An important new report looks at the relationship between policing practices and public health. Stress on the Streets (SOS): Race, Policing, Health, and Increasing Trust, not Trauma, released last month by Human Impact Partners, the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative analyzed police practices in two cities – Cincinnati and Akron. “The…
As part of our growing work to bring racial equity to victims’ services, EJUSA published a comprehensive toolkit to help groups apply for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. The toolkit is geared towards organizations serving crime survivors – particularly in communities of color – that have not had access to federal funding in the past. EJUSA…
Like many people around the country, the people of Delaware – especially African Americans – have grown increasingly frustrated with the criminal justice system. Reflection, education, and dialogue have led to an urgency for action, and the state’s death penalty has come to the forefront as the highest priority. “People in Delaware, especially within the…
By now, many have heard about the recent incident at Spring Valley High School, where a South Carolina deputy slammed a young African American girl to the ground, dragged her on the floor, and handcuffed her for disobeying school rules. Several videos have gone viral and spurred national dialogue about the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a framework…
Last Day of Freedom is a new, short documentary that follows the story of Bill Babbitt and his younger brother, Manny. It has already sparked conversations around the country, and now the it’s gaining momentum as a contender for an Academy Award. The film centers on the moral challenges Bill faces when he learns Manny…
In its next look at the death penalty, the Supreme Court is faced with the case of Timothy Tyrone Foster, to be argued on November 2. Foster is a black man who was convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury for the murder of a white woman. The jury was composed entirely of…
Continuing its look at death penalty, the Supreme Court will hear argument on Tuesday in Hurst v. Florida to decide whether Florida’s practices in capital trials are constitutional. At issue in Hurst is whether a judge properly imposed a death sentence without the necessary fact-finding by a jury. Florida is one of the few states…
On September 25, in honor of National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, I spent time reaching out to several family members of murder victims. Some survivors shared the traditions they have developed over the years to mark the day, including visiting burial grounds or viewing commemorative videos and photographs. Others told me that the…
For 25 years, you’ve helped us tackle one of the most serious flaws in the U.S. justice system: the death penalty. We’re not done with that work. But you know what? We’re almost there. Really. So what’s next when we end the death penalty? We believe it’s not enough to just dismantle the parts of…
In an early-May issue of The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin tells the story of one prosecutor’s effortsto combat mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on African Americans. In the story, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm comes to realize that racial disparities exist not only at the incarceration level but also in how the system…