Criminal Justice
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R. Kelly Learns the Date He’s to Face the Music on Federal Sex Abuse Charges in Chicago
R. Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago on charges he sexually abused girls and paid off witnesses and victims to rig his 2008 child pornography trial is set to begin in April of next year, a federal judge decided Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, however, said the April 27, 2020, trial date could change depending…
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U of Illinois Student Charged With Hate Crime, Accused of Hanging a Noose in a Dorm Elevator
A University of Illinois math major may find himself adding up the years in prison if he’s found guilty of a felony hate crime charge for hanging a noose in a campus elevator. A female friend reported Andrew Smith to police after authorities say he found a piece of rope, fashioned it into a noose,…
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Alabama Man Finally to Go Free After Spending 36 Years in Prison for Robbing a Bakery of About $50
When criminal-justice reform advocates speak of the ills of policies like “three strikes” laws that mandate long prison sentences for even the most minor of crimes for repeat offenders, the story of Alvin Kennard may just come to mind. Kennard has spent more than half his life in prison, 36 years to be exact, for…
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2 Ex-NYC Cops Get Probation for Having Sex With a Handcuffed Teenager They’d Just Arrested
Two former New York City cops slipped through a crack in New York law and now will serve just five months’ probation for having sex in the back of a police van with a handcuffed 18-year-old they’d just arrested on a marijuana charge. Prosecutors fought to have Eddie Martins, 39, and Richard Hall, 34, imprisoned…
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Brother of Gymnastics Phenom Simone Biles Arrested and Charged With Triple Murder
The brother of U.S. Olympic gymnast and multiple record-breaker Simone Biles was arrested and charged with murder Thursday, in connection with a shooting at a New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland, Ohio. NBC News reports that 24-year-old Tevin Biles-Thomas, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army, was arrested at Fort Stewart in Georgia following an…
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Late Charge: Judge Says Prosecutors’ Demand to Free ‘Innocent’ Man Jailed for Murder Comes 24 Years Too Late
Despite overwhelming evidence by prosecutors that a man sitting in a Missouri prison was wrongfully convicted of murder, a judge has denied a bid for a new trial saying, essentially, that the request comes 24 years too late. Twenty-four years is how long Lamar Johnson has been trapped in prison for what even prosecutors say…
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Florida Jury Finds Michael Drejka Guilty of Manslaughter, Rejecting His ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense for Killing Markeis McGlockton
All hail Florida! Six years after the Sunshine State was marred in shame for its controversial “stand your ground” law—which let George Zimmerman off for killing Trayvon Martin in cold blood—the tides may be turning. Michael Drejka, who shot and killed an unarmed father in front of his family in a dispute over a handicap…
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‘Dishonoring the Badge’: Former Houston Police Officers Charged With Murder Over Deadly Drug Raid
Houston police are throwing the book at two of their officers who were caught lying about having an informant during a drug raid that left two people dead and five fellow law enforcement officials injured. On Friday, prosecutors announced that ex-cop Gerald Goines was charged with murder for the deadly Jan. 28 drug raid that…
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Newly Appointed Special Prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett Case Will Reinvestigate the Actor’s Infamous Tale and the Saga That Followed
Talk about making a federal case out of something. A Chicago judge on Friday appointed a former U.S. attorney—a fed, y’all—as special prosecutor to investigate what one guesses should be referred to as “Jussie Smollett-gate.” Sigh. According to the Chicago Tribune, on Friday, Cook County Judge Michael Toomin appointed Dan Webb, a former federal prosecutor,…
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Colin Kaepernick Reveals the Source of His Inspiration for National Anthem Protest
It’s well-known that Colin Kaepernick started his protest on the gridiron to bring attention to the police brutality and racial injustice plaguing this nation, but in a recent interview, the former quarterback reveals what specifically inspired his activism. In an interview with Paper magazine, Kaepernick says the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Mario Woods of…