By Jin Hee Lee, Vincent Southerland and Christina Swarns
Dissenting opinions — offered not by liberal advocates but by moderate, if not conservative, law-and-order judges — stand as a strong rebuke to the presumed effectiveness of the death penalty system. And they also confirm longstanding concerns about how abuses of power, under-resourced defense counsel, and racial bias undermine both the accuracy and judiciousness of death penalty convictions.

By Lee A. Daniels
Last May, the Chicago Tribune, began publishing dozens of articles on how the “clout” admissions game worked at the state’s flagship university. Those stories’ revelations were subsequently confirmed by the scathing report of a special committee of investigation chaired by Abner Mikva, the former Congressman and federal judge.

By Amy L. Alexander
Is racism becoming a mental illness in some Americans?

Given the events of the past few weeks, when so many “regular people” appeared to relish saying racist things about President Obama, or displaying blatantly racist images of the man who happens to be our first black commander-in-chief, it is a fair, if uncomfortable, question.

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
I am walking the Bermuda’s African Diaspora Heritage Trail, and I am learning about Bermudians and other African Americans who, like me, are connected to this place.

By Jackie Jones
We’ve been told that it’s a scary world out there. Labor Department figures show that unemployment, overall, stood at 9.7 percent in August and was 15.1 percent for black people. Black families began losing ground about three years before the recession began.

But one financial expert is opting out of recession-related woes.

By Kevin Eason
Kevin is a freelance editorial cartoonist and Illustrator from NJ. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Kevin’s work features include: TVOne, NABJ, WBLS_107.5FM, EURweb and various newspapers & magazines throughout the country.

This week marks the ninth anniversary of Earl Washington’s exoneration in Virginia. Washington was 20 years old when he supposedly confessed to a rape he didn’t commit. He served 19 years in prison – including 13 years on death row – before DNA testing proved his innocence.

By Smita Ghosh
Virginia City Considers Apology for School Segregation — Westchester Lawmakers Put Off Vote on Historic Housing Desegregation Settlement — TUSD: Discipline Colorblind — Help with Aid Form Found to Boost College Attendance — Latest Challenge in ‘Race to Top’: Find Review Team for Applicants — National Standards: Has the Time Finally Come? — N.Y.C. Charters Found to Close Gaps — Study Finds Mayor Bloomberg’s Boast on Graduation Rates Misleading — A Political Swirl on Charter Schools.

By Stacey Patton
I had a chance to steal a few moments with former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) President and Director-counsel Theodore M. Shaw after the September 18 symposium on the Supreme Court’s case selection process held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

By Amy L. Alexander
In “About Our Children,” a two hour-long town hall style talk program broadcast Sunday, September 20, we beheld an unusually calm discussion of a perpetually hot topic—the welter of social, economic, moral, and educational challenges affecting parents and children in America. Broadcast on MSNBC, a cable network infamous for high-volume political rhetoric, “About Our Children” boasted an impressive pedigree.