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Feds End Use of Private Prisons, but Questions Remain

Juleyka Lantigua-Williams The Atlantic
Consistent review of and changes to federal and state sentencing guidelines, more humane pre-trial bargaining by prosecutors of low-level offenders, increased used of probation instead of jail time, and a more judicious application of bail practices would do far more to reduce the incarcerated population.

Uber and Lyft Want to Replace Public Buses

Joshua Brustein Chicago Tribune
In Uber's early days, it said it wanted to be "everyone's private driver." Now the company and its main U.S. competitor, Lyft, are playing around with the idea of becoming the bus driver, too.

Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Stiglitz Tells Us Why 'Neoliberalism Is Dead'

Will Martin Business Insider
Joseph Stiglitz, who won a Nobel Memorial Prize in economics in 2001 for his work on information asymmetry, has been one of neoliberalism's biggest critics in recent years, and he says the "neoliberal euphoria" that has gripped the world since the 1980s is now gone.

A Second Chance? Women In US Prisons Need a First One

Christia Mercer The Guardian
The US imprisons more women, both per capita and in absolute numbers, than any other country. As shocking as the statistics are, they don’t reflect the uniquely horrible circumstances many incarcerated women faced before their convictions. And, according to a report released Wednesday, women are also the fastest growing demographic in our jails, where people are booked and held pending trial, greatly exacerbating the societal disadvantages these women already face.

A New Memorial Will Honor Victims of Lynching

Equal Justice Initiative Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative plans to build a national memorial to victims of lynching and open a museum that explores African American history from enslavement to mass incarceration. Both the museum and memorial will open in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2017. (Videos.)

Why the Guns-on-Campus Debate Matters for American Higher Education

Steven J. Friesen The Conversation
Until this year, Texas law allowed anyone with a Concealed Handgun License to carry a loaded hidden gun on campus, but not inside buildings. As of Aug. 1, 2016, a new law allows concealed handguns in college and university buildings. We're about to find out what difference guns in the classroom make in the relationships of students, faculty and staff – and in the character of higher education.

We Finally Know Who Forged Piltdown Man, One of Science’s Most Notorious Hoaxes

Sarah Kaplan The Washington Post
In 1953 scientists investigating Piltdown Man, an alleged "missing link" between modern humans and apes, concluded that it was a fake. But their investigation couldn't answer the question: Who had done it, and why? Many suspects have been proposed, but we now finally know the culprit in this long-standing mystery.

The First National Monument to Victims of Lynching

A dynamic new memorial to lynching victims seeks to inspire local efforts to make the history of racial terror in America more visible and tangible, challenging each county where a racial terror lynching took place to permanently install a memorial to the victim.