How do you measure the success of gun violence prevention? Baton Rouge has a terrible record of gun violence that disproportionately affects people of color. In 2022, 85% of homicide victims and 80% of homicide suspects were Black. Desperate to make the city safer, local officials and police supervisors are redoubling their efforts to recruit members of the community to calm tensions, broker conflicts peacefully and help police officers solve more crimes. One challenge for these organizers is to create data points to help prove the success of these violence intervention efforts to satisfy public and private donors. The New York Times
A hero to no one. Donald Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen is at the heart of the “hush money” election interference case now underway in New York City. If jurors believe his story, the former president is in deep trouble. If they do not, Trump might be acquitted. The Washington Post More: The hearing over whether Trump violated a gag order in the case did not go well for the former president. NBC News If former President Donald Trump is jailed for contempt of court, or after a criminal conviction, Secret Service agents would go with him. The New York Times Background on the dispute. Politico
Hot prisons, new claims for relief. A lawsuit filed by a Texas prisoner who says his life is in danger because he is locked in a cell without air conditioning may soon expand to all prisoners in the state. Texas Observer Prisoner rights groups want to join the litigation by Bernie Tiede, the former mortician whose case inspired the movie “Bernie.” The Associated Press Texas lawmakers allocated $85 million for air conditioning in some prisons, but corrections officials have failed to ensure that all prisoners will be housed in cells kept within a safe temperature range. USA Today TMP Context: Our 2017 reporting on the topic. The Marshall Project
How police fail Native Americans. The death of a teenager who crashed into a train following a police chase on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana in 2020 was followed by an almost unimaginable series of events. Witnesses say the young victim, Braven Glenn, was denied medical care at the scene of the accident. The officer who had pursued Glenn allegedly left the scene in her patrol vehicle. Someone broke into police headquarters and took the incident report and other records, a federal lawsuit alleges, and days after the crash, the entire police force disbanded, leaving Glenn’s grieving mother searching for answers. Mother Jones
There is no longer any dispute between prosecutors and defense attorneys that Melissa Lucio was wrongfully convicted of murdering her infant daughter. Lucio has spent 16 years on Texas death row waiting to be exonerated. That day is closer than ever. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has that power and is now weighing Lucio’s case. The Intercept TMP Context: How Lucio went from domestic violence survivor to death row. The Marshall Project
An Arizona judge declared a mistrial this week in the case of a rancher accused of murdering a Mexican man on his property near the border. Jurors failed to reach a verdict after two days of deliberations. George Kelly, the defendant, may be retried. The Associated Press
A new Illinois law designed to give credit to incarcerated people for working in prison programs or taking classes so they may be released earlier is being implemented inconsistently or not at all, advocates say. Open Campus
A federal monitor installed to oversee policing in Cleveland, Ohio, says the city is failing to implement required reforms. Cleveland.com Cleveland will pay $4.8 million to the family of a teenager killed during a police chase. The New York Times TMP Context: To diversify, Cleveland police look to historically Black colleges and universities. The Marshall Project
Two men imprisoned in Georgia say they were wrongfully accused by the same informant. Defense lawyers say the men deserve a new trial. State prosecutors say they don’t. NBC News
The New York prosecution of Trump is a mistake. “[I]f Monday’s opening is a preview of exaggerated allegations, imprecise legal theories and persistently unaddressed problems, the prosecutors might not win a conviction at all.” The New York Times
Where are homeless people supposed to live? During oral arguments on Monday in an Oregon case, the U.S. Supreme Court showed little interest in rescuing homeless people from the clutches of local officials who want to ban outdoor living. The New Republic More: Being homeless in Grants Pass, Oregon, is a nightmare. New York Magazine
What did the former president know and when did he know it? The U.S. Supreme Court justices should answer the following questions at Thursday’s historic oral argument over Trump’s sweeping claims of presidential immunity. Just Security
What does Jan. 6 have to do with the Enron scandal? There are legitimate questions about why the Justice Department is using a financial crimes statute to prosecute Trump and hundreds of Capitol rioters. The New Yorker More: Hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions (and convictions) are suddenly in peril. Slate
A shameful Senate episode of anti-Muslim bigotry toward Adeel Mangi, a judicial nominee. “President Biden should be calling up the cowardly Democrats and moderate Republicans who are now refusing to step up for Mangi, because they care only for their own re-election prospects.” NJ.com
Costly errors by the FBI. The Justice Department on Tuesday confirmed a $138.7 million settlement with victims of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor now serving a federal sentence for sexual assault and other charges. FBI agents failed for years to adequately investigate claims against Nassar. The Washington Post
Meanwhile, in the classified documents case against the former president. Trump’s valet Walt Nauta was told that he would be pardoned during a second Trump term if he were charged with lying to the FBI about Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, a witness reportedly told investigators. Nauta is a co-defendant with Trump in the Florida documents case and has been charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal officials. CNN
“Do I look like an illegal?” Even as the courts decide its fate, Texas’ severe new anti-immigrant law is having an effect on asylum-seekers and other migrants in the state. Slate More: Biden administration officials are reportedly considering granting legal status to the immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. The Wall Street Journal
Attention, hunters. A gunmaker found a possible defect in a popular hunting rifle but kept selling that version even after a newer, safer version was manufactured, records show. The Trace
Wrongful convictions and capital punishment. “[T]he pursuit or threatened use of the death penalty by police or prosecutors led to the wrongful murder convictions of at least seventeen innocent people who were exonerated in 2023.” Death Penalty Policy Project
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