Vanguard social justice articles involving criminal justice reform
PEN America has launched the Incarcerated Writers Bureau, a digital platform to provide professional and creative opportunities for incarcerated writers and break down industry barriers, featuring 21 writers and offering guidance to publishers, journalists, and literary agents.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring ICE to provide basic human needs to detainees at its San Francisco Field Office, including clean bedding, hygiene products, medical care, and legal information in their primary languages.
The New York Times found that federal law enforcement priorities under the Trump administration shifted substantially, resulting in a surge of immigration arrests while gun- and drug-related enforcement sharply declined.
Multiple federal death row prisoners whose sentences were commuted by President Joe Biden are facing transfer to ADX Florence, the nation’s most restrictive federal prison, raising constitutional questions and accusations of retaliation.
A coalition of civil rights organizations has filed a federal class action lawsuit alleging the Missouri Department of Mental Health is illegally leaving people with serious mental illness to deteriorate in jail without court-ordered treatment.
A new report on Jefferson County’s fines and fees system argues that U.S. courts’ reliance on monetary sanctions is ineffective at generating revenue and disproportionately harmful to Black and low-income residents, prompting action from Jefferson County officials and the creation of a statewide task force to review fines and fees policies.
Florida is moving forward with the execution of Mark Gerald on Dec. 5, 2025, despite major concerns about missing evidence, inadequate defense, and unaddressed mental health issues, highlighting the need for more thorough forensic analysis and investigation in capital punishment cases.
The dismissal of charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James highlights the need for lawful, fair, and unbiased legal processes, as the case was deemed to lack merit and was advanced through an unlawful appointment.
The ACLU has filed a FOIA request to uncover how the DHS is attempting to suppress the First Amendment right to record their agents, and how widespread the retaliatory pattern is.
San Francisco’s Public Defender’s Office is operating in the “red zone” due to an overextended workload, and Chief Assistant Public Defender Hadi Razzaq argues that the system cannot continue to accept new felony cases without abandoning existing clients or violating the Constitution.
Robert Roberson, who was convicted in 2003 of shaking his 2-year-old daughter to death, may have a chance to retry his case after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that shaken baby syndrome testimony is inadmissible in trials due to lack of scientific evidence.
Community leaders, advocates, elected officials, and impacted women gathered outside the San Francisco County Jail to demand accountability for deputies who ordered women in custody to strip in front of male deputies, violating constitutional protections, state law, and basic human dignity.
In a recent court case, the prosecution was given an unfair advantage due to leading questions, objections being overruled, and a witness’s memory being shaped by pressure, with the court failing to explore potential financial incentives for the witness.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has eliminated parole for prisoners arrested after August 1, 2024, and tightened eligibility rules for those already in prison, but has created an expedited “alien removal process” to deport undocumented immigrants, bypassing the usual parole restrictions and responsibilities.
A new report from Solitary Watch details systemic abuse in New York prisons, citing physical violence, deprivation of basic resources, and widespread solitary confinement, and calls for urgent and sweeping reforms to ensure humane conditions for incarcerated individuals.
A yearlong joint investigation by NBC News and Bloomberg Law has uncovered a pattern of pregnant women in jails across the United States miscarrying, giving birth alone on filthy cell floors or toilets, and in some cases losing their babies or their own lives while requests for help were reportedly ignored.
Two property owners are suing Solano County for more than $229 million, alleging the county illegally sold their private land at auction far below its stated market value and violated their constitutional rights.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is facing a staffing crisis as corrections officers are leaving for more lucrative jobs at ICE, resulting in worse conditions for inmates and staff.
The Bail Project is urging the Senate to reject H.R. 5215, the D.C. Cash Bail Reform Act, which it argues would return Washington, D.C. to a system of mass pretrial detention and wealth-based incarceration, undermining decades of local progress and democratic self-governance.
Parole systems in the US are broken and need to be fixed to ensure that people who have demonstrated rehabilitation are given a fair chance to be released, as parole can be an important tool for decarceration and reducing prison overcrowding.