criminal justice — Bunk History

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"The Politics of Safety" book cover

Lawless Law Enforcement

Because of the growth of the Prohibition state, police abuse fomented considerable discussions among police and lawyer associations, criminologists, and others.

by Brock Schnoke via UNC Press Blog on January 17, 2024

A newspaper photograph of a man kneeling beside H. Lawrence Nelson's gravestone, which reads "Dec 16, 1880 - Sept 25, 1906, murdered and robbed by Hamp Kendall and John Vickers."

A Murderous Gravestone Grudge Carved a New Law Into Stone

When murder won’t rest in peace.

by Max Longley via Atlas Obscura on January 11, 2024

Photo of a crowded street in NYC with carts and vendors blocking the roads

How the NYPD Attempted to Navigate Cultural and Linguistic Barriers in the Early 20th Century

One of the biggest challenges for the NYPD, especially in the years following the turn of the twentieth century, was policing the newcomer immigrants.

by Matthew Guariglia via Literary Hub on November 17, 2023

Barry Goldwater.

The Twisted History of the American Crime Anxiety Industry

Our political and cultural systems are obsessed with exploiting fears about crime. But it wasn’t always this way.

by Caleb Brennan via The Nation on November 1, 2023

The Silent Treatment: Solitary Confinement’s Unlikely Origins

Characterised today by the noise of banging, buzzers, and the cries of inmates, solitary confinement was originally developed from Quaker ideas.

by Jane Brox via The Public Domain Review on October 25, 2023

Spiro T. Agnew button.

The Wildest Month of the US Presidency, Part I

The Spiro Agnew Edition.

by Garrett M. Graff via Doomsday Scenario on October 10, 2023

A crowd of African Americans watches a group of law enforcement officers.

A Record of Violence

Jim Crow terror, within and outside the law.

by Jeanne Theoharis, Margaret A. Burnham via Boston Review on July 26, 2023

Trump holding a document, against the backdrop of text defining espionage.

The Espionage Act is Bad for America—Even When it’s Used on Trump

A relic of WWI that helped destroy the anti-war left, it remains a threat to news outlets, political organizers, and challengers of the surveillance state.

by Alex Skopic via Current Affairs on July 13, 2023

A young Black boy pictured mid-flip, while his peers look on. In the background are a row of houses, one of which abandoned with the windows punched out.

What We Meant When We Said 'Crackhead'

“I’ve learned, through hundreds of interviews and years of research, is that what crack really did was expose every vulnerability of society.”

by Donovan X. Ramsey via The Atlantic on July 11, 2023

Aerial view of Pennsylvania's Eastern State Penitentiary, 19th century.

Untangling the 19th Century Roots of Mass Incarceration

Popular accounts often trace the origins of forced penal labor to the post-Civil War South. But a vast system of forced penal labor existed in the antebellum North.

by Rebecca McLennan via LPE Project on May 16, 2023

Lithograph of the Haymarket riot.

Chicago Never Forgot the Haymarket Martyrs

Ever since the execution of labor radicals in 1886, reactionaries have tried to tarnish their legacy — and leftists have honored them as working-class martyrs.

by Jeff Schuhrke via Jacobin on May 1, 2023

A man with a raised fist poses by a portrait of Vincent Chin.

The Crime That Fueled an Asian American Civil Rights Movement

The 1982 attack against Vincent Chin redefined hate crimes and energized a push for today’s stronger legal protections.

via Retro Report on April 26, 2023

19th century mug shots in a book

A Brief History of the Mug Shot

Police have been using the snapshots in criminal investigations since the advent of commercial photography

by Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on April 3, 2023

Protesters at a police brutality rally at the Texas State Capitol in 1977.

The Killing of José Campos Torres

Decades before the recent police violence in Memphis, a brutally beaten Latino man was tossed by officers into a Houston bayou and drowned.

by Mimi Swartz via Texas Monthly on February 14, 2023

Black man standing beside barbecue stand, Pittsburgh 1933.

Pittsburgh Reformers and the Black Freedom Struggle

Historian Adam Lee Cilli effectively illustrates the centrality of Black Pittsburgh within the larger Black Freedom Struggle.

by Ashley Everson via Black Perspectives on February 9, 2023

Inmates playing touch football at Moberly Correctional Center in Moberly, MO, 1990.

The First Famous Football Team Behind Bars

Sing Sing's football team, The Black Sheep, ascended to fame even though its players were incarcerated. One player was so good, he signed with the Eagles.

by Joshua Finnell via JSTOR Daily on February 8, 2023

Map of John Proctor's 15 acres of property in Ipswich, MA

"The Crucible" and John and Elizabeth Proctor of Salem

It is worth digging a bit deeper into the family matters between John and Elizabeth.

by Benjamin Ray via Commonplace on February 7, 2023

Black Panther mural dating from 1996, side wall of Rick’s Barbershop, 3406 Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, 2011 (LOC).

George Jackson in a Global Frame

The story of George Jackson and his radical politics that challenged the American Government in an age of political repression.

by Andrew Anastasi via Black Perspectives on January 24, 2023

Banksy's Spy Booth depicting 3 spies listening in to a phone booth.

How the Drug War Convinced America to Wiretap the Digital Revolution

How the FBI's doomed attempt to stop criminal activity conducted via mobile phones shaped the regime of ubiquitous backdoor surveillance under which we live today.

by Brian Hochman via Humanities on January 6, 2023

Demonstrators protest involuntarily institutionalization of mentally ill homeless people.

Locking Up the Mentally Ill Has a Long History

The prospect of removing people from communities to be put in institutions has been a project of social control.

by Elliott Young via Made By History on January 3, 2023

A portrait of Joe Hill.

Joe Hill Was Killed for Singing Labor’s Song

The labor troubadour Joe Hill was executed by a Utah firing squad for a crime he almost certainly didn’t commit.

by Cal Winslow via Jacobin on November 19, 2022

Illustration of Economists in Different Positions in the Government

May God Save Us From Economists

Over the last half-century, economics has infiltrated parts of the federal government where it has no business intruding.

by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on October 25, 2022

New York City sidewalk full of people wearing hats.

Hat Havoc in the Big Apple

The Hat Riots of 1922 show how arbitrary, elite rules can spur civil unrest.

by Katrina Gulliver via Law & Liberty on September 9, 2022

Sillhouettes of incarcerated men preparing for a graduation ceremony.

Educational Aid for Prisoners Works. Yet It’s Politically Precarious.

Why all Americans benefit from higher education for those incarcerated.

by Kate L. Flach, Adrian Cox via Made By History on August 23, 2022

The Lesbian As Villain or Victim

In Oregon in the 1960s, the debate over capital punishment hinged on shifting interpretations of the gendered female body.

by Matthew Wills, Lauren Gutterman via JSTOR Daily on June 19, 2022

Picture of two warring sides of the abortion debate in a heated exchange.

The Myth That Roe Broke America

The debate over abortion is an important part of the story of polarization in American politics, but it is not its genesis.

by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on May 18, 2022

Illustration of Nation of Islam members holding hands with Muslims from the Middle East over globe.

The Nation of Islam's Role in U.S. Prisons

The Nation of Islam is controversial. Its practical purposes for incarcerated people transcend both politics and religion.

by Olivia Heffernan via JSTOR Daily on March 22, 2022

Protesters holding anti-War on Drugs signs with a red target printed over them

How the Drug War Dies

A few decades ago, the left and the right, politicians and the public, universally embraced the criminalization of drug use. But a new consensus has emerged.

by Maia Szalavitz via The Nation on March 21, 2022

Memorial for the massacre at El Mozote, a stone wall with lists of names.

The Battle over Memory at El Mozote

Four decades on, the perpetrators of the El Mozote massacre have not been held to account.

by Nelson Rauda via The Baffler on December 15, 2021

Muhammad A. Aziz leaving a courtroom after being officially exonerated

Exonerating Two Men Convicted of Malcolm X’s Killing Doesn’t Vindicate the System

Can a system built on racial violence actually deliver justice?

by Garrett Felber via Made By History on November 20, 2021

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