Posts tagged "civil rights"

Sadly and unfortunately, we're seeing more news coverage than ever before about police-involved shootings. That doesn't mean, of course, that police excess is a new phenomenon. America has experienced police excess - usually disproportionately directed at the poor, ethnic, and disenfranchised - for the entire history of police. What's new is the ability of the media to cover expose it and spread that information to the widest, most accessible audiences in history. More, with the advent of bodycams, cell phones and wide spread security cameras, the public has a better picture than ever of the raw data concerning these events.

Or..."We're not at the new normal yet."

Responsibility and accountability - even for the powerful - are rooted into the core of our legal system. This country's founders knew that a democracy needs a court system that empowers people to protect themselves by holding the powerful to account. That's why the Constitution guarantees each person the right to a trial by jury. The founders feared unaccountable power in the form of the King of England against his "subjects." 21^st Century America may not have a king, but it does have multi-billion dollar corporations touching every part of every person's life. These corporations now seek the kind of unaccountable power our founders sought to protect against, and they're seeking that power by destroying your constitutional right to a trial by jury.

Or... "Our Society Depends on Educating Everyone."