Articles

The Complicated Politics of Self-Exploitation

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 17:14:30 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

As the wealth gap grows, so have the number of ways a woman can sell her body. What is the cost?

The Race-Baiting of America

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 16:49:42 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The tragic murder of Australian student Christopher Lane is being exploited by the right to stoke fears of a race war.

The Roberts Court's Civil Rights Denialism

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 00:35:13 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Despite its DOMA decision, the recent rulings by the Supreme Court reflect a conservative majority bent on ignoring enduring inequality.

Kimani Gray: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:49:03 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

News stories that followed the NYPD’s killing of a 16-year-old Brooklyn boy show how we criminalize people based on race and geography.

The War on Drugs Is a War on Kids

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:55:39 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The school-to-prison pipeline has emerged quickly, but the corrosive effect of criminalizing children will be felt for generations to come.

Guns, Democracy and the Supreme Court

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:52:24 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The Roberts Court has shifted away from the very collective values and ideas that will be necessary to enact—and uphold—crucial policies on guns and mental health.

If We Ignore Climate Change, We're All on a Sinking Ship

Patricia J. Williams — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:25:31 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

If there was ever a response to Mitt Romney’s smug RNC laugh line about climate change—or to Obama’s failure to address it—Hurricane Sandy delivered.

Our Lizard-Brain Politics

Patricia J. Williams — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:19:19 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

We dismiss the anti-intellectualism of the right at our own peril.

The Real Risks of Fake Outrage

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 21:23:41 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

A manufactured controversy aimed at Elizabeth Warren shows the damaging ways we exploit trivial kerfuffles and pass them off as political stories.

Guns and Mental Illness: Tragedies in Waiting

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:50:13 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

There is a certain kind of madness in peddling guns to Americans while dismantling our mental health system.

How Our Genetic Maps Are Being Sold to the Highest Bidder

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 18:29:47 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

People who give DNA samples—and big bucks—to companies in exchange for information on their potential medical risks are handing over more than saliva.

Anti-Intellectualism From Arizona to Michigan

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:11:14 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

From the ethnic studies ban to firings over Travyon Martin, a strange hostility toward progressive education is emerging.

The Real Injustice at the Heart of the Trayvon Martin Case

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:08:44 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

What makes this case exceptional is neither race nor the politics of self-defense alone but the total failure to investigate it for so long.

Eggs Are People Too!

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:43:16 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Today's “right to life” rhetoric is a bizarre cross between the theological imperative to be fruitful and multiply and the fetishism of microbiological cellular promise.

The Ugly Truth Behind Michigan's Budget Surplus

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:55:52 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Gov. Rick Snyder’s ruthless austerity measures have made the state a bleak place to live, work and go to school.

Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:58:25 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

From Sacco and Vanzetti to Troy Davis, witnesses to crime scenes get it wrong too often. So why did the Supreme Court just make it harder to challenge such evidence in court?

The Dangerous Defense Bill Heading Toward Obama's Desk

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:50:35 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The National Defense Authorization Act would authorize indefinite military detention for US citizens, stripping Americans of their constitutional rights.

Do We Have Any Right to Privacy Outside Our Homes?

Patricia J. Williams — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:59:32 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The Department of Justice has told the Supreme Court that police should be allowed to secretly put GPS devices on our cars. But we have already surrendered more privacy than we realize.

Sex, Lies and the DSK Case

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:12:57 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Yes, rape cases are notoriously difficult to prove. But in the DSK case, the criminal justice system worked.

Slouching Towards Faux

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:42:16 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

From Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Casey Anthony to Rupert Murdoch, the media are debasing the public conversation—and therefore our democratic process.

Are We Worried About Storm's Identity—or Our Own?

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:27:31 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Americans love to say “We're all just people.” So why are we so bent out of shape by not knowing a child’s gender?

Gender Trouble

Patricia J. Williams — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:36:22 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

Transgender people face assaults that run the gamut from physical to emotional. It's past time to resolve our society's discomfort with those outside the gender binary.

Axis of Fundamentalism: Gainesville to Mazar-i-Sharif

Patricia J. Williams — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:48:59 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

With all due respect to the First Amendment, we need to be careful about incendiary public speech.

License and Liberty

Patricia J. Williams — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:50:02 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church can't be punished for picketing at funerals. Is this really a win for free speech?

The Tiger Mama Syndrome

Patricia J. Williams — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:00:02 +0000

Patricia J. Williams

The real dilemma in Amy Chua's book is how to survive in a world in which the slightest nonconformity risks landing you out of a job, a home, a life.