Amaia Cook

May 27, 2023 | truthout.org | Megan O’Matz |Sharon Zhang |Amaia Cook |Chris Walker

When the clerk at VJ’s Food Mart confronted Corey Stingley, the 16-year-old handed over his backpack. Inside were six hidden bottles of Smirnoff Ice, worth $12, and the clerk began pulling them out one by one. Stingley watched, then pivoted and quickly moved toward the door, empty-handed. But there would be no escape for the unarmed teen in the light blue hoodie. Three customers, together weighing 550 pounds, wrestled the 135-pound teen to the floor of the West Allis, Wisconsin, store.

May 17, 2023 | truthout.org | Fania Davis |Floyd Collins |Amaia Cook |Erica R. Meiners

What do successful alternatives to policing, prosecution and prison actually look like? And how would they work? A group of Chicago’s leading community safety, health and justice innovators gathered at the DePaul Art Museum last summer to provide much-needed clarity on these crucial questions.