Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced Friday to 50 months in federal jail following his conviction on prostitution charges. Combs, who turned a career as a music producer into a portfolio of businesses worth a billion dollars, was convicted on July 2 after prosecutors said he coerced women into sexual encounters with male escorts. […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, Culture, Higher Education
Hazing Death Prompts Soul-Searching for Divine Nine
The calls, texts and emails have been pouring in. Since news broke in late February that a 20-year-old student at Southern University died in what police called “a fraternity hazing incident,” messages and voicemails continue to fill the inbox of filmmaker Byron Hurt. Hurt heard from some of these same people three years ago, when […]
Posted inCourts
Fani Willis Responds to Being Removed From Trump RICO Case
When Capital B Atlanta spoke with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in August, she strongly objected to the criticism that her case against President Donald Trump for alleged election interference was expensive and unsuccessful. “That’s incorrect, that they didn’t yield the results. The case against President Trump is ongoing, and it’s in the [Georgia] […]
Posted inGun Violence, Health, Health Equity, Partner Content
A Surgical Team Was About To Harvest This Man’s Organs — Until His Doctor Intervened
ST. LOUIS — Lying on top of an operating room table with his chest exposed, Larry Black Jr. was moments away from having his organs harvested when a doctor ran breathlessly into the room. “Get him off the table,” the doctor recalled telling the surgical team at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital as the […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Lil Nas X’s Legal Battle Sheds Light on Charge Stacking
Many were stunned when footage surfaced this summer that appeared to show Lil Nas X walking naked along Los Angeles’s Ventura Boulevard. It was shortly before 6 a.m., and he was rapping a verse from the song “Monster.” “So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie? But my features and my shows 10 […]
Posted inHigher Education, Public Safety
HBCU Lockdowns Lifted After Day of ‘Terroristic Threats’
Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country have lifted lockdowns after a series of threats. Early Thursday morning, Hampton University and Virginia State University said they received terrorist threats. Later, the list grew as Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta University, Southern University in Louisiana, and Bethune-Cookman in Florida reported threats. Spelman College ordered […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
She Nearly Died in a Domestic Violence Attack. Illinois Denied Her Victim Compensation.
Yolanda Carter was once an avid line dancer known for her smooth two-step. More than nine years ago, a domestic violence attack not only forced her to walk away from her beloved dance group, but it changed her life forever. It was around midnight on March 22, 2016, when Carter went to bed next to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
Fact Check: Social Media Said Salt Trucks Were Used to Block ICE Agents in Chicago. This Is What Really Happened.
It sounds like a bit of poetic justice, street-protest style: there have been widespread reports on social media that activists opposed to mass deportation raids were using trucks loaded with rock salt, which is typically used to clear frozen roads, to obstruct the work of agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the organization that is, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Atlanta’s Strip Clubs Make Millions. Advocates Warn They May Also Fuel Human Trafficking.
In one episode of Starz’s glossy new docuseries, Magic City: An American Fantasy, a dancer called WifeyBaby describes the legendary strip club as “a gateway for you to be great.” A montage shows her dancing sensually, at one point fanning herself with a wad of cash. “I honestly feel like I’m closer and closer to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration, Politics & Policy
Cashless Bail Helps Keep Families Together. Trump Wants to Shut It Down.
Criminal justice advocates warn that President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending cashless bail policies will disproportionately impact low-income communities. Black and brown people, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, will suffer the most, they say. Black Americans are already over 25% more likely to be held in jail pretrial with bail […]