DNA evidence had suggested for years that Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams was wrongfully convicted for the murder of Felicia Gayle, and yet, the final weeks before the Sept. 24 execution date had been a series of twists and turns. That evidence was enough for Gayle’s family and Missouri’s former attorney general in 2017. This January, […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Incarceration, Policing, Public Safety
DOJ Launches Investigation Into This Mississippi County’s Infamous ‘Goon Squad’
Nearly two years after Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker survived hours of a sadistic torture plot conjured up by six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers, the U.S. Justice Department has launched a pattern or practice investigation into Rankin County, and its sheriff’s department. On behalf of Jenkins and Parker, their attorneys Malik […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
NFL Player’s Privilege May Have Spared His Life, But Other Black Men Aren’t So Lucky
Just days after video footage went viral of NFL player Tyreek Hill’s traffic stop ahead of his team’s first game of the season on Sunday, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver called for the firing of the police officer who tackled him. On Wednesday, Hill commented that he “could have been better” about keeping his driver’s […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Black Liberation Leaders Convicted of Conspiracy, But Not Guilty of Acting As Russian Agents
The leaders of four Black liberation groups were convicted on Thursday for conspiring to act as unregistered Russian agents, but dodged the most serious charge: acting as Russian nationals in the U.S. to spread their propaganda in 2016. Outside of the courthouse, 82-year-old Omali Yeshitela praised the jury’s verdict, the Tampa Bay Times reported. “The […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Tyre Nichols Killing: Jury Selection Begins for 3 Ex-Officers Accused in Fatal Beating
Nearly a year ago, five Black former Memphis police officers were indicted in federal court after a traffic stop in January 2023 that resulted in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. The FedEx worker cried out for his mother as the officers repeatedly kicked, used a baton and Tasers, and pepper sprayed him. He was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
Leaders of Black Liberation Groups Are Accused of Working With Russia
An 82-year-old Black liberation leader, and three others, are on trial in a Florida federal court, accused of plotting a scheme with Russian operatives in 2016 to promote the Kremlin’s political interest in the United States through staged protests. The defendants — Omali Yeshitela, 82, Penny Hess, Jesse Nevel, and Augustus Claudius Romain Jr. — […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
A Judge Ruled That Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend Caused Her Death, Not The Officers Who Shot Her
It has been four years since Breonna Taylor was killed inside her home by a hail of bullets fired by three Louisville, Kentucky, police officers. It has also been nearly four years since Vice President Kamala Harris uttered Taylor’s name in agreement that the 26-year-old first responder had not received justice when a grand jury […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Who are the Exonerated Five?
If it were up to former President Donald Trump 35 years ago, five Black and brown teenagers from New York City would have been put to death after a jury convicted them in 1990 of the rape and assault of a white woman jogging in Central Park. The charges against the five young men would […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Policing
If Mental Health Responders – Not Police – Had Come to Marquis Rivera’s Home, Would He Be Alive Today?
This story, originally published by MindSite News, is the latest installment of Fateful Encounters, an ongoing investigative collaboration between MindSite News, the Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago at Northwestern University and other media outlets exploring police response to mental health crises. This work is generously supported by the Sozosei Foundation. Marquis Rivera was going to kill himself. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
South Carolina Court Upheld Brittany Martin’s 4-Year Sentence for Protesting
In another blow for Brittany Martin and her family, South Carolina Court of Appeal judges disagreed that her 4-year prison sentence for yelling at police officers during a protest was excessive and upheld her conviction. And, in May, Martin was denied an early release by a state parole board. She won’t have another hearing until […]