NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A teenager who video-recorded his mother’s forceful arrest by Louisiana sheriff’s deputies in 2020 has been awarded $185,000 by a federal jury in a lawsuit filed over one deputy’s attempt to interfere with the recording.
De’Shaun Johnson was 14 when deputies arrived at his family’s home in St. Tammany Parish to question his mother, Teliah Perkins, about allegations she had ridden a motorcycle without a helmet — a charge her attorneys said was baseless and that was never prosecuted.
The confrontation turned physical, and video showed the woman being forced to the ground.
A lawsuit against the deputies was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Reid Collins & Tsai as part of the ACLU’s Justice Lab project, aimed at addressing allegations of police abuses.
A federal appeals court largely sided with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office on many of the allegations, squelching much of the lawsuit over the deputies’ use of force. But it allowed the litigation to continue over allegations that one deputy interfered with Johnson’s use of his phone to film the arrest. The ACLU said the deputy stepped in front of Johnson when he began recording the arrest and threatened Johnson with a Taser.
Teliah Perkins stands in front of the federal appeals court building in New Orleans, May 3, 2023, following a hearing on her lawsuit against two St. Tammany Parish, La., sheriff’s deputies stemming from her arrest in May 2020. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)
On May 1, after a federal court civil trial in New Orleans, a jury said evidence showed Deputy Ryan Moring’s actions constituted “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and awarded the teen $185,000.
“We are thrilled to see justice served for De’Shaun,” Nora Ahmed, the ACLU of Louisiana’s legal director, said in a news release after the verdict.
The jury voted in the deputy’s favor on an accompanying issue, rejecting a finding that Moring violated Johnson’s First Amendment rights by blocking Johnson from continuing to film his mother’s arrest.
The Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. But Sheriff Randy Smith, through a spokesperson, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that an appeal of the verdict against Moring was planned, calling the emotional harm finding “meritless.”
Ayra Starr, the Nigerian music sensation, has surprised fans by releasing the highly anticipated official music video for her smash tune, “Bad Vibes.”
The song, which features the outstanding singer Seyi Vibez, has gained popularity since its release due to its infectious pace and captivating lyrics.
The intriguing visuals for “Bad Vibes” provide fans with a cinematic experience that perfectly compliments the song’s atmosphere.
The video, directed by a renowned director, highlights Ayra Starr’s dynamic presence and Seyi Vibez’s soft vocals against breathtaking graphics and compelling dance.
“Bad Vibes” is only a sample of what listeners can expect from Ayra Starr’s upcoming second studio album, “The Year I Turned 21.”
Ayra Starr’s unique blend of Afrobeat, R&B, and pop influences has cemented her position as one of Nigeria’s most promising musical talents.
Fans can now view the official music video for “Bad Vibes” on different streaming platforms, as well as Ayra Starr’s YouTube channel.
The video promises to be a pleasure for both longstanding and new fans, providing a glimpse into Ayra Starr’s expanding talent and creative vision.
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Mother’s Day is May 12. And if you haven’t secured a gift for that special mom in your life, you’re running out of time. But don’t worry, all is not lost. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite gifts for moms, aunties and grandmas at practically every price point. And because we love moms (and we know better), not one of the gifts on our list is something she will use to clean, cook or sew. – Angela Johnson Read More
Over the past two decades, Gee’s Bend quilts have captured the public’s imagination with their kaleidoscopic colors and their daring geometric patterns. The groundbreaking art practice was cultivated by direct descendants of slaves in rural Alabama who have faced oppression, geographic isolation and intense material constraints.
As of this year, their improvisational art has also come to embody a very modern question: What happens when distinctive cultural tradition collides with corporate America?
Enter Target. The multinational retailer launched a limited-edition collection based on the quilters’ designs for Black History Month this year. Consumer appetites proved to be high as many stores around the country sold out of the checkered sweaters, water bottles and faux-quilted blankets.
“We’re actually in a quilt revival right now, like in real time,” says Sharbreon Plummer, an artist and scholar. “They’re so popularized, and Target knew that. It created the biggest buzz when it came out.” Indeed, there has been a resurgence of interest among Gen Z and millennials in conscious consumption and the homemade — with “cottagecore” style, baking bread, DIY bracelets — but both are at odds with the realities of fast fashion.
The Target designs were “inspired by” five Gee’s Bend quilters who reaped limited financial benefits from the collection’s success. They received a flat rate for their contributions rather than pay proportionate to Target’s sales. A spokesperson for Target wouldn’t share sales numbers from the collection but confirmed that it indeed sold out in many stores.
This photo provided by Tangular Irby shows a Gee’s Bend x Target display at a Target store in Trumbull, Conn., Feb. 10, 2024. (Tangular Irby via AP)
Unlike the pay structure of the Freedom Quilting Bee of the 1960s — an artist-run collective that disbursed payment equitably to Gee’s Bend quilters, who were salaried and could set up Social Security benefits — one-off partnerships with companies like Target benefit only a small number of people, in this case five women from two families.
The maxim “representation matters” is not new, but it’s gaining wider traction. Still, when visibility for some doesn’t translate into meaningful change for a marginalized community as a whole, how is that reconciled?
A history of outsiders
”Every stage of the finances has been problematic,” says Patricia Turner, a retired professor in World Arts and Culture and African American Studies at UCLA who traced the commodification of Gee’s Bend quilts back to the white collector Bill Arnett in the 1990s. “I’m really bothered by Target’s in-house designer manipulating the look of things to make it more palatable for their audience,” she says of the altered color palettes and patterns.
“Each quilter had the opportunity to provide input on the items featured in our collection on multiple occasions throughout the process,” Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo wrote in an emailed statement.
While thumbnail-size photos of the makers appeared on some marketing materials and the text “Gee’s Bend” was printed on clothing tags, the company’s engagement with the quilters was limited. As soon as Black History Month ended, the quilters’ names and images were scrubbed from the retailer’s site.
While Target has pledged to spend more than $2 billion on Black-owned businesses by 2025, there are no plans to work again with the Gee’s Bend community.
The situation today mirrors that of the 1990s, when some quilters enjoyed newfound visibility, others were disinterested and still others felt taken advantage of. (In 2007, several quilters brought a series of lawsuits against the Arnett family, but all cases were settled out of court and little is known about the suits because of nondisclosure agreements.)
Gee’s Bend Quilters, from left, Lucy Marie Mingo, Nancy Pettway and Arlonzia Pettway work on a quilt in the Boykin nutrition center in Boykin, Ala., April 6, 2006. (Bernard Troncale/The Birmingham News via AP, File)
The profit-oriented approach that emerged, which disrupted the Quilting Bee’s price-sharing structure, created “real rifts and disharmony within the community,” Turner explains, over engaging with collectors, art institutions and commercial enterprises. “To have those bonds disrupted over the commercialization of their art form, I think, is sad.”
Reproducing art out of context
By reproducing an aesthetic but stripping it of its social fabric and familial context, Target missed capturing the essence of what makes this particular craft tradition so rich and distinct.
Quilts are made to mark major milestones and are gifted to celebrate a new baby or a marriage, or to honor someone’s loss. Repurposing fabric — from tattered blankets, frayed rags, stained clothes — is a central ethos of the community’s quilting practice, which resists commodification. But the Target collection was mass-produced from new fabrics in factories in China and elsewhere overseas.
The older generations of Gee’s Bend quilters are known for one-of-a-kind designs with clashing colors and irregular, wavy lines — visual effects borne of their material constraints. Most worked at night in houses without electricity and didn’t have basic tools like scissors, let alone access to fabric stores. Stella Mae Pettway, who has sold her quilts on Etsy for $100 to $8,000, has characterized having scissors and access to more fabrics now as a paradox of “advantage and a disadvantage.”
Many third- and fourth-generation artists returned to quilting as adults for a creative and therapeutic outlet, as well as a tether to their roots. After her mom died in 2010, quilter JoeAnn Pettway-West revisited the practice and found peace in completing her mother’s unfinished quilts. “As I’m making this stitch, I can just see her hand, stitching. It’s like, we’re there together,” she says. “It’s a little bit of her, a little bit of me.”
Delia Pettway Thibodeaux is a third-generation Gee’s Bend quilter whose grandmother was a sharecropper and whose bold, rhythmic quilts are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s permanent collection. For the Target collection, she received a flat fee rather than a rate proportional to sales.
“I was kind of concerned in the beginning” about how quilts would be altered to fit with the collection, Pettway Thibodeaux says. “But then again when I saw the collection, I felt different.”
Looking for economic revitalization
Because job opportunities are so limited in Gee’s Bend, many fourth-generation quilters have left the area to take jobs as teachers, day care workers, home health aides, and to serve in the military.
“We, as the next generation, we was more dreamers,” Pettway-West says.
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National recognition has certainly brought some positive change. But more visibility — from museum exhibitions, academic research, a U.S. Postal Service stamp collection — hasn’t necessarily translated into economic gains. After all, the average annual income in Boykin, Alabama, is still far below the poverty rate at about $12,000, according to the nonprofit Nest.
“This is a community that still, to this day, really needs recognition, still needs economic revitalization,” says Lauren Cross, Gail-Oxford Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts at The Huntington Museum of Art. “And so any economic opportunities that, you know, funnel back to them, I support.”
Target’s line in particular, though, is disconnected from the group’s origins and handmade practice, she says. It’s a problem that distills the very challenge at hand when something handcrafted and linked to deep tradition goes national and corporate.
“On one hand you want to preserve the stories and that sense of authenticity,” Cross says.
“And on the other hand,” she asks, “how do you reach a broader audience?”
Asna Tabassum, USC’s Class of 2024 valedictorian, found herself at the center of controversy as her commencement speech was barred from the university’s graduation ceremony. In a bold move, Tabassum released a largely redacted version of the speech she would have delivered, drawing attention to her silencing.
The document, made public by Annenberg Media and the Daily Trojan, USC’s student-run newspaper, shed light on the circumstances surrounding Tabassum’s exclusion from speaking at the ceremony. Despite assertions by the university’s media center that the speech remained unaltered, its significant redactions left much to speculation.
The commencement ceremony, initially scheduled for Friday morning, was abruptly canceled amid escalating tensions. The decision stemmed from concerns over Tabassum’s safety following accusations of antisemitism by pro-Israel groups. These groups pointed to Tabassum’s social media activity, particularly her sharing of content advocating for the abolishment of the state of Israel.
Asna Tabassum, the USC valedictorian, garnered a standing ovation and strong support and cheers for her “resistance to genocide” minor at the USC student awards ceremony. She was applauded for standing up and speaking out for Palestinians in the face of Israeli genocide.… pic.twitter.com/UJXRmXYB8z
Tabassum, a Muslim graduating with a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in “resistance to genocide,” found herself thrust into a larger narrative surrounding political sensitivities and free speech on campus.
The fallout from Tabassum’s exclusion reverberated across USC’s campus, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators staging protests against both her silencing and Israel’s military actions in Gaza. These demonstrations, which included setting up encampments and violating school policies, led to clashes with campus security and law enforcement, resulting in numerous arrests.
In response to the escalating tensions, USC opted to replace its main graduation ceremony with smaller, private events, including one at the LA Memorial Coliseum. However, the controversy surrounding Tabassum’s silencing persisted, leading to further scrutiny of the university’s handling of the situation.
The USC Academic Senate, representing the school’s faculty, took action by voting to censure university President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman. The move reflected widespread dissatisfaction with the handling of the events leading up to the cancellation of commencement.
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For a certain generation, Oprah Winfrey might be as synonymous with her public battle with her weight as she is for her iconic television show and acting roles. Now, she’s acknowledging the potentially dangerous role she played in the former.
Oprah Produced Mystery, Black Cake, Is Our TV Pick This Week
In the recent three-hour special “Making the Shift” sponsored by WeightWatchers – for whom she’s a former board member — Winfrey apologized to the audience for being a “major contributor” in perpetuating America’s “diet culture.” Several celebrities who have also struggled with weight as a part of their identity joined Winfrey on the panel, including Rebel Wilson and Amber Phillips.
“I have been a steadfast participant in this diet culture,” said Winfrey. “Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online.”
“I’ve been a major contributor to it. I cannot tell you how many weight-loss shows and makeovers I have done, and they have been a staple since I’ve been working in television.”
Oprah and WeightWatchers host “Making the Shift” with Rebel Wilson, Busy Philipps and more
Winfrey reminded audiences of one of the most memorable moments from her legendary talk show – which she has frequently described as one of the biggest regrets of her career: It was in 1998 when Winfrey started a new season pulling a red wagon filled with 67 pounds of fat, which was how much weight she’d lost at the time.
“I’ve shared how that famous wagon of fat moment on the ‘Oprah’ show is one of my biggest regrets,” she continued. “It sent a message that starving yourself with a liquid diet — it set a standard for people watching that I nor anybody else could uphold.”
The 70-year-old icon, who recently disclosed that she lost weight using the popular diet drug Ozempic, recently reflected during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on what her weight loss journey has been like and why she wants she wants to again speak frankly about it.
“I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about, and WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight,” she explained.
Winfrey was once on the board of directors of the weight loss giant. After resigning, donated all of her shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, according to Page Six.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled Arkansas cannot prevent two high school teachers from discussing critical race theory in the classroom, but he stopped short of more broadly blocking the state from enforcing its ban on “indoctrination” in public schools.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky issued a narrow preliminary injunction Tuesday evening against the ban, one of several changes adopted under an education overhaul that Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law last year.
The prohibition is being challenged by two teachers and two students at Little Rock Central High School, site of the 1957 desegregation crisis.
In his 50-page ruling, Rudofsky said the state’s arguments make it clear the law doesn’t outright “prevent classroom instruction that teaches, uses, or refers to any theory, idea, or ideology.”
His ruling prohibited the state from disciplining the teachers for teaching, mentioning or discussing critical race theory — an academic framework dating to the 1970s that centers on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation’s institution. The theory is not a fixture of K-12 education, and Arkansas’ ban does not define what constitutes critical race theory.
Students make their way into Little Rock Central High School on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, for the first day of classes in the Little Rock School District. (Tommy Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, FIle)
Rudofsky said although his ruling was narrow, it “should give comfort to teachers across the state (and to their students) that Section 16 does not prohibit teachers from teaching about, using, or referring to critical race theory or any other theory, ideology, or idea so long as the teachers do not compel their students to accept as valid such theory, ideology, or idea.”
Rudofsky said his decision still would bar the teachers from taking steps such as grading on the basis on whether a student accepts or rejects a theory or giving preferential treatment to students on whether they accept a theory.
Both the state and attorneys for the teachers claimed the ruling as an initial victory in ongoing litigation over the law.
“We are very happy that the court has acknowledged that the plaintiffs have brought colorable constitutional claims forward,” said Mike Laux, an attorney for the teachers and students who filed suit. “With this notch in our belt, we look forward to prosecuting this incredibly important case going forward.”
David Hinojosa, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — also representing the plaintiffs in the case — said the ruling “has essentially gutted Arkansas’ classroom censorship law to render the law virtually meaningless.”
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Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin said the ruling “merely prohibits doing what Arkansas was never doing in the first place.”
“Today’s decision confirms what I’ve said all along. Arkansas law doesn’t prohibit teaching the history of segregation, the civil rights movement, or slavery,” Griffin said in a statement.
The lawsuit stems from the state’s decision that an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies would not count toward state credit during the 2023-2024 school year. The teachers’ lawsuit argues the state’s ban is so vague that it forces them to self-censor what they teach to avoid running afoul of it.
Arkansas is among several Republican-led states that have placed restrictions on how race is taught in the classroom, including prohibitions on critical race theory. Tennessee educators filed a similar lawsuit last year challenging that state’s sweeping bans on teaching certain concepts of race, gender and bias in classroom.
Multi-platinum phenomenon Lainey Wilson, known for her chart-topping hits and engaging performances, has left the music world abuzz with the announcement of her new album, “Whirlwind,” due for global release on August 23, 2024.
“Whirlwind” promises to be a game-changing addition to Wilson’s already impressive history, including a combination of unique sounds carefully chosen by Grammy-winning producer Jay Joyce.
Wilson’s particular approach, steeped in her Western roots, shines through in this eclectic selection of tracks that fluidly merge genres while maintaining her signature authenticity.
Lainey Wilson expressed her delight about the approaching release, saying:, “I am so excited to finally announce Whirlwind. This album has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon. This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me.”
The excitement surrounding “Whirlwind” is obvious, spurred by Wilson’s recent honors, which include a Grammy Award for Best Country Album, a People’s Choice Award for Female Country Artist of the Year, and a CMT Music Award for Female Video of the Year.
In addition, the singer-songwriter created waves with her debut Australian tour earlier this year, enthralling fans with her magnetic stage presence and her songs.
Despite her already outstanding achievements, Wilson shows no signs of slowing down. Fans are excited for her upcoming Country’s Cool Again North American 2024 headline tour, where she is set to offer exciting performances of hits from “Whirlwind.”
Furthermore, Wilson will perform at the renowned Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM), cementing her reputation as one of the genre’s most important voices.
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Rick Ross is not one to hide his wealth. Just look at his massive Atlanta property and you’ll know what we mean. His home in Miami is no different.
If you recall, this is the same home Drake clowned on social media after Rick Ross dropped his diss track, “Champagne Moments.”
But currently, he’s in the process of renovating it, so we know it will live up to the luxury of his other mansion. Meanwhile, let’s check out the renovations while also surveying the before photographs. – Noah A. McGee Read More
Donald Trump’s vow to give police officers “immunity from prosecution” if elected back into the White House signals danger for Black and brown communities, legal experts and advocates warn.
The Republican presidential candidate has on more than one occasion vowed to empower law enforcement to do their jobs without limits, a stark contrast to the movement for Black lives in 2020 comprised of mass protests demanding police accountability in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and other police-involved deaths.
“We’re going to give our police their power back,” Trump told supporters during a rally last week in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “We are going to give them immunity from prosecution.”The twice-impeached and four-times-indicted former president made a similar statement in December 2023 during a campaign event in Iowa, where he promised to “indemnify” police officers to shield them from prosecutorial harm.
“If there’s no criminal accountability of police for criminal behavior, then the fox is guarding the henhouse, and we’re the hens, and we’re living in a country that’s becoming a police state,” said Maya Wiley, an advocate and civil rights attorney who served as counsel for New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, a police watchdog.
Wiley told theGrio that if Trump’s vision for America were a reality, it would cause particular harm in Black and brown communities, which are already “overpoliced and experience constitutional violations and police misconduct disproportionately.”
However, she noted, Trump wouldn’t have the authority he claims to have if elected president in November. She explained, “The president of the United States has no power to tell states that they must exempt their state-controlled police forces from crime.”
Maya Wiley speaks at a rally the evening before the Democratic primary on June 21, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Wiley, a civil rights attorney who worked as Mayor de Blasio’s legal counsel before her run, is running as a progressive. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
However, critics warn that a U.S. president endorsing police “immunity” does not bode well for already vulnerable communities that have been historically overpoliced and mistreated.
“Trump characterizes the darkest periods of police brutality and mass incarceration as a hallmark of the ‘good old days,’ and he’s intent on bringing them back,” said Markus Batchelor, national political director at People For the American Way. “He has made clear his preference for state violence to silence dissent or achieve his political goals.”
Batchelor highlighted Trump’s penchant for embracing police brutality and violence, including encouraging “violence at his rallies,” ordering the military to “assault peaceful protesters” and inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“He’s made clear his plans for unchecked police power in our cities, mass detention at the border, and politicizing the Justice Department against his opponents,” he told theGrio. “Anyone playing off Trump’s threat should believe what they see.”
Michael Blake, a former Obama White House staffer and former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, told theGrio that Trump’s statements on policing put law enforcement above the communities they are sworn to protect and serve.
“You are literally saying that a badge and a gun have more power than your liberties, than your democracy, than your humanity,” said Blake, who currently serves as CEO of KAIROS Democracy Project. “To any Black person that is even entertaining the nonsense of Trump and RFK [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] and Cornel West, you are being reminded again, that our livelihood is at stake.”
While some police officers have faced convictions for the abuse or murder of unarmed, innocent Black victims in recent years — most notably six Mississippi officers who abused and brutally tortured two Black men in January 2023 — legal experts point out that law enforcement already possesses significant legal protections.
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“We are still in a system that is not sufficiently holding police accountable,” said Wiley, a former New York City mayoral candidate who ran on a platform to reform the police department. “As a nation, we have to do a lot more work and a lot more confronting what we were all saying we were willing to confront after George Floyd’s murder.”
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill aimed at addressing police accountability, failed in the United States Congress in 2021 as a result of Republican lawmakers refusing to budge on reforming specific legal protection for police officers known as qualified immunity. Given the Republican Party’s lacking appetite, Democrats will have to win back a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, maintain control of the U.S. Senate, and reelect President Joe Biden for any viable chance for federal police reform.
Despite the Floyd bill’s failure in Congress, Biden has taken executive actions to address police accountability, including establishing a nationwide database to log police misconduct, banning chokeholds and restricting no-knock warrants. However, the president’s actions are only enforceable on federal law enforcement.
The Department of Justice under the Biden administration has filled in the gaps on the state and local level by opening misconduct probes known as pattern-or-practice investigations. Since Biden entered office, the DOJ launched 11 such probes into police departments, including the Minneapolis Police Department (responsible for Floyd’s murder), the Louisville Metro Police Department, the Louisiana State Police, and the Memphis Police Department, following the brutal death of Tyre Nichols in 2023.
Criminal justice advocates are concerned Trump would undo the work of the DOJ to hold police accountable. Especially considering Trump’s vow to order the historically independent agency to prosecute his political enemies if reelected, and proposals for the next Republican president to replace career federal workers with political appointees.
“He would absolutely close [the investigations],” said Blake. “This is a man who is saying that he should be above prosecution himself. Why on earth would we believe that he would want greater investigations on the local level?”
Surrounded by members of law enforcement, U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order he signed on “Safe Policing for Safe Communities” during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House June 16, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump will signed an executive order on police reform amid the growing calls after the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Wiley reminded that while in office, Trump’s Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions “stopped police oversight and the kinds of reporting about patterns and practices and systemic police misconduct in departments.”
She said Trump “wants to be an authoritarian” and everything he has proposed as it relates to law enforcement suggests he “wants to be the monarch” and not a president who will “protect the constitutional boundaries of government.”
In a statement provided to theGrio, the Biden-Harris campaign slammed former President Trump as a “racist” who does not respect Black lives.
“Donald Trump is the same racist who came into public life by falsely accusing the Central Park Five and pushed for stop and frisk during his time in the Oval Office,” said Jasmine Harris, the campaign’s director of Black media. “In 2020, while the rest of the nation was heartbroken and came together demanding justice for George Floyd’s family, Donald Trump questioned his humanity.”
By contrast, Harris said, “In the four years since Black voters sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House, they have delivered real progress.”
Batchelor told theGrio, “There’s no comparison between Trump and Biden on justice reform and policing.”
“The justice department has had the room to go after patterns of abuse and seek justice for victims. The federal bench is being filled with fair-minded judges to offset Trump’s disastrous impact on the courts,” he explained. “The Biden administration has also been a reliable partner to communities leveraging the resources to innovate and invest in solutions that secure safety long-term, beyond policing.”
