Battered, Bereaved and Behind Bars
In most states, the law treats battered mothers as criminals for failing to protect their children from their abusive partners.
How to cover the worst day in a family's life. Tap into JCCF's free online training module. (Photo by April Saul)
A JCCF original reporting project on social work.
(Photo by Jeffrey Thompson, MPR)
In most states, the law treats battered mothers as criminals for failing to protect their children from their abusive partners.
A crime reporter learns what it's like to be on the other side of the story.
The day after Thanksgiving 2012, a black 17-year-old, Jordan Davis, was killed by a 45-year-old white man, Michael Dunn, now charged with first-degree murder. Dunn claimed he fired in self defense. Jordan's father shares his loss.
Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder appear to be much higher in communities where high rates of violent crime have persisted, according to a growing body of research. Doctors in high-crime cities have said they want to do more to address PTSD, but funds are limited.
On what seemed to be a normal school day in Newtown, Conn., on December 14, 2012, children hopped on the bus headed to Sandy Hook Elementary School, put their backpacks on hooks in the classroom and proceeded to learn.
There is no uniform or integrated national system to track child abusers, who are able to avoid scrutiny and repeat offenses once they move across county or state lines.
This year, Maryland was one of a handful of states that bucked a national trend and actually increased spending on mental health. Unlike the other states, Maryland is also focusing directly on psychosis, the symptom that makes violence more likely.
“Come on over and sit next to me,” said the brother of a paralyzed, comatose shooting victim while sitting outside on his porch in Baltimore, Md., when Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton showed up unexpectedly. For once, he wasn’t working on a crime story bogged down with numbers and statistics, he was telling people’s stories, and people wanted their stories to be heard.
One particularly brutal stretch of violence included 40 killings and 16 injuries in the span of just 10 days, according to The Sun.
Gangs have discovered that prostituting teens is a better moneymaker than dealing drugs or weapons. Young women are recruited through social networking sites.