A U-turn at the Justice Department. President Donald Trump’s early actions to transform the agency in his second term are unusually sweeping and quick, setting the tone for an even more dramatic transformation in the future. The Wall Street Journal The head of the department’s public integrity section resigned after the Trump administration tried to re-assign him to work on immigration issues. The New York Times A searchable database cataloguing the criminal charges and convictions of Jan. 6 Capitol rioters recently pardoned by Trump was removed from the Justice Department’s website. CNN Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN that Trump’s pardoning of people who attacked police sends the wrong message. The New York Times TMP Context: How Project 2025 planned for Trump to have unprecedented power over the Justice Department. The Marshall Project
State leaders are introducing Trump-inspired immigration laws. Tennessee's Republican lawmakers are pushing a new bill that targets local elected officials who support sanctuary cities that don’t assist with federal immigration crackdowns, threatening them with jail time or removal from office. Nashville Banner New Hampshire Republicans are also proposing a crackdown on sanctuary cities. New Hampshire Bulletin A Mississippi lawmaker proposed new legislation to pay bounty hunters to help deport immigrants in the country illegally. Mississippi Free Press Florida's legislative leaders want to follow Trump’s lead and are rejecting moves by Gov. Ron DeSantis. They are even considering removing DeSantis’s immigration enforcement powers, which he previously used to transport migrants to Martha's Vineyard. Tampa Bay Times
New immigration arrest quotas. Trump has been disappointed with the results of mass deportation so far, and his officials are instructing immigration officials to significantly increase arrests, ramping up from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500. The Washington Post Public school communities are preparing for immigration raids and deportations of students and their families. ABC News Despite new arrest quotas, most undocumented people in the U.S. have no criminal record. National Criminal Justice Association
Jailed for mental illness. Missourians arrested and found incompetent to stand trial are being held in jail for long periods of time to await mental health treatment, and the problem has reached an all-time high. The court-ordered program, which often involves medication and therapy to restore competency to stand trial, is so scarce that there are currently 418 people waiting for the treatment in Missouri jails, up from around 300 last year. Some people have been held longer than their maximum sentences would have been. Legislative efforts to address the shortage, including pilot programs and expanding outpatient services, have progressed slowly. Missouri Independent
Madison, Wisconsin, and Nashville school shooters crossed paths in extremist social networks. Researchers tracking internet activity across several major extremist online communities have found evidence that the shooters who carried out the Antioch High School and Abundant Life Christian School killings followed each other on various accounts, and may have interacted directly. Researchers say these online communities radicalize children and teenagers into committing violence against other young people. Propublica
Questions remain about what lethal drug Arizona corrections officials plan to use when they execute Aaron Gunches, a death row prisoner who says he is ready to die. The execution is planned for March 18. Arizona Mirror TMP Context: Trump’s new order to expand the death penalty misses key details. The Marshall Project
A man who ran a website that scammed people who tried to send supplies to incarcerated loved ones pleaded guilty in federal court in Syracuse, New York. The fraudulent business, called iCare Gifting Solutions LLC, promised to send $50 care packages to people in prison, but the baskets were never delivered. Syracuse.com TMP Context: The big business of prisoner care packages. The Marshall Project
In the first year after Texas implemented its abortion ban, at least 100 children under 17 sought abortions in other states, a nearly ninefold increase in out-of-state abortions compared to five years earlier. The rise highlights the impact of the ban, which provides almost no exceptions, and also underscores the heightened health risks that pregnant children face. Houston Chronicle
Mississippi lawmakers will consider whether to require state prisons to provide protective gear to incarcerated people on work assignments, including those handling raw cleaning chemicals. The proposal follows reports of prisoners who developed serious illnesses after repeated and unprotected chemical exposure. Mississippi Today
Strip searches are sexual assault, says incarcerated writer Corey Devon Arthur. “...strip-searching commits sexual violence while failing at its purported aim: it does not protect anyone. It does, however, succeed at its real aim: the guards’ sexual focus on the prisoner’s sexual parts shatters the prisoner’s self-image.” Inquest
It’s time for stronger oversight laws to prevent the next death in prison. Following the fatal beating of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York, the Times Union Editorial Board calls for a series of laws to strengthen disciplinary measures for correctional staff. “Where there are few consequences for bad behavior, it will spread like a tumor.” Times Union TMP Context: Why firing the prison guards involved in Robert Brooks’ death is neither quick nor easy. The Marshall Project
“Prosecutors must be allowed to admit they were wrong,” says Amy Fettig, acting co-executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, which supports progressive prosecutors nationwide. An estimated one in every 20 people in prison is innocent of the crime they were incarcerated for, and the work of reviewing past convictions is crucial to rectifying some of these mistakes. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” says federal district court Judge John C. Coughenour about President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. Scholars say the proposal betrays values ingrained in the country since the Civil War. The New York Times
A trooper who shot himself in the leg for attention. Prosecutors allege a former New York state Trooper made up that he was shot while on duty by a “Black or dark-skinned Hispanic male” to gain attention or sympathy. Times Union
Alabama Republicans focus on criminal justice. As the 2025 legislative session begins, proposed bills include tougher gun safety measures and increased penalties for specific groups, such as immigrants and people convicted of certain violent crimes. Alabama Reflector
Excluding immigrants backfired in the 1880s. A Harvard Business School professor makes a historical case for how deportations will hurt the U.S. economy. Harvard Business School
Trump moves to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The change would broaden America’s prosecutorial options, potentially sweeping up migrants helped by cartel-affiliated smugglers or U.S. companies that do business with cartel-associated Mexican companies. NPR
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