Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is indicted on two misdemeanor charges of willful neglect of duty in connection to the Flint water crisis, becoming the first governor or former governor in Michigan’s 184-year history to be charged with crimes related to their time in office. Eight other …
Rick SnyderDana NesselFadwa Hammoudflint-water-crisisrick-snyderaccountabilitycriminal-justice
At a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering a pardon for Edward Snowden, stating “Many people think he should somehow be treated differently, and other people think he did very bad things, and I’m going to take a …
Donald TrumpEdward SnowdenMike PompeoGlenn Greenwaldedward-snowdenpresidential-pardontrump-administrationwhistleblowingcriminal-justice
Jeffrey Epstein is arrested at Teterboro Airport on federal charges of sex trafficking minors and conspiracy. The arrest by the FBI and NYPD comes after a joint investigation by the Southern District of New York, effectively nullifying the controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement. The indictment …
Jeffrey EpsteinGeoffrey BermanFBINYPDSouthern District of New Yorkfederal-prosecutionsex-traffickinglaw-enforcementaccountabilitycriminal-justice
The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 5-0 (including Republicans) to order a new election in the 9th Congressional District after discovering a ‘coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme’ orchestrated by Republican operative McCrae Dowless on …
Mark HarrisMcCrae DowlessDan McCreadyNorth Carolina State Board of Electionselection manipulationrepublican partyelection fraudcriminal justice
Twelve years after DNA evidence conclusively proved the innocence of the Central Park Five, Donald Trump published an opinion piece in the New York Daily News calling the city’s $41 million settlement with the wrongfully convicted men “a disgrace” and continuing to assert their …
Donald TrumpYusef SalaamKorey WiseAntron McCrayKevin Richardson+1 moreracismcentral park fivedonald trumpcriminal justice
Justice Charles J. Tejada of the New York State Supreme Court vacated the convictions of all five men wrongfully imprisoned for the 1989 Central Park jogger case, ending one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in American legal history. The exoneration came after Matias Reyes, a convicted …
First Lady Hillary Clinton delivers a speech at Keene State College in New Hampshire supporting the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, in which she uses the now-infamous “super-predators” terminology. In her remarks, Clinton stated: “They are not just gangs of kids …
President Bill Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the largest crime bill in U.S. history, consisting of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers and $9.7 billion in funding for prisons. Drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden and sponsored by …
Bill ClintonJoe BidenJack Brooksmass-incarcerationcriminal-justiceprison-industrial-complexracial-justicelegislation
Two weeks after five Black and Latino teenagers were arrested for the brutal rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park, Donald Trump spent $85,000 to place full-page advertisements in four major New York newspapers calling for their execution. The ads, which appeared in The New York Times, New …
Donald TrumpYusef SalaamKorey WiseAntron McCrayKevin Richardson+1 moreracismcentral park fivecriminal justicedeath penalty
President Ronald Reagan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, introducing the “aggravated felony” concept into immigration law for the first time. Initially defined narrowly to include murder, federal drug trafficking, and illicit trafficking in certain firearms or destructive devices, …
Ronald ReaganU.S. CongressDepartment of JusticeImmigration and Naturalization Serviceimmigrationdeportationwar-on-drugsmandatory-minimumdue-process+1 more
The Americans for Bush arm of the National Security Political Action Committee, working with Bush campaign consultants, began running the infamous ‘Weekend Passes’ advertisement featuring William Horton, a Black prisoner who committed crimes while on furlough from a Massachusetts prison. …
George H.W. BushLee AtwaterRoger AilesLarry McCarthyWilliam Horton+2 moreracial-politicsdog-whistle-politicspolitical-advertisingrepublican-partycriminal-justice+1 more
Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, establishing a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses—imposing the same penalties for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine as for 500 grams of powder cocaine. The legislation provided mandatory minimum …
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