skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Feds May Still Act in Bell Case

play audio
Play

Friday, May 2, 2008   

New York, NY - Today marks one week since a New York state judge returned not-guilty verdicts for the three police officers charged in the shooting death of Sean Bell. That outcome has some people asking big questions about the NYPD and the sticky issue of race.

Dr. Delores Jones-Brown of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice says the U.S. Justice Department might still act on the Bell case.

"Perhaps they'll find a civil rights violation. That may be the one thing the community is holding on to, so that they haven't taken to the streets, the way that some people probably would like to."

The police union was among those saying the court did the right thing by deciding that the case was a tragic mistake rather than a crime. Critics of that stance say the shooting seems to be part of a bigger problem, with a recent study by ColorLines magazine finding that two out of three people fired upon by police in New York City are black. The magazine is published by the Applied Research Center, a public policy institute dedicated to advancing racial justice.

Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever with the National Council of Negro Women says it's hard to reconcile a black athlete like Michael Vick doing five years in prison for harming dogs with New York police officers who aren't jailed for shooting Sean Bell.

"It could have happened to me; it could have happened to my father; it could have happened to my son. One feels as if the police officers who are supposed to be there to protect and serve oftentimes are there, just maybe, to protect and serve their own personal well-being at the expense of the lives of others."

Dr. Delores Jones-Brown says the Bell case is an opportunity for the Justice Department to send a message about how police officers do their jobs, particularly in beleaguered neighborhoods and high-crime areas.

"The only way you can get police officers to be more careful is to punish at least one person for an excess, and I think this is the ideal case where we have a clear case of excess."

Study information is available online at www.colorlines.com.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021