
ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons'
Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed his federal prosecutors Thursday to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.
In my previous column, I promised to take up the topic of the historical roots of the continuing mistrust between law enforcement and the black community. My intention in setting forth the background is not to impugn the integrity of police officers anywhere. Yet if we don't study the past we'll never understand the present, and the history of policing in America is deeply intertwined with the violence of racial oppression.
As his family and community prepare to bury Terence Crutcher on Saturday, the students of a Tulsa middle school - including his daughter and almost 10 of his relatives - still struggle to process his death.
"You have a company using profits from the sale of what has been called 'the most potent and dangerous opioid on the market' to prevent adults from using a far less harmful substance."
Few were surprised on Dec. 7, 2015, when U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department (CPD). The city had recently released a dash cam video of officer Jason Van Dyke killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Graphic footage showed the officer firing a hail of bullets at the black teen as he walked away.
The United States houses 25% of the world's inmates despite having only 5% of the world's population. This fact prompted former Senator Jim Webb of Virginia to say, "Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the U.S., or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice." The prison industrial complex has a vested interest in keeping people locked up.
The 12-year-old boy died at a hospital, where he was taken by ambulance after he was shot by a police officer. The city of Cleveland wants Tamir Rice’s family to pay for his “last dying expense” — a $500 ambulance ride to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Acclaimed "The New Jim Crow" author and Ohio State University professor Michelle Alexander, one of the first to draw the nation's attention to the mass incarceration problem, posted this to her Facebook page yesterday:
There is little doubt that the Black Lives Matter era of protests will be branded as a millennial moment. But Black women are so prominent in the movement’s leadership, the era might also be characterized as a matriarchal moment. For example, in the outrage following the release of the Laquan McDonald video depicting a 17-year old being shot by a Chicago cop 16 times, four of the most prominent groups that spoke out—Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), We Charge Genocide and Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY)— were led by Black women.
In wake of latest deaths, protesters say to Mayor Rahm Emanuel: 'You failed us before, but now's your time to stand up, or step down.'
If asked what state has the highest incarceration rate of Black people, most people would likely cite Mississippi, Alabama or perhaps Louisiana. They would be about 1,000 miles too far south.
Imagine going to the polls on Election Day and discovering that your ballot could be collected and reviewed by the… Read More
ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' Read More
"These disasters drag into the light exactly who is already being thrown away," notes Naomi Klein Read More
How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. Read More
What mattered was that he showed up — that he put himself in front of the people whose opinions on… Read More
On a night of Democratic victories, one of the most significant wins came in Virginia, where the party held onto… Read More
A seismic political battle that could send shockwaves all the way to the White House was launched last week in… Read More
In an interview with Reuters conducted a month after he took office, Donald Trump asserted that the U.S. had “fallen… Read More
Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed… Read More
The news that the White House and Republican congressional leaders have given up on passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is… Read More
If you read the headlines, Donald Trump’s election has killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The headlines have it wrong. Read More
Democratic senator from Massachusetts offers fresh criticism of trade deal in new video Read More
Today’s World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against the U.S. country-of-origin meat labels (COOL) that consumers rely on to make informed… Read More
Negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a trade agreement between 12 nations—ended earlier this week. The likely passage of the agreement means… Read More
'For thousands of women to die unnecessary of breast cancer because of the TPP is a horrible, cruel, premeditated, and… Read More
A razor-thin Senate vote Tuesday put President Obama on the cusp of claiming victory for his ambitious international trade agenda,… Read More
The Fast Track trade authority package was rejected Friday because two years of effort by a vast corporate coalition, the… Read More
It just doesn't get more cynical than this. Note that we're talking about a bipartisan trade deal, thanks to 14… Read More
CWA devised a simple plan for which they were united suited: drag TPP out of the shadows and into the light - one city at a time - using a medium they understand intimately: Daily Newspapers!
Two CWA members - Dave Felice in Denver, CO and Madelyn Elder in Portland, OR have started the ball rolling. We just need to keep up the momentum.