While the federal government oversaw the rocky rollout of 2018’s FIRST STEP Act and worked to implement increasingly draconian immigration policies, state and local governments tackled criminal justice reform: transforming money bail, shuttering jails, legalizing marijuana, restoring voting rights to those with conviction histories, and rethinking juvenile justice. The key to many of these changes? Grassroots work by activists and advocates. But some problems seemed intractable: the year saw the most mass shootings on record, and the justice system remains marked by stark racial disparities. Join Vera as we recap the stories that shaped American justice in 2019.