Author: Stefi Mar

Racial Disparities and Youth Sentencing Mark U.S. Life Sentencing Practices

Racial Disparities and Youth Sentencing Mark U.S. Life Sentencing Practices

Jan 14, 2025 | , , , , ,

The Sentencing Project, an advocacy organization promoting humane responses to crime, has released its report, “A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long-Term Imprisonment in the United States.” The report provides a detailed analysis of life sentences, revealing that nearly 200,000 people—one in six individuals in U.S. prisons—are serving life terms. The United States accounts for 40 percent of the world’s life-sentenced population but represents only 4 percent of the global population.

Read More
Los Angeles’s Historic Black Community Devastated by Eaton Canyon Fires

Los Angeles’s Historic Black Community Devastated by Eaton Canyon Fires

Jan 14, 2025 | , , , , , ,

As flames tore through the picturesque foothills of Altadena and Pasadena on January 7, 2025, the Eaton Canyon fires left a historic Black community—rooted in the Civil Rights Movement—nearly wiped out. Among the hardest-hit areas in Los Angeles County, Altadena has seen its many Black-owned homes, churches, businesses, and landmarks reduced to ashes.

Read More
14 States Awarded $1 Million Grants to Address Mental Health and Substance Use Crises

14 States Awarded $1 Million Grants to Address Mental Health and Substance Use Crises

Jan 14, 2025 | , , , , ,

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has awarded $1 million in planning grants to 14 states as part of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration Program. Funded through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, the program aims to address the ongoing mental health and substance use crises nationwide.

Read More