"criminal justice"

The biggest stumbling block for completing the session is finding agreement on changes to oil and gas taxes.

The bill would divert nonviolent offenders from prison toward alternative programs. It shifts the focus of bail from people’s ability to pay to the risk they present.

Senate Bill 91 is aimed at reducing recidivism, as well as the state’s prison costs.

The bill has a lot of bipartisan support. It draws on recommendations from the 13-member Alaska Criminal Justice Commission.

Several governors and state legislatures have moved in recent months to make the clemency process easier and pardons more frequent, reflecting a growing consensus that harsh mandatory minimum sentences have left too many Americans behind bars.

One in three Native American women will be sexually assaulted during her life, and even fewer will actually report the crime, per the Justice Department. Female elders in Wyoming want to change that.

Experts say the field of forensic DNA is having a moment of truth about years of overstated claims, and it may tarnish its reputation as the “gold standard” of legal evidence.

Amid the backdrop of debate inside Washington and across the country, an NPR series will focus on the human toll of the tough mandatory minimum prison terms for drug crimes.