criminal justice reform
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Florida Judge Sentences 21-Year-Old to 10 Days in Jail for Missing Jury Duty
Talk about getting an “n-word wake up call”—to quote legendary comic Paul Mooney. A young black man, who said he overslept and missed jury duty, got the book thrown at him. Whether or not we are now considering missing jury duty a crime, a judge in Florida says it is—and it’s punishable by law. 21-year-old…
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Felicity Huffman Gets 2 Weeks in Jail for Gaming Educational System — Not So Long Ago, a Black Mom Wasn’t So Lucky
With tears of misspent white privilege streaming down her face, actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison for paying a fixer to change her daughter’s SAT scores in order to secure her a spot in the college of her choice. It was the first major outcome of a national college admissions…
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Kamala Harris Releases Criminal Justice Reform Plan to Address Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, the Drug War
Kamala Harris has a lot of plans. Every other week the California senator introduces a proposal that would end climate change (with a trillion dollars,) create Medicare-for-all (without pushing out private insurers) and fund black businesses (while ensuring that the local Jamaican restaurant never runs out of oxtails). And on Monday, the Democratic presidential hopeful…
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Trump Comes for John Legend and 'Filthy Mouthed Wife' Chrissy Teigen on Twitter; Ends Up With a New Nickname We Can All Agree On
I think it goes without saying that there’s a lot of bad shit happening in the world right now: the Bahamas and the Carolinas continue to recover from the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Dorian, yet another reminder of the coming climate apocalypse; mass shootings are a regular feature of America life and the global economy…
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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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Ben & Jerry’s Takes on Criminal Justice Reform with New Flavor, Justice Remix’d
In a world in which the trappings of allyship have devolved into Instagram likes or tawdry photo ops, premium ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s has quietly ignored fanfare in favor of doing the actual work. It’s not uncommon to find posts admonishing the criminal justice system or systemic racism on their website, and since…
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Jay-Z Got Paid to Be the NFL’s Black Boyfriend
It begins the same way each time. Something with a hint of scattered racial flurries happens. Next comes a conversation about said thing, where (usually black) people articulate exactly why the racist thing was racist. And then either the (white) person accused of the act or a (white) person defending the accused will attempt to…
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Meek Mill Weighs in on Stifling Criminal Justice System Ahead of Amazon's Free Meek Documentary
Meek Mill has been stuck in the criminal justice system for practically his entire adult life. First arrested at 19 for gun- and drug-related charges, Robert Rihmeek Williams—like many other black and brown people—has found himself on a merry-go-round, in and out of the criminal justice system. Now the 32-year-old is an internationally known rapper…
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Cyntoia Brown Is Coming Home. Now What?
Seven days into 2019, Cyntoia Brown was granted clemency from her life sentence. On Wednesday, she is coming home. A then-16-year-old victim of sex trafficking, Brown, now 31, served 15 years for killing a man who paid to have sex with her. Petitions supporting her release circulated the internet for the better part of 2018.…
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Innocent Man Released After 21 Years in Prison, Star Witness Confesses to Killing: 'I Can't Live With This on My Conscience'
After 21 years behind bars, one Pennsylvania man will finally resume the life he left behind. CNN reports that 44-year-old John Miller has been released from prison after David Williams, the star witness in a murder case that Miller was charged for, has confessed to committing the act himself. “I’m very happy and excited that…