Rapper Killer Mike Pens An Open Letter About Rap Lyrics Being Manipulated In Courts To Land Convictions

arrested
The “Hip Hop police” and other law enforcement organizations have begun using the words of hip hop artists against them to obtain convictions within the judicial system.

Early on during my research involving the case of New Orleans rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps Jr., it became increasingly obvious that not only was Mac convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison based on corruption, prosecutorial misconduct and false witness testimonies, but he may have also been railroaded by authorities and rendered such a substantial sentence simply because he is a rapper  –a trend that seems to be rapidly increasing within the Hip Hop genre.

According to the New York Times, police and prosecutors are examining rap videos by rap artists to build criminal cases and get a “better sense of the hierarchy of the streets.”

 The following Rolling Stone article was forwarded to me by Angelique Christina, the fiancée of the incarcerated rapper who is working relentlessly with attorneys, along with the Phipps family, to get Mac’s conviction overturned.

Angelique is currently lobbying for the state of Louisiana officials to implement justice reform policies and she is hoping that cases such as Mac’s will highlight the atrocities that are running ramped within the criminal justice system. Her plan is to help bring these injustices to the forefront in hopes of rectification on behalf of the state and federal judicial systems.

In relation to Mac’s case she told the Huffington Post, “I can only hope that DA Warren Montgomery will right the unforgivable wrongs in this case not only for McKinley, but also for the family of the victim, the individuals that have been needlessly harassed and or jailed by the very officials who are supposed to protect and serve them, and finally, as a notable precedent for national justice reform”. -Angelique Christina Continue reading “Rapper Killer Mike Pens An Open Letter About Rap Lyrics Being Manipulated In Courts To Land Convictions”

Arizona Legislators Hope To Make ‘Spotting’ For Drug Cartels Illegal

Cartel Spotter
Lawmakers plan to increase security of US borders by making spotting illegal. Photo: Tucson Sentinel

Lawmakers in Arizona are hoping to get a bill passed that will make “spotting” for drug cartels illegal. Surprisingly, there is no laws in place that criminalize “being a lookout” and legislators say that spotters can only be charged with “conspiracy” or “illegal presence”.


IllegalSpotting
US Border Patrol – Tucson, AZ

With her first piece of legislation, introduced Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally joined with Sen. John McCain in focusing on spotters for drug cartels — who conduct covert surveillance to help smugglers dodge border agents.

The director of the Arizona High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area testified Tuesday that lookouts are “fundamental” to the success of drug cartels, but there is currently no law that specifically outlaws what border spotters do. Continue reading “Arizona Legislators Hope To Make ‘Spotting’ For Drug Cartels Illegal”

Christia Mercer On Teaching In Prison

jennysaul's avatarFeminist Philosophers

in the Washington Post.

Things have not always been this bad. In the 1980’s, when the prison population sat below 400,000, our  incarcerated citizens were educated through state and federal funding. But the 1990’s brought an abrupt end to government support. When President Clinton signed into law the Crime Bill in 1994, he eliminated incarcerated people’s eligibility for federal Pell grants and sentenced a generation of incarcerated Americans to educational deprivation. Nationwide, over 350 college programs in prisons were shut down that year. Many states jumped on the tough-on-crime bandwagon and slashed state funded prison educational programs. In New York State, for example, no state funds can be used to support secondary-education in prison. Before 1994, there were 70 publicly funded post-secondary prison programs in the state. Now there are none. In many states across the country, college instruction has fallen primarily to volunteers.

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