Politics. On Point.

The evil wheels of America's so-called justice system just keep turning.   Nowhere in any civilized nation should the life of anyone be reduced to serving 23 hours of solitary confinement a day  - while awaiting trial for two years to determine if one actually stole a backpack . Did the backpack contain Top Secret information?  Or is it just another example of the unjust treatment of African Americans by law enforcement that stops at nothing to ensure that Black folk in America are jailed (or worse) for every so-called infraction. As we've seen recently, every so-called infraction may resemble:  breathing, walking , driving , barbequing , standing in front of one's own residence, traveling, riding the train , pumping gas, playing music , standing on the street (which citizen's taxes pay for), making eye contact with a cop, reaching for a driver's license, walking along the highway While not every instance mentioned above resulted in being subjected to solitar...

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 25, 2016 FACT SHEET: Department of Justice Review of Solitary Confinement In July 2015, the President announced that he had asked the Attorney General to review “the overuse of solitary confinement across American prisons.”  Since that time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has undertaken a thorough review to determine how, when, and why correctional facilities isolate certain prisoners from the general inmate population, and has now developed concrete strategies for safely reducing the use of this practice, also known as “restrictive housing,” throughout our criminal justice system.  That review led to a Report to the President setting out Guiding Principles that would responsibly limit the use of restrictive housing at the federal, state, and local level, as well as specific recommendations for policies that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) can implement for federal prisons.  The Report identifies ways...

In what could be considered an out-of-touch-with-regular-folk moment, Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters Friday he was shocked that law enforcement uses citizens to generate revenue. "The notion that you would use a law enforcement agency or law enforcement generally to generate revenue, and then the callous way in which that was done and the impact that it had on the lives of the ordinary citizens of that municipality, was just appalling." Example of fees and costs generated by courts and law enforcement. ( Source ). Holder was referring to the findings of the Department of Justice investigation of the Ferguson, MO police department.  The investigation found that the department "engaged in or practiced a pattern of conduct that violates the Fourth, Fifth, and 14 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. See also:  The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness “Our investigation showed that  Ferguson  police officers routinely vi...

Today the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) released  Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned .  The report analyzes some of the costs and benefits of law enforcement using body-worn video technology. “Law enforcement agencies across the nation are contemplating how best to use body-worn cameras and these guidelines will help them weight the costs and benefits,” said COPS Office Director Ronald L. Davis.  “There are many considerations when implementing a body-worn camera and this report   will help chiefs and sheriffs make the best decision for their jurisdiction.” The publication was developed jointly by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and COPS through a cooperative agreement under the FY 2013 Community Policing Development Program.  PERF conducted research on the use of body-worn cameras, identified promising practices and lessons learned from the fi...

President Obama, in a Friday afternoon daily press briefing shocker, stood at the podium and finally spoke to America about the George Zimmerman verdict. The president spoke to the history of disparity in the justice system, as it relates to African Americans,  and how African Americans are treated in society as a whole.  Speaking on a personal note he said he, too, had been profiled as a young African American male. He also stated that he "could have been Trayvon Martin some thirty years ago." It was time for the president to speak out on this issue that has Americans taking yet another look at race in this country. On why African Americans feel as they do about the verdict, the president said, "African Americans have a set of experiences and history [in this country] that doesn't go away." And he is right. Question, again, continues to be, how do we make it go away? The president ( and we agree ) doesn't believe having talks and town...

The Department of Justice is seeking to learn how the credit reports and several pieces of personal information belonging to several staff members of the Obama administration, and several celebrity icons, were posted online.  The Atlanta Journal   reported that the Justice Department said the FBI was also investigating how the Social Security number, address and a credit report of FBI Director Robert Mueller ended up on the site. The site also posted information about Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck . doxxing . v. the process of obtaining or deducing information about a person based on a limited set of initial information. In addition to celebrities that include Jay-Z and Mel Gibson , Beyonce , Ashton Kutcher , Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton , info was also posted about  First Lady Michelle Obama , Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton . Although Clinton's information did not include her cre...

Oh, the difference between Eric Holder testifying on Capitol Hill about his role in the 'Fast and Furious' debacle that saw hundreds of guns enter the pipe line of illegal guns being sold on the US streets from Mexican drug cartel seizures, and today's testimony by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton . While Holder was timid, evasive and subdued Clinton, during one portion of the questioning today on the Benghazi event that killed a US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, decided she'd had enough of the fervent bombardment and line of questioning from the GOP. Clinton confessed that she takes full responsibility for not providing the protection needed in the area on the day of September 11, 2012, the anniversary of the 911 attack here in the U.S. She refuted any claims that the administration gave false Intel into why the American people were told several different versions of exactly what happened during the Benghazi attack. Initially, US Ambass...

African-American and Hispanic Borrowers Who Qualified for Loans and Were Charged Higher Fees or Rates or Were Improperly Placed into Subprime Loans Are Eligible for Compensation The Department of Justice today filed the second largest fair lending settlement in the department’s history to resolve allegations that Wells Fargo Bank, the largest residential home mortgage originator in the United States, engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in its mortgage lending from 2004 through 2009. The settlement provides $125 million in compensation for wholesale borrowers who were steered into subprime mortgages or who paid higher fees and rates than white borrowersbecause of their race or national origin.  Wells Fargo will also provide $50 million in direct down payment assistance to borrowers in communities around the country where the department identified large numbers of discrimination victims and which were hard h...

Democracy Now has reaction from Latinos on President Obama's latest effort to shield the Latino population from being deported from U.S. soil. The report also has a Washington Post reporter speaking out, actually coming out, about his illegal status and also working and going to school in the United States. Watch below as Representative Luis Gutierrez, head of the Latino Democractic Caucus  speaks on the subject of immigration.  Gutierrez represents a district in Chicago the hometown of the president where the city has shown an increase of Black on Black crime this year. Last weekend nearly 8 people were killed , and scores of others wounded in a deadly display of random gunfire across the city. While many Latinos take to the street to celebrate what many see as a victory for the Latin American community, the African American community, again, take to the streets to have their concerns addressed, protesting in New York against the city's...

President Obama comments on the killing of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin's new hoodie. After 27 days of wondering when, or if, President Obama was ever going to comment on the tragic death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin who was killed by the renegade, wannabe, so-called neighborhood watch person, George Zimmerman, we hear about the matter from the Commander-in-Chief. Speaking today in the Rose Garden, after announcing the nomination of Jim Yong Kim to replace Bob Zoellick as president of the World Bank, the president was asked: Mr. President, may I ask you about this current case in Florida, very controversial, allegations of lingering racism within our society -- the so-called do not -- I'm sorry -- Stand Your Ground law and the justice in that? Can you comment on the Trayvon Martin case, sir? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m the head of the executive branch, and the Attorney General reports to me so I’ve got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we’re not i...

Outrage, shock, and dismay continues to spill out over the senseless death of 17 year old promising high school student Trayvon Martin, who was killed on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida by wannabe vigilanty George Zimmerman (may he rot in some place unpleasant). Zimmerman, disguising himself as some sort of vigilanty neighborhood watch patrol official followed, chased down, and killed Martin and claimed self defense as he stood over the deceased Martin with a nine millimeter weapon in his hand. Zimmerman has not been charged, and is free to come and go as he pleases while the Martin family is left fighting for justice for their deceased son. Congresswoman Fredericka Wilson vows to speak from the floor of Congress until Martin's murderer is brought to justice.  It has been 25 days without an arrest of George Zimmerman who has been set free without charge. While President Obama has yet to speak out on the matter, or give a phone call to the Martin family, (even...

The Department of Justice today filed its largest residential fair lending settlement in history to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in their mortgage lending from 2004 through 2008.  More than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who qualified for Loans were charged higher fees or placed into subprime loans.   The settlement provides $335 million in compensation for victims of Countrywide’s discrimination during a period when Countrywide originated millions of residential mortgage loans as one of the nation’s largest single-family mortgage lenders. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in conjunction with the department’s complaint which alleges that Countrywide discriminated by charging more than 200,...