen’s arrest.
In 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, with his brother Tamerlan, put bombs along the Boston Marathon route, killing and injuring many. Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Death penalty can express society’s outrage – but biases often taint the verdict

Punishment for crimes allows a society to express its values, but a theorist of criminal law and punishment argues it could also reinforce prejudicial stereotypes about racial and ethnic groups.
When people are held in jail, they’re likely to accept quick release – even if it means admitting to something they didn’t do. Caspar Benson via Getty Images

Pandemic pushed defendants to plead guilty more often, including innocent people pleading to crimes they didn’t commit

While guilty people are more receptive to plea offers, innocent defendants can also see pleading guilty as an attractive option.
A woman reacts to the news that Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts in the murder of George Floyd. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Why this trial was different: Experts react to guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin

Scholars of policing, law, race and Minnesota history explain the landmark guilty verdicts handed down in the trial for the murder of George Floyd.
According to Oregon law, possessing a small amount of drugs for personal consumption is now a civil – rather than criminal – offense. Peter Dazeley via Getty

Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here’s why voters passed this groundbreaking reform

Possessing heroin, cocaine, meth and other drugs for personal use is no longer a criminal offense in Oregon. The idea is to get people with problem drug use help, not punishment.
Funeral for a woman and her 11-year-old daughter, both found dead inside a burnt out vehicle in Puebla state, Mexico, June 11, 2020. Jose Castanares/AFP via Getty Images)

Latin American women are disappearing and dying under lockdown

Reports of rape, domestic abuse and murdered women are way up in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and beyond since the coronavirus. But Latin America has long been one of the most dangerous places to be a woman.
Research shows that arrests for serious crimes are quite rare. Blake Nissen for The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Police solve just 2% of all major crimes

When police arrest a suspect who is then convicted of the crime, it is a rare exception rather than the rule in the US.

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