Criminal Justice Reform

Kamala Harris Joins Colleagues to Reintroduce Bill to Stop Trump Administration from Detaining and Shackling Pregnant Women

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) joined her colleagues to reintroduce the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act. The legislation would protect the health and safety of pregnant women and youth by reinstituting the presumption of release of pregnant women and youth in immigration detention, further prohibiting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from shackling pregnant women in its custody, and setting new standards of care and transparency for the treatment of pregnant women and youth. The bill was first introduced last summer in light of reports of mistreatment of pregnant women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

UPDATE: California AG Won’t Charge Officers Who Killed Stephon Clark

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general said Tuesday that he won’t charge two Sacramento police officers who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year, a killing that set off intense protests. Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s conclusion to a nearly yearlong investigation follows a Sacramento district attorney finding last weekend that the officers broke no laws when they shot 22-year-old Stephon Clark. Officers Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet said they mistakenly thought Clark was approaching them with a gun after he ran from them into his grandparents’ backyard as police investigated vandalism. Investigators found only a cellphone. Becerra acknowledged that

California AG to Announce Whether His Office will File Criminal Charges Against Two Police Officers who Shot and Killed Stephon Clark

  California Attorney General Xavier Becerra spoke with reporters Monday morning about Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s decision to not file criminal charges against the police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark.   SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general will announce today whether his office will file criminal charges against two Northern California police officers who shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark last year. Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s announcement follows the decision by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert not to charge the two Sacramento Police officers, Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet. She said Saturday that

New Author Releases Memoir – Surviving Forty-three Consecutive Years in Prison

LOS ANGELES, CA.  – Knowledge Power Books and Malik Bookstore will host a book signing event for first-time author Edward “Renee” Harden on Saturday, February 16, 2019, 3:00 p.m. at Malik Books, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall, 3650 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., #245, Los Angeles. Harden was sentenced to seven years to life for murder at seventeen. With good behavior and being a “model prisoner,” he could have been released after serving seven years. He spent a total of forty-three years consecutive years and an additional two years in a transitional housing program. Thirty-one of those years he served

Jay Z Puts His Advocacy to Action in Support of 21 Savage

Jay-Z , 21 Savage  According to TMZ,  Jay-Z is coming to the defense of 21 Savage, slamming his arrest by ICE and throwing some major support his way … including help with his upcoming legal battle. The hip-hop mogul calls the arrest and detention of the “Bank Account” rapper “an absolute travesty” … and points out his U Visa application has been pending for years. Jay says … “In addition to being a successful recording artist, 21 deserves to be reunited with his children immediately.” Also, even though Savage isn’t a Roc Nation artist, Jay-Z’s company has responded to what

Inmate Freed with Help by Kim Kardashian West Gets Book Deal

Alice Marie Johnson NEW YORK (AP) — An inmate whose life sentence was commuted thanks in part to the efforts of Kim Kardashian West has a book deal, along with deals for film and television rights. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Wednesday that Alice Marie Johnson’s “After Life: My Journey From Incarceration to Freedom” comes out May 21. Kardashian West contributed a foreword to what Harper is calling an “honest, faith-driven memoir” and a “deep look into the systemic issue of mass incarceration.” Film, television and “life rights” were sold to Endeavor Content and One Community. I feel

WATCH: Power Restored In NYC Jail After Days of Protest as Inmates Go Without Heat During Bitter Winter Cold

After inmates suffered for nearly a week with minimal electricity and heat, the power is back on at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The jail houses more than 1,600 inmates and has been running on emergency electricity since January 27th. Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams and Attorney Midwin Charles join Stephanie Ruhle to break down what happened and how the facility was extremely unprepared for this emergency situation.

California Governor Seeks to Transform Youth Prisons

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Tuesday to change the way California’s juvenile prisons are overseen, eventually closing facilities to cut what he called the “ludicrous” cost. “If we’re going to get serious about changing the trajectory of the lives of these young children, I think we need to do it through a different lens and not the traditional corrections lens,” Newsom said at one of the state’s four remaining juvenile detention centers. The Democratic governor is asking state lawmakers to put youth prisons under California’s Health and Human Services Agency. Youthful offenders currently are overseen by the

REDEMPTION SONG: Man Exonerated after 45 Years Sells his Prison Art to Get By

Richard Phillips Wire Photo FERNDALE, Mich. (AP) — Richard Phillips said he didn’t mope much during the 45 years he wrongfully spent in prison. He painted watercolors in his cell: warm landscapes, portraits of famous people like Mother Teresa, vases of flowers, a bassist playing jazz. “I didn’t actually think I’d ever be free again. This art is what I did to stay sane,” the 73-year-old said. Phillips could be eligible for more than $2 million under a Michigan law that compensates the wrongly convicted , but the state so far is resisting and the matter is unsettled. So he’s

Report: Black Motorists Stopped, Searched More than Others

CHICAGO (AP) — A report by the American Civil Liberties Union says African-American motorists in Illinois are more likely than others to be stopped and searched for routine traffic violations. The report says police asked to conduct searches of vehicles driven by black motorists nearly twice as often as those driven by whites in 2017. Police asked to search cars driven by Latinos 1.4 times more often those driven by whites. The study examined data collected by the Illinois Department of Transportation between 2015 and 2017 from more than 900 law enforcement agencies statewide. Police made about 6.5 million traffic

BREAKING NEWS: Florida Pardons 4 Black Men Accused of 1949 Rape

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — After a dramatic, hour-long meeting that recalled events from nearly seven decades ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s three-member Cabinet granted posthumous pardons Friday to four African-American men accused of raping a white woman in a 1949 case now seen as a racial injustice. The case of the men known as the Groveland Four has been documented in a book and is considered a blight on Florida’s history. One of the four was killed before he could be charged and the other three were convicted on dubious evidence. The families of the men accused