Published: Daily Dot (June 24, 2015)
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution may not have as much political cachet as the First or Second, but it’s a safe bet you’re familiar with one of its most important phrases (italics added for emphasis): “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”... Read Original Article
Published: Daily Dot (June 9, 2015)
Note: This article discusses themes of suicide and police abuse.
On Sunday, Kalief Browder took his own life.
You may have first heard about Kalief Browder last April, after the New Yorker obtained exclusive footage of the then teenager being beaten by prison guards and fellow inmates during his three-year stay in prison.... Read Original Article
Published: Daily Dot (June 2, 2015)
A recent internal investigation revealed that the Transportation Security Administration failed 95 percent of its security checkpoint tests. When the Department of Homeland Security made 70 attempts to smuggle explosives and weapons past the citadels of American airport security, they succeeded 67 times.
This is part of a larger pattern of post-9/11 incompetence, one in which we grant increasing, often invasive power to government agencies in the name of national security, only to find out that they aren’t coming even remotely close to doing their job well.... Read Original Article
Published: Daily Dot (March 31, 2015)
If there was any doubt that Jeb Bush would repeat his brother’s mistakes on the use of torture if elected president, it has been decisively dispelled.
Last December, the Senate published a report that harshly criticized the use of torture by George W. Bush’s administration.... Read Original Article
Published: Good Men Project (March 30, 2015)
I don’t live in Indiana, and because I don’t own a car, there is little chance I’ll be visiting anytime soon. Nevertheless, like most decent people, I am horrified by Indiana’s recent so-called “religious freedom” bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against homosexuals (they claim that pro-gay rights modifications to the measure are pending; I’ll believe it when I see it).... Read Original Article