This story is a collaboration between Capital B and Open Campus. HAMPTON, Virginia — Just weeks into the start of the fall semester, Nick Jones was walking back to his Hampton University dorm when he got an alert that the campus was on lockdown. “Yo … should I be outside?” he thought to himself, but really, he was […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
5 Years After Casey Goodson’s Death in Ohio, His Family Faces a New Legal Hurdle
This month, an Ohio family will gather for their fifth holiday season without Casey Goodson. The 23-year-old was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy while trying to enter his home on Dec. 4, 2020, in Columbus in Franklin County. He was holding keys to the front door in one hand and a bag of Subway […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Public Safety
Virginia Man Accused of Planting Pipe Bombs Before Jan. 6 Faces Federal Charges
Federal law enforcement has made its first arrest in connection to the planting of two pipe bombs outside the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees, officials announced last week. After a nearly five-year search, Brian J. Cole Jr. has been identified as a suspect. Cole was allegedly seen in surveillance footage […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
Grand Jury Declines to Reindict N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James
New York Attorney General Letitia James is “grateful” after a grand jury declined to reindict her on mortgage fraud charges. On Thursday, the grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case just days after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case, sources familiar with the case told multiple news […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
After 17 Police Bullets Killed This N.C. Mom, a Judge Has Dismissed Her Family’s Case
Jada Elizabeth Johnson’s daughter is excelling in kindergarten, absorbing lessons like a sponge and earning high marks that remind her family of Jada. But she still has hard moments, her great-grandfather Rick Iwanski said. The 6-year-old has anxiety, especially at bedtime, when dreams sometimes turn into nightmares of July 1, 2022, when a police officer […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Officer Found Not Guilty in Killing of Pregnant Black Mother Ta’Kiya Young
The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta’Kiya Young was acquitted Friday on all counts, including murder. Young was an excited mom of two little boys, and pregnant with her first daughter, when she encountered Connor Grubb at a Kroger supermarket parking lot on Aug. 24, 2023. She was accused of shoplifting by a […]
Posted inGun Violence, Politics & Policy, Public Safety
After DOJ Pulls Millions for Public Safety, Nonprofits and Neighborhoods Step In
JACKSON, Mississippi — Sharon Brown seemed destined from birth to be a changemaker in her hometown. She grew up reading old newspaper clippings about her mother and aunt protesting for women’s rights in the 1960s, and watching them help neighbors with whatever they could — from child care to groceries. Years later, her mother urged […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Employment
‘Clean Slate’ Laws Could Help Millions of Black Americans Clear Their Records
The 11th day of April means more to Elvina Smith than her daughters will ever know. For 17 years, a shoplifting conviction that led to six days in a Wayne County, Michigan, jail and a year of probation impacted every aspect of Smith’s otherwise law-abiding life. From 2006 to 2007, Smith traveled for miles outside […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
‘I Don’t Feel Safe’: Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Police Task Force
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. When Reggie Williams turned 18 two decades ago, his mother entrusted him with his birth certificate. Keep it on you at all times, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Gun Violence, K-12, Partner Content
Does Closing A School Contribute to Gun Violence in Philadelphia?
Originally published by MindSite News. KIPP North Philadelphia Academy charter school has been operating since 2018 in the red brick school building on North 16th Street at Cumberland Street. Bright KIPP banners hang off the four-story building, but you can still see the fading letters “M Hall Stanton” on the facade. That’s because KIPP only […]