Politics and Current
Former judge makes shocking confession after helping send black man to death row based on state-paid witness testimony

A girl who served on the jury that sentenced an Alabama man to death 25 years ago is now calling for a brand new trial due to evidence of potential wrongdoing, saying her role within the 1998 murder conviction “doesn’t allow me to sleep at night.”
Monique Hicks of Prattsville, Alabama, served on the jury that found Toforest Johnson guilty of the murder of Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy William G. “Bill” Hardy, who was shot to death in a Birmingham hotel parking zone in the summertime of 1995 while working off-duty as a security guard. .
Johnson, who’s black, was put on trial three years later, found guilty and sentenced to death based on the questionable testimony of a witness who was paid hundreds of dollars to testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Due to the newly discovered evidence, Hicks claims to regret his role in convicting Johnson, proclaiming his innocence and even asking for forgiveness from his family.
“I asked the Lord to forgive me for causing so much suffering.” She wrote in a guest opinion column published on April 22 on AI.com. “I pray that Mr. Johnson and his family will forgive me as well. In the meantime, I will continue to use my voice to ask for justice.”
In the column, Hicks expresses deep regret, asking: “What responsibility do I even have? “My role in wrongfully convicting an innocent man keeps me up at night.”
The effort to free Johnson has received significant support from celebrity activist Kim Kardashian, in addition to several distinguished legal figures, including the National Innocence Project, which recently filed two amicus briefs in support of a brand new trial for Johnson – one before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the opposite within the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Alabama.
As of May 2024, no execution date has been set for Johnson, who has maintained his innocence since becoming a suspect within the officer’s murder nearly three many years ago when he was 25 and in his prime.
At the time of the murder on July 19, 1995, five suspects as well as to Johnson were ultimately arrested in reference to the fatal shooting, but only Johnson was convicted despite an absence of physical evidence or eyewitnesses to place him on the scene of the crime.
Last yr, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr conducted a nine-month review of the evidence and concluded that the “interests of justice” required a brand new trial for Johnson, now 50.
“Leadership is not about being right, it is about making things right,” he said at a faith rally in support of Johnson in December 2023.
But state Attorney General Steve Marshall dismissed that investigation, calling it Carr’s “subjective opinion.”
But an appeal filed by Johnson’s lawyers in Jefferson County Circuit Court proves the investigation cannot simply be ignored.
Despite the brand new evidence, Marshall continues to ask the court to prevent the convict from getting a brand new trial and insists that Johnson be sentenced to death sooner moderately than later.
The fundamental obstacle within the state’s case is witness Violet Ellison, who testified within the 1998 trial that she overheard Johnson confess to the officer’s murder during a telephone conversation she overheard as Johnson spoke from prison.
Ellison’s testimony was a key a part of the case that ultimately resulted in Johnson’s conviction, but in 2015 – 17 years after the trial – the state revealed that it had secretly paid Ellison $5,000 for her testimony.
Additionally, Ellison has a questionable record as a witness, as her testimony as a state witness in five other criminal cases resulted in acquittals and dismissals.
Her involvement within the Johnson case led three jurors – including Hicks – to request a brand new trial, stating that they might not have convicted him in the event that they had known concerning the payment to Ellison and her credibility issues.
Other recent evidence also emerged pointing to Johnson’s innocence.
A brand new podcast, “Earwitness,” has brought renewed attention to the case and revealed recent information that would potentially free Johnson after many years behind bars.
In 2023, the podcast found Ellison’s grandchildren, who revealed they didn’t trust her, describing her as willing to do “anything for a dollar.”
According to nearly a dozen witnesses, Johnson and his disabled friend Ardragus Ford were hanging out together at Tee’s Place, a nightclub in downtown Birmingham, on the time Deputy Hardy was killed 4 miles away.
However, a couple of days after the murder, a troubled 15-year-old girl named Yolanda Chambers, who was later joined by the girl who was picked up by Johnson and Ford after the boys left the nightclub, turned each men over to authorities after the sheriff’s decision. the department offers an award.
Although Chambers modified her story multiple times, she initially told investigators that the boys admitted to the ladies that Johnson had “coped out” earlier that evening. Johnson and Ford became everlasting suspects after the primary of Chambers’ many interviews with investigators.
During the trial, through which Chambers emerged as an inconsistent witness, police all but admitted that they were unsure who actually killed Deputy Hardy because they lacked any physical evidence or eyewitness testimony that directly implicated Johnson.
During the trial, prosecutors also presented five conflicting theories concerning the fatal shooting in an attempt to explain the circumstances of Hardy’s death, but stopped in need of drawing any conclusions, suggesting there was no smoking gun.
The lead detective on the case initially testified that Ardragus Ford and one other man, Omar Berry, were chargeable for Hardy’s killing. However, prosecutors modified their theory multiple times over a three-year period, leading to Johnson being the just one found guilty and sentenced to death.

Hicks said she modified her mind about Johnson’s guilt greater than 20 years after she helped send him to death row for the crime.
“After the trial, I returned home and returned to everyday life,” she explained. “I haven’t heard anything else from Toforest Johnson for over two decades. But then I started seeing his case on the news.”
Around this time, in 2023, public officials in Alabama began calling for a retrial of Johnson, which was met with broad support from the likes of Kardashian, who in January shared several infographics about Johnson’s criminal case on Instagram along with her 364 million followers . .
In one post, Kardashian wrote that Johnson was “26. He spent Christmas in prison for against the law he didn’t commit” and posted a link to a petition for help for the man.
Support for Johnson also got here from numerous unlikely places, namely from former state Attorney General Bill Baxley and Birmingham District Attorney Jeff Wallace, who in 1998 prosecuted Johnson for Hardy’s murder.
Earlier in 2014, Wallace testified under oath that he “does not believe the state’s case is very strong because it depends on the testimony of Violet Ellison.”
Baxley, who fought to restore the death penalty as Alabama’s attorney general within the Nineteen Seventies, also said he firmly believed Johnson was innocent, describing him as “trapped” within the legal system.
“Johnson’s murder trial was so riddled with errors and the evidence presented against him so scant that no Alabamian should tolerate his imprisonment, let alone his execution,” he added. Baxley wrote for the Washington Post.
The call to throw out the ruling also drew support from two former Alabama governors and a former Republican state judge.
AND website named in Johnson’s honor also found, which highlighted the variety of advocates and lawmakers who were behind the hassle to free him.
As the momentum built for Johnson, Hicks said she began to grapple with the impact of the jury’s decision on his fate, which led to deep personal reflection and she or he found she could now not ignore what many others were now claiming about Johnson’s innocence. .
Based on her Christian faith, Hicks said she felt moved to express her recent perspective on the case in a column she wrote, calling for a brand new trial for Johnson while emphasizing the necessity for a good and thorough examination of all of the evidence.
“Twenty-five years ago I sat on the jury in a Birmingham courtroom and voted for a man’s death. Prosecutor Jeff Wallace asked me and the opposite jurors to convict defendant Toforest Johnson of murder. He then asked us to sentence Mr. Johnson to death. We did each.
After Wallace, of all people, called for a brand new trial, Hicks said she struggled to come to terms along with her own decision to convict Johnson, which forced her to speak out.
“I remember how young Mr. Johnson looked. And I remember perfectly well that when the verdict was read, I heard loud lamentations in the audience. Now that I am a mother myself, I can only imagine the immense sadness that Mr. Johnson’s mother must have felt. At the time, I took comfort in the belief that my vote to convict Mr. Johnson and sentence him to death was the right one. Now my tears are flowing too.”
Politics and Current
Rep. Lamonica McIVE accused of assaulting after a skirmish in ICE Center, says the prosecutor

The democratic representative of Lamonica Mciver is accused of assaulting a skirmish with federal officers who arrested the mayor of Newark before immigration arrest, was announced on Monday by the Federal Prosecutor in New Jersey.
The temporary US prosecutor Alina Habba in social media announced an allegation of assault, difficulty or disturbing law enforcement agencies, but court documents providing detailed information haven’t been immediately released or publicly available online.
At the same time, Habba announced that her office was rejecting the offense against the mayor of Newark Ras Barakie, who was arrested after he tried to affix MciBER and two other members of the Congress delegation in New Jersey, checking the facility as part of their supervision. Habba said that the decision was made “because of progress” and said that she invited the mayor to explore the prison in Delaney Hall and would join him.
“New Jersey citizens deserve united leadership so that we can work to ensure the safety of our state,” said Habba in a statement.
MciTER’s lawyer, Paul Fishman, a former US prosecutor for New Jersey, issued a statement entitled to charging Mciper “spectacularly inappropriate”, saying that she went to Delaney Hall “to perform her work” and bears responsibility as a member of the congress for supervising American immigration and customs.
“Instead of facilitating this control, ICE agents decided to escalate something that should be a calm situation of chaos,” said Fishman. “This accusation is an try and transfer guilt for preserving ice to the MciRER Congress.
The almost two -story clip issued by the Internal Safety Department shows MciBER on the side of the chain fence object just before the mayor’s arrest on the fence side. She and uniformed officials undergo the gate and join others, shouting “surround the mayor”. The film shows Mcivera in a strictly packaged group of people and officers. At one point, her left elbow, after which the right elbow presses into the officer in covering the dark face and the olive green uniform decorated with the word “police”.

McIVER and the other two Democrats – Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr. – They denied all offenses and accused federal agents of escalating the situation by arresting the mayor.
“There is no video that supports me with the body that strikes anyone,” said McIVER in the last interview with CNN. “We were just to do our work. … It was a very tense situation. Unfortunately, it did not have to be like that. They created this confrontation. They created this chaos, and then finally went to arrest the mayor.”
In a post on the subject of X Internal Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that McIVE was accused after a “thorough review of video material” and an investigation conducted by the investigation into internal security.
“Federal law enforcement agencies will not be tolerated,” said Deputy Prosecutor General Todd Blanche in a post about X. “This administration will always protect those who work tirelessly to ensure the security of America.”
38 -year -old Mciver got here to Congress for the first time in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. He left a free place in the tenth district. Then she was elected for full term in November. Departing from Newark, she was the president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and previously worked in public schools in the city.

(Tagstransate) @AP
Politics and Current
Kamala Harris, to provide Trump’s “curled criticism” in the first serious speech since leaving the office – the essence

Nowy Orlean, La – July 6: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Essence Festival in Essence in Ernesus N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 6, 2024 (photo of Christian Botic for Washington Post through Getty Images)
The former vp of Kamala Harris returns to the National Center for attention – and comes with a message of courage and collective actions.
In his first serious speech from leaving the office after the election in 2024, Harris will give a speech in Gala on the twentieth anniversary In San Francisco on Wednesday, April 30, Essence discovered.
Emerge, founded in 2002 in California, I’m training candidates for democratic women to apply for a public office, specializing in historically marginalized – including black, brown, indigenous and lgbtq+women.
During the Harris gala, he honors Emerge’s heritage, helping to select more democratic women, while providing something that was described as “pointed criticism” of the administration of President Donald Trump. He is anticipated to call what he considers “a reckless Trump’s economic policy” and “escalating crisis in the face of American institutions and global leadership.”
The former vp may even emphasize America’s everlasting promise, develop his message that “courage is contagious” and calls Americans to find strength in collective activities. This is the Harris motif in recent months – in particular on leading women defined at the top of this month, where she provided short but powerful comments.
“There were many things we knew,” said Harris at the top, referring to the second presidency of Trump. “I’m not here to tell you,” she added, difficult the room filled with black women’s leaders to meet courage.
Wednesday’s speech appears when Trump approaches its hundredth day in the office – a milestone marked by the breakdown of world stock markets, massive protests throughout the country, wide cuts of federal expenses and mass layoffs of federal employees.
The recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey shows Trump from The lowest 100-day assessment of labor approval Any president over the past 80 years, of 55% of Americans didn’t approve of his previous results.
It is anticipated that Harris will provide a call to act, emphasizing what she often described throughout the entire political profession as the final power “we, people”.
Her appearance at the Emerge gala also brings her a full circle. In 2003, Harris began her first campaign for the District Prosecutor in San Francisco with the help of Andrea Dew Steele, who will later be a co -founder of Emerge California. This bottom -up campaign helped Harris, who began this campaign with just 6 % recognition of the name, defeated his inclined boss with 56 percent of the votes, establishing it on the road to becoming the prosecutor general of California, US senator and ultimately the vp.
Politics and Current
Default student loans Spike – Black borrowers hit the most difficult

Student loans increased, in accordance with the latest household debt report in New York, published on May 13, after the Trump administration decision to finish the break from the Biden era regarding the notification of failed payments.
According to the Fed, a serious federal crime of a student loan occurs when the borrower skips payments for 90 days or longer. This rate increased from 1% in the first quarter of 2024 to almost 8% in the same period 2025, which coincides with the resumption of crime reporting.
Daniel Mangrum, research economist at New York FedHe noticed the growth In their comments to the report in a press release.
“The transition rates to serious crime have equalized in the case of credit loans and car loans over the past year,” said Mangrum. “However, the first party from previous student loans was reported in the first quarter of 2025, which caused a large jump in serious borrowers.”
During the growth of the pandemic in 2020, student loans and crime tracking were detained, and the borrowers received the annual transition period after resuming the payment at the end of 2023, which offered them some protection, but the renewal of reporting from student loans helped to acquire a consumer debt to the highest level in five years.
Black who’re guilty of the debt of the student loan are superpressed in relation to their participation in the population.
According to the education initiative, Black College graduates are on average USD 25,000 greater than white university graduates; Four years after graduation, black students are guilty of a mean of 188% more in the debts of a student loan than white graduates; Black borrowers of black student loans are most likely financially fighting due to the debt of the student loan, because their average payments are USD 258 monthly.
In addition, half of all borrowers of black student loans indicated that their debt loan’s debt exceeds their net value, while 52% of Asian and white borrowers reported the reverse of this relationship, one other number that indicates socio -economic conditions that color every discussion on funds and wealth in the United States of America.
According to Donna Rasmussen, executive director of the Consumer Credit Advisory Service in northern Illinois, the average amount of the federal debt of a student loan, including each private and federal student loans, is around USD 38,500.
Rasmussen also pointed to competitive increases in the cost of living For many explanation why they decided to stop repayment of student loans.
“I think that at that time they prioritized various important elements. Renches increased to a crazy amount. Car insurance, all things increased,” said Rasmussen. “We hear a lot from people who say:” We would like to be indebted than homeless. ” So they prioritize their food, they will not lose their home.
Rasmussen continued, describing intimately what is generally happening when the borrower is officially considered in the non -fulfillment of the student loan: “Well, if you may have not made a payment inside 90 days, it is best to probably know that you simply are in the default. You get a notification that you may have a mail or we -we -in, supplying you with options about what to do. Required to go to court that you may have a notification that your wages.
According to this result, the borrowers are encouraged to contact the Undersetetable Department of Education Solving a monthly payment to make a monthly payment, to enroll in a repayment plan based on income or join for the rehabilitation of the loan. However, on account of accidental budget cuts of the Trump administration, Some have difficulties with access to the education department to assist.
Despite the reduction of employment in the education department, which currently affect the borrowers of student loans, the education department still warns society to contemplate fraudsters who will attempt to feed on desperation and get in touch with loan entities for help.
“If the company contacts you, asking you to pay” registration “,” subscription “or” maintenance “that will help you get out of non -performance of the commitment,” says the Education Department in your website, “you should leave. Your loan holder will help you with a default loan for free.”
(Tagstotransate) New York Fed (T) Education Data Initiative (T) Consumer debt
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