Renting out jail beds has become such a good source of revenue that many counties are expanding their facilities with contracts in mind.
And Justice for Some
Courts are supposed to mete out justice fairly. What if the scales are out of balance?
Private diversion programs are failing those who need help the most
Diversion programs administered by CorrectiveSolutions, a for-profit company dogged for years by consumer rights litigation, often have left out those they were designed to help.
#JusticeForSome: Share your favorite reporting on courts and inequality
We’re collecting the best reporting on growing inequality in America’s state courts.
End of the road for California’s traffic amnesty program
A temporary program to help low-income drivers reduce their fines and get their licenses reinstated has expired.
Juvenile justice center with ties to Mike Pence broke Indiana law
A facility that provides diversion programs for youth in Indiana wasn’t educating kids, audit records show.
Texas governor pulls funds from ‘sanctuary’ county
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott canceled funds for Travis County after Sheriff Sally Hernandez refused to back down from her plans to institute a sanctuary city policy.
Alabama cities agree to stop jailing people too poor to post bond
Courts in nearly 50 Alabama cities have stopped jailing people charged with misdemeanors simply because they can’t afford to post bond – a significant policy shift in a state that repeatedly has come under fire for legal practices that punish the poor.
If you can’t afford a lawyer
The chief public defender in New Orleans says his office doesn’t have enough money or time to do a good job representing poor people accused of crimes. So he’s refusing some serious cases. His goal? To break the system in order to fix it.
Bail amendment passes convincingly
New Mexicans overwhelmingly voted to limit the role of money in judges’ decisions about which defendants stay locked up and which go free before trial.
Nation has been slow to follow through on LBJ’s bail reform dream
Before signing the federal Bail Reform Act in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson heralded the legislation, saying it put the nation “at the threshold of a new era” in its criminal justice system. But 50 years later, few states have crossed that threshold.