Lakechia Schonta Stanley has been sentenced to 78 years in prison for what is being referred to as the ‘systemic torture’ of her children. Stanley pleaded guilty to 34 felonies that included multiple counts of assault and endangering the welfare of a child stemming from her beating, whipping and waterboarding her own children. Had it not been for her then 10-year-old daughter deciding to reach out to a school librarian,…
Recorded conversations obtained by the Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that the no-fly zone implemented in Ferguson, Missouri during protests that followed the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown were put in place with the sole purpose of keeping news helicopters from covering events. The no-fly zone was implemented for twelve days in August after police began a militarized response to demonstrators. Sgt. Brian Schellman,…
April V. Taylor It has been a month since 43 students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college went missing following a protest that saw dozens of young men vanish after they were hauled off in police vans. As authorities have investigated what took place on September 26th, instead of being able to find the students, who are now presumed dead, they have uncovered horrific things that include multiple mass graves…
April V. Taylor Michael Brown’s mother Lesley McSpadden will be traveling to Geneva, Switzerland to testify to the United Nations Committee Against Torture about her son’s death. Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was killed by Officer Darren Wilson in August. Wilson has not been arrested and leaks indicate that a grand jury is not likely to return an indictment against him for killing the unarmed Brown. With little hope of…
April V. Taylor The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is demanding sweeping changes to current discipline guidelines for the more than 5,000 school safety officers in New York City. The NYCLU has previously sued the NYPD for use of force against students and wrongful arrest, made the demands during a press conference Wednesday, stating that school discipline should be handles by educators, not the police. Alecia Cabral made a…
April V. Taylor The hacker group Anonymous released a Tweet over the weekend stating that they had received leaked information that Darren Wilson will not be indicted by the grand jury for the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Today, they released a report containing information about Darren Wilson’s current alias, appearance and location. Anonymous stated in Tweets from their Operation Ferguson Twitter account that they had…
April V. Taylor The militarized response of police to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer was the first time some Americans became aware of just how militarized local police departments have become. While Americans have long been aware of how police terrorize Black neighborhoods, a lot has changed since the 1965 confrontation between Marquette Frye and…
April V. Taylor London isn’t the only city taking to extreme measures to prevent homeless people from being able to sleep, eat or care for themselves; many cities in the United States are in on the action too. The National Alliance to End Homeless estimates that on any given night, there are 610,042 homeless people on the streets of American cities. Each year, 1.5 million children find themselves homeless in…
April V. Taylor For the first time in the history of the United States, Amnesty International has documented human rights abuses on American soil. The report entitled, “On The Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses In Ferguson,” declares Michael Brown’s death a human rights abuse and also highlights abuses that include police reactions to protesters and racist policing tactics across the country. Specifically regarding Officer Wilson killing unarmed teenager Michael…
[View the story “Thousands March Against Mass Incarceration and Police Brutality” on Storify]
April V. Taylor As Ferguson residents and people all over the country anxiously await the decision of the grand jury on whether or not Officer Darren Wilson will be indicted for the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown, it appears that officials are using leaked documents to prepare the public for an indictment not to be returned. After a series of leaks through Twitter, the most recent leak of an…
April V. Taylor The fact that the overwhelming majority of police officers who kill unarmed, surrendered civilians are never convicted of any crime makes one wonder what the law says about whether or not this act is legal or not. The recent killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri has caused many across the country to focus on the issue of police killing and has revealed that incomplete…
April V. Taylor As America continues to look like a hypocrite to the world for how fundamentally corrupt and flawed its worldview is when compared with the suffering caused by the racism and injustice of the country’s criminal justice systems, many Americans are realizing that the power to help end police brutality and killings is right in the palm of their hands. As protests in Ferguson, Missouri have continued since…
April V. Taylor Many people assume that if a person is convicted of a crime, then they are guilty, but a recent article by The Economist reveals just how often a person is convicted of a crime without there ever haing a trial. A shocking 95 percent of convictions in the United States are actually the result of plea bargains. Plea bargains are offered by prosecutors in exchange for leniency…
April V. Taylor Pedro Serrano is an officer with the NYPD’s 40th precinct who secretly recorded his superiors telling him and other officers to target Black and Hispanic men between the ages of 14 and 21 to be stopped and frisked and that they had to meet certain stop and frisk quotas. Serrano reported that he and other officers were required to participate in van hunts where officers would ride…