BOSTON The state s Supreme Judicial Court on Monday heard its first arguments in a case concerning a New Bedford man and the New Bedford Police Department s use of a gang list.
Zahkuan Bailey-Sweeting is alleging his Fourth Amendment rights were violated during a traffic stop in February 2018 in which he was a passenger.
Police stopped a car after it unsafely changed lanes. During the stop, three New Bedford police officers from the gang unit frisked all four passengers and found Bailey-Sweeting, then 18 years old, in possession of a large capacity firearm without a license.
Under the law, police can only frisk someone if they have reasonable suspicion, under articulable facts, that the person is both armed and dangerous.
First Thing: law enforcement warns of far-right threat to officers’ safety Molly Blackall
Good morning.
Explosives and flamethrowers are among the objects discovered by law enforcement outside political conventions, public buildings and at protests during the course of 2020 and 2021, federal documents obtained by the Guardian show. Law enforcement agencies claim the danger posed to officers and the public at these political events is increasing.
A separate New York police department intelligence document circulated following the Capitol attack says groups including the Proud Boys and QAnon adherents pose potential threats to officer safety, presenting rightwing groups as extremists in the strongest terms ever seen from a law enforcement agency.
Cannabis may be legalized, but criminal justice reform is still needed
Contributing Writer
The legalization of cannabis is exciting for many Virginians. But how are we to celebrate when there are people who will remain behind bars for the crime?
The issue lies in the history of racism in the U.S. incarceration system, an institution that has been flawed since the launching of the war on drugs in the 1970s.
The legalization of recreational marijuana is officially underway in Virginia, making it the 16th state to take the step forward. In July, marijuana was decriminalized, being reduced from a felony charge to a small fine of $25 for those in possession of less than an ounce. The movement continued later in that year to legalize the drug altogether; a long-awaited and overdue reform for the commonwealth.