Many jails and prisons refuse to offer medication for opioid addiction, even to inmates who had been in treatment before incarceration. A recent ruling in a federal court says that's not acceptable.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — One Nevada lawmaker says a sprawling criminal justice reform bill is likely the "single most important and transformative" legislation on the topic in the Legislature's history.
Benjamine Spencer's case illustrates how difficult it can be for some prisoners in Texas to prove they did not commit a crime without new and unassailable evidence, such as DNA.
Ronald Bert Smith Jr. died by lethal injection late Thursday night, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stay his execution. A judge sentenced Smith to die for murdering a man in 1994.
Four states have no insanity defense. Advocates say that means seriously ill people can be executed where in other states they wouldn't be convicted at all, and it makes it harder to get treatment.
Jurors often are reluctant to acquit someone who committed a crime while mentally ill, or to find that person guilty. So they take a third option: guilty but mentally ill. It's far from perfect.
David Padilla is adjusting to life back home in Northeast Philadelphia. After nearly 20 years in prison, he won clemency last year, freeing him from two life sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.
Following the law, Paul Cassell sentenced Weldon Angelos to a 55 years in prison for dealing marijuana and possessing weapons. Cassell said the case was "one of the most troubling" he ever faced.
Veteran Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Zauzmer is heading up a key priority in the final year of Obama's presidency. He tells NPR he's seen too many unfair sentences levied for low-level offenders.
A bipartisan bill to overhaul the criminal-justice system has hit a snag. Its higher bar to prove guilt is something the Department of Justice says could benefit top-level executives.
The criminal justice system can be difficult to navigate, and without a lawyer, it's even harder. Yet the government says it's still too difficult for poor defendants to get representation.
A group of Democratic and Republican senators is finalizing a bill that would make major changes to the justice system. The idea has support from surprise backers like Koch Industries and the ACLU.
Native American tribes can be hampered trying to fight crime on reservations because they don't have access to federal databases. The Justice Department wants to help.
How much can someone's face affect the sentence he receives in court? A lot, according to a study that asked people to rate the trustworthiness of convicted murderers based on their mugshots.
"The group of people who are really the managers of the criminal justice system in America are concentrated among one demographic group: white men," said an author of the report.
The practice is under renewed scrutiny after a series of botched executions in several states last year. The emotionally charged issue is at the center of the latest Intelligence Squared U.S. debate.
The National Registry of Exonerations says 125 people were exonerated in 2014 after being falsely convicted of crimes. The number surpasses the previous record of 91 set in 2013.
