Derrick Hamilton turned 18 behind bars. A few months later in 1983, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for murder and robbery, and transferred to an upstate New York prison over 200 hundred miles away from his family. This sequence of events happened not once, but twice, to the young father. He was […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
No One Called 911 for an Ohio Man Having a Mental Health Crisis. An Officer Killed Him.
Kimberly Roquemore’s maternal instinct kicked into high gear during the summer of 2022. She had this unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach that her second-oldest child, Maalik Roquemore, was in danger. The 32-year-old was a Black man living in America with mental illness. Kimberly, a registered nurse, was a week away from moving […]
Posted inCourts
An Upcoming Supreme Court Case Threatens to Criminalize Homelessness
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 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What a Black Mississippi Mom Is Doing to Save Her Son From the Legal System
Update: The charges against Quantavious Eason were dismissed by a Mississippi judge on Feb. 5, his attorney announced. A Mississippi mom is legally challenging a county’s youth court system after her 10-year-old son was detained for urinating in public. Like many elementary-school age students, Quantavious Eason could not hold his urine once the urge hit […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
This Mom Is the 2nd Black Person Seeking Help That One Deputy Has Killed in 3 Years
It has been over a month since Niani Finlayson was gunned down in front of her 9-year-old daughter by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy in Lancaster, California. As Finlayson’s devastated mother prepares to bury her youngest child, community activists have been calling for justice and transparency from the law enforcement agency that’s sworn […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Chicago Man’s Long-Delayed Exoneration Reveals Cracks in a System
Six days before Christmas, Darien Harris’ family showed up to court hoping he would be granted bail. They got more than they expected. He will walk out of a Chicago courthouse as a 30-year-old exonerated man after being incarcerated for 12 years. On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped all charges against Harris in the 2011 shooting of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A Son Shot His Teacher. His Mother’s Prison Sentence Raises Questions.
Ten days before Christmas, a Virginia state court judge will determine if Deja Taylor should receive the maximum sentence of five years in prison for child neglect. Taylor’s 6-year-old son carried her handgun to school in January and shot his teacher. The 26-year-old Newport News mom has already started a 21-month federal prison sentence in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Co-Captain at Center of Montgomery Riverboat Brawl Calls Assault Accusation Unbelievable
Months after the Alabama riverboat brawl went viral and the infamous white folding chair became a symbol of Black folks’ standing up to white supremacy, the co-captain says he has yet to get a break from the emotional roller coaster. “I went to work that day not thinking any of that would have happened, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Black Woman’s Hanging Death Haunts Family and Evokes a Painful History
This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In the weeks leading up to Yolna “Yo-Yo” Lubrin’s 31st birthday, she was excited about moving to a new city that was closer to her sister and other relatives in South […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
The Two Conversations Black Parents Have With Their Kids
Shanice Stewart and her son, Brandon, were on their way to his football practice when Sacramento, California, police pulled them over along the side of a highway. What she thought would be a routine traffic stop turned into a terrifying ordeal: Her 8-year-old was misidentified as a juvenile suspect. Stewart said she did all she […]