Mark Obbie's Blog, page 13

After #Ferguson decision, we need a better story

When ABC News last night cut away from the Missouri press conference just at the moment when the prosecutor began explaining the evidence that led a grand jury to no-bill Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, I clicked off the TV in frustration. I didn’t need to hear George Stephanopoulos and Dan Abrams restate what I just […]

On the nightstand: Monday, 11/24/14

Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Liz Robbins uses several women’s stories to zoom in on the details of how the 10-year-old Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Queens, New York, looks at arrested sex workers as […]

Victim, heal thyself through silence

In her new Rolling Stone feature on rape culture at the University of Virginia, Sabrina Rubin Erdely starts with horrifying descriptions of frats as rape traps. Then the story turns to institutional flaws that are equally damaging to victims: a process that pretends to be victim-centered but in fact serves the ultimate goal of preventing a […]

On the nightstand: Wednesday, 11/19/14

Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Jordan Smith tells a story worthy of a Grisham plot. A man condemned to die for a rape and murder is innocent, his family and supporters say. They instead point […]

On the nightstand: Monday, 11/17/14

Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Nadja Drost’s e-single “The Devil Underground” shows brave reporting in a violent place and compelling writing about underworld characters who fight over control of Colombia’s gold mining business. (The Atavist) […]

My place in the crime-news curator world

Saturday night’s launch of The Marshall Project is good news for criminal-justice-news junkies, and not just because of the marquee feature stories we can expect from the impressive team that editor Bill Keller has hired. Another key attraction: “Opening Statement,” the daily newsletter compiled by the scarily well-read Andrew Cohen. If Twitter isn’t your thing […]

On the nightstand: Friday, 11/14/14

Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Paige Williams takes us inside a case that illustrates the raw judicial power of the “override,” which allows judges in three states to condemn defendants to death even when jurors […]

Homelessness and crime victims

Among the ways in which we punish victims for their misfortune is to ignore the trauma they suffered that led to self-destructive behavior (untreated mental illness, homelessness, drugs) or to hurting others. Instead, we often denigrate them for perceived weaknesses and innate flaws (Why didn’t she leave him? They don’t have to live on the streets. […]

“Why nobody save us?”

The Soros Justice Fellowships, the program funding my work this year, support both journalists and advocates. We journalists might think we have the corner on storytelling. But an event at last July’s annual conference of fellows past and present demonstrated that the advocacy folks can tell a hell of a story — especially when it’s […]

On the nightstand: Thursday, 11/6/14

Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Skip Hollandsworth writes about a case that had all the makings of a wrongful conviction. After the suspect avoided indictment, she turned the tables on her pursuer, a Dallas homicide detective, […]