"That wasn't a piece of meat with eyes, that was a human being." It was 24-year-old Dennis Munson Jr.'s first kickboxing fight. The first round went OK. The third round didn't. Within five hours, he was dead. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that kickboxing – unlike mixed martial arts – isn't regulated by the state. This leaves promoters to oversee their own matches. A "cascade of errors" identified by the Sentinel and fight experts during the course of Munson's fight, as well as dangerous weight cutting in lead up – all areas that are regulated in some other states – may have cost him his life. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via @john_diedrich
One day late: how bad lawyering is costing death row inmates habeas corpus. Under federal law, death row inmates have a specific deadline for any last-resort hearings of their case. Missing this deadline usually costs inmates access to habeas corpus. The Marshall Project analyzed 80 capital punishment cases where lawyers missed the deadline, some by days, one by more than 11 years, leaving inmates lives' – guilty or innocent –in the lurch. — The Marshall Project via @adamplayford
"Penn State was no surprise. Abuse like this has been going on forever." Outside magazine examines the legacy of sexual abuse in competitive U.S. swimming. The problem is so pervasive that in 2010, USA Swimming took the unusual step of creating a public list of coaches and officials banned for code of conduct violations, including sexual advances or contact with athletes. The list includes 106 members, 73 of whom were banned for sexual misconduct — punishment experts say is the exception in "the only country without a national government agency for these children." — Outside via @amzam
Easy to measure. Hard to explain. That's what USA Today says about its latest report on the "staggering disparity" in America's arrest rates by race. For example, 70 departments from Connecticut to California arrest African Americans at a rate 10 times higher than other racial groups; only 173 of the 3,538 departments reviewed arrested black people at the same rate or less than other racial groups. The explanation? "Our numbers are what our numbers are," one chief said. "Our officers aren't being told to look for any particular demographic. We come across what we come across." — USA Today via @johnhillkirk
Firestone wanted Liberia for its rubber. Taylor wanted Firestone to help his rise to power.So begins a ProPublica/Frontline investigation into the untold history of an iconic American tire company's dealings with Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. Confronted with Liberia's civil war, Firestone agreed to pay Taylor's rebel government millions. In return, the company secured Taylor's protection of its rubber plantation, the largest in the world. — ProPublica via @txtianmiller
