Eight-year-old boy charged with murder? Really?

  Baby Kelci was crying. The one-year-old’s mom was out at a club late at night, and an eight-year-old boy was left in charge. According to police, the boy “got extremely agitated” that the baby would not stop crying, and he beat her to death. The baby’s mother, Katerra Lewis, 26 and her roommate, a

Bathroom bogeymen swing Houston election

The nation’s fourth largest city has rolled back civil rights in a campaign based on lies. In last week’s elections, Houston, Texas overturned its antidiscrimination ordinance in a referendum. The law had prohibited discrimination based on fifteen protected categories. While thirteen of the fifteen were protected under federal law (sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin,

Debtor’s prisons: An attack on the poor

Most of us have committed a petty legal infraction like walking a dog without a leash, making an illegal left turn or drinking in public. You don’t go to jail for these offenses. You’re just hit with an annoying ticket and fine. But in many states you go to jail if you can’t pay those

Will the Supreme Court ban the death penalty?

Last term, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the “equal protection” clause of the Constitution with a modern, progressive read in requiring all 50 states to recognize same sex marriage. This term, might the Court give a similarly enlightened read to the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and ban the death penalty? It’s

It’s time to retire “Stand Your Ground” laws

According to a scathing new report from the American Bar Association, “Stand Your Ground” laws increase homicides, foster a shoot-first mentality that is a “license to kill,” disproportionately justify violence against people of color, and endanger police officers. Coincidentally, this occurred during the same week that the infamous shooter most associated with Stand Your Ground,