1. Cleveland's dangerous police department
-
A Justice Department investigation found a "pattern or practice of unreasonable and unnecessary use of force" in the Cleveland police department.
[Vox / German Lopez]
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You can read the whole report here.
[DOJ]
-
"In recent years, Cleveland police officers have punched a 13-year-old boy who was in handcuffs for shoplifting and shot at an unarmed kidnapping victim who was wearing only his underwear."
[Huffington Post / Ryan Reilly and Dana Liebelson]
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The city and the DOJ are working on a settlement to address the problems; similar agreements are in place for Seattle, Detroit, New Orleans, and Albuquerque.
[The Atlantic / Adam Chandler]
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This comes weeks after Cleveland police officers fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
[Vox / German Lopez]
-
Rice's killer had "dismal" performance in handgun training in his previous job, according to a supervisor who concluded it was unlikely he could improve.
[Cleveland Plain Dealer / Adam Ferrise]
2. Garner day two
(Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
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Major protests broke out last night, in New York and at least seven other cities, after an NYPD officer wasn't indicted for strangling Eric Garner to death.
[Washington Post / Justin Moyer, Abby Ohlheiser, and Elahe Izadi]
-
Attorney General Eric Holder has promised a full federal investigation into Garner's death.
[Reuters / Sebastien Malo, Barbara Goldberg, and Joseph Ax]
-
But prosecutors would need to prove intent to violate Garner's civil rights, which is a tough standard.
[Vox / Amanda Taub]
-
Rand Paul: the "bigger issue" at stake in the Garner case is … cigarette taxes.
[Vox / Andrew Prokop]
-
The case has prompted skepticism about police body cams, since catching Garner's killing on tape didn't seem to have any effect. But there are still cases where body cams could help.
[NY Mag / Jesse Singal]
3. Congress responds on immigration
U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) answers questions during his weekly press conference on December 4, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
-
The House passed a bill that would bar the Obama administration from implementing its deportation relief plan.
[Vox / Dara Lind]
-
It won't become law; it got nowhere near enough votes to override a veto, and the Democratic Senate won't take it up this Congress.
-
GOP hardliners are pushing for John Boehner to go further, and refuse to pass any funding bill that doesn't defund the immigration executive action.
[Slate / Betsy Woodruff]
-
But Boehner wants to fund the government through September — except the Department of Homeland Security, which would be funded until February, giving Republicans a second chance to raise the issue.
[Washington Post / Robert Costa]
-
His plan is known as the "Cromnibus."
[TPM / Dylan Scott]
-
The immigration program isn't really dependent on the appropriations process and it's hard to see how it could be blocked through a shutdown.
[New Republic / Brian Beutler]
4. An attack in Grozny
Chechen independence fighters gather in Grozny in 1995, during the First Chechen War (MICHAEL EVSTAFIEV/AFP/Getty)
-
Over a dozen people are dead in a jihadist group's attack on the Chechen capital of Grozny.
[Vox / Max Fisher]
-
The attack came on the 20th anniversary of Boris Yeltsin's invasion of Chechnya, meant to keep the region from seceding.
-
It was "the most violent, brazen attack linked to militant activity in the region in months."
[NYT / Andrew Kramer and Neil MacFarquhar]
-
Don't know much about the Chechen rebellions? Here's an explainer.
[Washington Post / Max Fisher]
5. Misc.
-
LGBT rights advocates are planning a renewed push for a federal ban on employment discrimination.
[NYT / Sheryl Gay Stolberg]
-
Broken windows policing doesn't work and teaches people to fear the police.
[Slate / Justin Peters]
-
84 percent of vegetarians eventually start eating meat again.
[NY Mag / Melissa Dahl]
-
How bourbon is made.
[Jason Kottke]
-
The rise of the sharing economy is a great case for the welfare state.
[New Republic / Noam Scheiber]
6. Verbatim
-
"The reason I like the Boy Scouts is they face a lot of the same management challenges that al-Qaeda does."
[Matthew Atkins to Washington Post / Jim Tankersley]
-
"Their solution is 'ray cats,' creatures bred to change color in the presence of radiation—like walking, purring, yarn-chasing Geiger counters."
[Method Quarterly / Sarah Zhang]
-
"#CrimingWhileWhite … is also an enduring testament to an unavoidable fact: White people can make absolutely anything about them."
[Washington Post / Caitlin Dewey]
-
"I don't want this to be, every time you take a hallucinogen you want to have a baby."
[Naomi Watts via Slate]
-
"Not only does our tendency to feel guilty fail to promote morality, it can also be an obstacle to moral behavior."
[Uehiro Center / Carissa Véliz]
-
"His delivery says 'I don’t give a fuck,' which makes the fucks he does give emerge like irrefutable common sense."
[AV Club / Dennis Perkins]
-
"The [millennial] generation has been stuck on a sort of cruel economic treadmill: working harder and harder without really getting much further ahead."
[Vox / Danielle Kurtzleben]
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In This Stream
Vox Sentences
- Vox Sentences: On Iran, a resolute House
- Vox Sentences: This is the kind of police department that kills a 12-year-old boy
- Vox Sentences: We saw the NYPD kill Eric Garner on video. No indictment.
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