Author name: Mary Curtis

Criminal justice reform had a bipartisan minute. Then 2020 reared its head

Featured at Roll Call /

For a while, it looked as though the distance between the parties had narrowed on the issue of criminal justice reform. Bipartisan cooperation passed the First Step Act, a small step indeed toward remedying America’s mass incarceration crisis that disproportionately, in a historically skewed system, burdens minorities and the poor in everything from arrests to sentencing. […]

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Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: No Charges for CMPD Officer; Racist Letters to CLT Leaders

Featured at WFAE /

No charges will be filed for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police officer who shot Danquirs Franklin at a Charlotte Burger King back in March. District Attorney Spencer Merriweather announced on Wednesday that Officer Wende Kerl will not face charges in connection with Franklin’s death. Many black elected officials in Charlotte- including the mayor- received a racist letter this week that was addressed to

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Ken Cuccinelli wants to be a poet. First he needs a history lesson

Featured at Roll Call /

OPINION — It happened like clockwork. Every few weeks, especially in the winter months, when snowbirds traveled to my then-home in Tucson, Arizona, from parts north that included Michigan and Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois, a letter to the editor would turn up at the paper where I worked. With slight changes, it would go something

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Will Jeffrey Epstein’s Victims Get Justice?

Featured at WCCB Rising /

CHARLOTTE, NC —  There are many questions about how Jeffrey Epstein could take his own life at the federal prison in New York. The justice department is taking action against employees of the prison. The warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York has been temporarily reassigned and two guards who were assigned to his unit at the time

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The lessons of Toni Morrison: Words matter, now more than ever

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OPINION — “Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names.” Of course, that language from Toni Morrison perfectly suits this time, when the names we give the things that scare us hardly seem enough. It is fitting that in a week when America has been exposed to the words of a white nationalist screed

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America’s Way Forward After Mass Shootings

Featured at WCCB Rising /

CHARLOTTE, NC — President Trump is heading to El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, after shootings left a total of 31 dead. His official message this week decried violence and white supremacy, but many also criticized his own divisive words. The division between politicians and parties continues on the best way forward and the reasons for the carnage. Is it guns,

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First Night of Democratic Debate

Featured at WCCB Rising /

CHARLOTTE, NC — For the large field of candidates, Democratic debates are crucial. This week’s debates are make-or-break for Democratic presidential hopefuls, especially those polling in single digits. During night one of the debate in Detroit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were the primary targets of moderates on the stage. Our political contributor Mary C. Curtis discusses how the candidates performed

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