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Report: Black Kentuckians continue to be incarcerated at high rates
A new study of incarceration trends shows Black people in the Commonwealth are jailed at a rate nearly three times higher than their white peers, despite making up around 8% of the state’s population. The Prison Policy Initiative research found disparities in the criminal justice system have not changed over the past decade, despite debates about addressing mass incarceration. […]
Former College Park mayor gets 30 years for 140 charges of possessing and distributing child sex abuse material
The former mayor of College Park, Maryland, was sentenced Monday to three decades in prison, after pleading guilty to 140 charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. Patrick Wojahn was sentenced for possessing and distributing images and videos of children, some of them infants and toddlers, being raped and sexually abused. Prosecutors say this was […]
Monsanto hit with $165 million verdict over PCBs in Seattle school
A U.S. jury has ordered Bayer’s Monsanto to pay $165 million to employees of a school northeast of Seattle who claimed chemicals made by the company called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, leaked from light fixtures and got them sick. The Washington state court jury found the company liable for selling products containing PCBs used in […]
Slave descendants are suing to fight zoning changes they say threaten their island homes off Georgia
Black residents of a tiny island enclave founded by their enslaved ancestors off the Georgia coast have filed suit seeking to halt a new zoning law that they say will raise taxes and force them to sell their homes in one of the South’s last surviving Gullah-Geechee communities. The civil lawsuit was filed in McIntosh […]
2 charged with operating sex ring that catered to wealthy clients will remain behind bars for now
Two people accused of operating a high-end brothel network with wealthy and prominent clients in Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., suburbs will remain behind bars for now, a judge said on Wednesday. Authorities found Rudy Farias IV last Thursday, about 8 years after he was reported missing in 2015. Lawyers for Han Lee and Junmyung […]
Court Spends $70,000 on Photos, Catering and Gift Cards Despite Court Reporter Shortage
As budgetary challenges leave self-help centers understaffed and courtrooms without court reporters, the Santa Clara County Superior Court spent nearly $70,000 for a “first-of-its-kind” staff training day. According to records obtained by the Vanguard, over 450 court employees spent Indigenous People’s Day being treated to catered meals, gift cards, and team-building activities that included a […]
United States Appeals Courts Ruling Strikes at Core of Landmark Voting Rights Law
A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that only the U.S. government, not private parties, can sue under a landmark civil rights law barring racial discrimination in voting, a decision that would significantly hamper usage of the Voting Rights Act to challenge ballot access, voting rules and redistricting. The ruling, which will likely be appealed, […]
All Complaints Sustained Against a Seattle Police Officer Who Allegedly Stalked Ex-Girlfriend
The Office of Police Accountability (OPA) completed its investigation into Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer Andrew Swartz and sustained all eight policy violations related to his alleged stalking and harassment of his ex-girlfriend. A superior officer first filed a complaint against Swartz in August 2021, and Swartz has remained on paid leave for the entire […]