Racist remarks cited before cannabis regulator's suspension, court documents say

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' top cannabis regulator made race-based and “culturally insensitive” remarks, including referring to Asian people as “yellow," before she was suspended, according to court documents. The allegations against Shannon O'Brien were included in a court...

Send-offs show Carlton Pearson's split legacy spurred by his inclusive beliefs, rejection of hell

Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the nation. His skilled biblical oration, steeped in the Black Pentecostal tradition and melded with white evangelicalism, helped swell the membership of the...

Inmate who stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times is charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say

Derek Chauvin was stabbed in prison 22 times by a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant who told investigators he targeted the ex-Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety for killing George Floyd, federal prosecutors said Friday. John Turscak was charged with...

Former Memphis officer charged in Tyre Nichols' death had some violations in prior prison guard job

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Before a former Memphis Police officer joined in a deadly beating on Tyre Nichols, prompting murder charges against him and four colleagues, Demetrius Haley incurred some policy violations in a prior prison guard job and faced accusations of excessive force that his...

Appeals court takes DeSantis' side in challenge to a map that helped unseat a Black congressman

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature didn't violate the state constitution when it approved congressional maps pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that helped the GOP replace a Black Democratic representative with a white conservative, an appeals court ruled Friday. ...

Mississippi sheriff changes policies after violent abuse. Victims say it's to escape accountability

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for the victims of a racist episode of police torture say new policies unveiled by a Mississippi sheriff's department this week were introduced so the sheriff can escape liability in a civil lawsuit and forestall a new federal probe. With criminal...

Court documents: Inmate who stabbed ex-officer Derek Chauvin 22 times charged with attempted murder

5 takeaways from AP's Black attorneys general interviews about race, justice and politics

BOSTON (AP) — At a moment of record visibility and influence for Black attorneys in the United States, debates over race, criminal justice and democracy are increasingly at the center of the public conversation. Many of these Black litigators and law enforcement officials have made history, from...

Illinois appeals court affirms actor Jussie Smollett's convictions and jail sentence

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police. Smollett, who appeared in the TV show “Empire,” challenged the role of...

Tougher penalties for rioting, power station attacks among new North Carolina laws starting Friday

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New or tougher criminal penalties against rioting, vandalizing power stations and harassing law enforcement officers and emergency workers are among North Carolina laws approved this year that took effect Friday. Expanded gun rights at some places of worship...