Overzealous Prosecutors Ousted Across the Country, Showing There Is Still Hope for Reform
These victories are part of growing trend of electing progressive candidates who want to reform the criminal justice system.
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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25 Years After Junk Science Conviction, Texas Finally Admits Sonia Cacy's Innocence
Sonia Cacey was wrongfully convicted of setting fire to her home and killing her uncle on the basis of forensic pseudo-science.
Hard-Line Prosecutors Face Rejection From Voters in Elections Across the U.S.
Increasingly, voters are holding prosecutors accountable for misconduct and abuse in the criminal justice system.
FBI and DOJ Vow to Continue Using Junk Science Rejected by White House Report
The U.S. Department of Justice said it will ignore a White House report calling for rigorous scientific testing of forensic techniques.
White House Report Concludes That Bite-Mark Analysis Is Junk Science
A draft report from a presidential council of science and technology advisers determined that forensic bite-mark analysis has no scientific validity.
Jeff Wood's Stay of Execution Casts More Doubt on the Texas Death Machine
According to Judge Elsa Alcala, Jeff Wood “may be actually innocent of the death penalty because he may be categorically ineligible for that punishment.”
Jeff Wood Didn't Kill Anyone, but Texas Is About to Execute Him Anyway
Jeff Wood has been on death row for 20 years for a crime he did not commit. Yet Texas plans to execute him on August 24.
The Death Penalty Is Largely Driven by a Small Number of Overzealous Prosecutors
America’s top-five deadliest prosecutors secured capital convictions against the equivalent of 15 percent of the nation’s current death row population, according to a new report.
After 23 Years and Four Trials, Prosecutors Finally Dismiss Charges Against Bill Richards
San Bernardino prosecutors attempted to convict Bill Richards for murder in four trials, once using bite-mark evidence. On Tuesday, he finally walked free after charges were dismissed.
“It’s Absolutely Stupid.” Fifth Trial Planned in Bite-Mark Murder Case
Weeks after the Calif. Supreme Court vacated Bill Richards’s murder conviction, prosecutors in San Bernardino County indicated they will seek a fifth trial.