President Trump signed two executive orders on August 25, 2025, aimed at eliminating cashless bail policies nationwide and specifically in Washington D.C. The nationwide order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify states and jurisdictions with cashless bail policies and authorizes …
Donald TrumpWhite HouseDepartment of JusticePam Bondiexecutive-powerexecutive-ordersabuse-of-powercriminal-justice
Judges dismiss all remaining criminal charges against officials responsible for the Flint water crisis based on a procedural technicality, ensuring that no one is ever held criminally accountable for poisoning thousands of children. In October 2022, Judge Elizabeth Kelly throws out felony charges …
Elizabeth KellyF. Kay BehmRick SnyderMichigan Supreme Courtflint-water-crisisaccountabilitycriminal-justiceimpunityenvironmental-racism
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is indicted on two misdemeanor charges of willful neglect of duty in connection to the Flint water crisis, becoming the first governor or former governor in Michigan’s 184-year history to be charged with crimes related to their time in office. Eight other …
Rick SnyderDana NesselFadwa Hammoudflint-water-crisisRick-Snyderaccountabilitycriminal-justice
At a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering a pardon for Edward Snowden, stating “Many people think he should somehow be treated differently, and other people think he did very bad things, and I’m going to take a …
Donald TrumpEdward SnowdenMike PompeoGlenn Greenwaldedward-snowdenpresidential-pardontrump-administrationwhistleblowingcriminal-justice
Jeffrey Epstein is arrested at Teterboro Airport on federal charges of sex trafficking minors and conspiracy. The arrest by the FBI and NYPD comes after a joint investigation by the Southern District of New York, effectively nullifying the controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement. The indictment …
Jeffrey EpsteinGeoffrey BermanFBINYPDSouthern District of New Yorkfederal-prosecutionsex-traffickinglaw-enforcementaccountabilitycriminal-justice
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office dismisses every pending criminal case related to the Flint water crisis, dropping charges against eight people including former state health department director Nick Lyon, former Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells, and former Flint Emergency …
Dana NesselNick LyonEden WellsDarnell Earleyflint-water-crisisaccountabilitycriminal-justiceimpunity
Twelve years after DNA evidence conclusively proved the innocence of the Central Park Five, Donald Trump published an opinion piece in the New York Daily News calling the city’s $41 million settlement with the wrongfully convicted men “a disgrace” and continuing to assert their …
Donald TrumpYusef SalaamKorey WiseAntron McCrayKevin Richardson+1 moreRacismCentral Park FiveDonald TrumpCriminal Justice
Justice Charles J. Tejada of the New York State Supreme Court vacated the convictions of all five men wrongfully imprisoned for the 1989 Central Park jogger case, ending one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in American legal history. The exoneration came after Matias Reyes, a convicted …
First Lady Hillary Clinton delivers a speech at Keene State College in New Hampshire supporting the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, in which she uses the now-infamous “super-predators” terminology. In her remarks, Clinton stated: “They are not just gangs of kids …
President Bill Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the largest crime bill in U.S. history, consisting of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers and $9.7 billion in funding for prisons. Drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden and sponsored by …
Bill ClintonJoe BidenJack Brooksmass-incarcerationcriminal-justiceprison-industrial-complexracial-justicelegislation
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 includes a federal “three strikes” provision mandating life imprisonment without possibility of parole for individuals convicted of a third violent felony or serious drug offense. Specifically, the law requires mandatory life …
Bill ClintonJoe BidenCongressmass-incarcerationcriminal-justicemandatory-minimumssentencing-reformlegislation
As part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, the Clinton administration allocates $8.7 billion in federal grants for prison construction to states that enact “truth-in-sentencing” (TIS) laws requiring inmates convicted of violent crimes to serve at least 85 percent of …
Bill ClintonState GovernorsPrison Construction Industrymass-incarcerationprison-industrial-complexcriminal-justicelegislationfederal-funding
Two weeks after five Black and Latino teenagers were arrested for the brutal rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park, Donald Trump spent $85,000 to place full-page advertisements in four major New York newspapers calling for their execution. The ads, which appeared in The New York Times, New …
Donald TrumpYusef SalaamKorey WiseAntron McCrayKevin Richardson+1 moreRacismCentral Park FiveCriminal JusticeDeath Penalty
Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, establishing a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses—imposing the same penalties for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine as for 500 grams of powder cocaine. The legislation provided mandatory minimum …
Ronald ReaganCongressmass-incarcerationracial-justicewar-on-drugscriminal-justicesentencing-reform+1 more