The State

4WardEverUK

“We have law in this land. We don’t have justice.” Bereaved families search for answers…

Justice for John Gardiner
Justice for John Gardiner : Image credit Khushbu Hussain

source: SW Londoner
published: 14 November 2017

The death of his uncle led Jamie Gardiner on a journey from Blackburn to central London. Alongside three relatives, he joined around 200 other bereaved friends and family for the annual United Friends and Families Campaign (UFFC) march on Saturday 29 October.

Established in 1997, the UFFC is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody.

Mr Gardiner wore a white t-shirt bearing an image of his uncle John Gardiner, who died after being arrested by Lancashire Police on May 10 1996.

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4WardEverUK

Trump’s comments endorsing police brutality are “treasonous”

Donald Trump Toon

source: Democracy Now!
published: 31 July 2017

President Donald Trump is facing widespread criticism from police chiefs across the country following a speech he gave on Friday to police officers in Long Island, New York, that appeared to openly endorse police brutality.

Commenting on the need to crack down on gang members, Trump suggested that police officers have license to use excessive force on suspects. The remarks come amid a controversial roundup of undocumented minors in Suffolk County, where Trump spoke, who were detained based on unconfirmed allegations of gang affiliation by local police.

Trump painted what some say was an overblown picture of gang violence in the community.

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4WardEverUK

The continuing collapse of the death penalty (Florida Supreme Court)

kill the death penaltysource: NY Times
published: 26 December 2016

Piece by piece, the death penalty continues to fall apart. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court invalidated between 150 and 200 death sentences — nearly half of all those in the state — because they were imposed under a law the United States Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional in January.

The law, which required judges and not juries to make the factual findings necessary to sentence someone to die, violated the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a jury trial. “A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for an 8-to-1 majority.

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