In a Netflix original documentary titled 13TH, to signify the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, scholars, activists and politicians discuss and analyze the criminalization of African Americans in the United States. This thought-provoking film argues that the mass incarceration of African Americans across the United States is in fact an extension of slavery. See NPR Review. The filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s website features the documentary’s official trailer along with a list of reviews from variety of newspapers. Check it out!
Tag: African American
Professor Michael Mushlin Joins NPR Report on Prison Guard Brutality in NYS
NPR North Carolina ran a story about prison oversight featuring Prof. Michael B. Mushlin of Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University who has been tirelessly advocating for meaningful prison oversight. The level and extent of brutality occurring behind the walls of many prisons is unimaginable, and the fact that many if not all of the incidents go unreported, un-investigated, and unpunished makes these situations even more dire.
Related Readings:
- Brian Mann, Reports of Prison Guard Brutality in New York Draw a Harsh Spotlight, NPR North Carolina (Oct. 20, 2016).
- Michael B. Mushlin, What’s Going on in Our Prisons?, N.Y. Times (Jan. 4, 2016), at A19.
- Michael B. Mushlin, Written Testimony on Correctional Oversight of the NYS DOCCS, Hearing Before the State Assembly Standing Committee on Correction (Dec. 2, 2015).
- Michael B. Mushlin, “I Am Opposed to This Procedure”: How Kafka’s In the Penal Colony Illuminates the Current Debate About Solitary Confinement and Oversight of American Prisons,93 Or. L. Rev. 571 (2015).
Yet Another Death in Police Custody
In case you didn’t have a chance to read this when it first came out, we bring to you another post by Professor Bennett L. Gershman, titled On the Death of Raynette Turner.
Prof. Gershman introduces his piece by saying,
The fifth death of a woman of color in US police custody in July. An unspeakable tragedy by itself, but arguably symbolic of the legal profession’s failure to examine the factual and logical foundation for our system of modern policing and mass incarceration.