By William H. Freivogel One reform that grew out of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 was that recalcitrant states with strong police unions passed decertification laws to take away peace officer licenses from those with a track record of seriously abusing citizens. California and Massachusetts, two states with strong police unions,
By Kallie Cox After passing the SAFE-T Act in 2021, Illinois was hailed as a model for police reform. However, despite the abolition of cash bail and sweeping police reforms, there remain barriers to accountability. The next step, critics say, is enforcing the existing policy changes among Illinois’ enforcement agencies, strengthening the penalties for failing
By Sam Stecklow and William H. Freivogel On July 4, 2023, Samuel Davis, a 26-year-old officer for the Northwoods Police Department in North St. Louis County, took Charles Garmon into custody at a Walgreens. After handcuffing Garmon, Davis drove him to a remote intersection outside of a Pepsi bottling plant in Kinloch, a now-largely industrial
By William H. Freivogel Ten years after the Ferguson uprising, five years after “The 1619 Project” and four years after the murder of George Floyd, the racial reckoning that seemed at hand has largely dissipated amidst a political and legal backlash — laws outlawing “DEI,” attacks on a “DEI vice president” and bans on books
By Paul Wagman A St. Louis judge this week set a trial date of next March 10 for the defamation lawsuit against the owners of the far-right conspiracy site Gateway Pundit over false allegations of election fraud against two Georgia poll workers. Although trial schedules can always be amended, the Aug. 26 order by Judge
