Baltimore Media ‘Create a False Impression That Youth Are Responsible for a Lot of Very Dangerous Crime’: .

By Janine Jackson 

Janine Jackson interviewed the Sentencing Project’s Richard Mendel about coverage of youth crime for the December 20, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

Janine Jackson: Some listeners may know the Sentencing Project for their work calling out racial disparities in sentencing associated with crack versus powder cocaine, and mandatory minimums. A recent project involves looking into another factor shaping public understanding and public policy around criminal justice—the news media. In this case, the focus is young people.

No jail time or fines for Trump in sentencing for NY hush money case

By Ashley Murray

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his New York hush money case just days before his inauguration, making him the only past and future U.S. president with a criminal record.

Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions but the New York state case was the sole one that went to trial. A jury convicted him in May on 34 felonies for falsifying invoices, checks and ledger entries that amounted to a $130,000 reimbursement to his lawyer for paying off a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Minimum wages are increasing in nearly half the states this year

By Kevin Hardy 

The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour.

In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.

Trump calls for avoiding default, possibly using military force for expansion

 By Shauneen Miranda

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said during a wide-ranging press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday he wanted to see the country’s debt limit addressed while cutting spending and would not rule out military force to expand U.S. territory. 

Trump, who will take office Jan. 20 after lawmakers breezily certified the election results Monday, continued to place blame on outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden for what he will be left with in his second term as he dives into an ambitious GOP agenda.

Hundreds of California prison firefighters join battle against Los Angeles wildfires

 By Cayla Mihalovich

About 800 incarcerated firefighters are battling the unprecedented fires raging across Southern California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They join thousands of firefighting and emergency personnel who have been dispatched to respond to multiple fires throughout the Los Angeles area.