Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Marshall Project: Kudos to The Marshall Project for its superb weekly posting "Closing Argument: The week in criminal justice" - and the Project's launching of 'The Record' which promises to be an enlightening, comprehensive and invaluable source of criminal justice stories.


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: It's time to salute the Marshall Project's  superb weekly posting on "Closing Argument: The Week in Justice," edited by Andrew Cohen,  "featuring highlights from the past week in criminal justice." (My only complaint is that there is so much fine reading, reporting and analysis that there is little time left during the weekend for anything else);  Indeed, I  find that much of the content is relevant to the subject matter of this Blog. Each weekly posting contains  "The Story of the Week," "The Best of the Marshall Project," and "The Best of the Rest."  The story of the week in today's weekly posting (Saturday April 8) relates to the launch  what promises to be an invaluable   new source of  criminal justice information called 'The Record." As described by editor Cohen: "You probably know by now that we launched The Record this week.  It's an online compilation of some of the best online written (and audio and video) work about criminal justice we have found since we started The Marshall Project in 2014. There are many reasons why we did this; my favorite is that by making it easier for journalists, lawyers, academics, and others to find criminal justice stories we improve the chances that those engaged in the countless debates to come will be armed with more historical context and perspective, not to mention good, old-fashioned facts. That point was emphatically made on Thursday— the very day we launched, right on cue — by Bill Clinton, whose sharp retort to "Black Lives Matter" protesters begged for a look back at the conditions and consequences of the 1994 Crime Bill (a category included in The Record). The story of that law, like every other contentious criminal justice policy, is complicated, more complicated than either the protestors or the former president have made it out to be. If the stories contained in The Record help illustrate the contours of those complications, the nuances that get lost in the heat of the moment, the background that helps explain why some themes suddenly rush to the foreground, our work will have succeeded." As today's  post indicates, The Record is "an on-line online library TMP staff has curated over the past two years of some of the best criminal justice reporting on the internet. Here is a 14,000-entry collection of reporting about topics, including “sentencing reform” and “death penalty”; events like the “Charleston Church shooting,” and people, including “Kalief Browder” and our namesake, “Thurgood Marshall."  I am really impressed by the ease with which "The Record" can be accessed. Just tap in the topic you are interested in, sit back, and enjoy the trip!

Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

Access 'The Record' at the following link;
 https://www.themarshallproject.org/records#.m2LJ6TDCa

Access 'Closing Argument: The week in Justice,' at:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#all/153fb21a584ea89e

Access The Marshall Project at the link below; "The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on the American criminal justice system. Our mission is to create and sustain a sense of urgency about criminal justice in America. We aim at all times for accuracy, fairness, and impartiality. Our repertoire includes deep investigative projects, narratives and profiles that put a human face on criminal justice, explanatory and contextual pieces, along with guest commentary and voices from inside the system. And we partner with a diverse array of media organizations to amplify our message."
 https://www.themarshallproject.org/about#.xUwTowh4y

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;


Harold Levy;

Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;