Criminal Justice

Since late December, five protests have erupted at the Justice Center in downtown St. Louis. This latest came Sunday night, when a group of detainees broke windows on the third floor and threw objects out the windows. Inmates could be heard chanting, “We need help” and “We want court dates.”

Advocates are celebrating a new law that will end wealth-based pretrial detention in Illinois. With Gov. J.B. Pritzker's signature yesterday, the state becomes the first in the country to eliminate cash bail.

Both Senate Bill 600 — the “Crime Bill” signed by Gov. Mike Parson last month — and some key proposals being pushed at the crime-focused special session now underway in Jefferson City could lead to longer sentences for Missouri defendants. Sarah Johnson of the Missouri State Public Defender and Brendan Roediger, a professor at St. Louis University School of Law, discuss the real-life ramifications.

Defunding police departments is a major goal for many Black Lives Matter protesters, but for some people, it’s a scary idea — and that’s true for many St.…

A former Missouri state senator, Jeff Smith was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after being charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to…

State Rep. Shamed Dogan returns to Politically Speaking to talk with St. Louis Public Radio’s Julie O’Donoghue and Jason Rosenbaum about his efforts to…

St. Louis County’s top public health officials want more medical workers at the county jail. The facility needs about 20 more full-time nurses to reach…

St. Louis County has significantly reduced its jail population over the past year, as Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported last month. Officials say the drop…

Sen. Karla May is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where the St. Louis Democrat talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum…

Phil Cohen didn’t think anyone would want to work for him at the cabinetry company he opened in St. James in 2004. He was recovering from being addicted…