Criminal Justice
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New Kentucky Governor Restores Voting Rights to More Than 100,000 Formerly Incarcerated
Fresh into his new job as governor of Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear signed an executive order Thursday to restore voting rights to more than 140,000 formerly incarcerated Kentuckians—a move that inordinately affects voting rights for African Americans in the Bluegrass State. As the Washington Post reports: On its face, Mr. Beshear’s executive order is race-blind.…
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Chicago’s Top Prosecutor Tosses Out More Than 1,000 Marijuana Convictions Ahead of State Legalization Law
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx took the first step toward wiping more than 1,000 marijuana convictions off the books, appearing at a court hearing Wednesday afternoon to call for the expungement of low-level cannabis convictions. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, the move is part of Illinois’ new recreational marijuana law, which legalizes weed in…
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Tennessee Supreme Court Puts Execution of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman on Hold Amid Concerns of Racial Bias
For the first time since resuming capital punishment last year, the Tennessee Supreme Court has pumped the brakes on an execution scheduled for April 16. The reason? Racism. From the Tennessean: The high court delayed Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman’s April 16 execution to allow a lower court time to consider if racial bias surrounding his trial should…
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‘David Duke in Uniform’: NYPD Officers Say Top Cop Told Them to Target Black and Latinx Commuters on Subways
A high-ranking NYPD leader who oversees the department’s subway policing division has come under increased scrutiny in the last week as former subordinates have publicly called out the leader on his racism—even going so far as to refer to him as “David Duke in uniform.” Recent reporting from The New York Times and Gothamist have…
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Troubled R&B Crooner Chico DeBarge Arrested for Meth Possession
Chico DeBarge is in trouble with the law again: The DeBarge family’s younger famous brother has been arrested for drug possession. According to TMZ, the No Guarantee singer/songwriter was arrested in Burbank, Calif. in a Walmart parking lot after cops saw him trying to unlock an SUV. Officers reportedly approached and searched the 53-year-old Detroit…
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How to Protect Black Moms in America
Each year in the United States, more black women get sick or die during and after pregnancy than the year before. That’s because America is the only developed country in the world where maternal mortality has actually increased in recent decades. The U.S. maternal mortality rate—defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or…
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Never Forget: 5 Years After His Death, Family, Activists Continue to Build Tamir Rice’s Legacy
The tragedy of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, the young black boy with the cherubic face, will never leave me. We see a lot of extrajudicial abuse and murder here at The Root, but this one is especially long-abiding, given his age, how Tamir and his sister were treated after he was shot, and, of course, the…