33 Search results for "immunity"

Last week, we reported that Marissa Alexander would get a new trial. The Florida mother of three was sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot over the head of her abusive husband. Republicans in the state have filed a bill supported by the NRA that would grant those who fire warning shots immunity.

At a hearing earlier today, George Zimmerman officially declared that he will not seek an immunity hearing under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law.

by Donnie Moreland  This essay contains discussions of domestic violence and sexual assault  Ruminations of my daughter’s hypothetical death play on repeat, ever since her birth. I’ve accepted them as inescapable conditions of parenthood—Black parenthood especially. I also believe the story of Julia Martin’s death in 2016 partially informs my anxieties in raising a daughter. […]

It has been two weeks since the disappearance and possible murder of Washington Post contributor and Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Turkey. The United Nations Human Rights council is calling for a transparent investigation. But some are criticizing the hypocrisy of the U.N. calling for the investigation of the murder of a journalist […]

Last Thursday afternoon, a dispute over a handicapped parking space turned fatal in Pinellas County, Florida. Local authorities announced they will not arrest the man who killed another man as the incident falls under Florida’s self-defense law, known as “Stand Your Ground.”

by Tabias Olajuawon When a person of color is killed by a police officer, or badgeless vigilante, it exposes and strikes at the immoral fabric of Amerikkka. More viscerally, at the psyche of every person of color with a beating heart. More pointedly, at the very being of the collective Black body. Each strike, blow, […]

According to a new report from NPR, the U.S. Department of Education is arguing in an internal document that loan servicers should be protected from state rules that are harder on the companies than existing federal law. The internal memo has not been officially released, but it follows several moves which seem to align the […]

By Zoé Samudzi Chances are, our engagement with “vaccine skeptics” has been limited to white anti-vaxxers. They often cite scientific empirics claiming causal relationships between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) sequences and autism diagnosis, even using the now retracted study published by British physician Andrew Wakefield in 1998 as a basis for their argument. Wakefield’s results weren’t […]

One of the biggest takeaways from George Zimmerman’s trial – besides systemic racism – was that the usage of “stand your ground” laws is deeply flawed. That became even more apparent this past week when a Black man in Georgia wasn’t allowed to use the defense in his murder trial. Clayton County, Georgia Judge Albert […]

During his campaign, President Trump was highly critical of the effectiveness of the United Nations and hinted that he’d be open to the United States potentially leaving the worldwide organization. A new bill has been introduced in Congress that could actually grant his wish, if passed.

“It’s just locker room talk.” “No, it’s not locker room talk at all.” “But what about Beyoncé’s lyrics?” Over the past week (though it feels much, much longer) the American public has been bombarded with a series of mediocre justifications for a presidential candidate’s boastful comments about sexually harassing and assaulting women, none more agitating […]

The island of Haiti has been the little black jewel of the Western Hemisphere since it successfully clinched its independence from colonial rule in 1804, becoming the first colony to do so. But in recent years, a combination of political unrest, rampant poverty, a deadly earthquake, the UN-generated cholera outbreak, on top of the disastrous […]