This post is a response to Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell's recent guest column, "First steps key in long journey to eliminate poverty." Zero tolerance drug policies cannot alleviate poverty Dear Mayor Bell, Ray Gronberg e-mailed me last week asking me to respond to...
Taxonomy: FADE
Durham police report offers irrelevant detail on local marijuana cases, ignores racial profiling
DURHAM — Most of the people arrested and charged only with misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2013 and the first half of 2014 had prior criminal records, a new report from the Durham Police Department says. That said, it was much more common for police to stack a...
A Ferguson Near You: police brutality and racism
In the aftermath of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, Duke Law's Black Law Student Association brought together a panel of experts to discuss the issue of police brutality and race. Because violence against unarmed young men of color is not unique to Ferguson - it...
Success In Campaign Against Durham PD Racial Profiling
We are glad to report that the campaign against racial profiling in Durham has begun to result in important and concrete changes to departmental policies. It was one year ago this week that SCSJ joined its partners in the FADE coalition in marching from the Durham...
City Council Decisions On Durham Police Department
This radio interview originally aired on WUNC's The State of Things on September 2, 2014 City Council Decisions On Durham Police Department Listen to the full radio interview here 31:25 The Durham City Council meets about the city’s police department tonight...
Real Experiences with Racial Profiling
Since early 2013, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, in conjunction with our partners in the FADE coalition, has been sounding the alarm with city leaders about racially disparate policing practices in our hometown of Durham, NC. SCSJ attorneys, analysts, and...
How Can We Manifest Hope into Freedom?
The American Prospect Longform recently published an article entitled, Is There Hope for the Survivors of the War on Drugs? by Senior Writer Monica Potts. Her piece begins with a short chronicle of the life challenges facing a man known as Mr. Jones, the circumstances...
FADE coalition work changing the narrative around racial profiling
SCSJ is a proud partner in the Durham FADE Coalition. FADE's work around racial profiling and selective drug enforcement is changing the narrative of the Durham community regarding policing and the Durham criminal justice system. An example of this sea-change is the...
Time to Act to end racial profiling in Durham
In the continuing community dialogue over allegations of racial profiling and police misconduct in Durham, last night's meeting featured presentations by SCSJ's Ian Manceand Daryl Atkinson. Mance opened his presentation by providing an overview of DPD traffic stop...
Possibilities vs. Obstacles—Ending Racial Profiling in Durham
The sixth and latest meeting examining racial profiling and police misconduct in Durham took place on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. SCSJ's partner, SpiritHouse, led the meeting between the Durham FADE coalition and the Durham Human Relations Commisssion, which drew an...
Complaints? Gripes? Detractors? Language matters as we work to reform policing in Durham.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win.”-- Mahatma Gandhi Sticks and stones may break our bones, but we don’t...
FADE Coalition Responds to DPD Report
On Tuesday night, the Durham Human Relations Commission held its fourth in a series of special hearings to investigate allegations of racial profiling and selective enforcement by the Durham Police Department. For the second month in a row, Durham Police Chief...