(Trayvon Martin | Source: news reports) Black people are upset. The killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, and Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal, are the most recent matches on a tinderbox of legitimate black anger and alienation in America today. Black men and boys are feared, followed and frisked based solely on their appearance. Black unemployment […]

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Courts are not well-suited to deal with scientific questions. There is a judge: an appointed or elected lawyer who interprets the law. And there is a jury: randomly selected citizens who interpret the facts. On July 24, a six-person jury in a federal courtroom in Austin arrived at a decision that will find its way […]

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Imagine you hear gunshots down the street and you call the police, but they take an hour to show up. Imagine the victim is your son, and you don’t call the ambulance because you know it isn’t coming, so you drive to the hospital yourself. These are real stories from Detroit, a city so broke […]

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Immigration reform is now in the hands of the Republican-controlled house, and the judiciary committee released its own version of a guest-worker program that passed committee Wednesday. The bill, proposed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va., pictured) removes wage protections, takes the program out of the hands of the Department of Labor, and limits the ability […]

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During George Zimmerman’s trial, one rarely heard the death of Trayvon Martin linked to the issue of firearm safety. There is little doubt that if Zimmerman had not been armed, Martin would be alive. But beyond that, would Sanford have been less safe? Would Zimmerman? To what degree are firearms dangerous in and of themselves? […]

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