Most People Who Are Processed in the Courts are Black and Latino, but Few...
A new statewide report on judicial demographics reveals stark disparities between the demographic composition of the bench and the rest of New York State.In 2019, only 15% of the population in New York...
View ArticleThere Are Only Two Black Male Prosecutors For All Of Long Island
According to statistics collected by the courts, more than a third of all criminal defendants on Long Island are Black men. However, there are only two Black male assistant district attorneys for all...
View ArticleFederal Watchdog Raises Concerns About Elite Unit Abusing Detainees In NYC...
An elite squad of “hyper-confrontational and unprofessional” correction officers is exacerbating staff-on-inmate violence, according to a new report from the federal monitor tasked with investigating...
View ArticleHow NYPD ‘Kettled’ the Spirit of Reform
New Yorkers reacted to George Floyd’s murder with mass protests demanding police accountability. NYPD met them with targeted violence and abuse.On June 4, 2020, a few hundred people gathered in the...
View ArticlePlans For Homeless Shelter On Billionaire's Row Can Move Forward After Court...
The city can move forward with plans for a men’s homeless shelter at the Park Savoy Hotel near Manhattan’s Billionaire’s Row after a state appellate court rejected a lawsuit opposing the shelter.In a...
View ArticleA Supreme Court End-Of-Session Preview
Jami Floyd, senior editor for race and justice and legal editor at WNYC, previews the final month of the Supreme Court's term, plus talks about some of the hot-button cases they will take up next fall.
View ArticleBronx DA's Office Struggles With Attrition And Low Pay
The Bronx DA's Trial Division recently lost forty-two prosecutors and nine supervisors, according to an internal email.
View ArticleNew Project Looks at "24 Minutes in Mott Haven" on One-Year Anniversary of...
On June 4, 2020, protesters gathered in Mott Haven, in the South Bronx, to protest the murder of George Floyd. But on this night, police responded with unprecedented force. WNYC's Race & Justice...
View Article24 Minutes In Mott Haven
On June 4, 2020, protesters gathered at 149th Street and 3rd Avenue, in Mott Haven. They met at the Hub — the civic and cultural center of the South Bronx — to listen to speakers, pass around water and...
View ArticleA New Report Examines the Growing Indian-American Population
The Indian-American community has grown considerably over the last twenty years and is now the second-largest immigrant group in the country, after Mexican-Americans. It also has the highest median...
View ArticlePolice Commissioner Dermot Shea Looks Back On NYPD's Crackdown In Mott Haven
The nature of policing — the very essence of the job — has changed dramatically over the course of the last year. After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, Americans poured...
View ArticleBlack-Asian Relations Present Frictions and New Possibilities
Shino Tanikawa, 58, has become an impassioned advocate for school desegregation, committed to battling anti-Blackness in society. So a recent and growing narrative that many of the attacks against...
View ArticleLegal Aid Society Says It Is Here To Stop Gun Violence, Too
At a time of rising shootings, the public defenders argue their organization should not just be seen as a group that defends criminal cases.
View ArticlePolice Commissioner Dermot Shea Sits Down with WNYC's Race & Justice Senior...
Jami Floyd sits down with NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea to ask him about the murder of George Floyd, the defund the police movement, and structural racism.
View ArticleSCOTUS Roundup: Obamacare Survives
Jami Floyd, senior editor for race and justice and legal editor at WNYC, ticks through the latest round of Supreme Court decisions.
View ArticleShe Spent Years Trying To Spread The Word About Juneteenth. Now, She's...
This year, Juneteenth is being officially recognized in New York and New Jersey as both a federal and state holiday. The day commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston,...
View ArticlePolice Watchdog Recommends Discipline for 39 NYPD Officers Over Alleged...
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, New York City’s independent police watchdog, is recommending that the NYPD discipline 39 of its officers for misconduct at last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
View ArticleThe Latest Supreme Court Decisions: The 'Cussin' Cheerleader' and 'Hot Pursuit'
Jami Floyd, senior editor for race and justice and legal editor at WNYC, talks about the latest decisions issued by the Supreme Court as it wraps up its term, including a free speech case involving a...
View ArticleIdentifying The Network Clusters of NYPD Officers Repeatedly Accused Of...
With the help of independent data journalist EJ Fox, WNYC created a network map using civilian complaints data obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.
View ArticleThe Supreme Court on Voting Rights and More Legal News
The Supreme Court issued its final decisions today and Jami Floyd, senior editor for race and justice and legal editor at WNYC, offers her analysis of the 6-3 opinion by Justice Alito (and a strong...
View ArticleEric Garner's Family Continues Its Fight In NYC Courts Over 2014 Death At...
A judicial inquiry into city misconduct over the 2014 death of Eric Garner did not produce an immediate ruling this week, despite arguments made on behalf of the Garner family that the city has been...
View ArticleWNYC Announces the New Class of Radio Rookies
(New York, NY — July 6, 2021) — WNYC is pleased to announce the next class of Radio Rookies, the station’s Peabody Award-winning youth media program. The new class — selected through a competitive...
View ArticleGloria Allred on Bill Cosby and the Future of #MeToo
Bill Cosby was released from prison last week by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Veteran victims' rights advocate Gloria Allred reflects on the court's decision, the impact it may have on the #MeToo...
View ArticleOur Feelings Are Not Our Fault: How Science Can Explain Our Emotions
Guadalupe Ortega has always asked questions to understand the world around her. So when the pandemic caused fear and anxiety to overwhelm her mom, Guadalupe turned to science. She wanted to find out...
View ArticleHow Haitian Americans In New York Are Internalizing The Assassination Of...
Despite being divided over his presidency, Haitian American New Yorkers in Flatbush's "Little Haiti" are united in shock and grief.
View ArticleRemembering The Death Of Eric Garner After A Year Of Political Unrest
The anniversary comes amidst the racial protest movement and social upheaval that came after the murder of George Floyd —and many more deaths of Black people at the hands of police. WNYC's Race and...
View ArticleAmerican Scholars of India Confront a Rise in Threats
Audrey Truschke is a historian of South Asia at Rutgers University and a vocal critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist government. Her scholarship and her politics have...
View ArticleThe Hate-Crime Conundrum
Hate crimes in the United States have reached their highest levels in more than a decade, prompting bipartisan support for legislation to combat them and increased resources for law enforcement. But...
View ArticleMayor Bill De Blasio And Other Top Officials Escape Judicial Inquiry Into...
In a partial victory for the city, a New York judge ruled today that Mayor Bill de Blasio, former police commissioners William Bratton, James O’Neill and Dermot Shea, and other senior city officials...
View ArticleBrooklyn DA Releases Thousands Of Internal Documents On NYPD Misconduct
The District Atorney released the records in response to a WNYC Freedom of Information Law request.
View ArticleENCORE: Sexual Cyberbullying: The Modern Day Letter "A"
We remember Temitayo Fagbenle (March 21, 1996 – July 27, 2021) with this encore presentation of her first Radio Rookies piece, "Sexual Cyberbullying: The Modern Day Letter 'A,'" which went on to win a...
View ArticleA Massacre Happened In New York City In The Summer Of 1863
One hundred and fifty-eight years ago this summer, a massacre occurred in New York City.From history books to Hollywood, it has long been told as a violent uprising by poor, Irish men against...
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART ONE The Launch of the City's Police...
For roughly the first 200 years of its life, New York City had no police force — at least not one we’d describe as such by contemporary standards. It had a hodge-podge of watchmen and constables,...
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART TWO The Power of the NYPD in the 21st...
After the September 11 attacks, the NYPD revamped its intelligence division and brought in a former CIA leader to run it. NYPD detectives were stationed in cities around the world, attempting to...
View Article9/11 and the Rise the NYPD | PART THREE: The Surveillance
“It came to the point where I was literally being followed by two cops, and I told myself it was in my head,” Mohamed Bahe recalled. “But it was always the same cars, and every time I stopped, they...
View ArticleSelf-Harm Is Spiking In New York City Jails
Internal numbers show the rise in self-harm rates started a few months into the pandemic after authorities halted numerous jail services and programs. Read the full story at Gothamist.com.
View ArticleNational Politics; Violence in City Jails; Policing Since 9/11; Terror and...
On today's show:Jonathan Lemire, White House reporter for the Associated Press and political analyst for MSNBC/NBC News, discusses the latest national political developments.WNYC/Gothamist reporter...
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART FOUR: See Something, Say Something
The most ubiquitous crime-fighting phrase to emerge in the aftermath of September 11 almost never made it into the American vernacular.The U.S. Department of Justice rejected it outright. It was only...
View ArticleAttica: Fifty Years Later | PART ONE What Set The Stage For The Deadly...
Fifty years ago this week, September 9-13, 1971, incarcerated men at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York took control of the state prison to demand humane treatment and better living....
View ArticleLooking Back At The 1971 Attica Uprising: Three Witnesses
Fifty years ago this week, September 9-13, 1971, incarcerated men at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York took control of the state prison to demand humane treatment and better living....
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART FIVE: The Mayor
On September 11, 2001, Rudy Guiliani was transformed from lame-duck mayor to something almost larger than life. By the time he appeared at the 9/11 prayer service at Yankee Stadium on September 23rd,...
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART SIX: The Sacrifice
Ivonne Sanchez was responding to an emergency in the Bronx when the first plane flew into the World Trade Center on 9/11. By the time the NYFD EMT was able to make it downtown, the towers had...
View Article9/11 and the Rise of the NYPD | PART SEVEN: Unity
The days after September 11th are mostly remembered as a time when the country came together, where our grief turned to unity around a common cause. Parts of these memories are tainted by the rosiness...
View ArticleStorming the Gates: Failed Negotiations and the Retaking of Attica
Fifty years ago this month, nearly 1,300 prisoners seized control of a large part of Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York, holding guards and staff members hostage for several days in an...
View ArticleStorming of The Gates: 50 Years After Attica, Activists Are Still Fighting To...
After the uprising and the bloodshed that ended it, state officials agreed to several of the inmates’ initial 27 requested reforms. Authorities ultimately recognized Muslim prisoners’ right to receive...
View ArticleStorming of the Gates: Prisoners' Right To "True Religious Freedom"
The uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York—which began on Sept. 9, 1971, and ended with 43 deaths four days later—began when incarcerated men took control of the state prison...
View ArticleStorming Of The Gates: A Small Town With A Big Prison And A Bloody History
Local residents in the town of Attica, New York don't mind the stigma of the prison uprising that took place here 50 years ago, but they remain clear-eyed about what really happened. WNYC's Joseph...
View ArticleLike So Many Other Fires, the Bronx Fire Was About Poverty
Last week's devastating fire in the Bronx was a reminder of fires past, and of the crisis of burning buildings that gripped the borough in the 1970s."There were many families who were burned out of...
View ArticleJustice Breyer's Retirement
As Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retires, WNYC's legal analyst Jami Floyd talks about his legacy on the court and looks ahead to the process to replace him, including her pick for the seat, and...
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