Missouri’s Attorney General Is Fighting for the Right to Keep an Innocent Man in Prison
Despite ample evidence that Lamar Johnson was wrongfully convicted, Eric Schmitt is sparing no effort to keep him locked up as the coronavirus spreads.
Jordan Smith
Jordan Smith is a state and national award-winning investigative journalist based in Kansas City, Missouri. She has covered the criminal legal system for more than 25 years and, during that time, has developed a reputation as a resourceful and dogged reporter with a talent for analyzing complex social and legal issues. She spent more than 20 years reporting in Texas where she was regarded as one of the best investigative reporters in the state. Her investigative work in wrongful conviction cases has helped to exonerate six people. A longtime staff writer for the Austin Chronicle, her work has also appeared in The Nation, the Crime Report, and the Texas Observer, among other places.
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The Coronavirus Crisis
Prisons Launch "Absurd" Attempt to Detect Coronavirus in Inmate Phone Calls
Jails and prisons in at least three states are using software called Verus, financed by Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, to scan calls for Covid-19 keywords.
The Coronavirus Crisis
Murder Victim’s Mother Begs Court to Release Death Row Inmate Likely Sick With Covid-19
Prosecutors agree that Walter Ogrod was wrongfully convicted. But a Philadelphia judge refuses to release him, despite his diminishing health.
The Coronavirus Crisis
Texas Blames Abortion for Spreading the Virus, but It’s the State That Has Put Millions at Risk
Not only did the governor drag his feet amid the outbreak, but hypocrisy by state officials has undermined health care access for millions of Texans.
The Coronavirus Crisis
Executions Are On Hold, but States Are Still Pushing for Death Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic
As the virus spreads, the criminal justice system is going out of its way to increase the death toll.
The Coronavirus Crisis
Courts Put the Brakes on Politicians’ Efforts to Ban Abortion Amid Covid-19 Outbreak
Federal judges in Alabama and Ohio granted temporary orders protecting access to abortion. A similar order in Texas was halted by the 5th Circuit.
The Coronavirus Crisis
Abortion Providers File Emergency Lawsuit Challenging Texas Coronavirus Restrictions
The lawsuit condemns Texas’s “blatant effort to exploit a public health crisis to advance an extreme, anti-abortion agenda.”
The Coronavirus Crisis
Anti-Abortion Politicians Are Exploiting the Coronavirus Outbreak to Shutter Health Clinics
Anti-abortion crusaders in Ohio and Texas are trying to further their ideological cause in the midst of a pandemic.
The Coronavirus Crisis
When It Comes to Coronavirus and Pregnancy, “We Just Don’t Know a Whole Lot Yet”
Data on Covid-19 and pregnancy is limited, but medical experts say pregnant people should be considered an at-risk group.
The End of Roe
Are These the Final Days of Legal Abortion?
Just over three years after the Supreme Court ruled that an anti-abortion law was illegal, the court is being asked again to weigh in on the very same law.