Criminal Justice
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FBI, IRS Agents Search City Hall, Homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh
On Thursday, federal agents executed a number of search warrants as the investigations into whether Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh illegally profited from a no-bid book deal intensified. CNN reports that the FBI and criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service searched the home of the Democratic mayor, an additional residence she owns, the downtown office…
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R. Kelly Loses Sexual Abuse Case After Failing to Show Up in Court
After failing to show up in Cook County Circuit Court to face allegations that he sexually abused an underage girl in the late 1990s, embattled singer R. Kelly lost a civil lawsuit by default. Chicago Tribune reports that the “Ignition” singer was served a court summons in March while detained in Cook County Jail for…
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With Hints of the Central Park Five, Activists Charge That Disabled Black Man Possibly Railroaded Into Murder Charge
On Tuesday, Chanel Lewis was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of 30-year-old Karina Vetrano, who was raped and strangled in August 2016. There was an uproar in the Queens County Criminal courtroom after the judge rendered Lewis’ sentence, as some believe that the 22-year-old developmentally disabled Brooklyn man did not receive a…
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James Byrd Jr. Was Dragged to Death More Than 20 Years Ago. One of His Killers Is Scheduled to Be Executed This Week
The dragging death of James Byrd Jr. was one of the most gruesome hate crimes in recent memory; rightfully referred to as a “modern-day lynching.” Picked up by the side of the road by three white men in the early morning hours of June 7, 1998, the 49-year-old black man was beaten and his face…
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'Feeling Cute' Corrections Officers Feeling Jobless After Controversial Social Media Posts
The whole point of the “feeling cute” challenge was to have a little fun while on the job—or at least, while in your work clothes. But corrections officers who partook in the challenge earlier this month are now resigning or being fired from said jobs after their posts went viral for all the wrong reasons.…
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Teacher Charged With Hiring a Hitman to Kill a Child He Allegedly Molested
A fifth-grade teacher in Missouri, already being held on charges he molested a child in his care three years ago, faces new charges that he hired a hitman to kill the child. Deonte Taylor, a 36-year-old fifth-grade teacher in the Ferguson-Florissant, Mo., school district, was already in jail, accused of having molested the boy three…
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Fearing a Serial Killer Has Been Targeting Black Women in Chicago for 20 Years, Activists Push Police to Start a Probe
Teresa Bunn was eight months pregnant when her body was found inside a burning trash can in Chicago 12 years ago. Bunn’s death came within a day of that of another woman, Hazel Marion Lewis. Lewis’ body also was found inside a burning trash can in Chicago. According to the Murder Accountability Project, Bunn and…
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#FreeMumia: Former Journalist and Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal Gets Another Chance to Appeal in Cop Murder
Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Philadelphia radio journalist convicted and imprisoned almost 40 years for the 1981 murder of a police officer, has the chance to appeal anew for a new trial now that the city district attorney has dropped his objections to it. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday dropped his objections to a…
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Army Sergeant Exonerated of Assault Charges After Surveillance Video Proves She Acted in Self-Defense
After evaluating testimonies and assessing surveillance video of a February road rage incident that erupted into violence, felony assault charges against Sgt. 1st Class Kai Waters, 33, have been dismissed. Per the Washington Post: Waters, a 15-year veteran with combat tours of Afghanistan and Iraq and a clean military record, told The Washington Post last…
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Remy Ma Under Investigation for Allegedly Punching Love & Hip-Hop Co-Star
Since her release from prison in 2014, “All the Way Up” rapper Remy Ma has gone to great lengths to rehabilitate her image. She’s become invaluable to VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop empire, she’s joined husband Papoose in becoming the unofficial brand ambassadors for “Black Love,” and she co-hosts the popular talk show State of the…