justice

9 posts

US Supreme Court Reasoning Slipping Away

scThe internets, how do they work?

The already ridiculously old and technologically impaired Supreme Court of the United States of America has come down with a bad case of link rot. The NY Times brings us news of a new study by the Harvard Law School that finds almost half of all hyperlinks referenced in Supreme Court decisions are now defunct. Now what the hell does that actually mean? Continue reading

When Will Being Young, Black and Male Cease to be a Crime?

When we think of racial profiling and subsequent murders leading from the act, so many of the stories host a common thread, “A suspicious black male…” This is the thread that binds many young, black men across regions, through time, and through shared history. This is something Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and numerous others can count as their experience in life and…in death. Continue reading

Every Brown Boy

This post originally appeared on March 21, 2012. We are re-running it today on the anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin.

Last night, I put a fleece hoodie on my five year old nephew so we could go for our routine walk through the neighborhood. He likes going for our walks as much as I do. We race down the street – him burning off sugar energy before bed, me (hopefully) burning off belly-fat creating calories. As we walk/run our several blocks, sometimes, often times, he gets ahead of me then looks back, pleading for me to catch him. It’s when he is away from me that I feel the most fear.

He is a sweet boy. Very smart and observant. He can replicate dance moves that he sees on Glee, always wants to watch SpongeBob, and never misses the opportunity to flirt with a pretty girl. Last night, he made a derogatory racial gesture at the dinner table and I explained to him why it is not okay to do that. I explained that it hurts people’s feelings and that it’s not acceptable to hurt or be mean to other people. I demonstrated the point by asking him what color his skin is, to which he replied: brown. I asked him how he would feel if a classmate put dirt on his body and then pretended to be like my nephew. He said he wouldn’t like it. Continue reading

Friday Night DJ Party – The Poosy Mix

To commemorate last weekend’s stupidness I put together a house mix for the kids. So here’s a bunch of dope tracks together in one mix that’s heavy on the Fred Falke and Way Out West.

I know it starts off slow and laid back, but the pace picks up pretty quickly.  I’m not a real deejay or anything, so try not to get yer vadges too sandy if the beatmaching isn’t always perfect. I’m calling it The Poosy Mix.

The Poosy Mix by botsmcommission

Continue reading

Why I love Judge Judy and Why You Should Too

I dreamed Judge Judy Sheindlin and I were driving in my grandmother’s green sedan, smoking my grandmother’s Tarryton 100s. Judge Judy told me she liked me so much, I could never appear before her in court, because she wouldn’t be fair. Judge Judy just wanted me to know.

Judge Judy went on the air in 1996, not long after profiles about her hard-nosed family court style appeared in the LA Times and on 60 Minutes. Judge Judy scared the shit out of everyone in family court in New York. She didn’t care who you were. She was infamous for ripping people to shreds — lawyers, experts, litigants. Judge Judy didn’t discriminate. Continue reading

Monday Night Open Thread

Hi gang. Looks like we are getting off to a good start this week.

Since today is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King I thought I would post this. It is rare that anyone watches it all the way through, but in our own troubled times it is a nice reminder that the human spirit does sometime triumph over adversity. In a world of so much injustice and suffering it it important to remind ourselves that although progress is often slow, sometimes things really do get better.

Have a wonderful night.