Published: Daily Dot (May 28, 2015) In his new book, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America, Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul declares that the GOP brand “sucks” and is “broken.” From those big declarations, he goes on to discuss his personal affinity for nature (describing himself as a “tree hugger”) and his ability to find common ground with racial...
Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex
Why Rand Paul can win
May 27, 2015 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Elections, Elections - Presidential (2016), Libertarianism, mic, Military-Industrial Complex/Security State, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Race and Racism, Republicans
Published: Daily Dot (May 27, 2015) While Rand Paul’s name often appears on lists of leading Republican presidential nominees, his well-known libertarian streak is often cited as a prime reason why he most likely won’t be nominated. His National Security Agency opposition might make him popular on the Internet, but he’s the definition of a wild card. Make no mistake about it: If history serves...
We should be sending drug addicts to the hospital, not putting them in prison
May 7, 2015 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Health & Wellness (Physical), Marijuana Legalization and the War on Drugs, Mental Illness, mic
Published: Daily Dot (May 7, 2015) At a time when Americans are justifiably shown real stories of police violence and racial profiling, it’s important to give credit to the law enforcement officials working to change our current system of brutality. That’s why we should all be praising the Gloucester Police Department in Massachusetts for its bold new anti-drug program: Instead of hauling drug...
Stop calling the Baltimore protesters ‘thugs’
Apr 30, 2015 | Class Issues, Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, General Advice, mic, Race and Racism
Published: Daily Dot (April 30, 2015) Language matters, and in light of how frequently the word “thug” is used as a substitute for outright racial slurs, it’s time for everyone to eliminate it from their vocabulary when discussing the Baltimore protests. It may not seem like a big deal that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake sent out a tweet referring to the predominantly African American...
Social Reparations for Racist Incarceration: What Americans Owe Men Like Kalief Browder
Apr 28, 2015 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, General Advice, Race and Racism
Published: Good Men Project (April 28, 2015) Matthew Rozsa argues that it’s time for Americans to pay their debt to non-whites suffering from racial discrimination. If Americans truly wish to eradicate the scourge of racial oppression from our nation, we must start by paying our debts. Last week, The New Yorker obtained footage from two surveillance cameras that depicted the horror of Kalief...
The right wing’s bloodthirsty obsession: How conservatives poisoned the debate over capital punishment
Apr 24, 2015 | Conservativism, Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Death Penalty, mic, Original Source Salon.com, Political Ideologies
Inside the Texas bill that stops you from filming police brutality
Mar 30, 2015 | Civil Liberties, Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Race and Racism
Published: Daily Dot (March 30, 2015) Those with power must be held accountable for how they use it. This may seem like a self-evident proposition, but it is actually facing a considerable challenge in Texas right now. If passed, a new bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) would define the act of “filming, recording, photographing, or documenting the officer within 25 feet of [a...
The Sentencing Gap: Why are Men More Likely to Go to Prison?
Mar 17, 2015 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, Gender and Sexism, Liskula Cohen, mic
Published: Good Men Project (March 17, 2015) co-author Liskula Cohen Men are statistically more likely to go to prison than women for the same crime. Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists alike should be outraged. People forget that prisons aren’t always there to protect us; in fact, they often aren’t there to help us at all. When you have a primarily or entirely privatized penal system, prisons...
In defense of the Ferguson rioters
Nov 28, 2014 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, mic, Race and Racism
Published: Daily Dot (November 28, 2014) In Ferguson, the streets are on fire, and so are the media as they follow rioters through clouds of tear gas and across lines of National Guard troops. Months after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson, the people of Ferguson have yet to see justice; But the unrest is bigger than either Wilson or Brown. Here are the nationwide...
Mississippi is Stripping Prisoners of Their Right to Family Visits For Political Reasons
Jan 17, 2014 | Criminal Justice/Prison-Industrial Complex, mic
Published: mic (January 17, 2014) On Friday, family members of those incarcerated in Mississippi prisoners will gather in the state capital in support of their imprisoned loved ones. For the significant others, imprisonment can be especially trying, and it's about to become even more so. The state that pioneered the concept of family visits is now taking them away. As of Feb. 1, prison...