The way crime is prosecuted in America is inextricably linked to race and class. Yeah, yeah. Everyone knows that, right? But it bears repeating for the myopic ‘personal responsibility’ reactionaries: two new reports say black men are more likely to be arrested and convicted on drug offenses even though white and black people use drugs Read More
Barney Frank wants to introduce legislation that decriminalize medical marijuana use. We won’t go on a rant about the country’s misbegotten drug policy, but there’s no way this gains any traction in the House. Or is there?
Burns, Simon, Pelecanos. Um, how many ways does this essay fall into our bailiwick? So how come we missed it? David Simon, Ed Burns, and George Pelecanos launched a salvo at America’s misbegotten drug policy, penning an essay in Time asking people serving on juries to vote to acquit any suspect charged with a nonviolent Read More
New York City’s record low murder rate in 2007 should help bolster its rep as the safest big city in the country — something that would have been imaginable in 1990, when the city caught over 2,200 (!) bodies. Chris Mitchell of New York magazine poses a provocative theoretical question: what would it take to Read More
