Category: Criminal Justice Reform

— DOMINICK MASTRANGELO, The Hill Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has reportedly raised more than $16 million in an effort to help convicted felons in Florida register to vote.  The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition estimated Bloomberg’s fundraising push has already paid off monetary obligations for 32,000 felons, Axios reported. “The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and no […]

A grand jury decision is expected soon over whether to charge three Louisville officers who fired shots during a March raid on Taylor’s apartment. — Doha Madani, NBC News Police in Louisville, Kentucky, are operating under “state of emergency” rules as the city awaits a grand jury decision in the case of Breonna Taylor, an emergency […]

— EJI Staff, EJI, Equal Justice Initiative On September 20, 2007, at least 15,000 protesters, including celebrities and civil rights activists, came together in Jena, Louisiana, to show solidarity with six local Black high school students facing serious criminal charges after a conflict with white classmates. At the beginning of the 2006 school year, a […]

Brian Stepter, a 61-year-old with chronic respiratory problems, has struggled with substance use for decades. Police and prosecutors sought the harshest sentence possible after he failed to return the car. — Meg O’Connor, The Appeal Four years ago, Brian Stepter failed to return a rental car on time. Police and prosecutors in Maricopa County responded […]

The charges against Jake Gardner in the May 30 killing of James Scurlock in Omaha include manslaughter and making terrorist threats. — Azi Paybarah, The New York Times A white bar owner in Nebraska was indicted on Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a Black man during a protest in May, a case that a […]

— Christina Carrega, Mark Morales & Eric Levenson, CNN (CNN)The city of Louisville, Kentucky, has settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT killed by police six months ago, a source told CNN Tuesday. A separate source said the agreement was a multimillion dollar settlement. Taylor’s family sued the city […]

— Alene Tchekmedyian Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times At the Compton sheriff’s station, it’s called a ghost gun: a weapon a deputy says he spots on a suspect but that is never found when colleagues respond to the scene and search for it. That’s because the call-out is based on a lie. The deputy didn’t actually see […]

Wise and elected officials distributed over 700 boxes of groceries to families in the community. — NewsOne Staff, NewsOne Food insecurity is a pressing issue within New York City that has been exacerbated due to the public health crisis. Community leaders throughout the different boroughs are putting the focus on ensuring vulnerable groups have access […]

Another Black police chief in a major city, this time in Texas, steps down — Brakkton Booker, NPR Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall, the first Black woman to head the department, has announced that she is stepping down from the post. Her resignation follows criticism over the department’s response to protests against racism and […]

Fabiana Pierre-Louis, 39, will also be the only Black judge currently seated on the state’s highest court. — Tracey Tully, The New York Times Fabiana Pierre-Louis, a daughter of Haitian immigrants, is on track to become the first Black woman to sit on New Jersey’s highest court, serving at a time when the state and […]