opinion
REMEMBER FREE SPEECH?
Heavily armed and armored officers cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests is unnecessary, dangerous, and sets a terrible precedent.
Radley Balko is an investigative journalist and a columnist for The Washington Post, where he writes about the criminal justice system and civil liberties. He was previously a senior writer and investigative reporter at the Huffington Post, and a reporter and senior editor for Reason magazine.
He is author of the acclaimed books "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces" and "The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South" (co-authored with Tucker Carrington). His work has been cited by the Mississippi Supreme Court, and two federal appeals courts, and twice by the U.S. Supreme Court. He also occasionally writes about the music and culture of Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives.
Balko has won the Western Publications Award for Best News Story, the Innocence Project's Journalism Award, the NACDL Champion of Justice Award, the Bastiat Prize for Journalism, and was named the L.A. Press Club's Journalist of the Year.
opinion
SERVE THE PUBLIC
Savannah Granziano, 15, died in a hail of police bullets, while following their instructions. The department buried the evidence for almost two years.
opinion
SUNSHINE STATE SNOWFLAKE
Florida’s governor is trying to out-Trump Trump on ‘American Carnage’ panic—but the fact is his state has way more crime than the “woke” cities he decries.
opinion
EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL
A new documentary uses archive footage to show how the government started thinking of protesters as enemies, and police as soldiers.
opinion
JUNK JUSTICE
The court of public opinion does not look kindly upon the Supreme Court, and the justices have only themselves to blame.
opinion
THEY KNOW IT’S WRONG
Forensic analysts testify at trials as “experts.” But juries don't know that their methods "seriously underestimate the false positive rate.”
Confronted by the family pet, police often shoot first and ask questions later, reports Radley Balko. Among hundreds of recent victims: Labradors, Wheaten terriers, and a five-pound Chihuahua.
Surprising research suggests Wal-Mart can actually reduce obesity in low-income neighborhoods starved for affordable fresh food.
As he leaves on a trip to Mexico, the president looks poised to continue the same ruinous drug policies and the same failing tactics in the war on drugs.
The president who was once a champion of defendant's right to DNA evidence as a senator in Illinois has now let his Justice Department oppose that right at the Supreme Court. What happened?