Eric Garner grand jury records kept secret by appeals court

A mid-level appeals court has upheld a decision to withhold the grand jury minutes in ​the case against a cop initially charged in ​Eric Garner’s chokehold death.

The NAACP, New York Civil Liberties Union, Legal Aid Society and Public Advocate Letitia James — which appealed an earlier Supreme Court decision to keep the records secret — failed to prove there was a “compelling and particularized need for disclosure,” the four Second Department judges wrote in court papers.

“The Supreme Court properly determined that the public interest in disclosure was outweighed by the dangers inherent in violating the secrecy of the grand jury proceeding,” the appellate judges wrote.

Read more: Eric Garner grand jury records kept secret by appeals court

Police Officer Ray Tensing body cam, Samuel DuBose shooting

UC police officer Ray Tensing's body camera video clearly shows that he committed "murder" when he shot and killed an unarmed black motorist at a traffic stop, prosecutor Joe Deters said Wednesday.

The shocking video shows Tensing grab the outside door latch on 43-year-old Sam DuBose's car after DuBose couldn't produce a driver's license.

Study: Prejudice makes us see innocent people as threats

The police killings of unarmed black men like Eric Garner, Michael Brown and, most recently, Sam Dubose at a July 19 traffic stop at the University of Cincinnati, have enraged many and baffled more. Why did Cleveland police shoot and kill 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year? How did self-styled block watch patrolman George Zimmerman decide to shoot and kill teenager Trayvon Martin, who was armed with nothing but a bag of candy on that night in 2012? These outrages have caused demonstrations, urban unrest, more violence and a larger sense that something has gone wrong in the nation’s race relations.

Besides outright racism, what motivates the overreaction of law-enforcement and vigilantes who have left these men dead?

A social psychologist at Wellesley College who studies diversity and friendship, Angela Bahns, has recently completed research that helps to explain part of the puzzle: It shows that people can imagine a sense of threat — a threat serious enough to justify violence — even with no real evidence besides their own stereotypes. And the stereotypes, the research suggests, are the root causes of the violence.

Prejudice makes us see innocent people as threats, study says

Georgia pastor's powerful message to anti gay Christians

Georgia pastor E. Dewey Smith said that religious people who are critical of the LGBT community and the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage are "hypocritical" in a videotaped sermon that was posted Thursday. Watch his statement below.

Watch the Movement For Black Lives Convention Live.

Watch the First national Movement for Black Lives Convention taking place in Cleveland, OH. July 24-26, 2015.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream