police violence

'I question America': Remembering Fannie Lou Hamer's challenge to white supremacy

By Sue Sturgis

August 21, 2014 - This week marks 50 years since Fannie Lou Hamer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delivered historic, nationally televised testimony from the Democratic National Convention about voting rights suppression and racist law enforcement violence -- themes that are once again making headlines across America.

Politics

INSTITUTE INDEX: The government program that's equipping police like an occupying military force

By Sue Sturgis

August 15, 2014 - A federal program to transfer Defense Department gear to local law enforcement has led to police even in small communities looking like an occupying military force. It's now under scrutiny because of shocking scenes of police violence that unfolded this week in Missouri following an officer's deadly shooting of an unarmed black teen -- and it's also caused problems across the South.

Environment

Anti-mining protests heat up in West Virginia as evidence of damage builds

By Sue Sturgis

July 30, 2012 - Twenty people were arrested over the weekend while blocking the largest mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia. Meanwhile, scientific evidence of the human and environmental health damages caused by such mining continues to mount. Will U.S. lawmakers approve legislation imposing a moratorium?

Human Rights

Controversy rages over arrests of Virginia reproductive rights protesters

By Sue Sturgis

March 6, 2012 - One state lawmaker compared the police response to the peaceful protesters to Massive Resistance, the violent effort to stop integration of the state's public schools a half-century ago.

Troy Davis protesters occupy Wall Street

By New America Media

September 26, 2011 - Just hours after Georgia executed Troy Davis, hundreds of protesters in New York City joined the forces occupying Wall Street.

Five New Orleans cops convicted for their role in post-Katrina shootings

By ProPublica

August 8, 2011 - By A.C. Thompson, ProPublica

Human Rights

Racial profiling: Still a problem?

By R. Neal

May 1, 2007 - A new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2005," says that while the number of citizens of all races stopped or searched by law enforcement has dropped since 2002, minorities are still more likely than whites to be searched, arrested, and/or have force used against them.