Skip to main content

Owning Up to Failed 'War on Drugs,' DOJ To Release Wave of Nonviolent Offenders

Lauren McCauley Common Dreams
The decision to release 6,000 federal prisoners before the end of their sentence is a sign of the failure of the "war on drugs." But it’s no substitute for systemic reforms that cut off the cycle of mass incarceration. Congress still needs to pass comprehensive criminal justice reform," said Michael Collins, policy manager with the Drug Policy Alliance.

Friday Nite Videos -- September 25, 2015

Portside
Donald Trump Has Nothing To Apologize For. John Oliver: Public Defenders. Brutally Honest NFL Theme Song with Bonnie McKee. Interview: From Freedom Fighter to President. 2-Million-Year-Old Fossils Reveal Hearing Abilities of Early Humans.

John Oliver: Public Defenders

The Miranda warning includes the right to a public defender. It doesn’t include the fact that public defenders are highly overworked and grossly underpaid.

The Meeropol Brothers: Exonerate Our Mother, Ethel Rosenberg

Michael Meeropol and Robert Meeropol The New York Times
Our mother was not a spy. The government held her life hostage to coerce our father to talk, and when that failed, it extracted false statements to secure her wrongful execution . . . It is never too late to correct an egregious injustice.

The FBI's Pseudo-Science and False Convictions

Ed Pilkington The Guardian
The FBI's practice of falsely testifying to guilt based on pseudo scientific "hair comparisons" has lead to a mass disaster of false convictions – at least hundreds of cases. Now begins the "herculean effort to right the wrongs."

Blue Lives Matter

Ta-Nehisi Coates The Atlantic
Talking about "police reform" obscures the task. Today's policies are, at the very least, the product of democratic will.

10 Ways the System Is Rigged to Protect Cops Who Kill; The American Justice System...Broken

Steven Rosenfeld; Albert Burneko
The system is substantially rigged in favor of letting officers off the hook for using excessive force in the line of duty. Policing in America is not broken. With the video of Eric Garner's death, it is impossible not to conclude that the justice system is institutionally biased in favor of using excessive and sometimes lethal force....The judicial system is not broken. American society is not broken. All are functioning perfectly, doing exactly what they have done.

Friday Nite Videos -- August 22, 2014

Portside
How Economic Inequality Harms Societies. Peter Case -- House Rent Party. The Racial Wealth Gap in America. Guantanamera Around the World. The Racism of the US Criminal Justice System in 10 Charts.
Subscribe to criminal justice