We gathered data on juries in central Mississippi going back 26 years. Analyzing hundreds of trials, we found that prosecutors were more than four times more likely to exclude Black jurors.
In 2010, a jury of 11 whites and one African-American convicted Flowers and sentenced him to death. Defense attorneys would later claim the trial essentially had been decided in jury selection. Here's how it went down.
When is a strike legal? Take our quiz below and try to spot an unconstitutional strike, using potential jurors from trials in the Fifth Circuit Court District, where Doug Evans is district attorney, and the reasons given for striking them.
There was overwhelming evidence that J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant had murdered the 14-year-old in 1955, but they never spent a day in prison thanks to an all-white jury.
The state penitentiary began more than a century ago as a way to subjugate African-Americans after the end of slavery, and it later maintained segregation well into the 1970s. And it's where Curtis Flowers has spent much of his adult life, sometimes in brutal conditions.
Pete Hegseth, a decorated Army veteran thought to be considered to run Veteran's Affairs, portrays himself as a defender of traditional family values despite extramarital affairs with co-workers and divorces.
Ethics experts are alarmed at the drumbeat of revelations about travel, business holdings and investments, warning that public trust and reliable government are at risk. A former ethics official asks: "If the boss doesn't care, why should you, then?"
The city's police department has hired a new psychologist to improve the way it screens recruits after an APM Reports investigation revealed that its procedures didn't meet national standards.
A follow up to an APM Reports investigation finds that five additional states have mandated de-escalation training for officers, bringing the total to only 21.
The protocol is less rigorous than best practices nationally and the evaluator lacked the proper license. Police leaders are moving to replace him for another reason: They believe he screened out too many minority candidates.
Most of the 75 ships transport oil and gas products worldwide, presenting a conflict of interest for the commerce secretary as he negotiates trade deals. Records show 11 purchases since March. Ross has come under fire for not disclosing Russia-tied ship business and a U.S. senator wants an investigation.
The agreement with China will increase U.S. exports of liquid natural gas. Navigator Holdings, which could gain from increased drilling, has a business partnership with a Russian-owned firm and is partially owned by Ross via an offshore investment fund. For dealmaker Wendy Teramoto — Ross' chief of staff and Navigator board member at the time — it raises a conflict of interest.
A recent APM Reports documentary showed how schools aren't adequately complying with a decades-old federal law but new state laws are failing to help struggling readers, too.
With private money at a record level and projects ready to go, the president decides the partnerships are "more trouble than they're worth," leaving states to make their own deals with investors and to hope for federal funding.