The HeadCount blog is a forum for our community where we welcome all opinions and perspectives. The following does not necessarily represent the views of the HeadCount organization. We welcome anyone with an opposing viewpoint to become a contributor to our blog. Please email editor@headcount.org for more information.

We don’t like to talk about racism anymore.  It seems taboo to play the race card in the educated circles.  The Obama administration has stayed away from using harsh language when dealing with blatantly racist legislation, weather targeting immigrants or African American communities, on local, state and federal levels across the country.

But from where I sit in North Carolina, racism is alive and kicking – and has more power that I have ever known in my lifetime.  We are regressing from 50+ years of progress, and let’s face it … this power surge started when our country elected a black president.

My mom is 70 years old next month.  She marched with Dr. King.  She drove into rural southern communities to register African American women to vote who had never had a white women come to their door before.  She ducked bullets in Washington, DC while there were regular drive-bys attacking the Poor People’s Campaign office.  I’m sure many of your parents also fought the war for equality in our country at different levels.  We cannot forget this fight.

Many of our senior elected officials and major political donors were on the front lines of this revolution … on one side or another. They were our age and in the thick the real revolution for equal rights.  It is critical that the youth vote remember that this war was fought in the lifetime of our senior legislators.  They should know better – we should ALL know better - than to turn a blind eye to what is happening today.

I believe that by not talking about racism anymore we are giving power to those who do not value equality in our country.  That is why I believe it is critical for us to pay attention.  I’d like to tell you about what is going on in North Carolina today to illustrate my point:

Redistricting

Every 10 years state legislators use the opportunity to redistrict based on census data in their favor.  The basic purpose of redistricting is usually at the forefront of the effort – to have the districts represent the demographics of the state.  The North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) isn’t even pretending to uphold that true purpose of redistricting.  They have drawn lines that will put over half of the black population into 3 districts.  The lines literally go in circles around poor neighborhoods, grouping them across counties instead of with their neighbors and towns. By limiting the races folks in these neighborhoods are able to influence, it is simply voter suppression based on race and class.

Voters and advocacy groups in NC filed two suits against the NCGA’s districts in the fall.  Both suits claim that “ …Republican-written maps illegally cluster black voters to decrease their electoral power, cross too many county boundaries and split too many precincts.”  The plaintiffs hope to push the NC primaries from May to September in order for the suit to be resolved.  The timing of the suit could have a great effect on state and national politics as NC is an important swing state. The court is supposed to determine if the case will continue prior to the February filing date for candidates.

Reform of the Racial Justice Act of 2009

In 2009 legislation was enacted to protect NC inmates on death row from a sentence to death when race was a significant factor in the decision to seek or impose the death penalty.  These inmates would not be released, but rather serve life sentences.  This legislation was enacted simply because it was clear that racial prejudice played a role in the imposition of the death penalty in NC.

In 2011 the NCGA majority twisted the public understanding of this bill.  They ran an aggressive PR campaign leading the public to believe that the bill allowed cases of convicted murders to be reopened and their guilt to be reexamined. A reform bill was written by the conservative majority on the premise that there was no discrimination in the death penalty. Governor Bev Perdue vetoed the reform bill.  However, just after the 2012 New Year, the NCGA took advantage of the illness of three members and held a last minute midnight session to override the veto.  Luckily the House votes were able to block the Senate override… for now.

The action of the Senate clearly indicates that they do not care about protecting citizens against racism. They do not care if the state kills people on a bias because of their race, despite clear research that NC prosecutors are twice as likely to strike black potential jury members and that NC juries are more than 2 ½ times more likely to sentence a defendant to death if the defendant is black.

Photo ID Bill

This summer many celebrated Gov. Perdue’s veto of the Photo ID Bill, a piece of voter suppression legislation that would have immediately disenfranchised half a million voters, most of which are poor minority voters.  What people haven’t talked about is the fact that her veto was sustained in the NCGA with the support of conservative legislators – who through careful calculation passed the vote with just enough margin that it could come back to the floor at any moment.  As we have seen the NCGA take advantage of illness and hold midnight sessions to pass racist legislation already this year, I'm terrified that their dirty governance will lead to the veto being overruled.

US Congressman David Price, who represents NC’s 4^th District, along with 10 co-sponsors, introduced legislation in December to protect North Carolina and other states from voter suppression through state Voter ID legislation.  While it is heartening to see federal attention to the crises we are facing in NC and around the country, it isn’t enough.  We let our concern about Voter ID dissipate over the summer and stopped paying attention.  We stopped being outraged. What better time for the NCGA to slide this legislation through at a midnight session?

North Carolina isn’t alone in these clearly racially motivated politics.  They’re in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Arizona and many more states.  Let us not forget that equality for women and African Americans in democracy was forged at state levels … and it can also be taken away by state legislators.  We HAVE to pay attention, be outraged and have this conversation.

I recently heard a county official in Raleigh speak about the legacy our actions leave for future generations.  We’ve lived in a world where equality was important – sure, we grew up with debates about affirmative action.  But generally we’ve taken for granted that our country believes in equality despite the color of your skin.  We let the dust settle on the fight for equality and now we are losing ground.

Redistricting across states will last for 10 years.  That is 2 presidential elections and 3 midterm elections.  Can North Carolina, or any other state, constitutionally deprive the minority population its voice for 10 years?  The answer is simple, they WILL if we don’t stop them.  Let’s work on the legacy we are leaving behind.

Racism in politics is alive and well.  Don’t you think we should stop it?

Ahhhh! It’s election season! The Republican selection process is underway, so let’s take a look at where the contenders stand on some important human rights issues.

• The Republican candidates have made a big issue of the U.S.’s relationship with China, and how the Chinese government treats it’s own people. According to the website Republican-Candidates.org, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum have all been sharply critical of China. Santorum called on the U.S. to battle China’s “godless socialism,” while Paul says trade policy should be tied to China improving its record on human rights. Mitt Romney took a slightly different tack. When asked whether China was a human rights “disaster,” Romney responded that he believes in building bridges and not walls.
• Child labor laws? Until recently they were fairly non-controversial. But former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called them “truly stupid,” and said impoverished kids should be allowed to work as school janitors up to 20 hours per week in order to learn a decent work ethic. The kids, he said, could replace unionized janitors in order to help them understand the value of a buck - since their parents aren’t working or setting a good example.
• Rick Santorum and Rick Perry both publicly denounced an Obama administration policy to assist organizations around the world fighting the persecution of gay people. Perry called it "promoting rights for gays" and, in a press release, said the Obama administration is making “war on traditional American values” and on “people of faith” by promoting a lifestyle they find “deeply objectionable.” Santorum told reporters, “I would suggest that we give out humanitarian aid based on humanitarian need, not based on whether people are promoting their particular agenda.”
• Santorum, rising in the polls prior to the Iowa caucus, took several shots at President Obama for his policies on Iran. Santorum said Obama has failed to support the pro-democracy movement in Iran and cut funding for pro-Democracy programs that President George W. Bush supported. In a foreign policy debate in November, Santorum and Romney expressed that they would support the "rebels" and "insurgents" in Iran who wish to overthrow the government. They were later criticized for their choice of wording, accused of implying that the pro-democracy "Green Movement" in Iran was made up of violent agents of the U.S.
• On the controversial subject of abortion, all of the GOP primary candidates have taken an anti-abortion stance and support a constitutional ban on the practice. Ron Paul approaches it slightly differently, however, and says the federal government should have no authority to either ban or legalize abortion. Romney is accused of flip-flopping on the issue, previously supporting moderate abortion regulations when he was governor of Massachusetts, but now saying that Roe v. Wade ought to be reversed in order for states to make their own decisions. Gingrich, Santorum, Perry and recently Paul (with an addendum) have all signed the “Personhood Pledge,” a pledge that supports a constitutional end to abortion and declares a fertilized egg a person.
• Perhaps where the candidates differ more significantly is on immigration. Gingrich favors a popular “red card solution” that would allow well-behaved, well-established immigrants to remain in the U.S. legally but not become citizens. Romney says Gingrich’s stance would make the U.S. a “magnet” for more illegal immigrants. As governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman signed legislation giving driving privileges to illegal immigrants and threatened a veto on a bill that would end in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants. Ron Paul thinks giving illegal immigrants any benefits of U.S. citizenship would penalize Americans.

I’m not sure what all of you have been taught about the Holocaust, but my teachers always considered it a vital subject for students to learn, so that it never happens again. Knowledge is power and inaction is just as bad as villainy, right? Unfortunately, it is clear that anti-Semitic sentiment is present in our nation which is supposed to embrace faith of all kinds.

A few weeks ago in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, three cars were torched and the words “fuck the Jews”, “KKK” and “SS” were drawn on benches to mark the anniversary of Hitler’s Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass.

Quick synopsis: November 9 and 10, 1938 in Nazi Germany and parts of Austria — the Nazis destroyed synagogues, shops, and entire towns to terrorize the Jews. Seventy-three years later to the day, neo-Nazis in Brooklyn were making sure that Jews fear for their lives. Several Jewish residents in this neighborhood are Holocaust survivors, and this incident produced flashbacks to the inhumanity and cruelty they suffered.

Jewish students at universities across the country have fallen victim to odious behavior too, in the past decade. In fact, in 2006, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a study that documented an alarmingly high rate of anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Six years later, we don’t have to look far for evidence of hatred. According to Brooklyn police, there were beer bottles lying all over the ground near the site of the vandalism, and one detective said it “looks like they had a party.” This anti-Semitic party, fueled by historical knowledge (creepy!) resulted in thick black smoke pouring from the torched cars. The vandals woke up several horrified residents on the block in the middle of the night. It is clear that Corona bottles and detailed knowledge of the Holocaust make for a terrifyingly ironic combination.

Following the violence, state and city elected officials and Jewish leaders marched in Midwood on Sunday, November 13 to rally for tolerance, acceptance and better security in their neighborhood. But the hatred continues. Just last week, someone defaced the Avenue J subway stop in the neighborhood, adding the letter “EW” to make a sign read “Avenue Jew.” Police are still looking for the perpetrator.

"I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources." - Barack Obama, Aug, 21, 2007

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana” - Attorney General Eric Holder, October 19, 2009

It’s safe to say that people who have been involved in drug policy reform are pretty disappointed with the Obama Administration. However, up until recently, there was one area where they generally agreed the President was on the right track: medical marijuana. Shortly after his election, Obama and other administration officials made it clear that they would refrain from prosecuting medical marijuana distributors as long as they complied with state laws.

During its first two years, the administration more or less kept its word and dealing with medical marijuana was never a priority for the Justice Department. Yet despite all of this, the four federal prosecutors for the state of California recently made the rather shocking announcement that they would be cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries. They planned on going after distributors who violated parts of the Controlled Substances Act, “even if such activities are permitted under state law.”

And they proceeded to do just that. On October 13, the DEA raided the Northstone Organics grow-op in Mendicino County, California. Northstone Organics was considered a model dispensary by local law enforcement officials, who lauded the grower’s commitment to complying with state and local laws. Since then, the DEA has stepped up its raids in California and other states.

In addition to raiding dispensaries and growers, the federal government has found other ways to undermine state sanctioned medical marijuana operations. On September 21, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a letter stating that it was illegal for anyone who used medical marijuana to possess a gun and that it was also illegal to sell a gun to someone who was in possession of a medical marijuana card.

The IRS has also come out swinging against medical marijuana. Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, one of the largest dispensaries in the country, was recently saddled with $2.5 million in back taxes after the IRS invoked a part of the tax code that removes deductions for businesses related to the trafficking of illicit substances. Harborside has no idea how it will possibly be able to pay the new taxes, and the ruling has dispensaries across the country worried that the feds will use this new tactic to put them out of business.

The reason for this reversal of administration policy is not readily apparent, so the move has naturally left one question on everybody’s mind: Why? Getting tough on medical marijuana is not exactly something that the electorate has been clamoring for but there has to be some kind of logic to this escalation of the federal war on medical marijuana. I’m going to attempt to discern what could possibly be behind this change of priorities.

Perhaps the the reasons are political? President Obama’s approval rating is at an all-time low and the administration desperately needs something to boost its popularity. Maybe this could be an attempt to woo the public as the election year draws nearer? But hold on. A medical marijuana crackdown can’t possible be the “something” that this administration needs. As 2010 ABC News/Washington Post poll found that a whopping 81% of Americans support the legalization of medical marijuana, and every other poll done in the past few years points to a solid majority of the electorate supporting it. If this move is being made for political reasons, the administration has made a serious miscalculation.

Perhaps the reasons are moral? Drug abuse is a serious problem in this country and no administration has ever been able to make a serious dent in rates of abuse since the War on Drugs was declared by President Nixon in 1971. Maybe Obama thinks that marijuana is a soul destroying plague that must be wiped from the Earth lest we all become be hopelessly addicted and civilization disappears into a mushroom cloud of pot smoke. But hold on. Barack Obama can’t possibly believe all of the drug war rhetoric about the life ruining effects of marijuana. After all, he admits to having smoked regularly in his youth and I’m sure he thinks he turned out alright. Never mind the fact that every study done in the past few years has found that marijuana is not physically addictive and is less dangerous than alcohol.

Perhaps the reasons are financial? The United States is running short on cash, so maybe President Obama doesn’t want to waste money dealing with all the problems caused by medical marijuana. But wait. If anything, it appears that medical marijuana actually makes money for the government. Up to $100 million worth of tax revenue for California alone in 2010. Not to mention the reduction in enforcement costs that comes with not wasting resources going after dispensaries and growers that comply with state laws.

None of this adds up. Why on Earth might President Obama be escalating the federal government's war on medical marijuana? The only thing I have left to do is follow the money. Turns out the trail leads right to the pharmaceutical industry, which  unsurprisingly donated millions of dollars to Obama’s campaign in 2008. In fact, pharmaceutical companies gave Barack Obama almost three times as much money as they gave John McCain in the last presidential election. Gee, I wonder what the guys who make their money manufacturing pills could possibly have against a medicine that anyone can grow in their backyard. With the next Presidential election expected to be a multi-billion dollar escapade, it would be prudent to take a look at the money trail any time a politician's motives come into question.

I’m constantly reminded how good I have it as I sift through human rights issues. It's easy to just brush off the turmoil abroad because it doesn’t make a direct impact on my daily life. But with some of these stories, basic humanity is at stake. In this issue update, I’m tackling some issues that continue to rear their ugly heads and some new ones you may just be hearing about for the first time. Take the next few minutes to put yourself in someone else’s shoes…

• In 2006, six-year-old Anyelí Liseth Hernández Rodríguez was kidnapped from her home in Guatemala. In 2008, American couple Timothy and Jennifer Monahan adopted a little girl from the country. Now, the girl’s birth mother and a human rights agency say Rodríguez was illegally put up for adoption and want the little girl -- now called Karen Abigal Monahan -- back. The situation poses an emotional and difficult scenario for the families, but also the U.S. government, which is not only required to follow international adoption regulations, but also protect the rights of its citizens, which now include little Karen Abigal Monahan. A Guatemalan court has ordered that the girl be returned to her birth mother, but the Monahans have indicated they intend to put up a fight. Stay tuned for developments, but as the president of the National Council for Adoption, Chuck Johnson noted, “This is a no-win situation.”
• More than a year and a half after the earthquake that rocked Haiti, a disproportionate number of women and girls lack access to health care. Human Rights Watch’s report, “Nobody Remembers Us,” outlines that despite millions of dollars given to Haiti to provide unprecedented access to free health care, maternal and reproductive care is severely lacking. Many women are even trading sex for food which has only increased the growing epidemic of sexual violence against women since the earthquake.
• Three Iranian men were recently hanged for having gay sex, according to Iran Human Rights. The men were charged and executed for sodomy under the Islamic penal code. There is word that there will be more scheduled executions in the coming weeks in Iran. The executions are planned to be open to the public.
• Just in time for the start of the school year, New Jersey’s, “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” aims to protect students from bullying. The law was paired with a phone and text hotline where parents and students can report bullying incidents. School administrators say the law goes too far by putting strict reporting requirements on school officials. The bill stems from the growing headlines of youth suicide related to bullying, including the death of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student who jumped from a bridge after a video of his sexual encounter with another man was posted on the internet by his roommate.

Thanks for taking the time to look at human rights issues from different views around the world. With the upcoming election, what issues do you want to hear about from candidates?

The video begins with soldier asking his father, "You promise you'll always love me? Period?" Then, with phone in hand, he says, "Dad, I'm gay. I always have been. I've known for … forever."

This is the latest viral hit in a series that began about five months ago when the same soldier - then anonymous - started posting videos on YouTube about his experience of being gay in the military and about his plan to come out. The first plainly declared  “I’m gay”.

On his own YouTube Channel titled “AreYouSuprised” he lets the world know his story about being gay in the U.S. military in the last days of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell era. He doesn’t show his face, because technically he could have been discharged from the military even though the policy was set to expire. He tells the whole internet he’s gay before any person that he actually knows.

His video journey runs the gamut of emotions from fear to guilt, joy, acceptance, anxiety and everything in between.

Watching these video posts in sequence, you see how uncomfortable he is even with the idea of being gay and the surprise he experiences from the positive response and support he gets from strangers on the Internet. He tells the story of finally admitting to himself that he is gay and sets goals for coming out slowly to his friends family and co-workers. His express purpose of making this internet channel was to gather support and encouragement in his personal affirmation.

The first few videos are posted from his deployment in Germany before he has told anyone. He describes his hopes about what the end of DADT means for him and the military in a really down to earth way. Interesting to watch is his description of the training he and other service member receive in preparation for the repeal of DADT; he sounds discouraged from the answers he received and the ambiguity in the policy. He documents coming out to one of his buddies, while deployed in Saudi Arabia. It's heartwarming to see his amazement in how well his friend reacted. A few months ago, not having anything really to say for a few weeks to his channel's subscribers he instead posted a video of a military performance group, doing a version of Rolling in the Deep by Adele. This video went viral overnight (it's a pretty amazing cover if you ask me) and by the time he woke up in the morning  the soldiers he served along side of were watching the performance on his YouTube channel. Seeing that other videos were posted in the side bar, they watched his video diary and everything after that in his words was “really great."

The video chain ends on Tuesday September 20^th when he finally shows his face to the camera. He does not talk to the viewer too much in this video; instead you watch as he calls his father and tells him that he is gay for the first time. This video gained over 1.8 million plays in just over a day and Randy Phillips' channel - that's right we now know his name - has had a over 4.2 million views altogether. This whole story, told through the eyes of a closeted solider, epitomizes the sentiments of America’s service members and their views on the repeal of DADT. The story has so much more depth than I can translate into text and I fail in relaying the raw emotion you can find in his video journey, you'll just have to watch them to see what I mean.

But here's a little spoiler. The conversation ends with his father saying: "I still love you son. It doesn't change our relationship -- and I always will. No matter what. Alright? You are my son, and I am very proud of you."

Watch it here:

On September 21, Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed following a 1991 conviction for murdering a Georgia police officer. Sounds like a particularly heinous crime; however, this conviction was based on witness testimony loaded with inconsistent recollections of the events. There has never been any physical evidence to implicate him, and now, seven of the nine original witnesses have recanted their testimony citing police coercion.

Oddly enough, the only two who stand by their original statements are police officers. Meanwhile, Sylvester Coles -- a participant in the original skirmish who was the first to accuse Davis -- has been implicated as the killer by nine people in signed affidavits.

All of this doesn’t mean Davis is innocent. In fact, Amnesty International doesn’t say that he is - only that serious doubt to his guilt remains. And many people feel that any time there is serious doubt, the death penalty should be off the table.

With the clock ticking, people all over America and around the world  are asking the Georgia parole board to consider the case and halt the execution, including more than half a million Change.org petition signers, Pope Benedict XVI, President Jimmy Carter and the NAACP.

The band State Radio is offering a free download of a song called "Ode to Troy" on a website where you can sign an Amnesty International petition.

Davis supporters are even calling on Obama to speak out in favor of a stay of execution. But as in every human rights issue, politics is certain to play a role. This is a racially-charged case involving a black man accused and convicted of shooting a white police officer.

The clock is ticking.

The HeadCount blog is a community forum where all opinions are welcome. The following does not necessarily represent the views of the HeadCount organization, and anyone with an opposing viewpoint is encouraged to comment or become a blog contributor. Please email info@headcount.org for more information.

I came across an interesting article today while scanning my hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle. The article highlights the creation of a new non-profit group with a focus on giving financial assistance to, wait for it: white males.

Yep, you heard it right, the Former Majority Association for Equality, founded by Texas State University Mass Communications major Colby Bohannon is seeking to offer aid to this oft-derided combination of gender and race. Bohannon has drawn criticism from many groups alleging that he is a racist and decrying his intent to lend a hand to a demographic that is already perceived as privileged.

But, Bohannon and the F.M.A.F.E. go to great lengths to make it clear that they do not subscribe to any white supremacist beliefs or take money from those who do. Underscoring their stated acceptance and diversity, the group’s vice president is black.

The idea for the foundation began when Bohannon’s search for scholarships led him to many foundations that required applicants to be women or members of a racial or ethnic minority. Identifying what he saw as an un-met need -- the lack of scholarships specifically available to white males -- he established his foundation.

On the surface one might quickly dismiss Bohannon and his group, given the typical portrayal of white males in American society. Full disclosure, I am white and male. And while I understand that there may have been a day when the color of one’s skin was unfortunately all it took to receive an employment opportunity or a raise, those days are long gone. Judging by Bohannon’s experience searching for scholarships, it’s possible that it’s quite the contrary.

I’m hoping that Bohannon’s scholarship will have a tangible benefit for its recipients. Or, will have a more overarching effect by somewhat ironically pointing out that racial preference, no matter in what form, has no place in our society.

I’ll leave you with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s commonly referenced statement about equality: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Let us hope that we as a country can live today and every day with character, and honor Dr. King’s legacy, by ending benefits based on racial preferences. Without Dr. King’s bravery and that of countless others, both black and white, we would not be the great nation that we are today.

If you’re like me, you enjoy kicking back and enjoying everything the summer has to offer. But every once in a while I interrupt my scheduled bliss and check in on what’s happening in the world – and it ain't always pretty. This month, I’ve got some news for you on an astonishing verdict in a rape case and civilians getting killed by their government in Syria. But wait, it’s not all bad! There’s also news about Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore working to keep exploited kids out of sex ads, and the U.S. getting on board with international human rights guidelines on drug sentencing. So read on.

• Did you know it’s possible to consent to sex while unconscious? That’s what a Houston jury decided in a recent civil suit brought in an alleged rape case. Jamie Leigh Jones, who worked for defense contractor KBR in Iraq, brought a case against her attacker and the company after returning to the states. According to press reports, she claimed she was drugged, blacked out, and woke up bruised and bleeding in her most personal areas. Then when she reported the attack to her employer, she was locked in a shipping container and denied food and water for at least 24 hours. If that’s not enough to make you queasy, get this: her alleged attacker claimed the sex he had with Jones - while she was unconscious - was consensual. How is this possible? Well the defense went after her credibility, her past and her motives, which was enough to convince a Jury that there wasn’t even a 51% chance she was telling the truth.
• Have you followed what’s happening in Syria? Well, not too many Americans have. But over 100 civilians were killed by government shellings and attacks there in late July, and this is part of a pattern that’s been happening for months. Italy even pulled its ambassador out of the country due to the "horrible repression of the civilian population.” Yet, with the government not allowing western journalists into the country, the story has remained mostly under the American radar. As a result, the international community has done little more than just condemn the actions.
• It seems a little tweet can go a long way, especially if you’re Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher targeted American Airlines via Twitter, asking them to remove their advertising from Village Voice Media, which, he said, allows the sexual exploitation of young girls by way of their classified advertising section, Backpage.com. In response, Kutcher and wife Demi Moore launched their “Real Men Don't Buy Girls” campaign. Village Voice Media responded to Kutcher with an article, “Real Men Get Their Facts Straight.” Similar public outcry last year forced Craigslist to shutter its adult services section which also featured ads for underage girls who were assumed to be forced into prostitution against their will.
• In the past, the sentences for crack cocaine possession were disproportionately tough. (Like, it would take 100-times that much cocaine powder to get the same sentence.) Last year, Obama signed a bill designed to address that disparity called The Fair Sentencing Act, which relatively lessened the sentences for individuals caught with crack, moving forward. But what about the folks who were sentenced under the pre-"Fair" system? Well, on June 30 the United States Sentencing Commission voted to make retroactive sentencing guidelines for those imprisoned because of crack. The change reduces more than 12,000 offenders’ sentences by approximately 37 months. African Americans have traditionally bourn the brunt of the harsher sentencing guidelines with 80% of crack convictions in 2008 handed down to black people, even though the majority of crack users are white.

If there are human rights issues that interest you, be sure to let me know. Enjoy the rest of your summer!