• Criminal Justice

NYPD Officer Fired for Murdering Eric Garner

Five years after the tragic and unnecessary death of Eric Garner, NYC mayor and police commissioner fired Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put Garner in a chokehold and refused to let him go. COC members were part of a powerful coalition with dozens of groups around New York demanding justice. Though Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, until now the officers who restrained him had walked away with no consequences and their jobs intact.

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  • Criminal Justice

Holding Central Park 5 Prosecutor Accountable

Far too often, prosecutors prioritize conviction rates over the truth, ruining the lives of innocent Black and Brown people. Linda Fairstein prosecuted the Central Park Five, coercing confessions and wrongfully convicting five boys from Harlem for a brutal rape they knew nothing about. They spent years in prison before being exonerated. We went after Fairstein and persuaded Simon & Schuster to stop publishing her popular crime novels, telling the company it can’t profit off someone who reinforces racist ideas of crime and justice.

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  • Criminal Justice

Google Bans Bail Ads

Color Of Change has been working to end money bail, which is one of the largest drivers of incarceration of Brown and Black people. People should never be locked up simply because they can’t afford to pay bail. We’ve gone after the predatory bail bonds industry, partnering with Jay-Z on a video, publishing an op-ed in the New York Times, and successfully pressing Google to pull its ads for bail. This makes it harder for bail agencies to exploit people and sets a new norm that major companies should steer clear of those profiteering from mass incarceration.

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