California and Los Angeles County are getting tougher on crime. The stiffer penalties on some drug and theft crimes that voters recently approved with Proposition 36 took effect this month. Weeks earlier, in L.A. County, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman was sworn in as the new district attorney and kicked off his administration by reversing […]
The spike in crime rates prompted by the pandemic in 2020 cemented the backlash to progressive criminal justice reform. In the years that followed, lawmakers from both major parties passed laws that rolled back changes to the criminal justice system that had aimed to lower penalties and reduce the prison population. And in 2024, tough-on-crime […]
If you follow the news about gun violence in America, you know that there’s a lot to be pessimistic about. Guns were already a major public health concern when the pandemic hit and the murder rate skyrocketed. The surge in homicide in 2020 and 2021, research has shown, was best understood as a surge in […]
President-elect Donald Trump has been talking for years about pardoning the people who took part in the January 6, 2021, insurrection, and he could do so on day one of his second term. In a March post on his social media network Truth Social, he said he would “Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully […]
On Monday, police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Luigi Mangione in connection with last week’s shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. When Mangione’s identity became public, the online reaction around Thompson’s death went into overdrive; unlike most shootings, this one has brought a stream of support for the suspected killer rather than for the victim, […]
On Monday, after a five-day search to find the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, police arrested a suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangioneand charged him with murder. When asked to provide identification, investigators say that Mangione — a former high school valedictorian and software engineer from a prominent family […]
President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday, just weeks before he leaves the White House and despite previously promising not to do so. Biden said in a statement announcing the pardon that his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” and that his political opponents had undertaken an “effort to break Hunter,” […]
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), an accused sex offender known for his firm loyalty to Trump, will not lead the Department of Justice. (Gaetz has denied wrongdoing.) Several other lawyers President-elect Donald Trump has close personal ties to, however, remain up for top DOJ jobs. This means that, regardless of who eventually becomes attorney general, […]
Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to serve as his attorney general. Gaetz is a longtime Trump loyalist, who will likely be tasked with remaking the Department of Justice. The department has traditionally adhered to strong norms against interference by the president; Trump and his allies have been explicit […]
Donald Trump rode his way to a comeback with a quintessential law-and-order campaign: He exaggerated crime trends, talked about American cities as though they were war zones, and directed his ire at migrants, flooding the Republican National Convention with “Mass Deportation Now!” signs. It’s hard to know exactly how Trump’s harsh immigration policies will play […]
