Topics Criminal Justice
Prison Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III stands in front of prison bars.
Prison Agency Seeks to Dramatically Narrow Solitary Confinement Law

Prison officials are using a novel legal reading to argue that the HALT Solitary Confinement Act doesn’t apply to units where most people are incarcerated.

Chris Gelardi   ·   November 13, 2025
A photo collage of Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani over either side of a photo from a No Kings protest, with a sign shaped like a hand in the middle reading "Hey Trump! Hands off our cities."
Trump Said a Mamdani Win Could Trigger a National Guard Deployment. What Can the Mayor-Elect Do?

State officials and local activists may be more influential, but the mayor still has a role to play.

Isabelle Taft   ·   November 5, 2025
Close-up of the corner of a prison cell.
‘This Place Is a Circus’: Eight Months Since a Guard Strike, State Prisons Remain in Crisis

Many incarcerated New Yorkers say the new normal is endless lock-in.

Chris Gelardi   ·   October 30, 2025
Lawmakers, Top Judges Push to Expand Mental Health Courts

Statewide diversion courts could keep thousands out of jail, but they’ll need more investments in treatment to succeed.

Eliza Fawcett   ·   October 17, 2025
Sierra Johnson, Who Fought for Victims of Sexual Abuse in NY Prisons, Dies Waiting for Own Lawsuit to Be Heard

Johnson was one of roughly 1,600 women to sue the state under the Adult Survivors Act alleging they were sexually assaulted in state prisons.

Jessy Edwards   ·   October 13, 2025
She Says Her Lawyer Stole Her Money. She Can’t Get the DA to Return Her Calls.

Despite mounting evidence that a disbarred attorney stole client funds, Manhattan prosecutors have taken no action.

Chris Bragg   ·   October 10, 2025
An unreachable phone seen from inside a jail cell.
ICE Detainees in New York Jails Can’t Talk to Their Lawyers

Some immigrants held in county jails are struggling to access legal advice, phone calls, and even their own court hearings.

Julia Rock and Isabelle Taft   ·   October 6, 2025
Two city officials at a council hearing
NYPD Plans Massive Expansion of Real-Time Surveillance in NYCHA Housing

The City Council held an emergency hearing on the NYPD’s use of a free internet program to gain real-time access to public housing cameras, in response to New York Focus’s reporting.

Zachary Groz   ·   October 1, 2025
Adams Locks In Big Apple Connect Through 2028, One Day Before Oversight Hearing

The renewal locks New York City into well over $100 million in costs for the controversial program.

Zachary Groz   ·   September 29, 2025
The State Commission of Correction's logo
Five Sleepy Minutes With New York’s Jail Watchdog

Jails and prisons across the state are facing many crises. Someone should tell the Commission of Correction.

Chris Gelardi   ·   September 25, 2025
5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into the Attorney General’s Conviction Review Bureau

A once-touted statewide conviction review unit lacks independence, authority, and transparency — and Albany hasn’t moved to fix it.

Willow Higgins and Curtis Brodner   ·   September 16, 2025
ICE Detentions in New York County Jails Have Exploded

So far this year, the state’s county jails have held six times more people for federal immigration authorities than they did in all of 2024.

Julia Rock and Isabelle Taft   ·   September 16, 2025
How New York’s Attorney General Lets Innocence Claims Slip Through the Cracks

Prisoners seeking help from the AG’s office have little chance of review. Here’s one applicant’s story.

Curtis Brodner   ·   September 11, 2025
New York’s Attorney General Wanted to Review Innocence Claims. Prosecutor Politics Got in the Way.

The attorney general’s conviction review bureau has investigated just a handful of innocence claims of the hundreds it’s received since 2012.

Willow Higgins and Curtis Brodner   ·   September 10, 2025
A car with the right side destroyed sits in a lot.
‘No Arrests’: In New York, Some Police Can Drink, Drive and Avoid Charges

Officers in New York State crashed their official vehicles, hit other motorists and arrived to work reeking of alcohol. And yet, they sometimes evaded criminal punishment, an investigation found.

Sammy Sussman   ·   September 9, 2025
A cop car is flashing its lights.
How We Obtained 10,000 Police Disciplinary Records

The New York Times and New York Focus gathered thousands of files from around half of New York State’s nearly 500 law enforcement agencies.

Sammy Sussman   ·   September 9, 2025
A jail room
Prison Staffing Woes Leave Thousands Stuck in County Jails

After a strike led state prisons to stop accepting new prisoners, local jails have been left holding thousands of extra people.

Chris Gelardi   ·   September 2, 2025
Trump signing an executive order
Trump Targets Bail Reform in Latest Threat to New York’s Federal Funding

New York’s bail reform law didn’t eliminate cash bail and hasn’t led to increased crime or recidivism. The Trump administration is still targeting it.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 26, 2025
The NYC City Hall
Councilmembers Demand NYPD Halt its Public Housing Surveillance Expansion, Following New York Focus Reporting

“New Yorkers did not agree to trade their right to privacy for the promise of free internet,” key committee chairs wrote to city officials.

Zachary Groz   ·   August 25, 2025
Advocates Float Contempt Ruling for New York Prison Agency

The Legal Aid Society alleges that DOCCS declared an overbroad emergency to keep incarcerated people locked in their cells for upward of 20 hours a day.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 20, 2025
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