This photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state's death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. South Carolina Department of Corrections/via AP hide caption
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Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan criminal courtroom with members of his legal team for the continuation of his hush money trial on April 25, 2024 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
Oriel Moore describes her life without her brother, Othel Moore Jr., to reporters Dec. 19, 2023, at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. Summer Ballentine/AP hide caption
Jhody Polk poses for a portrait on Sept. 10 at the NPR office in Washington D.C. Polk is the founder of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative. The JLI is launching Flashlight, a digital archive with letters and poetry from currently incarcerated men and women. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption
'Cheat Code to Life': Jailhouse lawyers help incarcerated people — and themselves, too
Former President Donald Trump appears for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in May 2024 in New York City. Seth Wenig/Pool/Getty Images hide caption
Hunter Biden arrives at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Del., in June during his trial on felony gun charges. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
Linda Anderson, an emergency communications technician, responds to a call at the Denver 911 dispatch center. Eli Imadali for NPR hide caption
Many 911 call centers are understaffed, and the job has gotten harder
Alicia White, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, will oversee Baltimore Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau. Here, White is seen leaving the Maryland Court of Appeals on Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Annapolis, Md. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press hide caption
The population in U.S. jails, like the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail pictured above, has risen since the pandemic. Most jail inmates are either awaiting court action on a current charge or held in jail for other reasons. Reed Saxon/AP hide caption
U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, center, speaks to reporters after six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses in federal court in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a state law ending cash bail, ordering implementation in mid-September. Here, in this August 2014 photo shows a statue outside of the Illinois Supreme Court building in Springfield, Ill. Seth Perlman/AP hide caption
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed four bills into law Thursday that implement some criminal justice reforms, notably one with the goal of preventing false confessions. Justin L. Fowler/AP hide caption
Posters seeking information about Sarah Everard appear near Clapham Common in London in March after her disappearance. Her body was later found in Kent in southeast England. Wayne Couzens, a London Metropolitan Police officer, has admitted to kidnapping and raping Everard. Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption
N.J. Gov Phil Murphy, seen above on Dec. 15, 2020, has announced the closing of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. The prison has "a long history of abusive incidents," he said. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A view of the entrance to the Rikers Island complex, 2011. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
A Year Into The Pandemic, The Incarcerated Among The Most Vulnerable
Trump supporters attend an October rally hosted by Long Island and New York City police unions in support of the police in Suffolk County, N.Y. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
In New York City, homicides were up nearly 40% over the previous year by Dec. 20, 2020. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the numbers should worry New Yorkers. Bryan Thomas/Getty Images hide caption
Myon Burrell was released from Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, Tuesday, following a vote by Minnesota's pardon board commuting his sentence. Burrell, who is Black, was sent to prison for life as a teen in a high-profile murder case that raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away. John Minchillo/AP hide caption
Kamala Harris, then California attorney general, speaks to reporters on July 11, 2012. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden of NPR's new podcast "Louder Than A Riot" Christian Cody and Joshua Kissi/NPR hide caption
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., center, and others receive a police escort upon leaving President Trump's acceptance speech Thursday night at the White House. A crowd surrounded Paul and his wife, demanding that the senator acknowledge Breonna Taylor. Yuki Iwamura/AP hide caption
At seventeen years old, Fred Clay was sentenced to prison for a crime he did not commit. Various flawed ideas in psychology were used to determine his guilt. Ken Richardson/Ken Richardson hide caption
On Tuesday, April 28 demonstrators outside Westville Correctional Facility protested conditions in the facility. Annacaroline Caruso/ WVPE hide caption