Social worker Eddie Bocanegra, MSW, a longtime violence prevention advocate in Chicago, has been named senior adviser for community violence intervention in the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. The appointment was announced in a press release from Heartland Alliance, where Bocanegra is a senior director. Bocanegra served time in prison and earned his master’s degree ... Read More »
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the rest of the Civil Rights and Social Justice community should be elated that the nation now has a seasoned and committed head of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights division. On June 25th, the Senate confirmed Kristen Clarke as the first Black woman to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division. ... Read More »
Recent, highly publicized cases of police using deadly force against people of color, including the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 9, underscore the need for the social work profession to call for reforms in the nation’s law enforcement systems. This issue is important for the profession, which has a long history of working to end all ... Read More »
President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have begun to make good on their promise to reform criminal justice sentencing reform and encourage sensible drug policies. A first step toward sentencing reform began with Holder’s March 13, 2014 announcement of a new policy intended to shorten sentences for certain federal drug offenders. Just weeks later on April 20 Holder announced ... Read More »
On December 19, 2013, President Obama announced his list presidential pardons of persons in the criminal justice system. In addition to the 13 pardons issued, President Obama commuted the prison terms of eight people convicted on federal crack cocaine charges. Most significantly, the president’s stated reason for his decision is that these individuals were punished under laws that permitted unfair ... Read More »
For the past eight years civil rights have been in jeopardy at the Justice Department. The Department has become politicized and there is a litmus test to fill positions in the Civil Rights Division. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company makes it more difficult to take action on pay discrimination. Lily Ledbetter was ... Read More »
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