Translate

Pages

Pages

Pages

Intro Video
Showing posts with label News – Black America Web. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News – Black America Web. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Jury Set To Deliberate In Fatal Delaware Prison Riot

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Jury deliberations are set to begin in the trial of an inmate accused of leading a riot at Delaware’s maximum-security prison during which a guard was killed and other staffers taken hostage.

Jurors were scheduled to start deliberating the fate of Roman Shankaras on Wednesday morning after hearing closing arguments from attorneys and receiving final instructions from the judge Tuesday afternoon.

Depending on the jury’s verdict, Shankaras, 32, could soon walk out of prison, having recently completed a 7-year sentence for unrelated riot and robbery charges, or he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

RELATED: Arizona Prisons Ban Book On Black Men In The Justice System

Prosecutors acknowledged that there is no evidence that Shankaras participated in the killing of guard Steven Floyd during a February 2017 uprising in which two other guards were assaulted. They argued, however, that he can be convicted under the “accomplice liability” doctrine. Under that rule, a person who agrees to commit a crime, such as riot, can be found guilty of other crimes that could reasonably be foreseen as arising from that initial course of conduct.

“Was it reasonably foreseeable that people could be injured?” prosecutor John Downs asked jurors.

Defense attorney Patrick Collins argued that the prosecution of Shankaras is based on false testimony from other inmates acting in their own self-interests, including former Baltimore gang member and convicted murderer Royal Downs, the state’s star witness.

Downs, who is serving a life sentence, has claimed repeatedly that he advocated for a peaceful protest as a way inmates could air grievances about their treatment, perhaps by staying in their cells and refusing to come out. Once the riot broke out, however, Downs became a key player, taking a walkie-talkie from another inmate and participating in hostage negotiations with law enforcement officials. Unlike Shankaras, Downs was never charged with Floyd’s murder under the accomplice liability doctrine. He instead was allowed to plead guilty to a single count of riot, which carries no mandatory prison time, in exchange for testifying against other inmates.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

“Your common sense should tell you that Royal Downs is not being truthful with you, and he was in on this from the jump off,” Collins told jurors.

Shankaras, described by Royal Downs as the “puppet master” of the uprising, is charged with murder, assault, kidnapping, conspiracy and riot. He is one of 18 inmates indicted after the riot, 16 of whom were charged with murder in Floyd’s death. Two other guards were released by inmates after being beaten and tormented. A female counselor was held hostage for nearly 20 hours before tactical teams burst in and rescued her.

The first two trials against seven inmates resulted in just one being convicted of murder. The verdict against Dwayne Staats, who was already serving life for murder, came after he openly admitted planning the riot, knowing it could become violent. Another inmate, Kelly Gibbs, killed himself in November, just days after pleading guilty to rioting, kidnapping, and conspiracy.

In March, prosecutors dismissed cases against six of the remaining inmates, opting to move forward only against Shankaras and two others.

With little physical evidence, and no surveillance camera footage, prosecutors have relied heavily on testimony from Downs and other inmates, whose credibility has been successfully attacked by defense attorneys.

In their case against Shankaras, however, prosecutors also are pinning their hopes on two prison letters that Shankaras wrote to Downs two months after the riot. Shankaras testified that he wrote the letters after being told to do so by Downs, who indicated he was going to shoulder the blame for the riot and needed information to bolster his credibility. Unbeknownst to Shankaras, Downs had signaled his willingness to cooperate with authorities even before the riot was over, having been among several inmates allowed to leave the building during the siege.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

In the first letter, Shankaras described details of the riot, some of which turned out to be inaccurate because, according to the defense, they were based on what Shankaras heard from other inmates. The second, more damning letter, reads like a manifesto and notes that “persistence procreated the resistance.”

“Some had to be convinced, some had to be tricked, and others had to be forced,” Shankaras wrote.

Collins argued that Downs drafted the manifesto and duped Shankaras, out of fear, into copying it in his own handwriting, so that Downs could use it as “insurance” in his cooperation and plea negotiations with prosecutors.

[ione_media_gallery id="45322" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2LYEM6L
via IFTTT

Another Athlete Slams Testosterone Rules, Refuses Medication

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Another Olympic medalist has criticized the IAAF’s testosterone regulations and said she will refuse to take hormone-reducing medication.

Margaret Wambui of Kenya, who won bronze in the 800 meters behind Caster Semenya at the 2016 Olympics, said she is affected by the new rules but won’t take “any type of medication” to lower her natural testosterone.

Without medication or surgery, some female runners won’t be allowed to compete at anymore international meetings this season, including this year’s world championships.

RELATED: Olympian Caster Semenya Loses Landmark Case Over Testosterone Levels

“It’s wrong of (the) IAAF to ask us to take medicine to alter our natural body function,” Wambui said Tuesday, speaking Swahili in an interview in Kenya.

She said she was unsure what side effects any medication or treatment might have on her.

The 23-year-old Wambui, the world junior champion in the 800 in 2014, compared the regulations to “losing your job.”

“This ruling is very unfair,” she said. “I have grown up knowing that I want to do athletics as a career and achieve a lot through it. Why wait for me to establish myself as an 800-meter athlete then tell me that I need to take medication to compete in the same event?

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

“The ruling has affected me greatly because you are not sure of what to train for … this season I was focusing on the world championships and Diamond League races but all that effort has gone to waste.”

Semenya, a two-time Olympic 800-meter champion, lost her case against the IAAF at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing track’s governing body to implement testosterone limits in races from 400 meters to one mile.

Female athletes who have one of a specific set of conditions that cause testosterone levels higher than the typical female range now have to lower those levels to be eligible to compete at international events.

The IAAF provides three options to lower the hormone levels: Daily contraceptive pills, a monthly hormone-blocking injection or surgery.

That has been criticized as unethical by the World Medical Association, which has advised doctors not to prescribe the medication or treatment if it’s not requested and there is no medical need and it’s solely for athletic purposes. The contraceptive pills and hormone-blocking injections would have negative side effects.

Wambui said she received a letter from the IAAF about a week ago informing her that her testosterone levels were higher than the allowed level. Athletes wanting to compete at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, in September and October had to start lowering their testosterone by May 8 to be eligible.

RELATED: DeVos Criticized Over Plan To Cut Special Olympics Funding

“My family is very disappointed by this decision by (the) IAAF,” she said. “After I received the letter I went back home and spent a week with my mother trying to make her understand what’s happening.”

Wambui’s decision to publicly declare she is affected by the rules means all three medalists in the 800-meter race at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have said they have a condition that causes high levels of natural testosterone.

Semenya and silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi have also said they are affected. Niyonsaba was highly critical of the rules, while Semenya was adamant that she won’t take medication when she ran at a Diamond League meet at the beginning of the month.

Wambui said she is considering switching to the 100 and 200 meters, events not affected by the rules. Semenya has entered a 3,000-meter race in the United States in June.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

But there’s also still a chance of an appeal against the IAAF rules.

Semenya’s lawyers say they are considering that, while the South African government has announced there will be an appeal on behalf of the country’s national track federation.

An appeal against the CAS decision must be lodged by May 31.

[ione_media_gallery id="753591" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2wcB271
via IFTTT

Buffalo Bills Have Player Wearing OJ Simpson’s Former No. 32

(AP Photo)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — For the first time in 42 years, the Bills have a player wearing O.J. Simpson‘s former No. 32.

Running back Senorise Perry wore the jersey number at Buffalo’s spring practices this week.

Simpson, whose name remains on the Bills Wall of Fame, served nine years for armed robbery and assault after confronting two sports collectibles dealers at a Las Vegas casino hotel in September 2007.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer was acquitted of two counts of murder in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend Ron Goldman, but a civil court jury found him liable for wrongful death and ordered him to pay $33.5 million.

[ione_media_gallery id="758119" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2Jxr6Og
via IFTTT

First Accuser Testifies At Ex-NFL Player’s Rape Trial

(The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

VISTA, Calif. (AP) — A female hitchhiker who accused former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. of raping her after he picked her up testified Tuesday that she did not flee or defend herself because the muscular football star had threatened to kill her.

Winslow’s attorneys said the two had consensual sex and suggested she had a drinking problem. They said she has given inconsistent statements and lied to the jury about being sober for 30 years, pointing out that she has been arrested 11 times for public intoxication.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe 1, is the first of five accusers expected to take the stand.

RELATED: Rape Trial Starting For Ex-NFL Player Kellen Winslow Jr.

Winslow is accused of raping three women and exposing himself to two others. All are expected to testify.

The former football star, and son of Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow, has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts.

The 55-year-old Jane Doe 1 described in detail how Winslow drove her to a shopping center parking lot after picking her up in March 2018 and then raped her in his vehicle.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

“He threatened to kill me, and I really believed that he would have,” she testified.

Winslow’s attorney Marc Carlos in cross-examining the woman asked if she remembered taking the witness stand at a preliminary hearing in July and pointing at defense lawyer Brian Watkins when asked to identify her attacker.

Winslow and Watkins are both black.

“Yes, I made a mistake,” the woman said Tuesday.

Carlos asked if she had been drinking before Winslow gave her a ride. She said she had not.

He asked if she ever drank. She also said no.

RELATED: Accuser Credibility Questioned At Ex-NFL Player’s Rape Trial

When he pointed out that she had been arrested for public intoxication as recently as January, she answered that she had been on cough medicine and been sober for 30 years.

After the jury was excused for lunch, Carlos told the judge the witness should be dismissed.

“It’s not about her drinking, it’s about her lying,” Carlos said.

Judge Blaine Bowman said he would allow the defense to question her about five arrests for public intoxication dating back to 2014. He said he was allowing the questioning because her statement about being sober 30 years had made her credibility an issue.

When asked about the arrests, she told the court “I was not sober every day for the past 30 years” but added later that she is not the one on trial.

Prosecutor Dan Owens said the woman’s desire to hide her drinking should not obscure the fact that she was attacked.

RELATED: Former NFL Player Says He’s Innocent Of Stalking Violation

The woman took the stand after a DNA expert testified that traces of Winslow’s sperm were found on a pair of pants the woman provided to authorities after reporting she was raped.

She refused to undergo a physical examination at the time.

On Tuesday, Jane Doe 1 struggled to identify his Hummer when shown a photograph and said he called himself Dominic and later said he identified himself as Michael.

She said after they parked behind a grocery store, Winslow got out of the vehicle and climbed over a 5-foot-high chain link fence to a dirt patch covered in ice plant where he said they would have sex.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

“So the man you are afraid of was now separated from you by a fence taller than you?” Carlos asked.

She told the defense she could not explain why she continued to follow him and then climbed back over the fence again after he decided to go back to the vehicle where he raped her. She also said she does not know why she didn’t call 911 even though she had a cellphone with her.

“I was terrified,” she said.

She went to authorities four days later.

Winslow later befriended a 59-year-old homeless woman who said he sodomized her a year ago, according to the prosecution. Shortly after that a woman said she had been sexually assaulted by Winslow when she was 17 in 2003.

Watkins contended the women were trying to prey on Winslow amid news coverage of the rape allegations and that their accounts have been inconsistent.

Drafted No. 6 overall in 2004 by Cleveland, Winslow broke his right leg in his rookie season then sustained a serious right knee injury in a motorcycle accident that offseason.

He played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets.

[ione_media_gallery id="758119" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2JUN9Oh
via IFTTT

Harris’ Bill Seeks To Address Racial Bias In Maternal Care

(AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is offering a new bill to address racial disparities in maternal health care, one of several plans by 2020 Democratic presidential candidates on the issue.

Harris’ bill, first introduced in 2018, would create some $150 million in grant programs to medical schools and states to fight implicit racial bias in health care for women. The legislation, co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., is aimed at improving medical care for groups of women who, research suggests, might be denied first rate care because of their race.

The government confirmed this month that black women who bear children die at a rate that is three times higher than that of white women. Native American and Alaskan women die at a rate that is 2 1/2 times higher than that of white women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 700 women in the U.S. die from pregnancy-related complications annually.

Tennis star Serena Williams raised the profile on the issue last year, saying the birth of her daughter via C-section was harrowing, in part because medical professionals second-guessed her when she complained of a shortness of breath. In a Vogue magazine interview in 2018, Williams discussed developing several small blood clots in her lungs while in the hospital after Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. was born in September 2017. In the interview, Williams said she requested a CT scan, only to be given an ultrasound of her legs. The episode was seen by some as evidence that even an elite athlete who is black can have trouble getting the care that she needs.

Other Democratic presidential candidates including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have proposed bills aimed at improving maternal care. Last month, Warren published an op-ed further detailing her maternal mortality plan in Essence, the country’s only magazine for black women with a circulation of more than 1 million. Warren’s plan would incentivize health systems for successful outcomes of “episodes” of care, the cost of which would be set at one price.

Harris launched her presidential campaign in January.

[ione_media_gallery id="754513" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2JztEeC
via IFTTT

Candidates Scramble To Assert Positions On Abortion

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden would support Congress enshrining abortion rights into federal law “should it become necessary,” his presidential campaign said Tuesday, following several other Democratic candidates in promising to take that step if elected president.

The hot-button issue has shot to the forefront of the Democratic primary following a spate of new Republican-backed state laws curbing access to abortion. With all the two dozen Democratic White House hopefuls supportive of abortion rights, the debate in the party has centered on how aggressive they should be if the Supreme Court were to eventually overturn legalized abortion nationwide.

Biden released a video on Tuesday blasting the GOP-backed state laws as “pernicious” and “wrong.” He stopped short in the video of endorsing congressional action and offered no specifics on how he would defend Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that is now potentially threatened with new legal challenges.

Asked by The Associated Press whether Biden believed the high court decision should be codified in law, the campaign initially pointed to the video, then later added that the former vice president would support legislation “should it become necessary.” A campaign aide then clarified that Biden would support action immediately, regardless of whether the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

The campaign’s responses highlight what Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, once called his “middle of the road” approach on abortion. As a young senator, he expressed reservations that the Supreme Court “went too far” in its abortion decision. Since then, he’s joined the mainstream of the Democratic Party in defending Roe, though as a senator he sometimes voted with abortion-rights foes on bills related to late-term terminations.

As a moderate figure in a party whose loudest factions often embrace more doctrinaire positions, Biden is already walking a tightrope in the Democratic Party. And his evolving statements on abortion over his four decades in politics could give an opening to rivals who have seized on the Republican push to overturn Roe as a way to affirm their commitment to abortion rights.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed new federal laws safeguarding women’s right to a legal abortion after Alabama passed a statute that amounts to an outright abortion ban. Sen. Kamala Harris of California also has supported the codification of Roe on the campaign trail, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont told the AP on Tuesday that he backs federal lawmaking on abortion rights.

Several of the senators visited the steps of the Supreme Court on Tuesday for one of hundreds of nationwide rallies organized by activist groups to protest state-level abortion restrictions. Gillibrand urged an energetic crowd of more than 100 people to “organize, advocate and vote” in order to ensure abortion rights are protected.

Biden did not attend such a rally Tuesday, instead releasing the video as he was in Orlando, Florida, for a campaign fundraiser.

“What this is all about is trying to get an appeal to the Supreme Court in the hope that the conservative justice the president has in fact put on the court will vote to overrule Roe v. Wade, the law of the land,” Biden said. “It’s wrong. It’s pernicious. And we have to stop it.”

Biden has long had to navigate the complicated politics of abortion.

Referencing his faith, he’s noted often that he believes his church’s teachings that abortion is morally wrong but added that shouldn’t dictate public policy.

“I refuse to impose my religious beliefs on other people,” he said in his Tuesday email to supporters.

As a young senator when Roe was first decided, Biden worried that the decision “went too far,” a quote that was resurrected and redistributed on social media earlier this year. He later became a staunch defender of the high court decision.

“I’ve stuck to my middle-of-the-road position on abortion for more than 30 years,” he wrote in his 2007 book “Promises to Keep.” ”I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding, and I’d like to make it easier for scared young mothers to choose not to have an abortion, but I will also vote against a constitutional amendment that strips a woman of her right to make her own choice.”

He was referring in part to his decades of support for the Hyde Amendment, which has forbidden government insurance programs from covering abortion. He was captured on video in recent weeks telling an activist he no longer supports the Hyde Amendment.

___

Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Hunter Woodall contributed to this report from Bedford, N.H.


HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2YHAja5
via IFTTT

Are The Murders Of Transgender Women In Dallas Connected?

DALLAS (AP) — The shooting deaths of two transgender women and the stabbing of a third are being investigated to determine whether they are connected, police in Dallas said Tuesday.

No arrests have been made. The most recent killing occurred over the weekend.

“These cases, although not directly related at this time, do have some similarities the public needs to be aware of,” Maj. Vincent Weddington said during a news conference .

He added that Dallas police will work with federal law enforcement officers to determine if any of the attacks should be considered hate crimes.

Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found shot to death Saturday in northeastern Dallas. Her death came a month after a cellphone video showed her being brutally beaten in a separate incident.

The other killing occurred last October. A transgender woman was found shot to death in a vehicle parked near an elementary school in far southeastern Dallas, police said.

In the stabbing, a transgender woman survived after being cut repeatedly in April.

Weddington, in pointing out the similarities, said two of the victims had gotten into a vehicle with someone prior to their deaths, while the third had allowed someone inside her car to pick up a passenger. He declined to specify which victims did what, citing the investigation.

He added that two of the victims had been near an intersection close to Fair Park, southeast of downtown Dallas, before their deaths.

Weddington appealed to the public for tips. A town hall meeting has been scheduled for Thursday between police and members of the LGBT community.

Police also are trying to solve the case of a transgender woman whose remains were found in a field in July 2017, Weddington said. The cause of her death has not been determined.

Weddington has said that no evidence was found to link Booker’s death to her April 12 beating following a minor traffic accident. According to a police affidavit, the other driver involved in the accident had a gun and refused to let Booker leave until she paid for the damage to his vehicle. A crowd gathered and someone offered a man $200 to beat the woman. Other men also struck her, while one stomped on her head. Booker suffered a concussion, fractured wrist and other injuries, police said.

Video of the attack, which was shared on social media, showed Booker being beaten as the crowd hollered and watched. Edward Thomas, 29, was arrested and jailed on an aggravated assault charge.

Thomas’ attorneys have issued a statement saying Thomas wasn’t involved in Booker’s death and sending condolences to her family.

PHOTO: AP


HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2Hvdfpl
via IFTTT

White Mississippi Police Officer Charged With Murdering 32-Year-Old Black Mother

Dominique Clayton was a 32-year-old mother of four in Oxford, Mississippi. On Sunday, she was reportedly murdered inside her home. Her body was found by her children.

WREG is reporting an Oxford Police officer named Mathew Kinne has been arrested and charged with murder. Investigators claim it is possible the two were in a relationship.

Jeff McCutchen, interim chief with the Oxford Police Department said, “We want to assure you that we will not hide behind our badge. Our hearts go out to the family of Dominique Clayton. To the family, we thank you for your patience and your trust in us to see this through.”

There have not been many details releases about her death but WREG says, “A family member said Monday that Clayton’s body was lying on her bed and there was a lot of blood on the back of her head.”

Dominique’s sister Shyjaun Clayton said she’s disappointed there aren’t more details about Kinne’s arrest, saying, “Hopefully he’ll get convicted. We’ll get justice for my sister.”

See his photo below:

A neighbor who claimed to be home on Sunday said he heard commotion at Clayton’s house.

“Her children found her. They went out the house crying, screaming. A man who lives down the street from us, he went over there and found her too.”

Mathew Kine, who has been with the Oxford Police Department for four years, will reportedly be in court tomorrow.

 


HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2YJqt7B
via IFTTT

Accuser’s Credibility Questioned At Ex-NFL Player’s Rape Trial

VISTA, Calif. (AP) — The credibility of the first of five women expected to testify at the rape trial of former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. was called into question Tuesday after she testified she had been sober for 30 years and defense attorneys showed the judge she had been arrested 11 times for public intoxication since 2003.

The woman testified that Winslow, 35, had raped her after he picked her up hitchhiking in March of 2018 in Encinitas, north of San Diego.

She is one of three women who told authorities they were raped by Winslow. Two others say he exposed himself or acted lewdly. All are expected to testify.

Winslow has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts.

The 55-year-old witness, called Jane Doe. 1 in court, described fearing for her life after being picked up by Winslow and told he was going to force her to have sex with him.

“He threatened to kill me, and I really believed that he would have,” she testified.

Defense lawyers have argued the sex was consensual and told jurors the women are not telling the full story.

Winslow’s attorney Marc Carlos in cross-examining the woman asked if she remembered taking the witness stand at a preliminary hearing in July and pointing at defense lawyer Brian Watkins when asked to identify her attacker.

Winslow and Watkins are both black.

“Yes, I made a mistake,” the woman said Tuesday.

Carlos asked if she had been drinking before Winslow gave her a ride. She said she had not.

He asked if she ever drank. She also said no.

When he pointed out that she had been arrested for public intoxication in January, she answered that she had been on cough medicine and been sober for 30 years.

The defense asked to speak to the judge. After they returned, the judge excused the jury for lunch. Then Carlos told the judge the witness should be dismissed.

“It’s not about her drinking, it’s about her lying,” Carlos said.

Judge Blaine Bowman said he would allow the defense to question her about five arrests for public intoxication dating back to 2014. He said he was allowing the questioning because her statement about being sober 30 years had made her credibility an issue.

Prosecutor Dan Owens said the woman’s desire to hide her drinking should not obscure the fact that she was attacked.

The woman took the stand after a DNA expert testified that traces of Winslow’s sperm were found on a pair of pants the woman provided to authorities after reporting she was raped.

She refused to undergo a physical examination at the time.

Winslow later befriended a 59-year-old homeless woman who said he sodomized her a year ago, according to the prosecution. Shortly after that a woman said she had been sexually assaulted by Winslow when she was 17 in 2003.

Watkins contended the women were trying to prey on Winslow amid news coverage of the rape allegations and that their accounts have been inconsistent.

Drafted No. 6 overall in 2004 by Cleveland, Winslow broke his right leg in his rookie season then sustained a serious right knee injury in a motorcycle accident that offseason.

He played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets.


HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2HtXRcJ
via IFTTT

Mother Who Confronted Bullies At Daughter’s Middle School Speaks Out [Watch]

The California mother who confronted the racist bullies harassing her child inside their middle school classroom, is now speaking out to Inside Edition — claiming she was simply protecting her daughter.

Christian Tinsley entered the 8th grade classroom at Niguel Hills Middle School during second period and threatened students she believed were bullying her 13-year-old daughter, Jade, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Tinsley said one of the male students had sexually harassed her child, and that was the final straw, promoting her to confront the situation head on.

“If you all bully my daughter, if you look at her the wrong way, if you breathe the wrong way, send your mom to me,” Tinsley can be heard saying in a video that was reportedly recorded by a student and  provided to CBS2. “Sisters, aunts, anybody over 18, I’ll f— them all up. Do you understand me?,” she says in the now viral clip.

“Don’t post nothing about her. None of that,” she adds. “Y’all think y’all bullies? I’m a big bully, OK?”

Tinsley told Inside Edition, “I was just there to protect my child,” saying that the teacher gave her permission to speak to the students. “At the time I thought the school was allowing me to do so.”

She added: “I asked the teacher if I could speak to her class and she said yes, which is why she sat there for the majority of my speech.”

Tinsley even handed out homemade tickets reading “Free A** Kicking.”

She says she regrets using obscenities and only did so to add emphasis to her message

“Looking back, I do regret using the one curse word that I used, but in my mind this was not toward the children, this was me trying to get my message across to the parents,” she said.

Jade told Inside Edition that she was subject to verbal abuse from some white boys at her school.

“They’ve called me a monkey, they’ve called me the N-word,” she said. “And they’ll just talk about me all the time. … It kind of made me feel really bad about myself.”

Jade, who was in the room during her mother’s speech, noted: “When my mother came in, the boys who were bullying me, they were silent.”

The Capistrano Unified School district has banned Tinsley from returning to campus and officials said they are investigating the incident, as well as the bullying claims.

[ione_media_gallery id="645475" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2YKpDI6
via IFTTT

Arizona Prisons Ban Book On Black Men In The Justice System

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona has banned prisoners from reading a book that discusses the impact of the criminal justice system on black men, drawing outcry from First Amendment advocates who say the move is censorship.

The American Civil Liberties Union called on the Arizona Department of Corrections this week to rescind the ban on “Chokehold: Policing Black Men.” The book by Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, examines law enforcement and mass incarceration through its treatment of African American men.

(The New Press via The AP)

“In order for them to ban a book, they have to show the restriction is related to a legitimate prison interest,” said Emerson Sykes, an ACLU attorney. “There’s no interest to keep inmates from learning about the criminal justice system and policing.”

RELATED: 3 Strikes Sentencing Reform Leaves Out Washington Inmates

Butler, a criminal law professor at Georgetown University, said his publisher was notified by email in March that his book had “unauthorized content.” The notice did not specify what led to the decision but warned that some aspect of the 2017 book was “detrimental to the safe, secure, and orderly operation of the facility.”

Butler said he is mystified as to what raised alarm bells. He uses the title, which is a maneuver police have used to restrain a suspect by the neck, throughout the book as a metaphor for how society and law subjugate black men. Nowhere does Butler advocate violent or retaliatory behavior.

“I disavow violence because first, I think it’s immoral, and second, because it wouldn’t work,” Butler said. “I’ve received letters from several inmates who have read ‘Chokehold’ while they are serving time. No one has indicated that reading ‘Chokehold’ has caused any problems in prison.”

RELATED: Inmate Found Dead In Georgia Jail Cell After Complaining Of Chest Pain

Arizona’s corrections department prohibits inmates from receiving publications that contain any depictions or descriptions that would incite or facilitate a riot, a resistance or stopping work. They also can’t contain pictures, illustrations or text that encourage “unacceptable sexual or hostile behaviors.” Any publications with sexually explicit material or sexual representations of inmates and law enforcement also are not permitted.

Corrections spokesman Andrew Wilder said the department had not yet received the ACLU’s letter asking for the ban to be reversed and declined further comment Monday.

The agency is in a court battle over a similar case. Prison Legal News, a monthly journal, sued corrections officials in 2015 for refusing to deliver four issues in 2014. The publication said in court documents that there were descriptions of “non-salacious” sexual contact between jail guards and prisoners when talking about incidents where inmates were sexually harassed. The case is set for trial later this year.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

Supporters say access to books for the more than 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S. can make all the difference for life outside the prison walls. More education decreases the likelihood of repeat offenses and can lead to better job prospects later, according to inmate advocates. They point to studies showing the literacy rates of incarcerated white, black and Hispanic people are significantly lower than their non-incarcerated counterparts.

About half the adult prison population doesn’t have a high school degree, said Christia Mercer, a philosophy professor at Columbia University who has taught classes in New York prisons. Reading books can be transformative and help them feel like they are using their time to make something of themselves.

“Unless the book itself promotes violence, there is never a reason not to allow it,” Mercer said. “Short of that, anything that gets people to read and think about themselves in the world is just going to be good for the person.”

Arizona’s population of 7.1 million is roughly 5% black, according to the U.S. census. As of October 2018, the corrections department found black people make up 14.5% of the 42,000 inmates in the Arizona system.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM

“One in 19 black men are in prison in Arizona right now,” Butler said. “Rather than acknowledge it’s a good thing that inmates want to read about and debate important public policy, Arizona pushes back against rehabilitation, against literacy, against the Constitution.”

Sykes, of the ACLU, said the group is prepared to sue if corrections officials fail to respond to its written request to end the book’s exclusion. He believes the ban was made based on content, which would be unconstitutional.

It’s not uncommon for state prisons to ban books, Sykes said. “Chokehold” is also not the first book dealing with racial justice issues to be prohibited.

In January 2018, New Jersey banned from two prisons “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander. The 2010 book looks at how black felons convicted of minor crimes are seemingly set up to fail. Officials reversed course after receiving a letter from the ACLU.

“When these issues come up, we try our best to push back against them,” Sykes said. “Unfortunately, the reality is I think in many cases, no action is taken because people whose rights are being affected are not in a strong position to push back.”

[ione_media_gallery id="45322" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2Hvd9xZ
via IFTTT

Mississippi 6-Week Abortion Ban Heads To Federal Court

(AP Photo)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge who struck down Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban last year is hearing arguments about a new law that puts the ban even earlier.

The law would prohibit most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, at about six weeks, when many women may not know they’re pregnant.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed it in March, and the state’s only abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, sued the state.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves is hearing arguments Tuesday on the clinic’s request that he block the law from taking effect July 1. It was unclear whether Reeves would issue an immediate decision.

Governors in Kentucky, Ohio and Georgia have signed bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Alabama’s governor signed a measure making abortion a felony in nearly all cases.

The Mississippi law says physicians who perform abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected could face revocation of their state medical licenses. It also says abortions could be allowed after a fetal heartbeat is found if a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life or one of her major bodily functions. Legislators rejected efforts to allow exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Jackson Women’s Health Organization says the law is unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.

Abortion opponents are emboldened by new conservative justices on the Supreme Court. The opponents have pushed new restrictions in several states this year in the hopes that a case will prompt the court to re-evaluate and maybe overturn Roe v. Wade.

If Reeves were to temporarily block the Mississippi law, he would hear arguments later on the larger question of constitutionality. In 2018, Mississippi enacted a law to ban abortions after 15 weeks, and Reeves struck it down, writing that it “unequivocally” violates women’s constitutional rights.

[ione_media_gallery id="762374" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2YKpAvU
via IFTTT

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Police Checked Kidnapping Suspect’s Room Hours Before Arrest

                         (The Fort Worth Police Department via AP)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Authorities say police visited the motel room of a Texas man suspected of kidnapping an 8-year-old girl but didn’t see the child, who was eventually found safe about two hours later.

Michael Webb is charged with aggravated kidnapping after authorities say he snatched the girl as she walked with her mother Saturday night in Fort Worth. The child was found early Sunday at the motel in nearby Forest Hill.

The Star-Telegram reports Forest Hill officers questioned the man after a motel clerk called police, but they left when they didn’t see the child.

Officers returned at about 2 a.m. Sunday after receiving another tip and found the girl inside the room. Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis says the department is looking into the officers’ handling of the earlier call.

[ione_media_gallery id="260086" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2LVWuI5
via IFTTT

Former Obama Official Susan Rice Has Book Out In October

( Simon & Schuster via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Susan E. Rice, the former national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has a book coming out this fall.

“Tough Love” will be published Oct. 8, Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday. She will reflect on challenges and controversies that arose during the Obama administration, including the deadly 2012 raid on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Conservatives would accuse her of making misleading remarks about the attack, the subject of extensive, Republican-led investigations.

Rice said in a statement that becoming “synonymous with Benghazi” made her anxious to tell her story. According to the publisher, she has written an “inspiring account” of her public and private life and will offer advice on how an African-American woman can compete in a field where few share her background.

[ione_media_gallery id="44472" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2QdQwkt
via IFTTT

Uplifting News: Theo Shaw Turned A Bad Situation Into A Life’s Calling [VIDEO]

The uplifting news this week is about Theo Shaw, a member of the Jena 6, who has been sworn in as an attorney.

In 2006, Shaw and five other Black teenage boys made national headlines after they were charged with attempted murder following a fight with a White student from their Jena, Louisiana high school.

Unable to make bail, Shaw spent seven months in jail awaiting trial. The original felony charge was lowered to misdemeanor simple battery. He pleaded no contest, and his record was later expunged.

Inspired by that experience to help fix the criminal justice system, Shaw later went on to study law at the University of Washington on a full scholarship. After completing a clerkship with Louisiana Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, Shaw was recently sworn in to the bar of the District of Columbia.

Shaw said, “Being wrongly arrested and incarcerated as a teenager motivated me to become a lawyer.”

Congratulation Mr. Shaw on your major success! Your heroic efforts can help push against the criminal justice system and make a change in our community.

Follow Alyse Hope on Instagram at @IamMsHope 

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2VSAEKf
via IFTTT

‘3 Strikes’ Sentencing Reform Leaves Out Washington Inmates

(AP Photo)

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A small group of inmates, disproportionately black, are set to stay in Washington state prisons for life — left out of the latest in a multi-year wave of reforms easing tough-on-crime “three strikes” laws around the U.S.

At least 24 states including Washington passed such laws during the 1990s, embracing tough-on-crime rhetoric. But nearly half have since scaled them back amid concern that habitual but less-violent offenders were being stuck behind bars for life with hardcore felons.

RELATED: Judge Orders More Sleep For San Francisco Area Jail Inmates

Washington’s 1993 three-strikes law was among the first and stands out as among the nation’s strictest. But lawmakers targeted it for reform this year with legislation removing second-degree robbery — generally defined as a robbery without a deadly weapon or significant injury — from the list of crimes qualifying for cumulative life sentences.

But while the original reform included a retroactive clause, making inmates sentenced under the old law eligible for resentencing, an amendment pushed by a prosecutors’ group cut out retroactivity. Washington governor and Democratic presidential contender Jay Inslee signed the changes into law April 29.

That means about 62 inmates convicted of second-degree robbery will be left serving life sentences, according to state records, even after judges stop “striking out” new offenders convicted of the same crimes. About half are black, despite African Americans making up only 4% of Washington’s population.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

Under the original bill, the inmates with a robbery “strike” would have had the opportunity to have their life sentences re-examined by judges — but now they won’t.

Supporters of the amendment have said even less-serious robberies can leave emotional scars, and that prosecutors might have set aside more serious charges because they knew second-degree robbery convictions would mean life in prison for those offenders.

But inmates among the 62 described frustration that offenders with similar records may face drastically shorter sentences going forward.

“It’s just wrong on its face, to make people rot in prison for the rest of their life on a sentence that doesn’t even exist anymore,” said John Letellier, 67, whose 1999 fast food restaurant robbery earned him his third strike.

The push to take out the reform’s retroactivity clause emerged from the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, a group that represents prosecutors.

RELATED: Inmate Found Dead In Georgia Jail Cell After Complaining Of Chest Pain

Russell Brown, the group’s director, said he reviewed most of the cases listing second-degree robbery as the third strike, and believed that prosecutors in many probably refrained from seeking more serious charges because of the guarantee the charge — known in legal circles as “Rob 2” — would count as a third strike.

But he acknowledged that he never confirmed his suspicions with any of the prosecutors who handled the cases.

“You worked the deal with the understanding that the Rob 2 would count as a strike and they would go away for life,” Brown said.

Three-strike laws — typically focused on handing out life or near-life sentences — surged in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s in response to peaking violent crime, driven in part by gang crime and the crack cocaine epidemic.

But a movement to reform the laws grew as backers cited the high cost of life imprisonment and the potential injustice of lumping lower-level offenders with violent predators, said Alison Lawrence, head of the criminal justice program at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Washington, second-degree robbery has one of the lowest seriousness levels of any crime on the three-strikes list, hypothetically encompassing anything from demanding money from a clerk to snatching a purse.

At least 11 states including Washington have eased their three strikes laws since 2009, often removing property crimes from “strike” lists or restoring discretion to judges over previously mandatory life sentences.

RELATED: New York City To Pay $3.5M Settlement In Rikers Inmate Death

But lawmakers have also often been reluctant to make the three-strikes reforms retroactive: Out of the 11 only California has included such a clause, Lawrence said.

In phone and email interviews, inmates among the 62 in Washington described how the reform raised their hopes — and the amendment dashed them.



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2wcPT1i
via IFTTT

Colorado Seniors Graduate Weeks After Fatal Attack At School

(Rachel Short via AP)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Seniors from a Colorado high school where a student was killed trying to stop a shooting nearly two weeks ago graduated Monday.

STEM School Highlands Ranch held its commencement ceremony at a Denver Broncos training facility and honored 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, who was fatally shot when he and two classmates tackled one of the two gunmen May 7. The shooting came during the last week of classes for Castillo and his fellow seniors.

Valedictorian Emma Goodwill said Monday the attack does not define the school, although she will take the events with her through life.

“It was an attack on so many things, but it was also an attack on this common ideological foundation that was fundamentally the center of our school: mutual respect for our peers’ individuality. A love for each student’s personal and particular nature,” she said. “However, Kendrick’s personal nature was not shaken. He continued to love and to protect just as he had. Kendrick died as he lived.”

Goodwill asked her classmates to “love so fully and fundamentally like Kendrick,” who she described as a “gracious, kind, funny and genuinely joyful kid.”

“Kendrick’s identity does not lie in the fact that he died protecting our school and our classmates, but rather that it was so fundamentally him to love that much,” she said.

Castillo and classmates Brendan Bialy and Joshua Jones were credited with helping minimize the bloodshed by charging at one of the suspects in a classroom.

According to Bialy, Castillo sprang into action against the shooter “and immediately was on top of him with complete disregard for his own safety.” Jones, 18, said he was shot twice in the leg before Bialy was able to take the attacker’s gun.

Two students, ages 18 and 16, were arrested at the school and are facing dozens of charges, including murder, attempted murder, arson and theft.

Besides Castillo, eight students were shot during the attack. They have since been released from the hospital.

[ione_media_gallery id="70100" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2WbLNVZ
via IFTTT

Ex-Nurse Accused Of Raping Patient Appeals HIV Testing Order

(Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

PHOENIX (AP) — A former nurse charged with sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a Phoenix long-term care facility has appealed a court order requiring a test to determine if he has HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

A lawyer for Nathan Sutherland says in an appeal filed last week that a lower-court order should be overturned because there is no evidence to suggest his client has a sexually transmitted disease.

Attorney Edwin Molina says such a test would violate Sutherland’s constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting Sutherland, declined to comment on the appeal.

Prosecutors have previously cited a state law that says people accused of sexual assault are subject to tests to determine whether they have a sexually transmitted disease. Such results are to be released to the victims.

Authorities say Sutherland, 37, was working as a licensed practical nurse at Hacienda Healthcare when he raped the 29-year-old victim, who has been in long-term care since age 3 after suffering a near-drowning.

She gave birth to a boy at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant.

The surprise birth triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and prompted the resignations of Hacienda’s chief executive and one of the victim’s doctors.

Investigators say Sutherland’s DNA matched a sample from the woman’s newborn boy, who is being cared for by her family.

Sutherland has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse and abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Hacienda fired Sutherland after his arrest. He has since given up his nursing license.

[ione_media_gallery id="235679" overlay="true"]

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/30uG2lz
via IFTTT

Magic Johnson Tells All About Why He Quit The Lakers, Including Who Backstabbed Him [VIDEO]

Magic Johnson definitely has more to say about his time with the Los Angeles Lakers as President of Basketball Operations and his stunning, out of nowhere, resignation.

Back on April 25 that he shocked that Lakers fans and the NBA with his announcement at what’s being infamously referred to as the “I’m not gonna be here” press conference. Shortly afterwards, he tweeted these words: “The truth will always come to light.”

Well, today we’re finding out just exactly what he meant. Johnson appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” and wasted no time coming with the goods. First,  he pointed the finger at GM Rob Pelinka, who he said was the source of his “betrayal” within the Lakers organization. Johnson claimed Pelinka said – behind Johnson’s back – that he wasn’t working hard enough and wasn’t in the franchise’s office enough.

 

 

Through it all, dude’s sense of humor is still working ’cause he also joked he had been “fined enough” for tampering:

 

Here’s what Magic had to say about LeBron being upset that he didn’t call him to tell him he was leaving:

 

Even though Magic eloquently stated his position, some people feel he revealed too much about the inner dysfunction of the Lakers organization:

Others compared the situation to a Game of Thrones like epic:

Do you think Magic did the right thing by leaving the Lakers the way he did?

PHOTO: AP

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/30qt48e
via IFTTT

Bernie Sanders Seeks Support Of Black Voters In Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made an appeal Monday to black voters in the Deep South, stopping at a historically African American church and calling health care a “human right” that he equated to the civil rights movement.

Speaking before a racially diverse crowd at Mt. Zion Church AME Church in Alabama’s capital, Sanders renewed his calls for extending health care coverage to all Americans and reducing student debt.

“Just as civil rights is a human right, health care is a human right,” Sanders said to loud applause. The crowd for his midday speech was about half white despite the church’s deep ties to the civil rights movement.

Wrapping up a four-state swing that included stops in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, the Vermont senator is working to strengthen his support among black voters who comprise most of the Democratic primary electorate in many Southern states.

Mt. Zion’s old location played a key role in the 1950s’ Montgomery bus boycott, and Sanders criticized what he called new threats to the right to vote — “the bedrock of American democracy,” he said.

“What an outrage it is today. I’m not talking about 60 years ago, I’m talking about today, that you have Republican governors all over this country trying to suppress the vote,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Sanders toured nearby civil rights sites and visited an impoverished area of the state where residents struggle with adequate wastewater sanitation. On Sunday, he held a rally in a park in downtown Birmingham.

Sanders said full-time workers should not “live in poverty” in the wealthiest nation in the world and noted that Alabama is one of the states with no minimum wage above the federal minimum. He said the minimum wage should be raised to $15.

Sanders also touted his recently unveiled K-12 education plan, saying education should become a national priority.

“As a people, as Americans, we have got to say loudly and proudly that education is a major priority in this country,” Sanders said.

In Montgomery, Sanders was greeted by a large and enthusiastic crowd that chanted “Bernie!” with several people interrupting his speech to shout, “We love you!”

Sanders has previously talked up his days as a civil rights activist while a student at the University of Chicago. He has also visited Selma, Alabama, participating in ceremonies marking the anniversary of Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of one of the most galvanizing moments in support of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Jeanise Murry, a 49-year-old African American nurse who heard Sanders speak Monday, said she likes some of the things he mentioned but is still deciding which candidate to support in 2020.

“It won’t be (President Donald) Trump,” Murry said.

PHOTO: AP


HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

 

 



from News – Black America Web http://bit.ly/2VDiw1O
via IFTTT