Claire Bernish | The Free Thought Project After Baton Rouge, Louisiana, suffered inundating rains and widespread, historic flooding, residents have begun the formidable cleanup and rebuilding necessary to bring some normalcy back to their lives. As laborious as these tasks might be, however, the government has no intentions of alleviating stress from the effort: … Read more
2016/08/28 This judge cares more about money than people. Brianna Acuesta | True Activist While rapists that admitted to their crimes are getting no jail time and no convictions, likely because they or their parents are wealthy, those that aren’t as financially well-endowed are being thrown into jail for the saddest reasons. Judge Milas … Read more
David Lee | Courthouse News Service DALLAS (CN) — Dallas Police Department officials want to block the release of “highly intimate or embarrassing” information regarding the use of a bomb disposal robot to kill a sniper who murdered five officers last month, saying it is of no legitimate concern to the public. City officials asked … Read more
Jack Bouboushian | Courthouse News Service CHICAGO (CN) — Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson said Thursday he has recommended seven officers be fired for lying in their official reports about the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014. Johnson based his decision on the recommendations of Inspector General Joe Ferguson, who advocated firing 10 officers … Read more
Mike Heuer | Courthouse News Service RENO, Nev. (CN) — Homophobic Reno police officers, believing a paranoid schizophrenic woman was a lesbian, fabricated evidence that sent her to prison for 35 years for a murder committed by a man, making her the “longest-ever wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S. history,” her attorney says. Rather than pursue … Read more
Erik de la Garza | Courthouse News Service LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CN) — A federal class action filed Tuesday accuses an Arkansas city and district court judge of running a debtors’ prison that traps poor residents into a never-ending spiral of incarceration and debt. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of four Sherwood, Arkansas … Read more
Victoria Prieskop | Courthouse News Service SANTA FE, N.M. (CN) — A federal judge ruled that when a New Mexico State Police officer took pictures of a man police had shot to death and texted the pictures to friends, no constitutional right to privacy was violated. The late Samuel Pauly’s father and brother sued the … Read more
SABRINA CANFIELD | Courthouse News Service NEW ORELANS (CN) — The results on an autopsy performed on a Baton Rouge, Louisiana man following his shooting death at the hands of police will remain sealed, a federal judge ruled Thursday. However, the judge unseal the motion that led to the decision, explaining he was doing so … Read more
Joe Harris | Courthouse News Service A federal class action accuses 13 St. Louis County cities of putting black people in de facto debtors’ prisons because they can’t afford to pay traffic tickets and fines for other petty offenses. Quinton Thomas and 12 other named plaintiffs sued St. Ann, Edmundson, Normandy, Cool Valley, Velda City, … Read more
Daniel Staples | Courthouse News Service Major changes are in the works for the Baltimore Police Department following a scathing report Wednesday by the Department of Justice on its investigation of systematic discrimination and constitutional rights violations. Joining the DOJ’s civil rights head outside city hall this morning to unveil the 164-page report this morning, … Read more
Jamie Ross | Courthouse News Service PHOENIX (CN) — A federal judge Wednesday removed some of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s authority over his Internal Affairs department, finding “America’s Toughest Sheriff” minimized punishments of his command staff or failed to discipline them at all for civil rights violations. U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow’s ruling comes two … Read more
Matt Agorist | The Free Thought Project A man who falsely claimed for decades to be a CIA agent and worked as the FOX News “Terror Expert” has now been sentenced to 33 months in prison, according to prosecutors, as cited by Reuters. According to a U.S. District Attorney’s Office statement, Wayne Shelby Simmons of Annapolis, … Read more