Celebrity privilege is a type of "Special treatment!" We know the latter phrase if we grew up with a sib or if nursery school or kindergarten teachers used it. Parents in the U.S. and early teachers drilled it into our heads—no special treatment, wait your turn, share toys with others. So, it's not surprising that Americans talk about privilege, discrimination, preferential treatment a lot. Preferential crim justice treatment for celebrity privilege? Celebs have long been ordered to … [Read more...]
True Crime — do these reasons explain why you love it?
August 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Some have called my book-in-progress a true crime memoir. Its working title is Privileged Killers...and a criminologist mugged by reality. It's tagline — When friends kill and loved ones betray him, a progressive criminologist must ditch his idealism or lose his wife and even his life. True Crime rules...these days. Whether seen as a pure true crime story, or a hybrid true crime memoir, my book's alerted me to the huge appetite we have these days for true … [Read more...]
Rape, Coverups, Bullying—Araoz, Acosta, Epstein
July 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Another amazing week. US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned amid the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal. Pressure mounted against Acosta as news trickled out that he'd allowed an incredibly lenient plea deal to go forward under his watch in Epstein's Florida trial years ago. And then an accusation of rape! Rape. The allegation of rape by a then, 14-15 year old girl, trumped Acosta's fall from grace. In a TODAY interview with Savannah Guthrie, included here, Jennifer Araoz shared … [Read more...]
“Injustice with Nancy Grace.” “Inside Evil” with Cuomo.
July 6, 2019 By Leave a Comment
I don't usually promote new TV shows, esp the many forensic-related ones. However, Injustice with Nancy Grace premieres with a case I lived through in a neighboring town. She covers the initial injustice in a "murder during a murder trial" in Lafayette, Ca. Each episode of “Injustice with Nancy Grace” exposes a riveting case involving wrongful accusations, botched investigations, suppressed evidence, unclear motives, unjust sentences, and a path forward in seeking justice. At … [Read more...]
CRIME FRAUD Tutorial—Imposters Anna & Maddie —“Skilled” Criminals
June 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Today's blog is one among my series on "skilled" criminals —fences, imposters, forgers, and art thieves. There's also a related series on "unskilled"criminals. The hope in this blog is to fire up writers, provide info to criminology students and true-crime fans, and to, well, have some fun. Recent Russian immigrant to the U.S. Anna Sorokin created the fictitious identity of Anna Delvey, pretending to be a wealthy German heiress. On May 10, 2019, a court sentenced her to 4 to 12 years in … [Read more...]
Do you know 10 key things about whiteness?
May 14, 2019 By 2 Comments
This quiz testing your knowledge of key things about whiteness gives you the answers. So, don't cheat. I'm posting this because my recent blog about privilege and whiteness showed there's a lot of interest in the topic. Since Aussie Luke Pearson and Sophie Verass put the following post together, you'll encounter some Down-Under spelling and examples. What's interesting is that Australia, as well as many other countries, wrestles with the same issues and problems as the US … [Read more...]
Physical child abuse and bullying.
May 7, 2019 By 1 Comment
Physical child abuse moves victims a step closer to being bullies and even perpetrators of violence, like child abuse, themselves. This website focuses on all aspects of this stark statement which links physical child abuse, bullying, and violent crime. Physical child abuse.* The following short post is adapted from Chapter One of The Bullying Antidote, a positive parenting guide by Louise Hart and Kristen Caven. That … [Read more...]
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