Adrianna Reams was forced to grow up faster than she’d ever imagined. Now 17, Reams is the sister of Sade Robinson, a 19-year-old college student who was murdered while on a date in 2024. At the Aug. 1 sentencing of Robinson’s convicted killer, Maxwell Anderson, Reams told a Milwaukee County judge how the murder upended […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy, Violence Against Women
New York’s Sexual Assault Law Excludes the Intoxicated. This Bill Aims to Fix It.
After surviving rape twice, calling 911 for help wasn’t Akia Nyrie Smith’s first instinct. As a Black nonbinary person, they knew all too well how law enforcement might respond, especially when alcohol was involved, as it had been both nights in Michigan. When Smith moved to New York in 2020, in the depths of the […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Policing
Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Case Sentenced to 33 Months
A former Louisville, Kentucky, officer was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during a no-knock raid in 2020. The officer, Brett Hankison, fired 10 bullets that did not strike or kill Taylor, who was a 26-year-old first responder. Yet, he was indicted in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Saniyah Cheatham’s Family Demands Answers in Her Death
The Fourth of July was the last time family and friends saw or heard from Saniyah Cheatham. Just hours before the 18-year-old was arrested in connection with a fight involving a friend, her mother said she was “happy” at their family barbecue. A close friend who texted with her that day agreed that she was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Jabari Peoples Was Killed by Police. His Family Wants The Truth.
Jabari Latrell Peoples is described by his parents as a college student who “wanted to do too many things,” and was “dedicated to all his friends and all his family.” But it has been more than two weeks since his parents last heard his voice. The 18-year-old was killed by a Homewood, Alabama, police officer. […]
Posted inCourts, Politics & Policy
Justice Jackson Warns Supreme Court Is Hastening Democracy’s Downfall
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson continues to break the fourth wall as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. And she has made one thing plain: There are moments when she sees the majority opinion as an “existential threat to the rule of law.” Jackson has often been a unique voice of dissent when […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, History
Texas Man’s Fight to Move a Lynching Marker Sparks New Battle for Truth
CENTER, Texas — As Delbert Jackson turned right onto the clean, sandy-paved stretch of Martin Luther King Drive, his chin lifted with quiet pride. The road’s upkeep is due in large part to Jackson, who leads regular community cleanups in the city. On this humid and sunny morning in early June, something felt a bit […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Partner Content, Public Safety, Violence Against Women
For Black Women,‘Diddy’ Verdict is a Reminder of Justice Denied
Originally published by The 19th A raucous scene unfolded outside the New York City courthouse where a jury Wednesday acquitted Sean “Diddy” Combs of the most serious charges — sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy — against him during a six-week trial in which witnesses painted the rap mogul as a monster who preyed on vulnerable […]
Posted inCourts, Health, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy
7 Supreme Court Cases That Black Americans Should Track This Summer
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued a number of blockbuster rulings that have implications for everything from President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order to the future of LGBTQ books in schools. The justices punted a major Voting Rights Act case until next term, allowing time for further argument in the fall. In the […]
Posted inIncarceration, Politics & Policy
After a DUI Stop, He Vanished Into the ICE System
Kléya Rice says her phone rings every other day from unknown numbers. She answers in a panic, unsure if it’s Rony Dieujuste — her partner and the father of her two children — calling from an undisclosed detention center with only minutes to talk. The usual recording that reveals a caller’s location hasn’t played on […]