Leid Stories

What A Week! Share Your Thoughts About It on ‘Free Your Mind Friday!’It’s the best open forum on the planet—a gathering place for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas. Share your thoughts about this week’s programs, major news issues and events, or any subject you consider worthy of further consideration and debate.Call in (888-874-4888) and add your voice to the mix.

Prosecuting Egregious Police Crimes: When the Law Is Out of Order(Part 4: The Jamar Clark (Minneapolis) CaseLeid Stories concludes a series on legal issues and challenges involved in prosecuting police officers charged with killing civilians. Today’s installment focuses on a police killing that has sparked community outrage and protest since Nov. 15—the day Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head by a Minneapolis police officer during a highly contentious arrest. Eyewitnesses claim Clark was restrained and handcuffed when he was killed, but police say he tried to take an officer’s gun away from him.“The People’s Attorney General” Alton H. Maddox Jr., who set many legal precedents litigating police-brutality and hate-crime cases in New York, discusses key legal issues in the case that are at the root of ongoing protests demanding a federal investigation.

Prosecuting Egregious Police Crimes: When the Law Is Out of Order(Part 3: The Tamir Rice (Cleveland) and Jamar Clark (Minneapolis) CasesContinuing this series on the legal issues and challenges involved in prosecuting police officers charged with killing civilians, Leid Stories discusses developments in the efforts to bring to trial cops implicated in the shooting deaths of Tamir Rice, 12, and Jamar Clark, 24.“The People’s Attorney General” Alton H. Maddox Jr., who set many legal precedents litigating police-brutality and hate-crime cases in New York, continues as our legal expert, providing penetrating analyses of how these cases are proceeding.

Prosecuting Egregious Police Crimes: When the Law Is Out of Order(Part 2: The Laquan McDonald Case)Indicted last week on first-degree murder charges more than a year after he fired 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald, 17, Chicago Policer Jason Van Dyke sprang himself from a Cook County jail yesterday after posting bail.Following yesterday’s discussion of the legal complexities of the Freddie Gray case currently being litigated in Baltimore, “Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr. looks at major legal challenges in prosecuting the police killing of McDonald.

Laquan McDonald Killing: Protest, Yes, But Political Punishment Is NeededProsecuting Egregious Police Crimes: When the Law Is Out of OrderThe indictment last week of Chicago Policer Jason Van Dyke on first-degree-murder charges for shooting to death 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on Oct. 20 last year has ignited a renewed groundswell of grassroots protest against police brutality and the double standard of justice that favors rogue cops when prosecuting such cases. Leid Stories in a commentary explains why vigorous protest not only is appropriate, it should include organized political punishment—of the Democratic Party in particular.Jury selection begins today in Baltimore City Circuit Court in the trial of Officer William Porter, the first of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, 26, who died on April 19, a week after suffering traumatic injuries while being transported to a stationhouse in a police van. “Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr., who has litigated several precedent-setting police-brutality cases in New York, discusses key issues with the prosecution of Porter and Gray’s other alleged killers.

It’s Time. Free Your Mind.It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories, an open forum for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas. Listeners share their thoughts about the issues of the day—or any subject worthy of further discussion or debate.

Protests Over Police Killing in Chicago Met with PlatitudesWant Justice? Hold On to Your Cash This Holiday Season!A police cruiser’s dashcam videotape that showed the brutal killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by former Chicago Police Department cop Jason Van Dyke on Oct. 20 last year touched off a new round of protest yesterday after its court-ordered release. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy were quick to call for calm and order, but local activists are demanding accountability and long-overdue justice in the case.Leid Stories proposes a way that everyone can contribute to the cause of justice in our society: Hold on to your cash this holiday season.

In Chicago, A Year to File Charges Against Killer CopFeeling the Bern? Sanders’ ‘Political Revolution’ (Part 2)A year to the day that St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCullough announced that a grand jury found no reason to charge then-Officer Darren Wilson with any crimes related to his killing of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Missouri, Officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to be formally charged with the first-degree murder of Laquan McDonald, 17, in a similar case in Chicago.Picking up from where we left off yesterday, listeners continue to dissect “democratic socialism,” the political philosophy extolled by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Auto Workers Approve New Four-Year Contract with the Big ThreeFeeling the Bern? Rating Bernie Sanders’ ‘Political Revolution’Late Friday, workers at Ford Motor Company voted to approve a new four-year contract, bringing to a close a tense round of negotiations between the Big Three (including General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) and the United Auto Workers union, which represents more than 141,000 workers in the industry. Alex Wassel, a member of UAW’s Local 869, discusses key aspects of the new contract.What’s this “democratic socialism” that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders keeps talking about? Leid Stories takes on Sanders’ own definition of the term.

Talk It Up, Talk It Out, Talk It Through! It’s ‘Free Your Mind’ Friday!It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories. Listeners take charge of the net waves, voicing their views on issues and events of the day or about matters warranting further discussion and debate.Add your own unique flavor to this full-bodied intellectual soup. Call 888-874-4888 to free your mind!