ST. LOUIS — Five years before George Floyd died of “asphyxia-restraint” on a Minneapolis street, 27-year-old Nicholas Gilbert died in a St. Louis police holdover cell with six officers on top of him. He was handcuffed with his legs shackled while gasping, “It hurts. Stop.” Three years before Breonna Taylor was killed by police in a flawed “no-knock” raid in Louisville, … [Read more...] about Two St. Louis police killings similar to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor deaths
Encircling protesters and targeting journalists undermine right to assemble
The right to assemble is as American as apple pie. It is written in the First Amendment — “the right of the people to peaceably assemble.” The American Revolution followed high-spirited protests in the colonies. But legal experts say that police tactics at mass demonstrations are threatening the right to assemble. Kettling protesters, spraying them with chemicals, mass … [Read more...] about Encircling protesters and targeting journalists undermine right to assemble
Abusive police officers evade punishment through an array of legal roadblocks to accountability
Police officers who abuse citizens usually escape punishment because of an array of legal doctrines that stack the law in an officer’s favor. That was true before the murder of George Floyd and killing of Breonna Taylor and it’s true after the uprising that those events caused. The guilty verdict and stiff sentence for Derek Chauvin, Floyd’s murderer, felt like a … [Read more...] about Abusive police officers evade punishment through an array of legal roadblocks to accountability
Publisher’s Note: The First Amendment’s nervous breakdown at 230
230 years after its ratification, the First Amendment is having a nervous breakdown. Billions of bits of information and misinformation flood the public sphere every day leading people to throw up their hands because they can’t figure out what or whom to believe. Bedrock principles of Enlightenment philosophers and great First Amendment champions, Justices Oliver Wendell … [Read more...] about Publisher’s Note: The First Amendment’s nervous breakdown at 230
Remembering William ‘Reck’ Recktenwald
Remembering a great journalist, investigator, teacher, mentor and friend When I woke up the day after William A. Recktenwald died this week, the first thing I heard in my head was his gravelly voice asking, “How are you doing my friend?” It was a greeting I had heard from “Reck” dozens of times over the past 15 years at the SIUC School of Journalism where we were … [Read more...] about Remembering William ‘Reck’ Recktenwald