Search Results for: jury, race

For too long, this country’s criminal legal system has perpetuated violence, brutality, and murder, with Black people bearing the brunt. While methods may change, the underlying outcomes remain the same. The modern-day manifestation of our nation’s history of anti-Black violence is perhaps most apparent in capital punishment. Marcellus Khaliifah Williams – father, poet, and imam [...]

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced the state will move forward with plans to execute Marcellus Williams at 6 pm local time on Tuesday despite controversy over evidence and racial discrimination in the trial that led to his 2001 capital conviction. Who is Marcellus Williams? The jury that convicted Williams of capital murder knew little about [...]

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) released a report Monday assessing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives following a June 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned race-conscious college admissions and heightened scrutiny of workplace diversity efforts nationwide. DEI efforts proliferated across the US after the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man [...]

The trial of four American socialist activists began this week in Florida in a case that echoes the ideological tensions of the Cold War era. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused these individuals of instigating social unrest in the US at the behest of the Kremlin. This case pits allegations of Russian misinformation against [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia and law firm Butler Curwood filed a lawsuit in Lynchburg, Virginia against Liberty University on Monday for firing former employee Ellenor Zinski after she disclosed that she was transgender. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The ACLU [...]

A US federal court on Monday dismissed all charges against Donald Trump in a case alleging the former president mishandled classified documents after leaving office. The ruling centered on Senior Counsel Jack Smith, whose appointment to prosecute the case was ruled unconstitutional. In November 2022, US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith to serve [...]

The ACLU on Wednesday released its strategy to safeguard racial equality and civil rights in the US in the event Donald Trump is elected in November to another term as president. The advocacy group warned that after Trump left office, two-thirds of Americans believed his leadership had heightened racial tension in the country, explaining: The [...]

In the final analysis, human fragmentation into separate and competitively hostile states is unnatural. Because it is contrary to intellectual understanding and natural law, such fragmentation always makes it impossible to fashion a just and survivable global order. Ipso facto, it also renders impossible any long-term American future. What should be done? Suitable transformations are [...]

Minutes before a New York jury convicted Donald Trump on thirty-four counts of falsifying business records, I had posted the following on social media: Many trial watchers were curious whether the law would prevail over mathematics. Here, I explain why mathematics predicted a hung jury. I also explain how legal realism theories that the Trump [...]

A New York appellate court denied an effort by former US President Donald Trump on Monday to delay the start of his upcoming falsified documents criminal case. The New York Times reported earlier on Monday that Trump filed several challenges against Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the falsified documents trial. With the appellate court’s [...]