Washington state leads a coalition of nearly a dozen states that will sue the Trump administration over its “zero tolerance” policy of separating immigrant children from their parents during illegal border crossings. The lawsuit will challenge the constitutionality of the family separation policy and President Trump’s new executive order meant to replace it.
The system has been criticized by advocates and legal officials for a lack of transparency and inconsistency in the punishment given to officers. Mary Jo White, former chair of the U..S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will lead a group of three ex-prosecutors who will study the system and issue a public report.
Many states have seen a surge in the number of children entering foster care systems, an increase tied to the prevalence of opioids. In the past, states considered substance abuse a form of neglect, requiring removal of children from dangerous homes. Now, some states are creating programs aimed at keeping children with their parents during treatment.
Among 100 cases handled by one Jacksonville prosecutor, blacks received sentences that were nearly four times as long on average as those handed down to white offenders. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida Times-Union looked into racial bias by prosecutors and other criminal justice officials.
A study finds that police killings of unarmed black Americans contribute nearly two additional days a year in which a black person suffers some mental health toll. The study found no such effect on the mental health of whites, nor did blacks report this kind of distress over police killings of armed black suspects.
