I’ve had plenty to say about the Texas and Alabama prison systems, which have earned every bit of scrutiny they get. But Tennessee’s death‑penalty system has now stepped into that same conversation, and it did so in the most catastrophic way possible. Last week I mentioned the scheduled execution of Christa Pike. Nobody was prepared… Continue reading Tennessee Has Joined the Conversation
Category: Systemic Spotlight
Deep dives into current issues related to criminal justice
Still Not Done: On Executing Someone Under a Law the State Has Since Abandoned
I thought I was done talking about Alabama. Last year, I wrote a series about the carceral systems in Alabama and Texas. I spent a lot of time looking at the ways those systems operate, the people caught inside them, and the policies that can have consequences far beyond the words written in a statute.I… Continue reading Still Not Done: On Executing Someone Under a Law the State Has Since Abandoned
The Violence is the Point — And the Budget Proves It
Cason Helms was beaten to death earlier this month (June 2026) at the Elmore Correctional Facility in Alabama — the ninth person killed in an Alabama prison in as many months. The headlines will say "inmate-on-inmate violence," as if the state were a bystander. As if this were an unforeseeable tragedy instead of the predictable… Continue reading The Violence is the Point — And the Budget Proves It
Six Women the State Learned to Kill: The Standard Changed. Ask Why
All month, I’ve been writing about the conditions that make women executable in America — the narratives, the stereotypes, the erasures, the silences. Today is different. Today is about the women themselves. Lisa Montgomery. Wanda Jean Allen. Kimberly McCarthy. Frances Newton. Karla Faye Tucker. Ethel Rosenberg. Six women across different eras and circumstances, pulled into… Continue reading Six Women the State Learned to Kill: The Standard Changed. Ask Why
Release to Where
Note: this post falls outside my regular rotation. May is dedicated to women and the death penalty. But some things you witness in a courtroom don't wait for the right month on the calendar. The series continues Wednesday. The problem was not whether the man could leave jail. The problem was where he would go… Continue reading Release to Where
Good Women Don’t Do This
Gender, Judgment and the Stories We Need Women to Fit There are some crimes society expects from men. Violence, brutality, rage — however uncomfortable those realities may be, people tend to view them as familiar. Disturbing, but unsurprising. The cultural script already exists. But when a woman commits a violent crime, the reaction often feels… Continue reading Good Women Don’t Do This
Condemned Twice: They Were Never Just the Crime
Opening a Month-Long Series on Women and the Death Penalty In March, I told you this post was just the door. I said we would go deep— into the history, the data, the race, the cases, the faith questions that don't have easy answers. I meant it. May is here. The door is open. There… Continue reading Condemned Twice: They Were Never Just the Crime
The Ones You Learn to Recognize
A Closing Reflection on a Month Inside Juvenile Justice I had a clean way to close this series. But after reading the notes for my first appointed client of the day, it simply didn’t feel honest anymore. My new client, seventeen. When I checked in with the court coordinator, she looked at the notes on… Continue reading The Ones You Learn to Recognize
Not One System. Both.
What It Means to Be 17 in Texas with Cases in Two Courts Two of my clients currently have open cases in the juvenile system. Because they were charged with new offenses at 17, they are also now facing charges in adult court. They are navigating both systems at the same time. This is what… Continue reading Not One System. Both.
The Case Doesn’t End in Court
What’s Really at Stake By now, it should be clear that in Texas, turning 17 changes everything. The same behavior, the same circumstances, the same child—placed in a different system, with different consequences. But for some children, the consequences don't stop at the courtroom door. I represented a 17-year-old who is not a U.S. citizen.… Continue reading The Case Doesn’t End in Court
