This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Watts Riots, 7 days of violence that began with a traffic stop on the night of August 11, 1965.Read More

political failure. Optimism was fueled by the idealism of millions of young people who profoundly shaped the American culture with their hopes of political and social change. Political failure was ensured by a lack of understanding what it takes to bring about meaningful political change and naivety about just how powerful vested interests were in...Read More

In September 2013, international arms trafficker Viktor Bout’s appeal was upheld by the US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York (Stempel 2013). As a result the Russian born arms broker will serve his 25 year sentence in US prison for the following crimes: 1) Conspiracy to kill US nationals, 2) Conspiracy to kill officers...Read More

The “homeless” are a diverse group of people and do not constitute a single group or a single social problem. About 39 percent of the homeless are children, 17 percent are single women, and 33 percent are families with children. While almost all homeless people are poor, many are employed. Poverty and a lack of...Read More

More than 1/3 of law enforcement agencies currently target college graduates. Many require a minimum of 60 hours. Others require a 2-year or 4-year degree. Even if a college education is not initially required, departments value it. More than half of all law enforcement agencies offer some form of tuition reimbursement. A degree can set...Read More

Decades of research on the media and crime have generated 10 major facts about the media depiction of crime and justice in the United States.Read More

In Western bourgeois democracies the idealized concepts of both a “public sphere” and “public space” are celebrated. Public space was supposed to be space to be enjoyed and freely used by all people, not controlled by public or private restriction. Unfortunately, this idealization is no longer congruent with reality. Rather than being an expression of...Read More

tattoo policies vary widely across the nation, and include everything from agencies do not allow visible tattoos on the neck and face to agencies that prohibit any visible tattoos at all.Read More

Climate change is one of those issues Americans have a hard time getting a grip on. After all, it’s cumulative and gradual, unlike the immediate threat of a tornado or hurricane. And more importantly, it requires that we actually do something that might impinge on our pathological need for useless and destructive consumption. How are...Read More

In a recent post on this site, while writing about the origins of American policing and its relationship to slavery and racism, I made the following, seemingly harsh, but empirically supportable remark:Read More