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Criminal (In)justice

Problems with police, prosecutors and courts have people asking: is our criminal justice system broken? University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris interviews the people who know the system best, and hears their best ideas for fixing it. Criminal (In)justice is an independent production created in partnership with 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR News Station.
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Now displaying: March, 2019
Mar 31, 2019

To mark the 100th episode of Criminal Injustice, Dave goes back to where the show began -- Pittsburgh's NPR station, 90.5 WESA -- for a chat with Kevin Gavin, host of WESA's The Confluence.

Mar 29, 2019

As discussed recently on Criminal Injustice, California may soon revisit the "reasonable objective officer" standard for use of force by police. The story caught the attention of NPR's Martin Kaste, who called Dave up to ask how that would work. Their conversation turned into a March 12 story on All Things Considered. Hear their full, unedited interview here.

Mar 26, 2019

Michael Rosfeld, the former East Pittsburgh police officer seen on video shooting 17-year-old Antwon Rose in the back as he runs away, has been found not guilty of the unarmed teen's murder. While Friday's verdict angered many and surprised some, it's only the latest in a long string of cases demonstrating the near-impossibility, under current statute and case law, of successfully prosecuting police officers for homicide.

Mar 23, 2019

Far from the most sordid detail of the R. Kelly case, but pretty messed up: Kelly's (apparently terminally ill) former defense attorney now says the singer was "guilty as hell" on child porn charges.

Mar 19, 2019

When policing has a major crisis – the 1980s crime wave, or the killings of unarmed black men by police in 2014 and 2015 – we often grab for a high-tech fix. But technology seldom becomes the silver bullet we hope for. Our guest has put this trend under the microscope. We talk with veteran investigative journalist Matt Stroud about his new book, Thin Blue Lie: The Failure of High-Tech Policing, published in April of 2019.

Mar 12, 2019

When deciding whether to charge a police officer with murder, prosecutors are bound to a stricter standard than applies in other murder cases. But that could change under a bill advancing in California's state legislature.

Mar 8, 2019

An Illinois police officer gets probation after shooting his own son.

Mar 5, 2019

Americans know that if they want a better criminal justice system, prosecutors must drive change. We’ve seen the result in election of more progressive prosecutors across the country. But what should this new wave of prosecutors do? What policies should shape their priorities?

Our guest Miriam Krinsky is a former prosecutor and now executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, which has issued a new report, “21 Principles for 21st Century Prosecutor.”

Mar 2, 2019

Thousands of California police officers have been convicted of crimes, but their identities are kept secret under a state attorney general's policy. Now AG Xavier Becerra is threatening to prosecute journalists who obtained a list of criminal cops via an open records request.

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