There is no doubt that a income-level disparity exists among people who are “customers” of the criminal justice system. To not acknowledge the fact that poor people are more likely to be arrested, to be found guilty, and to be sentenced for longer periods, would be a dramatic oversight. But one way that poor folks are kept in the system [...]
According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, we are safer from guns now than we have been in decades. But, ask your neighbor or friend and they’re likely not to see it that way. The mass media is doing their job of sensationalism and fear when the majority of Americans believe they are in the middle of [...]
If you are a rational person of average intelligence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that police get special treatment by their colleagues and the justice system in general. Just ask those involved in countless unjustifiable shootings and illegal searches. Steven Greenhut, vice-president at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity recently offered a great article on Watchdog.org, asking [...]
I’ve been in communication recently with A Just Cause, a group formed in the wake of a miscarriage of justice and one that is campaigning to bring attention to the case of the IRP-6. While I plan on doing more work with them in the future, I wanted to help get the story out as quickly as possible. To that [...]
The NYPD makes no bones about their tactics—they say crime prevention, we say racist violation of constitutional rights. But their “stop-and-frisk” tactics have declined for the first time in several years, begging the question, is the NYPD ready to give up this practice of criminalizing people based solely on their location and likely their race? According to the Wall Street [...]
What happens when the business of incarceration is big business? Well, the focus shifts from rehabilitation and reform to profits and bottom lines. Private prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) make their billions on the backs of what is essentially modern-day slave labor. They contract with the states, offering lower operating costs on the condition of a [...]
This week the FBI sent out a symbolic warning. That warning, though heavily veiled behind a sacrificial lamb, said “Do not resist the government. Know your place or be prepared to die.” Sounds a bit harsh, right? But, I’m not the only person who feels the FBI’s actions in regards to Assata Shakur come at an interesting time, and are [...]
The contradictions are many when it comes to the War on Drugs. For instance, have you ever thought of all the times you hear officials talking about how much the illegal drug trade costs our nation, as the simultaneously funnel more money into the “war” itself. What they fail to realize is they are funding the illicit drug trade. The [...]
So an Elvis impersonator was accused of trying to kill the president, a judge, and a senator….no, it’s not a bad joke. It’s fact. And though the Elvis impersonator has since been cleared of the crimes he was accused, he is literally left picking up the pieces of a failed investigation by police and federal officials. Paul Kevin Curtis was accused [...]
Otto Zehm was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The wrong place happened to be a convenience store he entered to purchase a candy bar. The wrong time was when Spokane police officers were looking for a possible ATM thief. The result was fatal. Otto Zehm, a 36-year old mentally disabled janitor, was killed by Spokane police officers. [...]
