As of Nov. 4, Taser International cited 206 studies on electronic control devices, commonly known as Tasers. Most are favorable to the company. Taser devices have been used on more than 1.3 million people, according to company estimates. And while Amnesty International counts more than 340 deaths since 2001 in North America following police use […]
Criminal Justice
Crime and punishment, from the street to the courtroom and prisons
Posted inCriminal Justice
Death By Taser?
An illustrated reenactment of Robert C. Heston’s death after he was allegedly shocked 25 times with a Taser device. The Hestons’ lawyers prepared this video for their closing argument.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Timeline: Evidence ignored in Chauncey Bailey Murder Case
The Chauncey Bailey Project reports that Sgt. Derwin Longmire, the lead detective assigned to investigate Bailey’s slaying, is a supporter of Your Black Muslim Bakery and has failed to document that he analyzed evidence of the bakery CEO’s possible involvement in the murder. The detective has also interfered for bakery CEO Yusuf Bey IV in […]
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Secret video raises questions about journalist Chauncey Bailey’s killing
On August 2, 2007, journalist Chauncey Bailey was gunned down in Oakland, California. Bailey was investigating Your Black Muslim Bakery, a once prominent Oakland African-American organization. The next day, Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV was arrested during a raid for a separate kidnapping case. Police placed Bey and two associates involved in the case, his […]
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Defining a Whistleblower: The Legal Precedents
The Whistleblower Protection Act—the modern legal shelter for federal whistleblowers—was last strengthened by Congress in 1994. Since then, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit—currently the only appeals court that can hear government whistleblower cases—has single-handedly changed the meaning of whistleblower protections. When the Federal Circuit rules on a case, it often creates […]
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The Whistleblowers: Selected Case Studies
The whistleblowers below are not all protected by the current Whistleblower Protection Act, which does not cover federal employees who work at certain national security agencies, in certain scientific or research capacities, nor does it extend to private contractors. The whistleblower legislation circulating in the House and Senate aims to protect many of the whistleblowers […]
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The War on Whistleblowers
America’s whistleblower courts were created to ensure federal employees could fearlessly speak out about government abuse, corruption and mismanagement. This CIR/Salon investigation reveals that the system set up to protect whistleblowers has instead been used to punish them. At whistleblower court, employees lose nearly 97 percent of the time. >> Read the story on Salon.com […]