Troy Davis, Two Years Later

In the early hours of August 19, 1989, a fight broke out in the parking lot of a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia. Amongst the crowd of people present was Troy Davis, a 20 year old black man. Officer Mark MacPhail, a police officer moonlighting as a security guard at an adjacent bus station, responded … Continue reading →

Remembering the Giles-Johnson Case

It started out slow and easy, a lazy July evening spent fishing and swimming in Maryland’s Patuxent River.  Hours later, the lives of three young black men had been forever altered after encountering a racial and sexual tinderbox on a lovers’ lane in Montgomery County. The year was 1961.  It was nearing midnight when John Giles, James Giles, … Continue reading →

In Pursuit of Empathy

This past Monday, two great things happened. First, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal prosecutors would no longer be able to invoke the draconian mandatory minimum sentence laws for low-level drug offenses. A product of the failed “War on Drugs,” these mandatory minimums were almost single-handedly responsible for the 800% increase in prisoners … Continue reading →

The Prosecutor

On November 2nd 2007, in the hillside town of Perugia, Italy, behind a locked door and covered up by a duvet, Meredith Kercher’s body was discovered. The British exchange student was half-clothed and had been stabbed multiple times in the throat. The cause of death was asphyxiation. Her short life and tragic death are now steeped … Continue reading →

Innocent in America’s Worst Jails

The United States prison population has surged upwards since the 1980’s, quadrupling in just the past quarter-century alone.  The uptick in inmate numbers has seen a corresponding deterioration in the living conditions at many jails and prisons throughout the country. The 306 people exonerated through DNA testing spent, on average, 13 years in these facilities. … Continue reading →

On the Eve of Willie Manning’s Execution

Unless Governor Phil Bryant issues a stay of execution, Willie Jerome Manning will be dead in 26 hours, killed by the state of Mississippi. Let’s examine his case, briefly, by the numbers. 14—the number of years Willie has been requesting DNA testing of the evidence collected from the scene of the double-murders he was convicted … Continue reading →

Activist Ethics in the Internet Age

This is a very short rant against the gigantic misinformation mill that the internet can easily become. Let me begin by saying that I am 100% against any corporation being above the law, and I am not in support of any of the GMO-giant Monsanto’s business practices. BUT: calling HR933 (the Agricultural Appropriations Bill that President … Continue reading →

A Brief Testament to the Human Spirit

Today, the Italian Supreme Court will decide whether or not Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito will stand trial a second time for the murder of Knox’s former roommate, Meredith Kercher. Although I’m 90% certain their acquittals will be upheld– to retry a case with such an incredibly botched investigative process and blatant fabrications would be ridiculous– it’s … Continue reading →

The Death Penalty’s Death-Knell

Sodium thiopental to render the individual unconscious, pancuronium bromide to relax the muscles, potassium chloride to stop the heart. For years, this was the cocktail used by the United States to execute prisoners. Since its creation in the early 1980s, the 3-drug-mix had been used to kill over 1,000 inmates in 35 states. However, in … Continue reading →

Zero Tolerance, Zero Success

Since President Nixon declared a ‘war on drugs’ in 1971, the United States has spent over 1 trillion dollars and has made over 45 million drug-related arrests. Almost half (47.4%) of current United States federal prisoners are incarcerated for drug-related offenses. Last year, more people were arrested just on marijuana charges alone than in all … Continue reading →