Civil Rights Movements & the Law

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) stands firmly with people throughout the world protesting police brutality and systemic oppression following the recent, brutal killings of Black Americans including George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

Critical Resistance uses a chapter structure that helps us to draw on local and regional knowledge, culture, and history in order to combat the ever-moving, ever-changing nature of the prison industrial complex. Local chapters develop their own projects and campaigns while coordinating and communicating with sister chapters and other members that make up CR’s national organization. Our national organization supplies our work with resources, infrastructural support, political education, fundraising support, technology, trainings and a network of prison industrial complex abolitionists throughout the world.

California sheriff’s deputies fatally shot a teenager with autism who was holding a gardening tool over the weekend, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and a family attorney said.

NYU Law students start the conversation regarding a new initiative led by Professor Anthony Thompson. Learn more: http://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law

Nashville Police Officer Andrew Delke: All I was doing was following my training which is, you shoot until the threat is neutralized.

THE GATHERING FOR JUSTICE IS A 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN 2005 BY HARRY BELAFONTE AFTER HE WITNESSED A NEWS REPORT OF A 5 YEAR OLD BLACK GIRL BEING HANDCUFFED AND ARRESTED IN HER FLORIDA CLASSROOM FOR “BEING UNRULY”. THE GATHERING FOR JUSTICE’S MISSION IS TO BUILD A MOVEMENT TO END CHILD INCARCERATION WHILE WORKING TO ELIMINATE THE RACIAL INEQUITIES THAT PERMEATE THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Chronic failures by the Bureau of Prisons contributed to the deaths of hundreds of federal prison inmates, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General said in a blistering report released Thursday.

On June 1, federal police used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear protesters from Lafayette Square in front of the White House. News outlets documented the police's use of force, now the subject of a lawsuit filed by Black Lives Matter D.C. and several protesters who returned to the scene a week later to tell their stories.

Author(s): Lawson, Madison | Abstract: In this argumentative research essay, the idea of an intersectional lens is used examine the class and race of women who are victims of police brutality. With stories of African-American women in low economic cities, it is clear that minority women are more likely to fall victim due to their neighborhood they live in and because of their stereotype of being weak. African-American women are being sexually assaulted and murdered by police and then never receive justice because the media, who can share the story often; however, their stories are never told. In this essay, stories of different types of police assault are told to elucidate the harsh reality that black women face in their own neighborhoods.

Our goal is simple: we will research, develop, test and mandate the use of an effective non-lethal weapon for America’s police

A White 85-year-old homeowner who allegedly shot and wounded Ralph Yarl, a Black teen, after the 16-year-old went to the wrong home to pick up his siblings will face two felony charges.

The funeral for the late civil rights icon John Lewis was held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Thursday, capping off a six-day celebration of life honouring the congressman. Lewis died on July 17 at the age of 80. Three former presidents joined in the eulogies after nearly a week of mourning that took him from his birthplace in Alabama to the nation’s capital of Washington to his final resting place in his home of Atlanta. “I’ve come here today because I like so many Americans owe a great debt to John Lewis and his forceful vision of freedom,” former President Barack Obama said. Former president George W. Bush said from the pulpit that Lewis “always believed in preaching the Gospel in word and in deed, insisting that hate and fear had to be answered with love and hope." Former president Bill Clinton and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also spoke. Pelosi recalled how Lewis’ body was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol earlier this week, and a double rainbow appeared. “He was telling us, ‘I’m home in heaven, I’m home in heaven.’ We always knew he worked on the side of angels and now he is with them," she said. A memorial service at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday drew Congressional leaders from both parties. Lewis was the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, his flag-draped casket was carried down the Capitol steps and placed in a hearse as people watched solemnly, many with their hands on their hearts. For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7234348/barack-obama-john-lewis-funeral/ Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB #JohnLewis #JohnLewisFuneral #USPolitics #GlobalNews

As we reflect on racism and anti-racism, the Roper Center continues to identify and make available all public opinion surveys of Black Americans in the Roper data archive. We highlight these surveys of Black Americans, dating back to 1945, to remember and amplify the voices of these individuals. We have also made available more than eight decades of public opinion data on how the U.S. public views Black America. These data provide historical insight into how racial attitudes have changed in the United States and how the public currently views topics such as police brutality, race relations, and social movements for racial equality. We are making all of this data, which can be accessed below, freely available to the public.

Linktree. Make your link do more.

STRONG BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AND CONTINUED OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT IN ADVANCING RACIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY

Marsha Quarles of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System reflects on Rep. John Lewis and other authors who have visited PGCMLS over the years. Visit http://www.pgcmls.info/anti-racism to access resources about Rep. John Lewis.

In 1968, almost 50 years ago, the Supreme Court validated, in a case called Terry v. Ohio (1968), a common police practice known as stop and frisk, so long as an officer could justify the action on the basis of a newly developed standard: reasonable suspicion. Today, policing agencies use stop and frisk prophylactically, stopping in some cities tens or even hundreds of thousands of people annually. These developments and the litigation around the strategy in New York City and elsewhere provide an opportunity to revisit Terry and to consider recent research in law and social science regarding stop and frisk. This review focuses on three issues: the evolution of legal doctrine pertaining to stop and frisk, arguments regarding the effectiveness of stop and frisk as a mechanism to control and reduce crime, and a delineation of the relevance of the theory of procedural justice to our understanding of the interleaving of the law and social science of stop and frisk.

Decarcerate PA is a grassroots campaign working to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania. We demand that PA stop building prisons, reduce the prison population, and reinvest money in our communities.

Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, met with officials from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division on Monday to ask them to investigate the fatal shooting of her daughter during a botched police raid in 2020 -- and ultimately to bring federal charges against the officers involved.

The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan speaks with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar about systemic racism, the militarized police response to protests in Minneapolis — which is in Omar’s district — and what real justice looks like for George Floyd’s family and black and brown communities across the country.

Blacks and whites in the U.S. disagree over police performance and differ on the causes of fatal encounters between blacks and police.

Condemns Reopening Economy As “Reckless” Washington, DC (April 24, 2020) Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issued a new demand letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), calling for increased transparency and immediate action in response to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black communities and other communities of color.  This letter follows […]

"The Louisville Kentucky metro council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance called "Breonna's Law" on Thursday banning no-knock search warrants in wake of Breonna Taylor's death."

Buried within Adelante is evidence of a fleeting attempt at prison reform and oversight in Connecticut. Is history repeating itself?

The emergence of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, is causing great concern due to its rapid spread and high death rates, particularly among vulnerable

"New York legislators passed a package of bills providing for comprehensive police reform and Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he intends to sign them all quickly."

From passionate pleas for reform to poetic turns of phrase, these talks take an honest look at everyday realities of Black Americans and illuminate the way forward.

This continuous publication journal is is the primary publication for peer-reviewed articles relating to all forms of coercive confinement, including imprisonme...

We analyze gender and racial disparities in traffic and street stops, including arrests, searches, and use of force that occurs during stops.