How a 50s-Era Knife Law Has Landed Thousands in Jail
Breaking the story of New York’s “gravity knife” law (Village Voice)

The Scam Albany Won’t Fix
An investigation of New York’s private energy retailers (Village Voice)
[Hear me on WNYC’s All Things Considered discussing this story]

Fired Louisiana Prosecutor Had ‘Whites Only’ Sign in Property He Owned
Jason Brown was accused of using illegal tactics to win at least one case before arriving in Calcasieu Parish (The Appeal)

The NYPD Opened Fire On an Unarmed Man. Then They Tried To Send Him To Prison
When bystanders are shot by police, who should get the blame? (Village Voice)

License Plate Recognition Logs Our Lives Long Before We Sin
Revealing L.A.’s automatic license plate reader system (L.A. Weekly)

Broad Examination of FOIL Requests Finds de Blasio Slow To Respond
An analysis of a year’s worth of responses finds Mayor’s office is among worst in the city (Village Voice)

A Heroin Case With Breaking Bad References Ensnares a Small Time Dealer
Because of an 1980s-era federal law, Dennis Sica was sentenced to 35 years in prison. (The Appeal)

New Video of Fatal Shooting by NYPD in 2016 Raises Questions About Officer’s Account to Investigators
A civil suit claims that an officer who shot a 46-year-old stagehand in Midtown Manhattan should have de-escalated the encounter

De Blasio’s Office Took 6 Months to Release Picture of an Ice Cream Cone
An innocuous request drags and drags (Village Voice)

Far Right Austrian Politician says he Met With Staten Island Councilmember 
Politician linked to Nazi-affiliated group met with American politicians (Village Voice)

LAPD Spied on 21 Using StingRay Antiterrorism Tool
Revealing LAPD’s use of a sophisticated spy technology (L.A. Weekly)

Prosecutors say Freddie Gray’s Knife was Legal Under Maryland Law
Maryland’s knife laws mirror New York’s (Village Voice)

Trump’s Veteran Hotline Is Useless, Says Vet Who Asked for Help
A disabled vet isn’t buying the candidate’s hype (Village Voice)

K2 Possession Isn’t a Crime: So Why is the NYPD Making Arrests?
NYPD insists they aren’t cuffing users, but court files show different (Village Voice)

Public Defenders React to de Blasio’s Bail Reforms
Cautious optimism for a much touted plan (Village Voice)

The Defense Never Rests
Radical lawyer Stanley Cohen heads to prison (Village Voice)

Looking for Leatherman
The story of a 19th century vagabond (Village Voice)

First There Was a Mountain
Leonard Knight and the weird world of Slab City, CA (Originally published in The Big Roundtable)

Bin Laden’s Son in Law Gets a Life Sentence
The trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghayth comes to a close (Village Voice)

One Libertarian Protests Alone in Times Square, Handing out Loosies in Honor of Eric Garner
A frigid day and a lonely protest (Village Voice)

Here’s How to Explore NYC’s ‘Hidden World’ of Rock Climbing
Rat Rock in Central Park has been a climbing oasis for forty years (Village Voice)

Meet New York’s Resident Knife Nerds
In a dingy VFW hall, knife nerdery abounds (Village Voice)

How Coyotes Conquered New York
The story of Frankie, a coyote marooned in a park in Queens (Village Voice)

Why Some DHS Money is Best Left on the Table
City leaders are carping about the loss of funds that aren’t worth the trouble (Village Voice)

You’re Almost Definitely Not Going to Die: An Ebola Primer
Despite the hysteria, Americans aren’t the ones at risk (Village Voice)

Stop Saying New York’s Untaxed Cigarettes are Funding Terrorism
They are not (Village Voice)

Michael Grimm Proves Least Horrific Choice in Staten Island Race
As hard as that is to believe (Village Voice)