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Another Mistrial After an Unarmed Black Man Is Killed: Sam Dubose Case Proves We Must Force Justice
The mistrial of former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing in the shooting death of Sam Dubose is the latest reminder that in the eyes of many, black lives don’t matter. On Saturday, Judge Megan Shanahan declared a mistrial after a jury of six white men, four white women and two black women failed…
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What a Trump Presidency Means to Civil Rights
Last night, America’s “silent majority” defied political scientists, expert pollsters and what many would regard as common decency in electing Donald Trump president. When faced with a choice between arguably the most qualified presidential candidate we’ve seen in the modern era of electoral politics and … well, a bigot, America felt safer with the latter.…
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If You’re Trying to Blame Tyre King, Even a Little Bit, Then You’re the Real Problem
No sooner had the tragic news of Tyre King’s death hit the news than the apology brigade of both blacks and whites hit social media, ready to victim-blame a 13-year-old child for his own demise at the hands of Columbus, Ohio, police officers. It’s almost as if some folks within our community are eager to…
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These 4 Court Rulings Give Police Powerful Weapons to Abuse Your Rights. They Need to Go
The emergence of Donald Trump as the self-proclaimed “law and order” candidate on November’s presidential ballot should be cause for serious concern for all of us. If not for the reasons related to the Republican presidential nominee’s positions on Black Lives Matter and other groups of peaceful protesters exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of…
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How the Freddie Gray Case Fell Apart
Today, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby decided to drop the charges against the remaining three officers connected to the death of Freddie Gray. From the very minute that Mosby stood outside on the steps of her office and announced to the world that she would seek to move forward with the prosecution of the…
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What Will It Take to Actually Convict a Cop?
Digesting police violence against innocent civilians is a complicated and difficult process. Perhaps the only thing more difficult, however, is reconciling the reality that, even as repeated violations by law enforcement continue to occur, there seems almost no chance that cops will ever face any level of significant accountability from America’s two-tiered justice system. The…
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3 Years Later, the Ghosts of Shelby Still Haunt Us
Three years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a crushing ruling in the landmark case Shelby v. Holder (pdf). For reasons still mostly unclear to me (Chief Justice John Roberts partially opined that key provisions of the Voting Rights Act were “extraordinary measures” no longer needed because America’s legacy on race “had changed”), Section 5 of the…
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White Male Privilege: The Ultimate Trump Card
Fewer stories better illustrate the chasm present in America’s broken criminal-justice system than that of convicted sex offender Brock Turner. After being convicted of three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious drunk woman, Turner, who is white, was sentenced to six months in jail with the possibility of being released in three months with…
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If You Don’t Love Our Kids, Stay Out of Our Schools
Nine-year-old Kaedyn G. goes to a private school in New Jersey. Last week at school, Kaedyn wore a hooded sweatshirt with the words “black brilliance” plainly displayed on the front of her hoodie. She was not in violation of the school’s dress code and had not broken any of the school’s rules regarding appearance. Yet…
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No Indictment of Tamir Rice’s Killers Is the Prosecutor’s Failure, Not a ‘Perfect Storm of Human Error’
When prosecutors present a case to a grand jury, they do so solely for the purpose of securing an indictment and proceeding with the case. Period. That is the reason evidence is gathered and carefully presented during the secret and seemingly enigmatic proceeding. Listening to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty speak at the press conference announcing…
