Crime
Q&A: How lethal injection ‘hides the violence’ of executions in the South and elsewhere
A new book explores the secretive, complicated history of lethal injection and its relationship to the death penalty.
Brutality and humanity at the Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana
While the event has been criticized for its controversial and dangerous events, it also offers a chance for participants to connect to the outside world.
Bill would give give non-violent, aging prisoners a chance at freedom
Should the Second Chance Act be enacted, judges could review certain cases where an individual was sentenced to life without parole under the Habitual Offenders Act for potential resentencing.
Crime victims come together to raise awareness of resources
Alabama, like all states, has a program to compensate victims of violence. But very few survivors take advantage of such programs
Louisiana executes Jessie Hoffman by nitrogen gas in 1st use of death penalty in 15 years
With Hoffman’s execution, Louisiana joins Alabama as the only other state in the U.S. to use the controversial gas method on a person condemned to death.
Attorneys, advocates make last-minute bid to stop Louisiana’s execution of Jessie Hoffman
Hoffman’s execution is set for Tuesday after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a federal judge’s decision to block it earlier this month.
Bill advances which would further protect police from criminal, civil prosecution
A recent bill in Alabama’s legislature would establish new legal protections for police officers who use physical or deadly force on a person while in the line of duty. Bill supporters say it will improve police safety, recruitment and retention. But critics worry it would give police officers immunity from criminal prosecution.
In the fight over Louisiana’s execution plans, religion plays a prominent role
Faith activism against the state's plan to resume executions adds to a history of religious engagement with social questions in the South.
Q&A: What immigrants should know about their Constitutional rights during an ICE visit
Anxiety has reigned at some schools, churches and hospitals after moves by the Trump administration rolled back protections that had previously shielded them from visits from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The moves have sparked conversations, including some worry and public pushback, in the South.
Glenn Foster Jr’s family uses Super Bowl to bring awareness to his death, demand justice
The former New Orleans Saints player's family called on others, including the NFL, to advocate for Foster — who died while in police custody in Alabama.
U.S. veterans work to make sense of New Year’s Day incidents: It’s ‘doubly tragic’
U.S. veterans are worried that two deadly incidents involving current and former service members could increase stigma, or paint veterans as somehow damaged.
The Gulf South needs more sexual assault nurse examiners. Is teleSANE the answer?
While some see telemedicine as a useful tool to help provide care to sexual assault survivors, others believe it's not enough to solve the nursing shortage.
In New Orleans, focus shifts toward community recovery, healing after terror attack
Officials and health experts are working to make sure those affected by the Bourbon Street attack have access to the medical and financial resources they need.
Homicide commission report offers strategies to reduce gun violence
Following a record breaking year of homicides in Birmingham, a city commission submitted a report on potential solutions for the crisis to the mayor’s office on Monday. The report lays out strategies for how the city can reduce its homicide rate, particularly those stemming from gun violence.
Q&A: The little-known history of how enslaved people were jailed in antebellum New Orleans
Author John Bardes discusses how Louisiana’s complicated history with mass incarceration began with imprisonment being used as a tool against enslaved people.
Alabama leads US in ‘pregnancy criminalization’ cases following Dobbs decision: report
The report’s findings help shed light on the use of criminal laws informed by the idea of fetal personhood, a legal premise gaining traction in the South.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
Challenges to forced prison labor gain steam, have resonance in the Gulf South
A lawsuit objecting to conditions on the Louisiana State Penitentiary's "farm line" is among at least three legal challenges percolating in the Gulf South.
Alabama’s 2nd nitrogen gas execution raises questions about method’s future use
As Alabama sets the course for the controversial execution method's future, activists and legal scholars say eyewitness accounts could halt widespread adoption.
Suspect arrested in Five Points South mass shooting
Damien Laron McDaniel III is charged with capital murder in the case. The 22-year-old is also charged with the murder of two other people.
‘Mississippi Five’ parole issues highlight the toll of ‘graying’ in Gulf South prisons
A campaign to free five women, known as the "Mississippi Five," shows how prison populations throughout the region are aging.
Q&A: Gulf States Newsroom reporters discuss covering Birmingham mass shooting
Reporters Drew Hawkins and Stephan Bisaha discuss their perspectives of covering the mass shooting in Birmingham’s Five Points Neighborhood.
Q&A: Is an innocent man on Alabama death row? Here’s the latest on Toforest Johnson’s case
Reporter Beth Shelburne talks with the Gulf States Newsroom about how Johnson's case has progressed a year after the release of her podcast, "Earwitness."
Death penalty opponents speak out as Alabama preps for next nitrogen gas execution
Despite criticism, state officials have defended the use of “nitrogen hypoxia” ahead of Alan Eugene Miller’s scheduled execution this week.
Birmingham leaders plead for information on mass shooting and announce reward money
Authorities have still made no arrests after Saturday’s shooting killed four people and left 17 others injured. Police described it as a targeted “hit” on someone by multiple shooters who opened fire on a crowd waiting in line outside a nightspot in Birmingham’s bustling Five Points South district.
Birmingham Police: Five Points South mass shooting may have been murder-for-hire; 4 dead, 17 injured
Police say one person was the target of late Saturday's mass shooting, with bystanders caught in the crossfire. More than 100 shell casings were at the scene.
An art exhibit reckons with Alabama’s death penalty toll
The traveling exhibit includes artwork, letters and audio from people incarcerated on Alabama’s death row.
Meet the people working to protect Southern protesters’ civil rights
Legal observers are trained to painstakingly document everything that happens at a protest. They've become more crucial as demonstrations have ramped up.
Understaffed, the Birmingham Police Department is trying to rebuild trust and its ranks
Police departments nationally, especially larger agencies, have seen a drop in recruits and an increase in resignations and retirements, since prior to the pandemic. Some indicators are pointing to a turnaround.
Mixed reaction to anti-crime program which blocks some Birmingham streets
Streets in Birmingham’s East Lake neighborhood are now blocked by brightly painted concrete barriers and houseplants in a new effort by Mayor Randall Woodfin to reduce crime. They’ve been placed there by the mayor’s office as part of a new initiative in a neighborhood plagued by shootings, drug dealing, prostitution and more.
2 shootings in Birmingham kill 7 people, including young child, Alabama police say
Four people died in a shooting at a Birmingham nightclub late Saturday, while an earlier shooting outside a home in the city killed three people, including a young child, authorities in Alabama said.
Q&A: Prison reform advocate Terrance Winn on gun violence in Shreveport, Louisiana
Winn sat down with the Gulf States Newsroom's Kat Stromquist to discuss what causes Shreveport to struggle with shootings, and what could help.
