How Misdemeanors Turn Innocent People Into Criminals
In her groundbreaking new book “Punishment Without Crime,” Alexandra Natapoff brings the misdemeanor system into clear focus.
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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Murderville
Justice Denied
Devonia Inman has spent 20 years behind bars for a crime he swears he didn’t commit. There are good reasons to believe him. Welcome to Murderville.
Murderville
Revisiting the Taco Bell Killing
New evidence points to an old suspect in the murder of Donna Brown. Can Devonia Inman prove his innocence? Welcome to Murderville.
Murderville
A Small Town Rocked by a Series of Violent Murders
As Devonia Inman prepares to go on trial for his life, the case against him starts to unravel. Meanwhile three more violent murders shock the town. Is the real killer still out there?
Murderville
Who Killed Donna Brown?
A single mom was gunned down at a Taco Bell in Adel, Georgia. Cops quickly closed the case. But did they get the right man? Welcome to Murderville.
Landmark California Law Bars Prosecutors From Pursuing Murder Charges Against People Who Didn’t Commit Murder
The new law redefining use of the state’s archaic felony murder rule is now poised to serve as a model for reform-minded lawmakers across the country.
The End of Roe
Notre Dame Struck a Secret Deal With the Trump Administration to Deny Birth Control Coverage. Now Students Are Fighting Back.
The Trump administration bypassed the judicial system to negotiate a backroom settlement with 74 religiously affiliated institutions, including Notre Dame.
Supreme Privilege
Prosecutors Don’t Bring Cases the Way Rachel Mitchell’s Kavanaugh Memo Says — Not Even in Her Own Arizona Office
The claim that no prosecutor would move forward with such a “weak” case belies the record of the notorious Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
A Father Took His 10-Year-Old Fishing. She Fell in the Water and Drowned. It Was a Tragic Accident — Then He Was Charged With Murder.
Wendell Lindsey is serving life in a Texas prison, but his conviction relied on dubious drowning science and a key witness with secrets of her own.
A Court Decision in California Threatens to Erode the Constitutional Right to a Lawyer
Countless defendants could potentially be denied the ability to fend off criminal charges should a California appeal court’s opinion survive scrutiny.