The Police Bullying of Sandra Bland

It’s surely small comfort to Sandra Bland’s family that there’s an audio and video recording of her arrest, since she died (off camera) in a Texas jail three days after being pulled over for failing to signal a lane change. A Texas prosecutor said on Thursday that according to medical examiners, the #BlackLivesMatter activist did

Will We Finally Fix Our Broken Prison System?

US politicians have suddenly woken up and realized—finally—that something has to be done about mass incarceration. At the end of my chapter “Mass Incarceration: Young Men Locked Up, Locked Out” in my book Swagger, I wrote: What’s remarkable is that millions of us — mostly young men — have disappeared from American life in just one

Donald Trump’s Textbook Racism

This week I’ve appeared on Dr. Drew’s HLN TV show, Jami Floyd’s WNYC radio show, and several others, talking about race. Reality show star and real estate magnate Donald Trump said of Mexican immigrants a few weeks ago: “They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists and some I assume, are good

Was it Legal to Shoot David Sweat?

When may police shoot a fleeing suspect? On June 28th, New York state police apprehended fugitive David Sweat, who had escaped from a maximum security prison with another inmate, Richard Matt. According to Mr. Sweat, he separated from Mr. Matt after arguing about Mr. Matt’s alcohol use, claiming Mr. Matt was too old and out