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Reform plan still has Paterson police responding to mental health crises
Some changes made, but not yet addressed is what many see as main problem — armed officers intervening instead of mental health experts By Taylor Jung On October 2, 2023 It’s been six months since the state attorney general’s office took over the Paterson Police Department, and nearly seven months since the department’s officers killed…
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Police Blame Some Deaths on ‘Excited Delirium.’ ER Docs Consider Pulling the Plug on the Term.
By Markian Hawryluk and Renuka Rayasam On October 2, 2023 The way Sheldon Haleck’s parents see it, the 38-year-old’s only crime was jaywalking. But that March night in 2015, after Honolulu police found him behaving erratically, they pepper-sprayed him, shocked him with a Taser, and restrained him. Haleck became unresponsive and was taken to a…
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Predictive Policing Software Terrible At Predicting Crimes
A software company sold a New Jersey police department an algorithm that was right less than 1% of the time By Aaron Sankin and Surya Mattu Crime predictions generated for the police department in Plainfield, New Jersey, rarely lined up with reported crimes, an analysis by The Markup has found, adding new context to the debate…
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Minneapolis poised to give $145k settlement to MPD officer involved in beating
Sgt. Andrew Bittell led a SWAT team that rode around shooting plastic bullets at curfew violators By Deena Winter On September 29, 2023 The city of Minneapolis is poised to pay $145,000 to a SWAT team leader whose unit drove around in an unmarked van firing plastic bullets at people without warning five days after the police…
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Ohio Catholic bishops spent big on failed effort to defeat abortion-rights amendment
Funding came from many parishioners who disagree By Marty Schladen On November 27, 2023 Ohio’s Catholic bishops spent $1.7 million in an attempt to defeat an abortion-rights measure that passed easily on Nov. 7, according to an analysis by a group of Catholics that urges the church to change its stance on the issue. The…
Read MoreAttorney General who opposed Issue 1 will likely argue in court it erases six-week abortion ban
By Karen Kasler On November 18, 2023 COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — The Ohio Supreme Court is asking the parties involved in a lawsuit over Ohio’s law banning abortion after six weeks to submit arguments on what effect, if any, the abortion and reproductive rights amendment approved in Issue 1 has on that case. And…
Read MoreOhio voters just passed abortion protections. When and how they take effect is before the courts
By Julie Carr Smyth On November 25, 2023 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s new constitutional protections for abortion access and other reproductive rights take effect Dec. 7, a month after voters resoundingly passed them. How and when their impacts are felt remains unclear. Existing abortion-related lawsuits are moving again through the courts now that voters…
Read MoreHow did abortion amendment pass in Ohio and what does it mean for future elections?
By Jessie Balmert On November 10, 2023 Voters across Ohio voted to protect access to abortion and other reproductive rights Tuesday, rejecting bans and restrictions passed by the state’s predominantly Republican Legislature. “We did it,” declared Dr. Marcela Azevedo, a founder of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, as abortion rights proponents cheered Tuesday night. “We’re…
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Ohio election results seen as major victory for Black women
Leaders and advocates believe Tuesday’s vote builds momentum for important elections in 2024. By April Ryan On November 8, 2023 Democrats and advocates are celebrating Tuesday’s vote in Ohio to make abortion access a constitutional right, claiming it as a particular victory for Black women. “For Black Ohioans, it will mean another safeguard for bodily…
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