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Whodunit? As Feds Scan DMV Records Using Facial Recognition Software and More Cities Use the Technology, Racial Bias Could Be a Problem
When you go to your local DMV office and stand in front of the camera to take as decent a photo as possible, you probably aren’t thinking about the possibility that said photo will come up in a facial-recognition search used by government agencies. If this is a concern you never had before, you should…
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Cyntoia Brown Documentary in the Works at Netflix
Cyntoia Brown was just 16 years old in 2004 when she was arrested and charged with the murder of 43-year-old Johnny Allen. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. In January 2019, former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted Brown clemency and commuted her sentence. Brown, who is now 30, will…
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Study Shows Adults Who Can Legally Obtain Cannabis Use It as Substitute for Opioids and Other Prescription Drugs
A recent study has found that adults with access to legal cannabis not only use it to help with pain and trouble sleeping, but they often use it as a substitute for prescription medication, including opioids. According to researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the University of Miami, medical…
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Iranian President Says White House Is ‘Afflicted by Mental Retardation’ as Trump Announces Sanctions
The Trump presidency has definitely lowered the bar as far as expectations when it comes to our world leaders and the person sitting in our country’s highest office. Trump alone has managed to destroy the notion that the president of the United States is knowledgeable about the world—including knowing the names of leaders of the…
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The War on Women
The Trump administration is waging a war on women. For too long, women’s voices have been dismissed when it comes to our reproductive freedom and we must fight back. Reproductive justice has been one of my top priorities for decades, from when I first began my journey on the Hill as a staffer to now…
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Secret Service Agent Claims He Was Targeted While on Duty by Park Police Because He’s Black
A retired former Secret Service agent has filed a federal lawsuit accusing two Park Police officers in the D.C. metro area of stopping him and detaining him because he is black. The Washington Post reports that according to testimony he gave in a deposition, Nathaniel Hicks was on duty and pulled over on the side…
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New Louisiana Law Allows Expert Testimony on the Flaws of Eyewitness Accounts of Crimes
In 1971, when Wilbert Jones was just 19 years old, he was arrested and charged with kidnapping a nurse at gunpoint from the parking lot of a hospital in Baton Rouge, La., and raping her behind a building. As previously reported by The Root, the state’s case against Jones relied heavily on the testimony and…
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Auntie Who? Ava DuVernay Sets Some Boundaries and Sparks Major Debate—and The Root Digs In
So, it seems we owe Ava DuVernay an apology. Last Friday, when we ran her picture (along with buddy and co-producer Oprah Winfrey) above an article titled “Aunties Know Best? Data Suggests Single, Childless Women Are the ‘Happiest Population Subgroup,’” we never dreamed she’d consider it an insult. (After all, it got an overwhelmingly positive…
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To Protect and Serve or to Terrorize Children? Sacramento Police Department Under Fire Again
In the 14 months that have passed since Officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet gunned down 22-year-old Stephon Clark in the backyard of his grandparents’ home, the Sacramento Police Department has not managed to stay out of the headlines with negative news stories. Chief Daniel Hahn was purported to be ushering in a new day…
