Mark Obbie's Blog, page 5
May 10, 2015
Moms I’ve met
Dorothy Johnson-Speight once dreamed of working with her son to help children. He was a middle school teacher in Philadelphia. She is a licensed counselor. “So his goal,” she told me, “was to go back and get his master’s degree. And I promised I would go back and get my Ph.D. and we were going … Continue reading Moms I’ve met →
April 30, 2015
Nightstand reading lists on hiatus
I’ve decided to put my “criminal-justice nightstand reading” series on indefinite hiatus. It’s a lot of work without pay, and without any discernible benefit to me. I started it last year when I was invited to move my blog to The Marshall Project. I figured it would be a content-rich contribution that I could make … Continue reading Nightstand reading lists on hiatus →
April 26, 2015
Nightstand reading: Sunday, 4/26/15
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: Sarah Stillman gets inside the world of extortionists targeting the most vulnerable victims of all: undocumented immigrants. She describes the criminals’ strategy and how U.S. immigration policy fits into the … Continue reading Nightstand reading: Sunday, 4/26/15 →
Series update: Last draft in
This coming week marks the official end of my yearlong Soros Justice Fellowship. After some long days, I just hit send on the sixth and final installment of my series. Well, to be accurate, it’s my draft of said installment. Now, it goes into the editing queue with all of the others, which are in … Continue reading Series update: Last draft in →
April 20, 2015
Nightstand reading: Monday, 4/20/15
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: James Verini‘s tale of bravery and adventure at the point of a gun takes the reader inside a Somali-piracy case, showing the terrorized crew’s trauma through nearly four years of … Continue reading Nightstand reading: Monday, 4/20/15 →
April 18, 2015
Victims, let’s make a deal
The latest performance of an awkward game between crime victims and prosecutors is taking place in Boston, where the Marathon bombing trial’s punishment phase starts on Tuesday. While it’s not at all uncommon for victims like the Richard family to take the stand they did against the death penalty for their son’s killer, their eloquence in … Continue reading Victims, let’s make a deal →
April 15, 2015
Numbers and lives
As part of a memorable report on the true costs of gun violence, a Mother Jones team — Mark Follman, Julie Lurie, Jaeah Lee, and James West — powerfully tells victims’ stories alongside data-driven reporting on the dollars and cents. The data side of the report is impressive enough, as it methodically quantifies the knowns … Continue reading Numbers and lives →
April 14, 2015
Nightstand reading: Tuesday, 4/14/15
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: Ever since Bryan Burrough‘s days at the Missouri School of Journalism (he was an undergrad when I was there as a grad), I’ve been a fan of his reporting and … Continue reading Nightstand reading: Tuesday, 4/14/15 →
April 8, 2015
Nightstand reading: Wednesday, 4/8/15
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: Robert Kolker, another big name in crime journalism appearing for the first time at The Marshall Project, tells a shocking story that calls into question the very rationale of long prison … Continue reading Nightstand reading: Wednesday, 4/8/15 →
April 6, 2015
Nightstand reading: Monday, 4/6/15
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: The Columbia Journalism School report on Rolling Stone‘s failures in reporting on an alleged rape at the University of Virginia doesn’t change the basic understanding we’ve had about the story … Continue reading Nightstand reading: Monday, 4/6/15 →
