Injustice Watch joined forces with other news organizations to examine why innocent people would plead guilty to crimes. At times, it is the logical choice.
Projects
Plea deals punish the innocent, hide the guilty in Baltimore police scandal
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A federal investigation revealed 8 Baltimore police officers were stealing from suspects, planting evidence. Most of their victims pleaded guilty. Many were not.
Projects
Would you plead guilty?
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You’ve been arrested and you have a choice: take your chances in court or plead guilty and go home with a criminal record?
Projects
Help us investigate plea bargaining: tell us your story
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Did you or someone you know plead guilty to something you didn’t do? We want to hear about it.
A Broken System
Thin evidence in murder case, as legal protections fail
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Accusations of withheld evidence, undisclosed romance, and inadequate lawyering all compound the alleged errors that led to conviction of Kansas City, Kansas man for 1994 double homicide.
A Broken System
Convicted 23 years ago, Kansas prisoner’s case exposes deeply flawed justice
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For 23 years, Lamonte McIntyre has been locked in a Kansas prison, insisting he had nothing do with the double murder of two men as they sat in a parked car in Kansas City, Kansas. A hearing this week on his case is expected to not only undercut evidence against him, but expose a flawed criminal justice system.
The Long Wait
Aging prisoners left to arbitrary process to win release
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A state board uses an arbitrary and opaque process to decide whether prisoners convicted of committing violent crimes decades ago should be released, an Injustice Watch review has found. The process is wracked by subjectivity, and that problem is not confined to Illinois.
The Long Wait
With little hope left of parole, inmates look to the courts for release
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After all but giving up hope of release by the agency tasked with considering their parole, two inmates are searching for other ways out of prison.
Projects
Pattern of misstated facts found in opinions of renowned U.S. Judge Easterbrook
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When respected law professor Albert Alschuler said renowned federal appeals court judge Frank Easterbrook engaged in “eight whoppers” in a high-profile case, Injustice Watch undertook a review of the judge’s other cases. The result: A pattern of misrepresenting facts: Misstatements, omissions and wrong assumptions.
Projects
Easterbrook Case Explorer
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This interactive supplements an Injustice Watch investigation of opinions authored by Seventh Circuit judge Frank Easterbrook for the U.S. Court of Appeals. Read the full investigation here.
News
Can Springfield fix Cook County’s broken bail system?
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The effort to change Cook County’s bail system, stymied for years, suddenly has life in Springfield. But can Illinois legislators accomplish statewide reform?