• Black Lawyers Launch Independent Investigation of North Charleston Police Shooting

    A video viewed by millions shows a white policeman fatally shooting a fleeing, unarmed black man. But it’s not a slam dunk, warns a black lawyers group. There are legal scenarios in which full justice could elude the victim, Walter Scott, and his family. That’s why Black Lawyers for Justice, the group that brought a…

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  • Activists Launch Hunger Strike in Support of Loretta Lynch

    A group of advocates have launched a hunger strike to pressure the Senate to bring Loretta Lynch’s bid to become the next attorney general to a vote, Politico reports. Lynch’s supporters are angry that Republican leaders in the Senate continue to delay her confirmation, which would make Lynch the first female African-American U.S. attorney general.  The…

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  • Former Philadelphia Narcotics Cop Admits to Crimes, Implicates Other Undercover Officers on Witness Stand

    Jeffrey Walker, a 24-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, has admitted to committing “thousands” of crimes. The disgraced former narcotics investigator also has testified against six members of his undercover unit in a federal corruption trial, the Associated Press reports.   The FBI caught Walker in a sting operation. He began cooperating with federal…

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  • Detroit Hitman (Again) Confesses to 4 Murders in Attempt to Free Innocent Man

    Davontae Sanford’s new legal team filed an affidavit in court from an imprisoned hit man who says that he—not Sanford—killed four people in a Detroit drug house, the Associated Press reports. The sworn statement is part of a motion for a new trial. Vincent “Vito” Smothers underscored in the affidavit that he has “nothing to…

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  • Judge Frees Another Person Framed by Crooked Brooklyn Detective Louis Scarcella

    A Brooklyn, N.Y., judge has ordered the release of Rosean Hargrave, a man convicted in 1991 of murdering an off-duty corrections officer, the New York Daily News reported. Hargrave’s case is the latest overturned conviction involving former New York City Detective Louis Scarcella, who has been accused many times of framing suspects. “The finding of…

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  • Dozens Arrested in Coast-to-Coast Protests Against Police Violence

    The recent police shooting of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in North Charleston, S.C., sparked a fresh wave of national protests against police violence. Authorities arrested scores of demonstrators from coast to coast as part of a national day of action to end police killings of unarmed minorities, according to Reuters. In New York…

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  • Chicago Proposes Reparations Package to Police Torture Victims  

    Chicago is trying to apply closure to a scandal that continues to haunt the city. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and several city aldermen proposed Tuesday a $5.5 million reparations package for victims of police torture, reported the Associated Press. The package will be introduced Wednesday to the City Council. “Today we stand together as a city…

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  • Nigeria’s President-Elect: I Cannot Promise That We Can Find Abducted Girls

    Today marks a somber anniversary in Nigeria—and indeed around the world. It’s been one year since the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeast-Nigerian town of Chibok. Nigerian President-elect Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement Tuesday saying that it may never be possible to locate the missing girls. “We do…

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  • Black Lawyers Group Calls for a Special Prosecutor in North Charleston Police Shooting

    Black Lawyers for Justice wants a special prosecutor to handle a white police officer’s deadly shooting of an unarmed black man in North Charleston, S.C., the Associated Press reports. Malik Shabazz, the organization’s president, issued the call Monday during a rally at the North Charleston City Hall. According to AP, Shabazz also said that BLJ…

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  • Home Health Workers Are an Invisible Force in the ‘Fight for $15’ Movement

    Labor forces are planning the largest rally in decades—their latest effort in an uprising against low wages. On April 15 these workers will join their voices to demand a $15-per-hour living wage from rich industries that they say are pinching pennies on salaries. The Fight for $15 movement burst onto the scene in late 2012…

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