US Opinion and Commentary

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Sandra Bland’s Fate Sealed by Bad Policing

Posted July 28th, 2015 at 1:46 pm (UTC-5)
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The trooper’s authority over Bland ended when he wrote her a warning ticket. But he extended that traffic stop … And for that he is morally — and a civil court may find him legally — responsible for what happened to Sandra Bland in that jail cell.

In Iraq, I Raided Insurgents. In Virginia, Police Raided Me.

Posted July 27th, 2015 at 9:17 am (UTC-5)
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The culture that encourages police officers to engage their weapons before gathering information promotes the mind-set that nothing, including citizen safety, is more important than officers’ personal security. That approach has caused public trust in law enforcement to deteriorate.

At Sandra Bland’s Funeral, Celebration and Defiance

Posted July 27th, 2015 at 9:05 am (UTC-5)
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Funerals are often predictably somber — a cloistering and culminating of grief and pain. Not Sandra Bland’s funeral…. Bland was the 28-year-old Illinois woman arrested after a traffic stop in Texas who died in a county jail.