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| From protesters demanding the release of rapper Meek Mill, to the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, to midterm election results that gave Florida's former felons the right to vote and the prosecution of Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke for the murder of black teenager Laquan McDonald, 2018 included incredible milestones in prison reform and painful reminders of the nation's continued need to make progress when it comes to fighting implicit bias and bettering cop-community relations. |
| Below are the top 15 columns published on Policing the USA this year. |
| The USA TODAY digital vertical focuses on all things related to race, the justice system and how the media covers it. These were the most popular columns of the year — in terms of interaction and engagement. Thanks for reading. And look for more coverage next year. |
| — Eileen Rivers, editor, Policing the USA |
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| By Ben Crump |
| "The Constitution, as a founding document that influences every aspect of how we live, should not be interpreted as a whole, but rather picked apart and scrutinized. It should be viewed through a lens that takes into account the social and political context of our time. An integral part of our history and progress as a nation is the ability to recognize past wrongs and atrocities, not excuse them." |
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| By David Plouffe and Mark Holden |
| "The two of us don't agree on much — one of us is a former Obama administration official and the other works for Koch industries. But we both believe adamantly in the need for second chances and in the economic boon our country would experience if we fully gave them to people with criminal records who have paid their debt to society." |
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| By Heidi Washington and John Wetzel |
| "Unfortunately, less attention has been paid to obstacles people face while in prison, but the FIRST STEP Act's expansion of job training and other programs intended to reduce recidivism rates changes that, opening the door to larger reforms like reinstating Pell Grants for people in prison." |
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| By Semon Frank Thompson and Jerry Givens |
| "At its core, this case is about whether Missouri can use a lethal injection to execute Bucklew, even though he has a rare medical condition that could lead to him choking on his own blood during the execution. |
| The prospect of a botched procedure raises serious constitutional concerns — carrying out this procedure on Bucklew may well violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on 'cruel and unusual punishment' by resulting in an excruciating death." |
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| By Tim Swarens |
| "As with most child trafficking victims, Brown's background was filled with abuse, neglect and exploitation long before she met Allen. Her story compels us to think about the devastating consequences of commercialized sexual abuse. It also calls us to think about what justice truly means. |
| And it's one that should lead Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to grant clemency for Brown before he leaves office in January." |
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| By Demario Davis |
| "Some states have deemed it OK to arrest kids as young as 9 and 10 and charge them in juvenile court for making stupid childhood mistakes like fighting in the school yard or filching a candy bar from a convenience store. Those third- and fourth-graders will be worried about lawyers and court dates instead of focusing on important aspects of childhood development like learning to read and write." |
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| By Kevin Ring |
| "Years before my time in Cumberland, I supported mandatory minimums. As a staffer on Capitol Hill in the late 1990s, I helped draft a new law that instituted mandatory minimums for people who sold methamphetamine. Back then, I thought prison and sentencing reform were problems that only plagued "others" — the bad people, the wayward children from broken homes, the criminal class. |
| I ended up serving time with people whose unnecessarily long sentences were caused by the laws I helped write." |
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| By Sheila A. Bedi and David Anderson Hooker |
| "The history of the Chicago Police Department reflects that of so many others in America, and makes it clear that law enforcement has been a driver of injustice. Over the past 50 years, major scandals have rocked the CPD that show the department has targeted and worked hard to control black and brown communities. The department killed Black Panther Illinois chapter chairman Fred Hampton. Late Chicago police Commander Jon Burge's department was tied to the torture of black and brown people for decades with impunity. Both of these scandals occurred long before Van Dyke's." |
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| By Yolanda Young |
| "It's impossible to know whether Kavanaugh is guilty of the things that Christine Blasey Ford accused him of when they were both in high school. But it isn't hard to see how an attitude of entitlement (propped up by wealth and class) brings men like Kavanaugh an advantage in our criminal justice system." |
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| By Terrance Coffie |
| "I've been a resident of New York now for eight years. And as our primary elections approach, I'm reminded of that time when, because of my history of incarceration, I was not able to vote at all. |
| I'm far from the only person in America who has had this basic right stripped away. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, maintain full voting rights for felons. California allows people in county jails to vote. But most states impose severe restrictions. And an estimated 6 million Americans who have been convicted of a felony (many of whom have served their time) are shut out of this year's primaries and midterm elections." |
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| By Chandra Bozelko and Ryan Lo |
| "Conditions of modern prisons — tiny, overcrowded cells, lack of sanitation, infestation, lack of ventilation — make people inside so desperate for respite that they're sometimes willing to accept even unconscionable deals, like working for little to no money. |
| Paying someone 86 cents per hour to do backbreaking work is such an insult to human dignity that it's not acceptable anywhere in this country except in prison, places intent on stripping people of their humanity." |
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| By Rashad Robinson |
| "This win should shift the ground under the feet of every prosecuting attorney in America. Ferguson has been one of the biggest flash points of the modern civil rights movement. And the movement just delivered a coordinated, effective political response in that St. Louis suburb, showing prosecutors around the country that it's no longer safe to assume they can protect police without answering for it at the ballot box later." |
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| By Nila Bala |
| "Meek Mill, the 2016 Billboard Music Award winner for top rap album, has become the unlikely poster child for the failures of our probation system. |
| His Tuesday release from Pennsylvania's Chester State Correctional Institution on bail left many scratching their heads and others outraged over the failures that put him in custody in the first place. |
| He had been locked up since November on a minor probation violation. His comments from prison last week to CNN's Don Lemon perfectly sum up the unreasonable effects of our system." |
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| By Anquan Boldin, Malcolm Jenkins and Doug Baldwin |
| "As a nation, we must expand efforts to break cycles of injustice at the voting booth, where one of the most influential people in the criminal justice system gets elected: the American prosecutor." |
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| By Anquan Boldin |
| "My cousin Corey Jones tossed a football with me long before I ever caught passes in the NFL. ... |
| Corey's death has been devastating for my family, but this is not just about our own quest for justice. There are profound repercussions for our nation, too. Equality and accountability are missing. There are too many injustices in our justice system. There is an urgent need for positive change in our country. |
| That's why I am speaking out and imploring you to listen." |
| You can find more of this year's content at Policing the USA. |
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