Before the Central Park Five, There Was the Trenton Six | Black Perspectives

Denise Lynn, Black Perspectives Trenton Six, 1949, (Charles White via Museum of Modern Art). Featured Image [dropcap]The[/dropcap] four-part docuseries When They See Us, directed by Ava DuVernay, has brought attention to the notorious case of the Central Park Five, a legal case that for many of us unfolded in living memory. The attention the docuseries […]

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At home behind bars: After 66 years in prison, he has lost the desire to leave | The News & Observer

Joseph Neff, The News & Observer [dropcap]John[/dropcap] Phillips has been behind bars since April 8, 1952, when he was arrested on sexual-assault charges. He was 18 years old and only in the ninth grade, and he was sent to be evaluated at the state mental hospital for black people. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] The report classified Phillips […]

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“When They See Us” Shows How Black Slang Was Criminalized For The Central Park 5 & It Still Is Today | Bustle

Nylah Burton, Bustle Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix. Featured Image [dropcap]Ava[/dropcap] DuVernay’s new Netflix docuseries When They See Us depicts the heartbreaking story of the 1990 Central Park Five case in which a group of young Black and Latinx boys were convicted of a crime that they did not commit. Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, […]

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Report: Wrongful convictions have stolen at least 20,000 years from innocent defendants | The Washington Post

The National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) will soon publish the second part of a study it commissioned of its database of all known false convictions in the United States since 1989. The NRE was kind enough to send me an advance copy. Among the highlights: * The 2,265 exonerees in the NRE database served a […]

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Michigan to Pay $860,000 in Lawsuit Over Prison Guards Who Bet on a Woman Inmate’s Suicide | The Root

Anne Branigin, The Root Michigan inmate Janika Edmond killed herself in 2015. (Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections). Featured Image [dropcap]How[/dropcap] much is an incarcerated person’s life worth? At one Michigan jail, about the cost of a Subway sandwich. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] That’s what corrections officers wagered in response to a suicidal inmate, 25-year-old Janika Edmond, who […]

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