The Price of Innocence: Emotional, Financial, and Legal Costs of Wrongful Convictions
Wrongful convictions demonstrate one of the most apparent signs of injustice in the United States. A wrongful conviction occurs when someone is found guilty of a crime they did not commit, often after being targeted in ways that are shaped by systemic bias. For African Americans, wrongful convictions are not rare accidents; they instead happen […]
Weaponizing Humanitarianism: the Geopolitics of U.S. Foreign Aid Distribution
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the United States’ duty as a leader on the global stage was to “make the world safe for democracy.” His bold vision set a powerful precedent for US intervention globally while defining an era in which the United States could position itself as a moral force in international […]
Imperialism: The Driving Force Behind Police Militarization in the U.S.
In 2020, police departments across the US deployed widespread militarized response in light of the nation-wide Black Lives Matter protests. Policing in the US has become increasingly militarized, with the War on Drugs serving as a major catalyst. The War on Drugs, a government-led initiative to fight illegal drug distribution and use, led to policy […]
Reentry Isn’t Freedom: The Black American Struggle After Incarceration
American policing was never a neutral institution; it was born from systems designed to control African Americans. Slave patrols, first organized in the 1700s, enforced curfews, hunted for enslaved people who ran away from their masters, and terrorized enslaved populations, embedding racial control into the very foundations of law enforcement. Even after slavery ended, these […]
The Future of Federal Injunction Power and Birthright Citizenship in Trump’s America
Over the past decade, federal courts have consistently challenged executive branch actions. Most recently, the narrative has changed and the constitutional authority of the federal courts to stifle the executive orders has been questioned. While the Constitution does not directly articulate the presidential right to issue an executive order, the United States has a long […]
An American Spin on Oliver Twist: Trump-Vance Administration’s Dismantling of Aid for Homeless Students
“We know, Heaven help us, that the best and fairest of our kind too often fade in blooming” – Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist What to do With Homeless Youth Our federal government’s perspective has long been for homeless Americans to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and secure their places as productive members of society. […]
Mobilizing the National Guard is Stupid, But Constitutional
It has been attributed to the late associate justice Antonin Scalia that it is possible for an act of government to be extremely stupid, but still constitutional. It is tragic, but remediable when the government does something both stupid and unconstitutional; it is just tragic when it is stupid. Regrettably, the actions of the second […]
From News to Noise
Media manipulation, deliberately shaping information to influence public perception, has profoundly transformed the digital age. No longer confined to traditional news broadcasts, it now permeates every corner of the online world. With social media, those who strategically maneuver their online activity now hold the power to shape public perception. While the democratization of information can […]
The Destruction of Mental Health by Solitary Confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of punishment used in jails and prisons that isolates incarcerated individuals for up to twenty-three hours per day for weeks, or even months at a time. The actions that condemn incarcerated individuals to solitary confinement range from serious infractions, like engaging in a physical fight, to minor violations, like talking […]
Boston Congestion: How An MBTA-Sponsored Bikeshare Can Help Massachusetts Reshape Their Transit Infrastructure
In 2024, Boston had the fourth highest congestion rate in the United States with each driver spending approximately seventy nine hours in traffic. On average, this cost each driver $1,414 and the city $2.7 billion in total. Beyond the nuisance and cost of sitting in traffic, congestion causes numerous health issues. The longer people commute […]