criminal justice

The Trump administration has a novel strategy to boost arrests and reduce courts' backlog: dismissing people's immigration cases and immediately arresting them.

Clark County is set to receive more than $82,000 for the county jail’s first weeks as an ICE holding facility. That number is expected to increase.

Ahead of Oscar Smith’s execution Thursday morning for the murder of his wife and two of her children, people close to the case have expressed a wide span of thoughts and emotions leading up to this day.

Tennessee will execute Oscar Franklin Smith this week, while a lawsuit challenging the state’s new lethal injection protocol makes its way through the court system.

On Thursday, Tennessee plans to carry out its first execution since 2019 by means of lethal injection. It’s the fourth scheduled execution date since 2020 for Oscar Smith, who was convicted of killing his estranged wife Judith Smith and her two sons Jason Burnett and Chad Burnett in 1989.

Current and former officials say the current effort amounts to the dismantling of the civil rights division and its traditional mission.

In Tennessee, prosecutors can charge people for crimes committed by another person, even if they weren’t directly responsible. Activist groups are working with state legislators to change that.

On May 7, actors in New York City will perform a reading of a WPLN News story about rural domestic violence in order to facilitate a conversation about gun violence prevention. WPLN listeners can take part in the live discussion via Zoom.

Across the U.S., some people with mental illness wait months in jail for court-ordered competency evaluations, with little to no mental health care. One Indiana man's case reveals how delays prolong suffering — and expose a system unequipped to help.

The Jefferson County District Court is expanding its partnership with local nonprofits for an amnesty docket that lets people settle old arrest warrants and get a fresh start.