A Prison, Infamous for Bloodshed, Faces a Reckoning as Guards Go on Trial
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Public defenders know that the trouble with our justice system extends far beyond abusive policing.
How is it that the differential in treatment for African Americans and Latinos not only persists, but continues to grow during what some commentators once described as a supposed ‘post-racial’ era? We must not permit the movement to be sidetracked.
The shooting of Michael Brown offers Americans yet another reminder that their criminal justice system is riddled with racial disparities. From encounters with police to prison sentences, Ferguson is another drop in a very full bucket.
Systematic undercounting of sexual assaults in the US disguises a hidden rape crisis.
Matt Taibbi discusses his new book, "The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap." The vast majority of white-collar criminals have avoided prison since the financial crisis began, while an unequal justice system imprisons the poor and people of color on a mass scale. Taibbi explores how the Depression-level income gap between the wealthy and the poor is mirrored by a "justice" gap in who is targeted for prosecution and imprisonment.
President Obama has pardoned two birds each Thanksgiving for the past five years. In both 2009 and 2012, he pardoned more turkeys than people. Overall, Obama has granted clemency to just 39 people.
This statistics stuff is important. The correct analysis and interpretation of statistics are sometimes a matter of life and death.
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