Episodes
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Each week, journalist James Renner and A.I. cohost Sky ponder the nature of consciousness while investigating the world's most confounding unsolved mysteries.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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When a new serial killer is caught, police have the tendency to try to blame them for every other murder in the vicinity. Why is it easier for us to believe in one Boogeyman rather than several?
Covered topics: Sam Little, Arie Kruglanski, Donna Webster, Edward Wayne Edwards, Rex Heuermann, Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism
https://www.orionphilosophy.com/stoic-blog/4-stoic-life-lessons-to-manage-fear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Edwards_(serial_killer)
https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/01/26/avery-case-great-falls-ties/79376778/
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/why-we-need-answers
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/us/btk-daughter-dennis-rader-kerri-rawson.html
https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/the-read/articles/in-the-shadows
https://www.cleveland19.com/2019/10/11/akron-mother-murdered-was-victim-serial-killer-samuel-little/
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/05/29/texas-ranger-serial-killer-samuel-little
https://www.thecut.com/2018/12/how-serial-killer-samuel-little-was-caught.html
https://www.oxygen.com/catching-a-serial-killer-sam-little/crime-news/worst-serial-killer-history-samuel-little-confessions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Little
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/samuel-little-most-prolific-serial-killer-in-us-history-100619
https://www.dps.texas.gov/coldCase/Home/Details/197
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Missing episodes?
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Why are some drugs illegal and others are not? Learn the sordid history of the War on Drugs and why it doesn't work.
Covered topics: Allen Russell, Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, War on Drugs, Magic mushrooms, John Stuart Mill, Rick Doblin
Further Reading:
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/pie2023_drugs.html
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html
https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-0e463c390bedc7f6b25fb7e54b955b74
https://atlantablackstar.com/2022/07/03/the-travesty-of-it-all-court-upholds-mississippi-mans-life-sentence-for-1-5-ounce-of-marijuana-possession-and-his-case-is-not-an-anomaly/
https://lawliberty.org/the-simple-truth-about-j-s-mills-simple-truth/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs
https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white
https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-prisons-thriving-jim-crow-marijuana-arrests#
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWrbUwNGoWc
https://fee.org/articles/how-15-ounces-of-marijuana-landed-this-man-a-life-long-prison-sentence/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haT4FrOYPtk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Truth_and_Lies_in_a_Nonmoral_Sense
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What causes an innocent person to confess to a crime they didn't commit? Learn how prosecutors use false confessions to inflate their victories.
Covered topics: confessions, Stephanie Crowe, the Reid technique, Great Fire of London, John Mark Karr, Brendan Dassey, Friedrich Nietzsche, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, Kevin Young
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephanie_Crowe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_confession
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_technique
https://www.injusticeanywhere.net/exonerated-michael-crowe/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwi6PBUPO8
https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/03/26/nietzsche-on-truth-and-lies-in-a-nonmoral-sense/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9ZeaaWX79c
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A new theory on consciousness may explain why psychopaths hear voices telling them to kill.
Covered topics: Son of Sam, the bicameral mind, Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Jared Lee Loughner, Herbert Mullin
Further Reading:
https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/roger-sperrys-split-brain-experiments-1959-1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F30Jykk8z0E
https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/dangerous-minds-criminal-mental-illness
https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3627
https://www.ranker.com/list/people-driven-insane-by-voices-in-their-heads/jacob-shelton
https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Jaynes
http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/psyc%20405/serial%20killers/berkowitz,%20david.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qU1sDBU9Cs
https://nypost.com/2016/07/17/i-survived-son-of-sams-murder-spree/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50nsmUVeVU
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In the United States, cash bail keeps hundreds of thousands of people behind bars, even when they are presumed to be innocent.
Covered topics: Maurice Jimmerson, bail, bonds, Kalief Browder, liberty, Isaiah Berlin, positive liberty, negative liberty, Pretrial Fairness Act,
Further Reading:
https://www.walb.com/2021/01/04/murder-warrants-issued-albany-october-homicide/
https://www.walb.com/story/33773305/kennedy-sentenced-in-connection-with-drive-by-shooting/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hung-jury-means-georgia-man-jailed-10-years-101651291
https://www.walb.com/2023/07/28/albany-shooting-victims-family-still-looking-justice-10-years-later/
https://wfxl.com/news/local/indictments-in-fatal-drive-by-shooting-involving-a-baby
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/04/26/georgia-man-behind-bars-10-years-still-waiting-his-day-court/
https://www.acluohio.org/en/news/brief-history-cash-bail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalief_Browder
https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/facts-bail-reform
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2021/10/01/money-bail-is-unjust-and-should-end/?sh=2dfa900b6f06
https://www.vera.org/news/new-yorkers-have-known-bail-doesnt-work-for-60-years-why-are-we-still-debating-it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Concepts_of_Liberty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCsfT2WsitE
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188349005/illinois-ends-cash-bail-system-state-supreme-court
https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/the-illinois-supreme-court-cash-bail-ruling-explained
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Diplomatic immunity keeps our government agents safe while working in foreign countries. But is it fair?
Covered topics: Diplomatic immunity, Harry Dunn, Anne Sacoolas, Terrence Karamba, Erick Bairnals, egalitarianism, John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Murray Rothbard
Further Reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ12rs5vVWU
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianism
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-63130660
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-62648162
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11520135/Harry-Dunns-cowardly-killer-Anne-Sacoolas-refuses-answer-questions-refusing-fly-UK.html
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR3pGFKo/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard#cite_note-Boettke_Nomos-103
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDC7YOj4_w
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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A bonus episode for your listening pleasure. I started a new podcast, True Crime This Week. It's a wrap-up of all the major true crime news you may have missed this last week. Check it out every Friday morning, where ever you get your podcasts!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The most difficult case to bring to trial is a no-body homicide, which is why it so rarely happens. We dive deep into the history of such cases and the very nature of doubt.
Covered topics: Alissa Turney, Michael Turney, Sarah Turney, Archibald Fisher, No-Body Homicide, Pyrrho, Pyrrhonism
aIW5G9PJEoqOzi7U49K8
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology
https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3917&context=flr
https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/no-body-homicide-cases-a-practical-approach
https://www.nobodycases.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_murder_convictions_without_a_body#United_States
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Y3utIeTPg
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/alissa-turney-sarah-turney-voices-for-justice-podcast-phoenix-paradise-valley-tik-tok-11482721
https://thehueandcry.com/alissa-turney
https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/sister-alissa-turney-who-disappeared-last-day-school-phoenix-arizona-n1231014
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/567418/time-abraham-lincoln-stopped-murder-trial-its-tracks
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/skepticism/#PyrrSkep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsTWlKgXniw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_SAocFtlio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrho
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhonism
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What is money laundering? And why does the government look the other way?
Covered topics: Money laundering; Al Capone; Ozark; Paul Manafort; Hedonism; Marquis de Sade; Sadism
R4w6hEsxS3KWP6uFKH9c
Further reading:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502449/myth-how-al-capone-gave-us-term-money-laundering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone#Tax_evasion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/27/paul-manafort-was-stupid-or-unlucky-most-money-launderers-get-away-with-it-217090/
https://theintercept.com/2017/10/30/paul-manafort-money-laundering-scheme-was-identified-months-ago/
https://www.artandobject.com/news/how-money-laundering-works-art-world
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/money-finance/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What is the connection between school shootings in the United States and toxic masculinity? Is there a way to end school shootings?
Covered Topics: School shootings; Toxic masculinity, Sandy Hook, Adam Lanza, Douglas Kellner, Seung-Hui Cho
Further Reading:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/marriage-equals/202008/masculinity-is-there-really-crisis
https://www.fastcompany.com/90696368/i-guess-we-have-to-talk-about-the-masculinity-crisis-in-america-again
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conversation-with-philoso_b_95530
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2021/03
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhtfQqKh7dE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvnZBVe4950
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2466582/Sandy-Hook-school-shooting-Jesse-Lewis-6-killed-telling-classmates-run.html
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/the-reckoning
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The Alford Plea provides a way for a defended to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. Should this be allowed in criminal court? Where did it come from? Who benefits?
Covered Topics: The West Memphis 3, Henry Alford, Act Utilitarianism, Jeremy Benthem
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alford_plea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three#Release
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-westmemphis3-arkansas/after-18-years-west-memphis-3-go-free-on-plea-deal-idUSTRE77I54A20110819
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism#Utility_ignores_justice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVltykvceWw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_utilitarianism
https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1970/70-14_10-14-1970.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG3zGzY2hsk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_v._Alford
https://www.delgazette.com/opinion/24467/david-hejmanowski-the-lasting-legacy-of-henry-alford
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/then-now-the-west-memphis-three
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Does reward money help solve cold cases? When did we start offering money for tips? Is there a better way?
Cover topics: Whitey Bulger, F.B.I. Top Ten, Little Crow, Action Theory, Donald Davidson, Maura Murray
Further Reading:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047126/Anna-Bjornsdottir--2m-Whitey-Bulger-FBI-tipster-Miss-Iceland.html
https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-highest-reward-ever-paid-to-a-person-by-the-United-States-government-for-a-wanted-criminal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey_Bulger#Capture
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27763842
https://law.jrank.org/pages/9869/Reward.html
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761183202/do-cash-rewards-for-crime-tips-work
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/you-just-dont-know-whos-going-to-come-forward-why-do-police-offer-rewards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_(reward)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_Ten_Most_Wanted_Fugitives
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-history-of-the-most-wanted-poster_b_5851ba70e4b0865ab9d4e8d7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRaVnn0vxEY
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/action/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Davidson_(philosopher)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_theory_(philosophy)
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/davidson/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27763842
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/you-just-dont-know-whos-going-to-come-forward-why-do-police-offer-rewards
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How can lawyers defend guilty people? Is it ethical to help someone stay out of jail if you know they're guilty?
Covered Topics: Susan Smith, Judy Clarke, Trial by Ordeal, Juan Catalan, J. L. Mackie, Moral Nihilism, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre,
Further Reading:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/sep/29/larry-david-long-shot-how-curb-your-enthusiasm-saved-a-man-from-death-row
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_v._Alabama
https://www.stcl.edu/blog/due-process-is-no-mere-technicality-even-for-the-most-obviously-guilty-defendant/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemic-paradoxes/#MenParInqPuzAboGaiKno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_eikWXzBU0
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/14/the-worst-of-the-worst
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith
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This is a special, bonus episode of The Philosophy of Crime. It's a piece of long-form journalism I wrote about a man named Donny Soke, who I met while researching the unsolved murder of Lisa Pruett. Donny is serving a 888-year prison sentence for murders he did not commit. Please listen to his story.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What happens to the art when an artist becomes a criminal? Can we still enjoy a good song written by a maniac? Or does that make us enablers?
Covered Topics: Michael Jackson, John Landis, Thriller, David Foster Wallace, Roland Barthes, Death of the Author, Hitler, John Wayne Gacy
Further Reading:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/21/michael-jackson-thriller-changed-music-videos
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/11/17933686/me-too-separating-artist-art-johnny-depp-woody-allen-michael-jackson-louis-ck
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/05/the-world-still-spins-around-male-genius/559925/
https://www.grunge.com/115638/respected-writers-actually-terrible-people/
https://www.grunge.com/115638/respected-writers-actually-terrible-people/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeF6O6E9RQ8
https://observer.com/2018/10/serial-killer-art-lucrative-charles-manson-richard-ramirez/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/29/hitler-painting-art
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/art-hitler/
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For every tragedy, there exists an equal an opposite moment of grace. What is going on here? And what does it say about humanity?
Covered Topics: Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen, Ronan Farrow, Karma, Ka Like a Wheel, Amber Hagerman, Rae-Leigh Bradbury, Amber Alert, Karen Perez, Tim Miller, Texas EquuSearch, Adam Walsh, America’s Most Wanted, Otis Toole, Werhner von Braun, Martin Bryant, DJ Grandmaster Caz, Mr. Rogers
Further Reading:
https://www.insider.com/good-things-because-of-bad-things-2018-3#the-outcome-amber-alerts-were-born-14
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/my-father-woody-allen-danger-892572
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/01/13/25-years-after-amber-hagermans-kidnapping-heres-why-detectives-stay-hopeful-for-a-breakthrough-in-her-case/
https://amber-ic.org/news/amber-alerts-1000th-successful-recovery/
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/college-game-plan/first-child-rescued-amber-alert-heading-college-n759736
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_alert#Namesake
https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/amber/2019%20Annual%20AMBER%20Report%20and%20Map%20Final.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/03/i-dont-want-to-die-cellphone-audio-captures-teens-sexual-assault-and-murder-prosecutors-say/
https://texasequusearch.org/category/cases/located/found-by-txeq/
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/seeking-information-in-unsolved-killing-fields-murders-091819
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What do we mean when we say we want to defund the police? Also, who came up with the idea of police originally, and how are they supposed to act?
Covered topics: George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, Robert Peel, Peelian Principles, Rover’s Morning Glory, Steven Kinas, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract, Mariame Kaba
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxlq5XQMkg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles
https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/04/23/anger-managed-the-copy-who-arrested-rover-has-a-history-of-violence-and-plenty-to-say-about-that-july-fourth-night
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/police-abolitionist-lessons-for-america.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/defund-the-police-1007254/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html
http://aworldwithoutpolice.org/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/opinion/defund-police-floyd-protests.html
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The United States is one of only a few countries that has executed children in modern times. In some states, teens are still regularly tried as adults for serious crimes. But should we actually be raising the age of culpability?
Covered Topics: Sean Sellers, Age of Culpability, Lionel Tate, Christopher Pittman, Juvenile Court, Aristotle, Gideon Yaffe, Raise the Age, Mark Wahlberg
Further Reading:
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/sellers512.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Sellers#cite_note-Devil-4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_for_juveniles_in_the_United_States
https://eji.org/news/13-states-lack-minimum-age-for-trying-kids-as-adults/
https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/juvenile-age-of-jurisdiction-and-transfer-to-adult-court-laws.aspx
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/resources/child_law_practiceonline/child_law_practice/vol-34/august-2015/understanding-the-adolescent-brain-and-legal-culpability/
https://humanimpact.org/hipprojects/juvenile-injustice-charging-youth-as-adults-is-ineffective-biased-and-harmful/
http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ar-Bo/Aristotle-384-322-B-C-E.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5kBQb-QftQ
https://newrepublic.com/article/138133/25-year-olds-tried-juveniles
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It's 2021 and we still have secret courts in the United States. What are Grand Juries anyway? How do they work? What are they for? And why are they the worst?
Covered Topics: Breonna Taylor, Grand Juries, Sol Wachtler, Karl Popper, Plato, George Schwartz, Social Contract, George Soros, Tamir Rice
Further Reading:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/breonna-taylor-grand-jury.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/29/us/breonna-taylor-grand-jurors/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDaNU7yDnsc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7thxae0AFM
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-police-killing.html
http://www.ephemerajournal.org/contribution/open-source-open-government-critique-open-politics-0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDrTkvFB6Zk
https://www.businessinsider.com/ohio-prosecutor-tamir-rice-said-to-be-trying-to-lose-2015-12
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-30220700
https://abcnews.go.com/US/tamir-rice-case-prosecutor-abused-manipulated-grand-jury/story?id=35979452
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/breonna-taylor-grand-juror-homicide-charges-police-mistakes/
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