This movie is in many ways a fairy tale. The character Precious gets to be saved by a caring caseworker and a loving teacher. In real life, poor, undereducated and sexually victimized girls are most likely to end up in the juvenile justice system.
I see it all the time. There is the 13-year-old who became [...]

by Guest Contributor Fiqah, originally published at Possum Stew
[NOTE: This post was originally penned back in September. The police officer in question is obviously no longer a threat to my safety. However, because a lot of what I discuss in this post is triggering, it took me a while to get to a place where [...]

By Deputy Editor Thea Lim
**TRIGGER WARNING**: The following post is about physical and sexual abuse in detention, and focuses on a trans woman who has chosen to speak out about the abuse she endured. Her choice is incredibly brave and her story is deeply distressing.
Restore Fairness has a post about Esmeralda, a trans woman [...]

by Guest Contributor Bao Phi, originally published at Your Voices/The Star Tribune

UP IN ARMS: A Night of Hip Hop and Spoken Word to Honor Fong Lee and End Police Brutality
Saturday, October 3rd, 8 p.m. (doors at 7:30)
Kagin Commons at Macalester College
1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105
Featuring performances by Magnetic North (NY), Nomi of Power [...]

By Guest Contibutor Antonio Ramirez, originally published at WireTap Magazine
Interview: Campaign for Youth Justice’s Liz Ryan talks about the thousands of teenagers detained in adult jails and prisons.

When 16-year-old Bobby Nestor’s mother found a marijuana roach in his jacket pocket she called the police, hoping to scare him. She never intended for her teenage son [...]

By Guest Contributor Leticia Miranda, originally published at RaceWire

A New York Times article reports that more and more courts are ordering mentally ill youth to jail as community mental health programs are facing bigger cuts and thinning resources.
“We’re seeing more and more mentally ill kids who couldn’t find community programs that were intensive enough to [...]

By Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

No, not the real Jackie Chan. This is a ridiculous, infuriating story out of Indiana, about an immigrant refugee with mental and medical disabilities who went missing for thirty-five hours, much to the [...]

by Latoya Peterson
While skimming through my news feeds, I noticed this article in the New York Times:
After federal border agents detained several Mexican immigrants in western New York in June, an article about the incident in a local newspaper drew an onslaught of vitriolic postings on its Web site. Some were racist. Others attacked farmers [...]

by Guest Contributor G.D., originally published at Feministe and PostBourgie

A few years back, my co-blogger quadmoniker worked for New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, which is supposed to act as a watchdog group for the city’s police department. If a citizen wanted to file a complaint against a police officer, she would do so [...]

by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man
Last week, Christopher Lee Dunn, a decorated Asian American police detective, filed a civil lawsuit against the Burbank Police Department, alleging that he was the victim of discrimination and retaliation before being unlawfully fired: Sixth Burbank officer sues department over discrimination.
Dunn, who won the [...]

by Special Correspondent Jessica Yee, originally published at Rabble

Ed. Note: Jessica wrote this in response to Canadian border patrol agents being armed in Akwesasne. This article gives a summary of the situation:

A respected security and anti-terrorism expert says Canada’s federal government should stand by its guns and ignore threats from Mohawk militants in [...]

by Latoya Peterson

On Friday, I was in transit when I saw the message pop up on Thea’s twitterfeed:

White NYC cop fatally shoots black NYC cop, mistaking him for an armed criminal: http://bit.ly/QXgtq Aiyeee. (thanks @sunnykins)11:23 AM May 29th from web
Damn, really?
The New York Times has the scoop:
A New York City police officer who had [...]

by G.D., originally published at PostBourgie

One of the (many) reasons I oppose the death penalty is because of the shitty track record the criminal justice system has not just in the prosecution of capital offense but also for routinely botching non-capital felony cases. Why should we have faith in the system when it comes to [...]