🧵 HARD TRUTHS DEEP DIVE — Systemic racism in the criminal justice system
The U.S. criminal justice system is cyclical and leaves a lasting imprint on people’s lives. Every step of the way, people of color suffer most. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
Police shootings captured on video often drive a lot of media attention, but after the funeral, it leaves victims' families with years of pain and a lonely journey with little sense of closure or justice. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In 2011, two plain-clothes officers visited Stephen and Renetta Torres’ house to question their son, Christopher, over an alleged road rage episode. Court documents said officers jumped the fence and fought with him. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
One officer got on top of him and fatally shot him in the back.
"I just don't understand. I thought we did everything we were supposed to do," Renetta Torres told Axios. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In schools, Black children constitute 18% of preschoolers but account for around half of out-of-school suspensions. Latino kindergarteners are four or five times more likely to get suspended than their white non-Latino peers. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In an Axios-Ipsos poll, solid majorities of Americans across all racial groups do not believe either the police or the criminal justice courts treat all people equally. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In the court system, 97% of state and federal convictions are the result of plea bargains, often driven by mandatory minimum sentences, and Black people are more likely to be arrested and charged with crimes that carry those heavier penalties. axios.com/hards-truths-d…
Mandatory minimums give prosecutors leverage in convincing defendants to agree to conviction without a jury trial.
It’s an example of a trial system with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement through sentencing in either the state or federal system.
Stop speculating on Trump’s plan for a second term and follow the reporting.
Here are three deeply reported pieces on how he plans to staff his administration if he wins and then manage them in the country — all based on loyalty-first vetting.
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If elected, Trump would fill the most powerful jobs in government with men like Stephen Miller, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Kash Patel — with the possible return of Steve Bannon.
See the picks for Trump’s loyalty-first Cabinet: trib.al/eGSt18s
But it's not just the Cabinet. Trump's allies are spending tens of millions to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists at every level of government.
Inside their plan to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents: trib.al/G8kE1fy
Even for Donald Trump’s tradition-wrecking era in politics, the scene today will be extraordinary:
A Secret Service motorcade will deliver an ex-president to a courthouse, where he’ll be arraigned on felony charges. trib.al/354Ojww
Catch up quick: Trump is the first U.S. president — sitting or former — in history to face criminal charges.
He was indicted last week by a New York grand jury on charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. trib.al/cbTcpVO
With the world watching as Trump makes history with his court appearance, Axios’ congressional reporter @SophiaCai99 is in the line of journalists who have gathered since yesterday to have access to the courthouse.
BREAKING: Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury trib.al/t7tn3bY
Trump is the first president in U.S. history — sitting or former — to face criminal charges. The indictment over a payment during his first run for president is sure to ripple through his latest campaign. axios.com/2023/03/30/tru…
Taylor Budowich, who leads Make America Great Again Inc., said in a statement that "this news is the indictment of a failed nation" and accused "political elites and powerbrokers" of weaponizing government against Trump. axios.com/2023/03/30/tru…
.@NASA Administrator @SenBillNelson on when people will go to Mars: “Maybe 18 years. I’m saying 2040.”
@axios Nelson on SpaceX, Elon Musk and the progress of upcoming lunar-landing projects:
"Look at the results. It's been phenomenal."
Nelson on space and China: “China just simply is not cooperative. Nor are they transparent. They are very secret. And as a result, you have what you have, so that they are very good. And in the last 10 years, they've exceptionally come forward with a lot of progress.”