criminal justice reform
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The Boston Strangler case has haunted American criminal justice history for over half a century. Between 1962 and 1964, thirteen women in the Boston area were murdered in chillingly similar circumstances . They were all sexually assaulted, strangled, and often left posed in their homes. The city spiraled into fear. Women double-locked doors and carried…
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How does someone spend 18 years in jail without ever having a trial? That question is echoing across Harris County, Texas, after revelations that Edric Wilson — once accused of murdering the great-aunt of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen — spent nearly two decades in pretrial detention at the Harris County Jail, only to have his…
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Louisiana carried out its first execution in 14 years on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, putting Jessie Hoffman to death using nitrogen gas after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. The execution marked the state’s return to capital punishment and was conducted under Gov. Jeff Landry’s initiative to reinstate the death penalty as part of…
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The case of Vincent Simmons, a Black man who spent 44 years in prison for a crime he maintains he did not commit, has drawn national attention to the deep flaws within the American criminal justice system. Simmons’ conviction in 1977 was overturned in 2022 by a Louisiana judge, yet his fight for justice continues…
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul is considering a clemency application for Andre Brown, a Bronx man whose conviction was vacated in 2022 after serving 23 years in prison for attempted murder. But recently, the ruling was overturned, placing him at risk of returning to prison for another 18 years. Brown, who has maintained his innocence,…
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After spending over a decade in prison for a crime she did not commit, India Spellman walked free on February 9, 2023, becoming the first woman in more than a generation to be exonerated in Philadelphia. Her release marks yet another case of wrongful conviction fueled by coerced confessions, prosecutorial misconduct, and systemic failures in…
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Calvin Duncan’s story is one of perseverance, injustice, and an unrelenting pursuit of justice—not just for himself, but for countless others. After being wrongly convicted of murder in 1985 due to a mistaken eyewitness identification, he spent 28.5 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola. The prison, which occupies 18,000 acres of…
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Renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump is speaking out about the exoneration of Robert Johnson, a man who spent nearly 30 years behind bars for a crime he maintains he did not commit. In a statement on Instagram, Crump highlighted the injustice of Johnson’s wrongful conviction, writing: “After nearly 30 years in prison for a…
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Joe Ligon was 83 when he was released from prison in 2021 after serving nearly seven decades for crimes he committed as a 15-year-old in 1953. When he was freed, he made headlines for his record-breaking sentence and his profound transformation. Ligon’s release, which occurred after Pennsylvania authorities granted him freedom, has prompted a larger…
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In a landmark decision on Friday, January 17, 2025, U.S. President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 2,500 non-violent drug offenders, the largest number of pardons and commutations ever issued by a U.S. president. The move, which addresses disproportionate sentencing, is seen as a critical step toward criminal justice reform. The commutations were granted in…
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