Criminalization

Bronze bullets lined up in a triangle
Brandon Dasent, Amina Henderson  Feb 14, 2019 5:17PM EST

Teens from Parkland and Chicago Ask: 'How Many More Must Die?'

Student organizers Brandon Dasent and Amina Henderson unite to push for gun control that will keep kids in their communities safer.
21 Savage. Black man with black dredlocs holds fist in air while wearing navy hoodie with white drawstrings and rainbow accents in front of purple and orange lights.
Sameer Rao  Feb 13, 2019 12:15PM EST

21 Savage Released From ICE Custody

The rapper’s attorneys joined activists and musical collaborators in demanding ICE release him and halt deportation proceedings.
A closeup of a prisoner's hand as she dials numbers on a blue, public pay phone inside of a prison.
Shani Saxon  Feb 12, 2019 5:16PM EST

Report Uncovers High Cost of Phone Calls at Local Jails Across U.S.

Prison Policy Initiative’s “State of Phone Justice” exposes lucrative phone contracts that prey on pretrial detainees.
A lone U.S. army soldier patrols the area behind barbed wire near the U.S.-Mexico border in Donna, Texas on November 5,2018.
Shani Saxon  Feb 11, 2019 5:05PM EST

California Pulls Hundreds of National Guard Troops From Southern Border

Governor Gavin Newsom says the state won’t be part of the president’s “manufactured crisis.”
Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton and Nicola Yoon. Asian and Indigenous man in navy suit and white shirt sits next to Black woman in blue dress, both with black hair, in front of teal background and under yellow text that spells "THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR"
Sameer Rao  Feb 8, 2019 11:23AM EST

Young Love Battles Deportation in Trailer for 'The Sun is Also a Star'

Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton bring Nicola Yoon’s bestselling novel to life.
Central American fathers and their children cuddle and lean against a fence as they wait to be taken into custody after crossing into El Paso, Texas from Mexico on February 01, 2019.
Shani Saxon  Feb 7, 2019 4:52PM EST

Thousands of Migrants Stalled at Texas Border, Pentagon Sends 250 Troops

Many asylum-seekers are considering moving to another official port of entry.
A White woman wearing black sunglasses and a navy blue shirt talks on a cell phone.
Megan Izen  Feb 7, 2019 8:38AM EST

Can 9-1-1 Protocols Protect Us From 'Barbecue Beckys'?

White people calling the police on people of color for simply existing isn’t just annoying. It can be dangerous. Could the solution lie in how 9-1-1 workers dispatch calls?
21 Savage Black man with black dredlocs and face and neck tattoos poses in orange jacket with grey hood in front of green shrubbery.
Sameer Rao  Feb 5, 2019 11:27AM EST

Activists and Artists Mobilize Against 21 Savage's Deportation

“The circumstances of Mr. Abraham-Joseph’s detention stand as a testament to the consistent and historically under-reported harassment and targeting of Black immigrants,” Patrisse Cullors notes.
Close-up of white police officer's arm and waistline, with gun in holster showing.
Shani Saxon  Jan 31, 2019 4:16PM EST

New Tool Maps Arrests Nationwide With Eye to Reform

Vera Institute of Justice’s new Arrest Trends interactive database underscores racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
A 7-year-old girl with long, brown hair leans on her father as he sits in a blue chair at the Catholic Charities-run Humanitarian Respite Center after being released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on November 1, 2018.
Shani Saxon  Jan 29, 2019 4:19PM EST

Hundreds of Guatemalan Migrants Arrested at Arizona Border

Of the 242 people taken into custody, 130 of them were children.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers check the IDs of pedestrians crossing into the United States after reopening the San Ysidro port of entry.
Shani Saxon  Jan 28, 2019 5:25PM EST

Mexican Government Will Accept U.S. Asylum-Seekers

Mexican officials insist that their acceptance of the Trump administration’s new migrant policy does not mean they agree with it.
Cover art for "Heavy: An American Memoir" and Kiese Laymon. Black text spells "HEAVY" and white text spells "AN AMERICAN MEMOIR" and "KIESE LAYMON" on red background; Black man in black hooded sweatshirt poses in front of green trees and grey sky
Sameer Rao  Jan 28, 2019 3:14PM EST

Kiese Laymon Wins Andrew Carnegie Medal, Gives Prize Money to Young Mississippians

The “Heavy: An American Memoir” author and educator will donate his prize money from the American Library Association award to organizations that work with young people in his home state.
Central American migrants in Santo Domingo Zanatepec, Mexico wait to ride on a truck while on their way to the United States on January 22, 2019.
Shani Saxon  Jan 25, 2019 4:40PM EST

U.S. to Send Some Asylum-Seekers to Mexico

It’s reportedly the first step in the Trump administration’s new border policy.
A Honduran father holds his son as they wait in line to cross the Guatemala-Mexico border and register at an immigration facility in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on January 19, 2019.
Shani Saxon  Jan 25, 2019 12:07PM EST

Lawsuits Say Migrant Children Being Used to 'Catch' Other Immigrants

At least four federal lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration alleging a corrupt alliance between the Office of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Black barbed wire with blue sky in background
catherine lizette gonzalez  Jan 23, 2019 2:49PM EST

REPORT: In Wisconsin, Black and Native People Hardest Hit by Probation, Parole

A new report from Columbia University Justice Lab reveals that Black and Native folks in the state are subject to “structural disadvantages that make adhering to the requirements of community corrections more difficult for people of color.”
Sergio Medrano, (R) and another volunteer from the Mexican relief organization Agua Para Vida talk with a worker from the government funded migrant relief organization Grupo Beta while out checking watering stations placed in the desert to aid migrants.
Shani Saxon  Jan 22, 2019 3:42PM EST

Women Convicted for Leaving Food and Water for Migrants

The No More Deaths volunteers face up to six months in prison after a federal judge found them guilty of “abandonment of property.”
Black man in yellow jacket with fist up, holding black and white sign that reads, "Black lives matter." Crowd surrounds him.
Kenrya Rankin  Jan 18, 2019 11:21PM EST

Jason Van Dyke Sentenced to 6 Years, 9 Months for Murdering Laquan McDonald

The former Chicago Police Department officer could be back on the street in just over three years.
Honduran migrant Jenny Cantarero holds her son Saul, 3, where they are living outside a closed temporary migrant shelter near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico on December 6, 2018 .
Shani Saxon  Jan 18, 2019 2:39PM EST

Gov't Says Thousands More Migrant Children Were Separated From Families Than Reported

The Trump administration began its family separation policy earlier than what was originally reported.
Old cell block inside an Idaho State Penitentiary.
Shani Saxon  Jan 17, 2019 5:05PM EST

STUDY: Why the Ban on Pell Grants for Incarcerated People Should Be Lifted

Postsecondary education greatly increases employment opportunities and wages for the formerly incarcerated.
Clint Smith III and Josie Duffy Rice. Black-and-white images of Black man in glasses and sweater over plaid shirt and Black woman in white shirt in front of blue background near black and white text blocks that read "JUSTICE IN AMERICA" and "SEASON 2"
Sameer Rao  Jan 16, 2019 3:20PM EST

Justice in America Podcast Co-Hosts Shout Out Criminal Justice Reformers

As the show returns for a second season, Josie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith III talk to Colorlines about the activists and organizations fighting to remake the nation’s criminal justice system.