Venus Williams will not be charged in fatal accident in Florida

tennis legend venus williams is not going to face criminal charges for her role in a fatal car accident this past june 9. the driver of the car which struck williams' suv in an intersection was also not charged.

palm beach gardens police determined neither individual violated the right-of-way. initially, police said williams should be reprimanded for not yielding the right-of-way. but in july, video surfaced vindicating williams entered the intersection lawfully. 

the video showed a car not involved in the collision forced williams to stop in the intersection. the traffic light changed, and a sedan which struck williams' van had a green light. jerome barson, 78, the passenger in a sedan colliding with williams' car died june 22. his wife, linda barson, drove that sedan.

the barson family has filed a wrongful death suit against williams.    

Jay-Z threatened by George Zimmerman over upcoming Trayvon Martin Documentary

jay-z was threatened by george zimmerman last weekend for his role in the upcoming documentary of trayvon martin. zimmerman, a self-proclaimed "neighborhood watchman" shot and killed martin - an unarmed black male teen - february 26, 2012 in florida, and was acquitted of manslaughter charges the following year.

entertainment website blast reports zimmerman claims his family was mistreated by the camera and production crew. zimmerman said they made unannounced visits to the homes of his parents, and an uncle in florida. he said jay-z and executive producer michael gesparro "harassed" his family.

on saturday, zimmerman said, "i know how to handle people who f--- with me. i have since february 2012." zimmerman benefited from the controversial "stand your ground" laws in florida, and his trial polarized americans with the verdict. he holds jay-z and gesparro responsible, and "anyone who ----s with my parents will be fed to an alligator." 

zimmerman, 34, complained over money he clams has been paid to his ex-wife for her participation in the documentary. he also said his family members and parents have not been paid by producers for their cooperation in the documentary.

the six-part docuseries titled "rest in power: the trayvon martin story," is based on the book, "suspicion nation," by attorney lisa bloom. the series will chronicle the life of martin, who was on his way home after stopping at a local store to get a bag of skittles.

jay-z didn't comment, but snoop dogg immediately defended him on instagram. "if one hair on jay's hair is touched that's when the revolution will b televised. we one, and to thank the system, let the b---- *ss mutha----- get away with murder try it again. trayvon martin gone but not forgotten."
 




  

Five NFL players and one executive named in sexual harassment lawsuit by former colleague

espn has suspended eric davis and donovan mcnabb after a lawsuit filed monday night by a female colleague alleging sexual harassment while working for nfl network. davis and mcnabb will not appear on espn or espn radio airwaves while the network investigates the claims.

nfl network on monday suspended heath evans, marshall faulk and ike taylor, while the ringer announced president eric weinberger had been placed on leave. davis, evans, faulk, mcnabb, taylor and weinberger are named in the lawsuit filed by a former colleague.

jami cantor worked as a wardrobe stylist for nfl network. cantor filed a wrongful termination suit in october against nfl enterprises in los angeles superior court. she described incidents of harassment by evans, faulk and taylor, as well as weinberger, a former network executive producer and current president of the bill simmons media group.

in the suit, cantor alleges faulk groped her breasts and ass, and asked "deeply personal and invasive questions" about her sex life. cantor said taylor and weinberger sent inappropriate pictures - taylor sent her a video of him masturbating in the shower.

cantor alleges weinberger said she was "put on earth to pleasure me," and pressed his crotch against her, asking her to touch it. she alleges mcnabb sent explicit text messages to her. mcnabb is a former nfl network analyst who currently appears on espn.     

Diamond Reynolds, girlfriend of slain Philandro Castile, reaches $800K settlement with St. Anthony, Minnesota

diamond reynolds live-streamed the police shooting of her boyfriend, philandro castile, july 6, 2016. their four year-old daughter was in the car when her father was killed. tuesday night, officials in st. anthony, minnesota announced she would receive an $800,000 settlement.

the settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, is a likely final legal development in a polarizing case for black and brown community members, law enforcement, political representatives and state officials. jerry faust, st, anthony mayor, said the agreement "opens the door to continued healing within our community."

the $800,000 settlement includes $675,000 from st. anthony as well as $125,000 from the nearby city of roseville, and an insurance fund. reynolds, who claimed emotional distress and false arrest, said the settlement confirmed what she experienced that night as "wrong." 

reynolds said, "while no amount of money can change what happened, bring philandro back, or erase the pain that me and my daughter continue to suffer, i do hope that closing this chapter will allow us to get our lives back and move forward."

castile, a young black male, was pulled over near the state fairgrounds by officer jeronimo yanez of the st. anthony police. yanez said his car had a broken brake light - and he matched the description of a robbery suspect. reynolds was in the passenger seat.

the routine exchange led to yanez shouting at castile not to reach for his gun. reynolds said her boyfriend meant no harm and complied with yanez, who fired several shots into the car, fatally striking castile. reynolds' video showed yanez cursing and pointing his gun through the window.

officer yanez was later charged with second-degree manslaughter, but was acquitted at a trial in june. he told jurors he feared for his life when castile reached for his gun. "i was scared to death. i thought i was going to die," said yanez. reynolds testified for the prosecution, saying, "i felt broken, hurt, confused, lost." 

this summer, st. anthony agreed to pay a separate, nearly $3 million settlement to castile's estate. the city also reached a separation agreement with officer yanez and said he would not return to work there. st. anthony officials said some of the money paid to reynolds would be placed in a trust fund for her daughter's education.  



    
  

Demographic Differences in Sentencing: An Update to the 2012 Booker Report

in 2010, the united states sentencing commission published an analysis of federal sentencing data which examined whether the length of sentences imposed on federal offenders was correlated with demographic characteristics of those offenders.

in 2012, the commission updated this analysis by examining cases in which the offender was sentenced after the release of the 2010 report. the commission examined factors which include changes in sentence length for offenders of particular race, drug trafficking, firearms, fraud, gender pairings and the type of offense committed.

recently, the commission examined cases from october 1, 2011 to september 30, 2016. this new time period is referred to as the "post-report period." the commission also included data regarding violence in an offender's criminal history - which might help explain some of the differences in sentencing noted in their work. 

some of the key findings are listed below:

black male offenders received sentences 19.1% longer than white male offenders in similar situations. 

black male offenders were 21.2% less likely than white male offenders to receive a non-government sponsored downward departure or variance during the post-report period. when black male offenders received a non-government sponsored departure or variance, their sentences were 16.8% longer than white male offenders in similar situations. 

black male offenders received sentences on average 20.4% higher than white male offenders in similar situations, accounting for violence in an offender's past in fiscal year 2016, the only year such data is available. this figure is almost the same as the 20.7% difference without accounting for past violence, which doesn't appear to account for demographic sentencing differences.

female offenders of all races received shorter sentences than white male offenders during the post-report period, as they had for the previous four years. the differences in sentence length decreased slightly during the five-year period after the 2012 booker report for most offenders.