broken windows theory is new haven connecticut the city might be known as the home of yale university but it's also ranked as the second most dangerous mid-size city in the country in an effort to combine a growing drug trafficking problem city and state officials created so-called drug free zones which are in geographic sanctuaries around schools the premise behind the law was that selling drugs near schools posed a danger to kids anyone caught with drugs inside one of these drug free school zones would get mandatory additional jail time added to their sentence an additional year for using drug paraphernalia two years for possession and three for drug sales drug free school zones became so popular that their radius increased from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet then daycare centers were added and finally all public housing. because of the geography of new haven it means basically virtually all of new haven with the exception of the golf course at yale university

is a drug free zone and this results in mass incarceration of people because with a mandatory minimum sentence added on to the basic sentence it means that most people even if they feel they're innocent will not risk going to to prison for an extended period of time so they plead out and this disproportionately affects minority populations and impoverished people critics call it the geography of punishment. if you look at this map here this is a simple. and. you can quickly notice that most of the city is covered when you add in projects and daycare centers but you know almost no place. where if you do this you don't get the. state senator gary holder winfield represents the city of new haven louise harvey a former inmate runs the nonprofit better way foundation together there try. to do

something that is counterintuitive to most suburban rural citizens in the state who believe that these laws protect children they actually want to shrink the size of the drug free zones in connecticut from fifteen hundred to two hundred fifty you have a city that's all it has penalty. punishment and so if i'm a. keep me away from dealing drugs to children what incentive do i have to stay away from. a law that was put into place to keep drug dealers away from children effectively and. in other words if ninety five percent of your city is a drug free zone then anyone arrested for a drug violation whether it's for a misdemeanor or a felony is getting extra time added to their sentence but what really upsets those who advocate for the reduction of drug free school zones is the fact that if a person is arrested for drugs in a city like new haven they will get more time in prison than a person busted for the exact same crime in

a suburb where as you can see on the map most of the land is not designated a drug free zone. i just want people to understand as a people out there think that drug free zones are getting reduced why would you want to reduce them to greater area for drug dealing without that penalty there is no deterrent there was a report. and ninety nine percent of those arrested and drug free school zones where not near a school at all or on school property there was one case in the last ten years and it was a woman who dropped her kid off at elementary school and she wanted it kids back from to shoot up that's not a dealer who needs help so they are trying to change the system holder's latest bill has just been introduced to the connecticut legislature and he and harvey need to get a read on who is on board. doing a bill like this you sometimes feel like you're pushing a rock up the hill and just when you. there for whatever reason it comes tumbling

back down if you look at what happened. they can choose not to. that's the choice we should be urging individuals in our community we walk. back down i have not had a parents come up to me and say please make it safe. and for that reason i can't possibly support it and i know many of the residents of connecticut would wish we don't support it as well. but holder winfield and harvey are still determined to get it past. anyone who's getting.

an education about this. and that. by drug gangs. thank you very much. intuitively you would think that a drug free zone around schools is a helpful thing but when you hear the other side and you hear how it's applied in a populous area like new haven you understand that it actually can hurt the people that the law is trying to serve. a man should think of to some bar i want to learn about how this fifteen hundred foot school zone is affecting the neighborhood i'm i'm trolling absolutely shafique do so before grew up in new haven and is currently

in new haven police department corrections officer he's also president of the national association of black law enforcement officers as a patrol officer for thirteen years he worked on the streets and has used a drug free zone enhancement penalty against dozens of suspects it's commonly don't that there is so peaceful when you take a drug arrest you could literally take the life you were told like so which one a big one for just one but this one just because they're all with us here all of the different here in the city and it's over kill all the urban attributing individuals who live in those communities world likely to at often times possess trust whatever reason if you got two bags of marijuana on you for your personal use two more bags of marijuana constitutes sell. constants and they sell they say that selling does sell even though it could be for a person even even though this person is bring back stuff we're selling is no doubt about. that look at what it costs to potentially address some body for selling

three packs of marijuana for the whole school years police time to lock them off your car shrink them in a local jail that is still roughly around forty thousand dollars a year for a person to sit in jail for fifty dollars or for drugs is not cost effective because the trail the truck buyers just end with. this is the oldest hit this is sheldon. this is keep. and this is kyra barbara fair has lived worked and raised eleven children inside of a drug free zone and paid the price for it so how many of your children have gotten caught in this trap you know sean has a couple of times. i have seven sons and six of them have been arrested for drug charges. the only chars they've ever been arrested for drug charges and once you

have that fifteen hundred feet within a school which are pretty much know that you're going to be found guilty because there's a mandatory minimum of three years with their barbers the first to admit that when our sons were guilty of a drug offense they deserved to serve time every time he got a receipt he was actually guilty in many instances her sons were charged with possession after they were picked up by a police force that was aggressively clearing street corners but the fact that nearly every street corner in new haven was a drug free zone meant that her sons were automatically facing additional time in prison it was guilt by geography and you realize that a lot more people are being caught up in the other people in possession of drugs they wouldn't get that enhanced sentence so in the more countrified parts of connecticut words for more white that would apply and in the more urban concentrated areas able to apply almost everywhere you go and then you lose faith in the justice system i know i have definitely and my experience i have lost any

faith in the justice system being fair. that an hour and a half south in the bronx the case against michael moore is another reminder of how proactive policing policies designed to lower crime rates for everyone can result in unconstitutional searches jam up the court system fill up the prisons and destroy the fabric of neighborhoods this is really quite a simple case as it says here in this motion. to dismiss prosecution claims that mr torres possessed marijuana in public view on september twenty sixth two thousand and eleven mr torres has consistently denied the allegation it adamantly contested the constitutionality of his arrest yet at every turn he has been denied any meaningful due process through the courts this guy has been waiting over two years for his day in court this has affected his work it has affected his psychological well being and his unfortunately one of tens of thousands of people who are

arrested in the bronx under the stop and frisk programs and. so many. jobs for quite a long time this job has been a lifeline for tourists so every time he gets a call that his case is going to trial he has to choose between copping a guilty plea and serving a minimum of three months in jail or fighting the system and risking more jail time if he loses torres has chosen to fight and he loses a day's pay each time he shows up to court hoping his case will finally proceed. you know they start to think the case is bigger than what all i saw these panels.

got into modification and we got deadlines that we got to meet so i can't put my deadlines because i've got a hope in. this case it's not going to change my life is just going to add on. the system to stop. in new haven the system had one stop for the fair family prison i mean the first time i had to visit my son in prison. i didn't want him to see me cry so. i feel like i'm back here again. ok here. we go to barbara's son shelton knows full well how the police can use the state's drug zone law to turn a minor drug charge into a longer sentence. and i was home i was coming down the street i was walking in this direction in a car is driving on the side of me and they're trying to call me. a slow down look

and asked. what it in asked me so i start to feel like i was about to be the victim of a robbery when the car got about here at least two people jumped out. and i was one that was a guy coming behind me he took me back. to the caller and i fell down to the ground the next thing i knew i heard him say words that. i knew they were the police. claims that he's innocent that he's the victim of a random drug sweep and that the two bags of marijuana were actually planted on him . charging him with. a project and i was it. but i'm like michael torres shelton believe that fighting the charge was a dead end when they put that charge on you they got she. was not you can do it has a mandatory time. and that extra enhancement on the sands means you've got to

plead out because you're not going to risk eight ten twelve years in prison. shelton pled guilty and was given two years of probation he and his brothers are all out of jail now their mother barbara is glad they survived what do you say to people who think drug free zones around schools are a good idea if the law was truly about that about keeping drug dealers away from kids would be i would be the first in line to say yes we need to. look behind with fifteen hundred feet. look at the outcome of what he does and then try to open your mind and think there's something else going on besides trying to protect our kids from drunks. this is how it's done on a tourist case he has been coming to court since september two thousand and eleven so we're keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow and hopefully he'll finally goes to court. today so i'm going to throw good to see you so i figure what we can do

today is just talk through your case a bit you have been to court one two three four. five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve and tomorrow will be your thirteenth court appearance. always come to court prepared to fight the charges but the system is so jammed up with stop and frisk cases that getting the right combination of been available judge courtroom and police officer to cross-examine has been impossible now my concern is what would have been if they were not very have to so much time. do we continue to wait a little what's going to happen if they're not ready or if there are no four was available you have to decide whether or not to plead guilty in order to end the case and get back to work or to continue to fight the case and try to vindicate your constitutional rights we filed a motion to dismiss in your case based on constitutional speedy trial grounds and that was denied even though your case has been open for two and a half years but i think tomorrow that we have

a reasonable shot at actually having to go to trial we've prepared this case countless times. but i'll see in court tomorrow that. one of the reasons you were stopped is that new york city has this thing called stops first because you know i think in two thousand and eleven almost seven hundred thousand people six hundred eighty four thousand people in new york city were stopped and frisked and i guess the theory of the police theory is that you know if you stop low level crime it will stop. bigger crime but what do you think about how do you were a guy who is. the first. like . you keeping the. people that. changing and. not everyone in new york city agrees with torres that the n.y.p.d. stop and frisk policy is too aggressive or racially biased it's

a complicated issue. when did we become the bad guy in a situation i think every kid in america myself included was told as well as they were probably go see a policeman well we've now created the atmosphere that the policeman is the bad guy sergeant ed mullins is a current n.y.p.d. officer and president of the sergeants benevolent association he experienced firsthand the rise in the stop and frisk strategy the little crimes made a difference the big crimes we stop people we come up with things contraband whatever it was we could do we began to fish with a net and out with a poll window you go to jail you know send somebody on their way into it and report any more every incident or field report was recorded in placed into a massive computer system constant searchable by precinct and capable of predicting patterns of criminal behavior. making these arrests. they want by the way and here's the challenge for critics of stop and frisk during the past twenty years the

crime rate for major offenses like homicide rates robbery and assault have been cut by nearly seventy five percent in new york city experienced cops like the rationale for keeping stop and frisk is quite simple. the promise of peace in the middle east. enough but a new dilemma after the death of the man at the center of palestinian struggle. now more than forty years after to stablish how far has the p.l.o. come to achieving its hopes and dreams concluding the turbulent story of the struggle for a palestinian home p.l.o. history of a revolution on al-jazeera. the nature of news as it breaks although thousands of

women have reported free but other sexual atrocities in south sudan's word rats are going to vicious face this figure is likely much higher with detailed coverage nearly fifty schools took part in the drive each one responsible for the whole acting a different diet of school supplies clothing from around the world the circle for whole is still very new here but these players are very confident they won't be able to leave gaza maybe you will want to buy on the international stage. and all of us have a problem in doha with the headlines on al-jazeera and on our trial has been false and to a very public and embarrassing climbed out of the us president and now says that he accepts the intelligence community's assessment that russia did meddle in the twenty sixteen election trump says he misspoke at the news conference to let him in

person and and senate. i have full faith and support for america is great and the agency agency is always there. and i have felt very strongly that well russia's actions had no wind at all on the outcome of the election let me be totally clear in saying that and i've said this many times i accept our intelligence communities conclusion that russians meddling in the two thousand and sixteen election took place the u.k. based investigative agency has obtained documents revealing an expensive lobbying effort by the united arab emirates and russian and the u.s. to spend watch report says secret meetings were held between all the bobbies crown prince and russians former prime minister david cameron security has been stepped up at oil fields across southern iraq as anti-government on breast spreads the deadly protests have continued for more than

a week amid growing resentment of government corruption and a lack of basic services the first ethiopian airlines flight to every train in twenty years is due to take off it's the latest move in restoring relations between the horn of africa countries after two decades of conflict the latest have agreed to reopen embassies develop ports and restart air links forces loyal to look at i was president have regained control of an opposition stronghold in the city of messiah police and armed pro-government civilians began advancing into an ambush before dawn on tuesday afternoon they gained control of the neighborhood at the center offer assistance to president daniel ortega as the government rights groups say two people died in the violence police in hong kong have proposed banning a political party on national security grounds for the first time the government has given the hong kong national party twenty one days to explain why it shouldn't follow the recommendation the party describes the threat as political suppression

those are the headlines on al-jazeera but do stay with us the system continues next thank you very much for watching. to some they are and to quit is worth millions of dollars to the nepalese they are living god. one east investigates the fight to reclaim the poles stolen idols on now to zero and this is different not just whether someone is going for someone's favorite doesn't matter we need to think it's how you approach an individual and after that is a certain way of doing it you can't just barge in and judge a story in fly out. sergeant ed mullins is a current n.y.p.d. officer and president of the sergeants benevolent association he experienced firsthand the rise in the stop and frisk strategy the little crimes made a difference the big crimes we stop people we come up with. contraband whatever it

was we could do i work. out on the street the middle of winter cold nights eight degrees nobody on a street and i see an individual looking in call windows is that a crime it's not a crime he's allowed to do that ok. goes he has a street walks back. he still hasn't committed a crime so i watch the end stands on a corner looks both different ways takes out a cigarette smoke a cigarette a couple minutes later walks into a building to commit a crime he did he lives in a building with a cigarette. same scenario now i say let me go. do you know what. my name is x y z wale it a little. way of my girl and say are you getting weapons. and i quote a screwdriver a weapon no. it doesn't but a screwdriver is a weapon it's a weapon if you want to use it as a weapon so i removed

a screwdriver while talking to the committee knowing what happens if you go to a certain area. your window and destroy the interior. with an arrest the public doesn't understand this scenario of how this happens at what point does the officer stop a. police officers in connecticut are also defending a broken window strategy the use of drug free zones to fight the war on drugs here an effort is underway to shrink the size of the state's drug free zones from fifteen hundred to two hundred feet. from free zones or controversy oh you know in certain parts of the country in certain rural areas you can understand an exclusion zone around the school about selling drugs and adding a mandatory minimum to the drug charge but in a place like new haven a very urban concentrated center it targets minority and impoverished people

because their entire living area is a drug free zone. so we're heading over to see law enforcement here in new haven to hear their side of the story to hear why they feel these drug free zones are effective policy. sorghum or hamilton current issues to foreign and we use it pretty much as a template. and it willy you know not to make it not personal but that's that's where it is for the officer on the beat you find the drugs you find the person you're arresting you find the school or the public housing complex you put a pin in the middle of it and you measure fifteen hundred feet from that and if they're in it it's just another charge tell me what you think of the you know the drug free zones is that is a useful tool is that yes it's a useful tool but i think it's more of a hansom and it's used for plea bargaining tools om i like it because we can make a statement sometimes with people hey you're in a if you're in a school zone you're look you're where children are you're dealing in a place that's for been to us part of the problem in some people's minds with the

drug free zones in new haven is that they also include public housing projects i mean do you see that as an issue like that it's an and potentially traps. minorities you have a high concentration of shows in the public housing area so what better place to not have drugs am i against reducing it no but even if you want to thousand if you look at the map a thousand feet you're still going to cover most of the area and again as a parent do you want someone dealing drugs fifteen hundred your school or three hundred within your kid's school i pick fifteen hundred at first that and realize what the f. fifteen and if it was told us that this is all about keeping drug dealers from coming on school property. that would want that but after several of her sons were given increased prison time for possession in the drug free zone farber affair was getting frustrated she went to work on getting her sons out of prison and into jobs then her youngest son was arrested for drug possession inside

a drug free zone. i just going to madge and how he could have got to be. quite a ways away so i went. and talked to some of the people and asked them you know if they can give me a measurement between where my son was supposed and where the school. he was able to get away from that mandatory charge the reality is most people don't challenge it that's starting to change in connecticut. today probably caring for senate bill two five nine which is a drug free school zone for harvey this is the beginning of a long process of changing it politically popular last. exploit. that's going to sure it's number one thirty three before me. the hearing is for sale in five nine. and we're trying to reform it from fifteen hundred feet to two hundred feet you're good to go thank you. now i'm trying to just get an idea of.

what we need to do. people use soundbites and they say this is we're being soft on crime by changing the rules or making it easy for people to peddle drugs to children the root of the problem is poverty and addiction and unemployment so why don't we look at those things first before we were so busy to look at ways of incarceration you seen this bill in the past you came for us last year just my opinion changed from last year actually not can't be a situation where making life easier for criminals and making it harder for law abiding citizens i don't see anything that has changed that will change so obviously you know my mind is changed. from the bus to hartford to represent the families in new haven whose lives have been negatively affected by this law i think today might be the day that they finally get to miss is that they really need to do something about this has been dragging opportunity. years now i truly truly believe

there may really have a shot at this after all these years pray now we have the public and after the public airing. to vote it out of the committee and then after passing the senate and the house without any problems then it goes to the governor governor has to sign it's a long process this is what we call the weekend it will be an interesting day to say the least. the first person signed up is state representative prosodic srinivasan. to represent you may proceed whenever you're ready thank you i'm testifying today in opposition of his bill and for us to say that because shrink this is zone sense in my opinion of the wrong message i'm actually appalled that even considering shrinking this drug free zone.

back in the bronx it's the end of a long work day for michael torres with a court date tomorrow his limbo status in the legal system could finally be coming to an end. going to feed the girls first the. whole feel. of. the day awful that you've. got to be there because i've got a short to scott's office and then walk over to the courthouse to go. and think is situation i know people that have been in this situation but they have never dragged on this long like this is that this is a little excessive mike says that money is like that bad luck. good matches aside much as far. they might to judge him. for his background you know they don't believe i guess people can change and people do change you can make a lot of people make mistakes. i love you. not a bad person he's

a very good guys very responsible works every day. and you know i just take time off and it puts a toll because you know he doesn't get paid for his time off. so then all comes more you know more stress for me and i have to you know pick up whatever you can pick up and it gets a little expensive have to wind up kids are expensive have no maintaining our household you know car insurance everything's expensive. out of the group of people . arrested for the same situation. though most of them got the. oh they were forced to cop out. everything all wrapped up. and pray and i'd say go shower then. you got to get up early baby. all my love don't forget i have to iron this stuff. i don't think that there is a conscious decision to do this on the part of the police that is to overwhelm the

courts but the style policing that we've had in new york city for the past twenty years has led to just a flood of misdemeanor cases in the system the number of mr moore arrest in new york city has skyrocketed since the early ninety's the result is criminal courts in new york spend all of their time processing cases and just managing calendars rather than conducting hearings or securing evidence or calling witnesses in the bronx michael torres is about to have his day in court his misdemeanor marijuana case has been delayed twelve times he's hoping number thirteen will be as lucky number the plan is heading to court will go to the m.s.g. part which is where the very old misdemeanors go and then it's just sort of a lot of hurry up and we will really just have to play by ear and see you know if there's a judge available closer courtroom available whether or not the police officer actually shows up. there is just something deeply unfair about promising people their day in court and dangling it in front of them for. years on end never

actually get into the damage that that open case has done the mr tauruses life is not damaged it can be undone overnight. and the simple thing. is. that. there are real psychological costs of living with that inside that low level is id that follows you everywhere when you have an open case i'm ahead in you go through security and then you're just down the escalator. and. that's all right. i'm an optimist i think we have a great shot i certainly don't know the outcome but we are always prepared and we are going to fight like hell for mr torres. in hartford the state's judiciary committee is holding a public hearing about a controversial bill the shrink the state's drug free zones from fifteen hundred to

two hundred feet most conservative opponents of the bill are from small towns or wealthy suburbs places where the idea of voting to shrink the size of a drug free zone is hard to fathom. just make sure that i understand your position they're saying that a person who is apprehended selling drugs five football fields and distance away from a school should be arrested and prosecuted and subjected to an enhanced panel to on the basis that that activity is endangering the children that are attending that particular school is that correct yes i mean i did not realize that fifteen hundred was five five football fields and regardless of that the hundred should still be the area where and hands and o.t. would be would be handed out to the bus and was it twenty in light of that response do you think it would be sensible to clearly mark the area which. zone. for

example instead of just posting a sign up go the boundaries of the zone maybe we should stripe the streets or paint the streets wide. for the length of fifteen hundred feet away from the school or daycare center chairman that at heart has crossed my mind as to how to make that demarkation very clear that this is a drop three cell but i'm not sure how the law just takes them as well especially in our open cities where you take a lot of white. this is part of the process to get. out of my life things that. would. make it through. what is going to be the. law to shore. this case but of.

the fact that if they do it. now i have to. tell them this in. this situation. you know that they have. treated for them because the show and. the office just like facts to. come out and. before. this went on and see what happens. the connecticut state sentencing commission is testifying its studies have shown that the current law unjustly penalizes the state's urban residents especially those who are found in possession of small amounts of marijuana it makes no difference if you possess or sell on the doorstep of a school or in the an office building in downtown so we're left with a feel good law that is in effect even results a nonviolent low level drug dealers being locked up for longer periods with additional prison cost but without any real advantage to society luckily this would not be an entirely

a social experiment others. have taken similar measures to reduce their zone sizes twenty eleven delaware went from a thousand feet to three hundred feet in two thousand and twelve massachusetts went from a thousand feet to three hundred feet in two thousand and thirteen indiana went from a thousand feet to five hundred feet it's very difficult. and i'm going to be honest for me to entertain lowering a drug free zone where potentially it may be working i mean the whole point here is that urban centers are more densely populated and with hundred feet law that urban centers. why is that bad i state what is wrong with. tori and discrimination is wrong and i wonder if this spirit treat was happening in other communities where people understand why we need to move on the books quite frankly i'm not prepared in any way shape or form to be like any drug dealer who is

victimizing our young children i'm in no position. to make such a drastic change you know they say sanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result i think i'm ready to sign myself into a facility that. it seems to be the same. go. for new judges to try to. just wait around for an hour to receiving. it. in two thousand and twelve new york state's chief judge launched a special program to clear up the backlog of cases in the bronx since then this so-called blockbuster court has been working to cut through decades of bureaucratic

red tape but while the number of pending felony cases that are two years or older have been reduced there are still thousands of open misdemeanor cases. so we checked in with the original trial part and originally when the case was called there were no car parts available but we second call the case they called the case again they were able to find us a court room and we're now waiting for the police officer to arrive so we can begin to hear this is about as close as we've gotten and so we're very hopeful if we get to actually have some testimony and a decision on our on our hearing i think this is this is going to be a first for the project for sure. in hartford the public hearing is over for the drug free zone bill now the judiciary committee gets to decide if the bill can go forward senate bill two fifty nine is the final item on the committee's agenda time is running short and the vote is too close to call we're not going to be able to crawl into the mental calculus of

a drug dealer someone has already decided to break the law and say you know we're going to change our decision making process because if you stay in that corner you get penalty a but if you stand on this corner you get penalty big drug dealing occurs more in big cities than it does on a farm. in the country and if that's where the trafficking is then let us allow the higher penalty to prevail voted against this in the past but looking at some of the research and following the way law enforcement will have a better tool you know i just don't buy the fact that this is being soft on crime i think that's rhetoric i really feel that it's not reality for what we. i can do with this bill here today i do have in my hand e-mails and letters of variety of constituents and not only from my phone but throughout the state of connecticut i

have not received any. any of the best of my knowledge any communication about doing away with this legislation i've received many in opposite there and so i can't support that you have a school. zone around the school and you also have a has penalty for this out to kids our kids will be safe if you pass this bill. after twelve failed attempts to have his case heard in court michael torres is finally catching a break the police officer who arrested him is scheduled to take the stand. for yes got everyone to. register this ok. we asked permission to film the trial but were turned down by the court after two and a half years michael tourism's fate is about to be decided. please call the road. home and yes. with just minutes left in the committee session the drug

free zone reduction bill passed by a slim margin the vote was twenty one to nineteen it's a key victory but now holder winfield's bill must survive debates in the house and senate before it can become law are you hopeful this is going to pass i think it has a good chance of passing i think there's tough work ahead i am under the understanding that what i think is right some people think is completely wrong i'm under the understanding that some of the stuff that i know about an issue other people don't know but i think if we do that work and we educate people there's no reason we can't get this bill done this year. so a small. thank god. thank god i feel like this weight off my shoulder. so i think they said i'm glad. the stress take this news back to the job maybe you guys.

got a good deal of the news to only go through the. use first in this thing i think that was very yeah it's nice that after all this time we go result we want to. just fill a make in the back of the head i mean all five of. us detectives who arrested mr torres two and out years ago admitted that he remembered nothing about the incident and couldn't testify at all about what had happened in september of two thousand and eleven and so before we even got to cross-examination before we were allowed to ask him a single question the case was essentially dismissed the in the box and that tyson at one of the main reason mr torres fought this case for so long and showed up for as long as he did is he wanted to chance to hear what the police officer had to say and he wanted a chance to have his defense counsel cross-examine that police officer and that

never happened he wanted to see the evidence against him and what was revealed today is that there never was really any evidence against him which makes the two and a half years that we waited for this moment and basest victory a little bittersweet and so i think what this case calls for it is a need for a reassessment of our basic institutions of justice. in august two thousand and thirteen a federal judge in new york issued a landmark ruling judge sheindlin ruled that the new york city police department violated its citizens fourth amendment rights to be free of unreasonable search and seizure she also ruled that the police department stop and frisk practices were racially discriminatory in january of two thousand and fourteen the city of new york dropped its appeal and agreed to work. with a court appointed monitor to reform its procedures wow ah man he. is a big big b. still excited even though the case is dismissed you know. if you say i just came

out of jail and the like to use because this took so long you know all the punishment itself it was like doing time. i am very hopeful for the future i think new york city is going through a period of change and i think very exciting period of change i think there's a lot of opportunity but i think we need to be vigilant if this system is going to have meaning for people it has to pay attention to people and hopefully are headed in that direction. was. whenever i see something that has happened in the news my first reaction is to

please god don't let this person have been someone that we released on parole gatekeepers of the parole system you're asking us for a second chance right what's important to me is on the other side of things and how do i get it on this side of the fence it was amusing going to roll you know how many times you've been in prison exploring the dark side of american justice system with joe berman just on al-jazeera. how as a surface monsoon is fully invaded now so on this side of your screen you just see the the white clouds the troops and thunderstorms in pakistan the trying everyone can show themselves matheson even east in iraq but that's an unusual search other. it's just draw and of course it's hot we're in mid summer but if you showers around the caspian sea the might go on to others but i wouldn't hold your breath it's like she just be hot sunshine and dusty would forty five so forecast baghdad better on

the coast by routes at sea with an on shore breeze so probably reasonably pleasant now to halt when the coast it keeps blowing down the gulf not quite strong it's called sure modern thing but it's close to so we get forty for the full cost and much the same in land ma up to forty round up a dobie as well in fact the whole of the peninsula is in the forty's quite easy to get to the coast this is also result of the southwest monsoon the whole of the i'm on the coast tend to be gray drizzle where you find high grants a lot of fun example three months worth of drizzle and coolish weather in comparison a pleasant reading and then jump to the equator and of course is the middle of winter when the temperatures for places like botswana run about the ninety degree mark for the capital.

with bureaus spanning six continents across the globe. al-jazeera has correspondents live in green the stories they tell. us about it. al-jazeera fluent in world news the world's primary could change producing nation is at the forefront of the war on drugs with them we're talking about serious organized crime as a country where reaching a critical point while some have made fortunes many others have suffered at the hands of this multi-billion dollar industry the author of why does business will go on forever it from a change almost global policy is the who are the winners and losers of this illicit trade snow of the andes on al-jazeera.

al-jazeera. it's. where ever you. fleeing the fighting but with nowhere to go to schools of syrians try to cross into the occupied golan heights but will israel let them in.

fellow on the team did a show with al-jazeera live from doha also coming out i will say this i don't see any reason why it would be. trump changed his tune the u.s. president admits the russians did interfere with the presidential election less than twenty four hours after saying they didn't i said the word would instead of what. the senate should have been i don't see any reason why i would be. returning to normal life after the cave rescue the twelve tie footballers and the coach prepared to be discharged from hospital. here and. celebrating the centenary of a legend south africa remembers the legacy of nelson mandela. but let's start in syria in the northwest of the country to towns that have been

besieged by the opposition for more than four years the evacuation is now under way of. it's all part of a deal between the rebel groups and it rainin fighters who are supporting the government there being moved towards the government controlled areas of aleppo and in exchange the government is set to release hundreds of detainees and further south in the country it's like doomsday that's how residents are describing the latest syrian government offensive in the southern province of dora. they've been dozens of air strikes and shelling overnight targeting the city of now or a hospital is among the buildings hit now is the largest urban center that still under rebel control in the province of. thousands of displaced civilians are now trapped between that intensive government offensive and

a closed border fence with israel hundreds of them taking shelter along the israeli occupied golan heights on tuesday displaced families approached the border fence to seek sanctuary we can go live now to our correspondent stephanie decker she's there in the israeli occupied golan heights and step steph we understand that that stream of people fleeing a government offensive is continuing and they are seeking sanctuary from the israelis all the israelis continuing to lock them out. well the the officials here have made it very clear that not one syrian those are the words of the defense minister will be let me just show you where we are when you talk about now we're about ten kilometers from there we can hear the war it's very active here you can see the smoke in the distance but when it comes to the people you were just talking about them seeking shelter while you can see the in countenance here along the fence with israel samir can probably give you

a pound we can see with our naked eye one two three four about clusters of them and if you can see the buttons the tents are probably about a couple hundred meters from that fence now the situation for them is incredibly difficult because there's no real organized aid handouts to yes we know that the israeli army has handed out some aid also you know helped with tents and there's also a campaign going on here in the golan heights by residents who wanted to help been collecting over the last a few weeks things like santa tree things diapers baby wipes basics but again it's incredibly difficult as you see the people have nowhere to go there right up to that border trying to seek safety from airstrikes and you can see it from where we are in the distance the act of war so just gives you a sense of how terrifying and isolated these people feel and it must be a measure of the desperation stephanie the fact that these people are trying to get

into what is considered to be enemy territory. absolutely i mean the narrative in syria of course when it comes to israel is exactly that so it when you see these people waving white flags makeshift white flags white t. shirts white sheets whatever they can find to signal that they think they want safe passage gives you it's not a surprise it's martine you know we've been covering the syrian refugee crisis the internally displaced crisis for almost seven years now i've covered this from every single border jordan turkey iraq lebanon and now here and it's always the same and certainly in the last couple of years the same thing is that the borders the closure these people have nowhere to go also the dynamics that you have here behind us is still rebel controlled area use the syrian government is advancing and they are advancing false now a lot of people are afraid of what will happen to them when the syrian government syrian forces take over their villages take over their child because of retaliation because they have been living under rebel control for so long so all these dynamics

playing out and again the fact is borders are closed they have nowhere left to go seventy deca live in the occupied golan heights thank you and human rights groups are calling israel suspension of fuel in goals into gaza as an immoral act of collective punishment now israel has banned fuel from entering the palestinian territory until sunday it says it is in response to attacks by hamas and is prepared to go even further the impact on almost two million residents of gaza is huge. explains. trunks gather at the column of southern border post it's the only official crossing for goods and fuel into gaza from israel but the israeli government has now closed it it says it will let food and medicine in on a case by case basis but is not a fuel essential for powering gaza's basic services many of the almost two million

people here only get electricity for four to six hours a day and half a minute for the most serious then you know this fuel blockade doesn't last because it will cause hundreds of problems and life will stop sewage and rubbish will pile up and other projects will come to an end people will not be able to go to work the ministry of health will not be able to treat patients and official in gaza city will say tells us that gaza needs around seven hundred thousand liters of gasoline and diesel every day just to meet its basic needs now with these new restrictions by israel that fuel simply isn't coming in anymore of course gaza is have already suffered twelve years of israel's land and sea blockade in these latest restrictions come after the worst escalation of violence between hamas and israel since the two thousand and fourteen war. israel says it launched dozens of air strikes at hamas targets in the gaza strip in response to palestinian protesters

kites or balloons carrying molotov cocktails across its gaza fence hamas responded by launching around two hundred rockets mortars and incendiary devices and egyptian brokered cease fire was announced on saturday night israel says fires caused by the coyotes have destroyed more than ten thousand hectares of crops and private land in recent weeks has also put further restrictions on gaza's fishing industry reducing the area fishermen can work in from six to within three nautical miles you just amazed at least fifty thousand families are in some way involved in fishing in gaza . has been decreasing our fishing area for years they have killed and injured fishermen and confiscated forty five boats they are trying to get us out of the sea and put further economic pressure on gaza the cease fire between hamas and the israeli military is holding but how my says it cannot stop

every palestinian from protesting using the crates and balloons israel says it will continue to target them until they stop. gaza. in iraq protests are continuing despite promises by the prime minister to create jobs and to improve public services the unrest began in the oil rich southern city of basra last week and it's now spread to several other cities in the south demonstrates is angry about government corruption and what they see as mismanagement of oil funds binge of aid reports. even late at night protesters continue to block roads and security forces try to stop the demonstrators lit fires on many streets in oil rich president the prime minister's offer for more jobs and cash for development have failed to convince them why even if you might i like we don't feel we have been listening to the calls and demands of all iraqi citizen and also their grievances we also providing sufficient budget to cover all basics

electricity water and job opportunities. as day broke iraqi security forces had to fire in the air to disperse hundreds of protesters at this oil field in basra for days southern iraq has been seething with high temperatures and public anger a number of demonstrators have been arrested some protests turned violent but the demonstrators at oil fields at the main port in basra and in other southern provinces have largely remained peaceful. this protest was invited problems with people chanting the same demands for jobs and better public services. we demand that they fix the institutions and only meet corruption and we demand also that they complete the un finished projects there's been widespread criticism of internet blackout and the use of force iraq's interior ministry says more than two hundred people have been injured and dozens of security personnel have been treated in hospital. we are adamant to protect the ongoing demonstrations against any

malice by infiltrators who attempt to undermine the safety and well being of protesters and state institutions those infiltrators who undermine. the safety of our citizens and the people's resources will be dealt with firmly and with zero tolerance. one of the biggest issues people face is the perpetual lack of electricity which becomes worse during the summer. private generators meet the demand with spaghetti of electric cables on every street for two weeks iran has cut off a thousand megawatts because iraq hasn't paid its bills and the iraqi delegation failed to convince iran to resume supplies and. iran supplies six thousand five hundred megawatts which is hoth of iraq's nationwide electricity production and that's why when iran pulls out from providing electricity it means a collapse of iraq's power grid i believe that a visit by the iraqi side to saudi arabia is very important because the saudis have

expressed their readiness to supply iraq not only with electricity but also in other areas like hell's in and transport the new government as soon supposed to take charge in iraq and its future success will depend on whether it can provide jobs and basic services some of the job it is there u.s. president don't trump has been forced into a very public and embarrassing climb down off the politicians across the board criticize his comments about russia mr trump now says he accepts the conclusion by his own intelligence agencies that russia did meddle in the twenty sixteen election but only two days ago this is what he told a news conference. in finland people came to me dan coats came to me and some others they said they think it's russian i have president putin he just said it's not russian i will say this i don't see any reason why it would be well in a stunning reversal missa trump says he misspoke and he blamed it on.