As America’s affordable housing crisis grows, especially for those of retirement age, Black folks continue to be pushed into homelessness at a disproportionate rate. Advocates argue that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling may make it even more dire. Earlier this month, the court announced that it would hear a case that will essentially decide […]
Courts
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
The Thwarted Promise of Black Women Prosecutors
When Kimberly M. Foxx was sworn in as the first Black woman in Illinois to lead the Cook County attorney’s office in 2016, she also joined the “Sisters Circle” with 20 other Black female prosecutors. Over Foxx’s two terms, she has seen the support group’s numbers fluctuate – yet members’ concerns remain the same. “In […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
The Courthouse Where Trump Surrendered Conjures an Ugly History
Donald Trump on Tuesday entered the same Manhattan courthouse where five Black and Latino teenage boys were wrongfully convicted of raping a white female jogger more than 30 years ago — a case he attached himself to by taking out a full-page ad in the city’s major newspapers to “bring back” the death penalty in New […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Does Sentencing Day Help Families Heal, or Open Old Wounds?
More than 30 years ago, a news camera was allowed inside a Milwaukee courtroom to capture the sentencing of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The hearing started with friends and relatives of the 17 victims who chose to give impact statements. One by one, they calmly entered the courtroom and approached a podium several feet from […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Are in Prison. The Person Accused of Protecting Them Is Now in Court.
Jacquelyn Lee Johnson, the former district attorney accused of unethically meddling in the investigation of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder in 2020, was expected to face a judge this week for arraignment on a felony charge of violating her oath of office. But the hearing in the long-awaited case has been delayed at her attorney’s request, according to court records. […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
‘Vocal and Unafraid’: How Justice Jackson Is Talking About Race on the Supreme Court
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made history when she took her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court at the term’s opening in October, becoming the first Black woman on the bench in its 233-year history. Just a couple of months in, the Biden appointee has made waves on the nation’s high court, quickly building a reputation […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
The U.S. Supreme Court Adds Its First Black Woman to the Bench
Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, concluding a contentious confirmation process and weeks of criticism from some Republican lawmakers. The Senate gave the stamp of approval to President Joe Biden’s nominee on Thursday afternoon with a vote of 53-47. Democrats unanimously supported Jackson, while 47 […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
What’s Behind the Wave of Convictions for Police and Vigilantes? It’s More Than Woke Jurors.
Juries in recent months have been handing down guilty verdicts against police officers and white vigilantes in a series of rare convictions for a legal system that historically has failed to render justice for Black victims. Last month, three white men in Georgia were convicted of committing a hate crime when they murdered Ahmaud Arbery, […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
What Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court Appointment Would Mean for Black Americans
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s presence on the U.S. Supreme Court would not only diversify the nation’s highest bench with its first Black woman, it would add a perspective of the law that has rarely been heard in the court’s more than 230 years, legal experts say. President Joe Biden’s nominee is a former public defender and […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Prosecutors Rarely Pursue Hate Crime Charges. Here’s Why Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder Was Different.
Two years after Ahmaud Arbery’s jog through a south Georgia neighborhood ended in his murder, the tragedy received a rare designation on Feb. 22, when the three white men who killed him were also convicted of executing a hate crime. A federal jury found that Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, along with their […]
