‘We want Rikers closed and no new jails in its place!’
For years, prisoners, activists, and legal advocates have been drawing attention to the inhumane conditions at Rikers Island, New York’s most infamous jail complex. But the COVID-19 pandemic turned...
View ArticleCops wanted to arrest him for a red light infraction, but they weren’t ready...
Traffic stops lead to fraught encounters with American law enforcement, which is why this stop between a LA County Sheriff and a local cop watcher is so illustrative of the power of turning the camera...
View Article‘This is COINTELPRO 2021’
After spending nearly half a century in prison, leftist revolutionaries and political prisoners David Gilbert and Russell Maroon Shoatz (who also spent 22 years in solitary confinement) were released...
View ArticleThe death penalty is a barbarous stain on our humanity
According to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center, even though they have doubts about its administration, fairness, and usefulness as a crime deterrent, most Americans today still support the...
View ArticlePatrick Leahy agrees: It’s time to free Leonard Peltier
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Dec. 1, 2021. It is shared here with permission. US Sen. Patrick Leahy has become the most senior US government official to support the release of...
View ArticleCops tried to tase him during a routine traffic stop, but a video turned the...
As police reform efforts stall across the country, the case of an Arizona man who was dragged from his car by cops during a routine traffic stop is revealing. In this episode, the Police...
View Article‘How juveniles are railroaded by the criminal justice system’
In 2014, at the age of 15, Prakash Churaman was arrested at his home at 6AM without a warrant. After driving him around for a few hours, police brought Churaman to the 113th Precinct and, as Churaman...
View ArticleA cop tried to keep him from recording a traffic stop, but now he’s fighting...
The battle over the right to record police is far from over. That’s because a case pending over a routine traffic stop in Lakewood, Colorado, where police interfered with a citizen journalist...
View ArticleWhy the holidays are the most painful time of the year for prisoners
After spending the past year and a half socially distancing, millions around the country will be coming together to celebrate the holidays this year with a renewed appreciation for seeing and being...
View ArticleState releases list of in-custody deaths tied to controversial medical...
Dr. David Fowler garnered national attention after his controversial testimony on behalf of killer cop Derek Chauvin. The former Maryland Chief Medical Examiner made headlines when he testified Floyd...
View ArticleBattleground Baltimore: The indignities our residents endure
This will be the last weekly roundup of 2021. Over the next two weeks, Battleground Baltimore will be doing some year-in-review-ing, and likely a little bit of prognostication into what Baltimore will...
View ArticleThe US deportation machine is out of control right now
The world was horrified earlier this year to see US Border Patrol’s horrific treatment of asylum-seeking Haitian refugees fleeing for their lives. Even though the news cycle has moved on, the...
View ArticleBattleground Baltimore: 2021, the year in review
On Dec. 22, a few days before Christmas, Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry showed up to the (virtual) Board Of Estimates hearing dressed as Santa Claus. There, Henry and the rest of the voting...
View ArticleThis groundbreaking book could change the debate over defunding law enforcement
Nearly 20 years ago, Mark Neocleous published a seminal book entitled A Critical Theory of Police Power: The Fabrication of the Social Order, which examines how law enforcement and capitalism work in...
View ArticleWhy US prisons don’t want prisoners to read
In a recent piece for Protean magazine entitled “The American Prison System’s War on Reading,” Alex Skopic writes, “Across the United States, the agencies responsible for mass imprisonment are trying...
View ArticleCorporations are making millions of dollars from US prison labor
Curtis Ray Davis II was wrongly convicted of murder. He served nearly 26 years in Louisiana’s Angola State Prison before his conviction was overturned and he was released in 2015. While in prison, he...
View ArticleProsecutor sought funding from oil giant Enbridge to jail Line 3 water...
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Jan. 6, 2022. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license. With Canadian oil giant Enbridge pouring more...
View ArticleThe mysterious death of detective Sean Suiter: How deep does the corruption go?
A recent HBO documentary entitled The Slow Hustle has brought renewed attention to the mysterious death of Baltimore homicide detective Sean Suiter in 2017. Police initially claimed Suiter was the...
View ArticleHow Maryland prisoners took on the governor
Walter Lomax was wrongfully imprisoned in the state of Maryland for 39 years until he eventually had his conviction vacated by a judge in 2006. While he was incarcerated and fighting for his freedom,...
View ArticleAmid omicron surge, Baltimore police got even more money
As the omicron variant surged into the new year, pushing statewide infection rates in Maryland past 30% and sending Baltimore City residents scrambling for COVID-19 tests and N95 masks, Baltimore City...
View ArticleA cop tried to arrest him for wearing a hoodie, but that’s not where the...
Aaron Reinas was just blocks from his home when a San Bernardino, California, sheriff accosted and accused him of burglarizing cars. What happened next reveals the dangers of unchecked police power...
View ArticleThe missing evidence that makes Baltimore detective Sean Suiter’s death even...
A recent HBO documentary entitled The Slow Hustle has brought renewed attention to the mysterious death of Baltimore homicide detective Sean Suiter in 2017. Police initially claimed Suiter was the...
View Article‘The state doesn’t forget’: Carrying on Malcolm X’s fight for Black freedom...
Malcolm X was assassinated over 50 years ago, but organizations like the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) are carrying on the fight for Black liberation today, winning important victories and...
View Article‘Continued abuse, harassment, and wrongful imprisonment’: The Gun Trace Task...
When a former Baltimore Police Commissioner suggested to a subordinate that he put child pornography on a problem cop’s computer, at least one person in the room wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not....
View ArticleCops arrested him for filming a traffic stop, then the case went to court…
The efforts of cop watchers and First Amendment auditors to record police continues to be a controversial subject. Some use aggressive tactics that critics say go too far, others argue the country’s...
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