Latest news with #injustice
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Todd Chrisley claims he was treated differently than Black inmates in prison
Todd Chrisley claimed that he witnessed systemic issues firsthand while he was in prison. After being released from FPC Pensacola in Florida thanks to President Donald Trump's pardon, Todd, 56, opened up about his experience behind bars during a press conference in Nashville on Friday. 'I have met some wonderful men. I have listened to some horrific stories about things that have gone on in our system,' Todd said with his daughter, Savannah Chrisley, by his side. 'I will continue to fight for all of the guys that I dealt with and that I was blessed to be with at FPC Pensacola,' the 'Chrisley Knows Best' star stated. 'I will continue to expose the injustices that go on there and throughout the Bureau of Prisons.' Todd continued, 'Being in the prison system, anyone that says that it's a fair shake — it's not. 'Because I dealt with young African-American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same.' 'They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things,' he claimed. 'I was not denied that, but we know why I wasn't denied that. And so I think that that is a much bigger picture that we all as a society as a whole need to look at: that we are one.' Todd also revealed what his fellow inmates' reactions were to his release. 'When I left that day, there was only 317 men at our camp, but they were lined up shouting when I was walking out and they were saying 'Dont forget us, don't forget us' and my commitment is to them that I will never forget them,' Todd shared. Todd and his wife, Julie Chrisley, were pardoned by Trump, 78, after they were convicted of faking documents to obtain over $30 million in loans, and then dumping them by declaring bankruptcy. Todd, 56, was released from his 12-year prison sentence at Florida's FPC Pensacola, while Julie, 52, was pardoned from her seven-year stretch at FMC Lexington in Kentucky. They each served a little over two years of their sentences. During the news conference, Todd insisted that his conviction was unjust. 'Even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do,' he said. 'It could be you. It could be any of you,' Todd told the group of reporters. 'And somewhere in this room, someone has had a family member who has been affected by this system. I understand the shame that's around it, but I refuse to feed into that because shame is like a cancer that just spreads, and I have no shame.' Todd and Julie, who have been married since 1996, reunited at their Tennessee home after their prison releases in front of the cameras for a new reality show. Savannah, who fought for her parents' freedom, told People that it's 'been amazing' to have Todd and Julie home. 'We were going to bed last night. We're like, 'Is this real?' And then, I wake up this morning and my mom's walking into my bedroom and I'm like, it's absolutely insane!' she said.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Todd Chrisley admits he got special treatment in prison over Black inmates: 'We know why I wasn't denied that'
Todd Chrisley is speaking out about the injustices he says he witnessed while incarcerated. The former Chrisley Knows Best star, who was released from prison on Wednesday following a pardon from President Trump, discussed his experience at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp during a press conference on Friday. "I have met some wonderful men. I have listened to some horrific stories about things that have gone on in our system," Chrisley said. "I will continue to fight for all of the guys that I dealt with and that I was blessed to be with at FPC Pensacola. I will continue to expose the injustices that go on there and throughout the Bureau of Prisons." Chrisley went on to claim that the alleged injustices he witnessed were racially motivated. "Being in the prison system, anyone that says that it's a fair shake — it's not," he said. "Because I dealt with young African-American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same." The reality star implied that he was afforded better treatment than Black inmates due to white privilege. "They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things," he said. "I was not denied that, but we know why I wasn't denied that. And so I think that that is a much bigger picture that we all as a society as a whole need to look at: that we are one." A representative for Pensacola Federal Prison Camp did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. Chrisley's daughter, Savannah, also appeared at the press conference and said that her family members would dedicate themselves to fighting for prison reform. "We're gonna be in D.C., and Mom and Dad are now along for the ride, because we're not leaving those men and women behind," she said. "There's too much work that needs to be done. There's too much reform that needs to be done." Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, were indicted in 2019 for bank fraud and tax evasion, and were eventually convicted in 2022 and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison. They have maintained their innocence during and after their conviction. At the press conference, Chrisley suggested that his conviction was an example of the flaws in the justice system. "Even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do," he claimed. "It could be you. It could be any of you. And somewhere in this room, someone has had a family member who has been affected by this system. I understand the shame that's around it, but I refuse to feed into that because shame is like a cancer that just spreads, and I have no shame."The Chrisleys are set to return to the small screen in an untitled Lifetime reality series, which Savannah said had wrapped filming prior to the pardon but resumed once her parents were freed. While Todd's son, Chase Chrisley, said that he wasn't sure if his parents would want to be involved in future TV endeavors, the family's patriarch implied that he and Julie would appear on a new show in some capacity at the press conference. "We're blessed to have our family back, and we're blessed to be coming back to television, because we do have a much bigger story to tell than we ever have," Todd Chrisley said. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
The cost of conscience: I lost friends for defending Palestinians
I have written a lot about the heart-piercing trials and tragedies of Palestinians for a long time. I have treated every word of every column that has appeared on this page, devoted to Palestine's precarious fate and the indefatigable souls who refuse to abandon it, as an obligation and a duty. It is the obligation and duty of writers – who are privileged to reach so many people in so many places – to expose injustice and give pointed expression to gratuitous suffering. I have made it plain throughout: Here I stand. Not because I am the all-knowing arbiter of right from wrong – any honest writer is aware of how exhausting and foolish that can be – but because I am obliged to tell the truth clearly and, if need be, repeatedly. I consider ending what has happened and continues to happen to Palestinians to be the moral imperative of this awful, disfiguring hour. It requires a response since silence often translates – consciously or by neglect – into consent and complicity. Each of us who shares this sense of obligation and duty responds in our own way. Some make speeches in parliaments. Some lock arms in demonstrations. Some go to Gaza and the occupied West Bank to ease, as best they can, the pervasive misery and despair. I write. Writing in defence of Palestinians – of their humanity, dignity, and rights – is not meant, nor can it be dismissed, as a polemical provocation. For me, it is an act of conscience. I do not write to mollify. I refuse to qualify what has happened and is happening to Palestinians as 'complex' to provide readers with a convenient and comfortable ethical exit ramp. Occupation is not complex. Oppression is not complex. Apartheid is not complex. Genocide is not complex. It is cruel. It is wrong. It must yield to decency. Writing about Palestinians in this blunt, uncompromising way invites all sorts of replies from all sorts of quarters. Some readers praise your 'courage'. Some thank you for 'speaking' for them, for not flinching, for naming names. Some readers urge you to continue to write, despite the risks and recriminations. Much less charitably, some readers call you ugly names. Some wish you and your family misfortune and harm. Some readers try, and fail, to get you fired. All you can do as a writer is to keep writing, regardless of the reaction – whether kind or unkind, thoughtful or thoughtless – or the consequences, intended or not. Still, one of the casualties of writing about Palestinians can be the loss of the reassuring constancy and tender pleasure of valued friendships. I suppose I am not alone on this sad score. Students, teachers, academics, artists, and so many others have been exiled, charged, or even jailed for refusing to ignore or sanitise the horror we see day after dreadful day. In this context, my travails, while stinging and disconcerting, are modest in comparison. Departed friends, however dear, are, it seems, the price for candour that unsettles. Those friendships, built over decades through sometimes happy, sometimes sad experiences and shared confidences, have evaporated in an instant. I understood that this rupture could happen. I did not fear it. I accepted it. Yet, when it did happen, it pricked. It was abrupt. Phone calls went to voice mail. Emails went unanswered. Inevitably, the absence and quiet grew until they became an unmistakable verdict. So, I did not ask for explanations. That would, I reasoned, be futile. A door had been slammed shut and bolted. Friends I admired and respected. Friends I laughed with, trusted, whose counsel I sought and who sought mine. Gone. I wish them and their loved ones well. I will miss their wise ear and, from time to time, their helping hand. Some of them are Jewish, some are not. I do not begrudge their choice. They have exercised their prerogative to decide who can and cannot be called a friend. I once met their litmus test – the one we all have. Now, I have failed it. I know that some of my former friends have deep ties to Israel. Some have family who live there. Some may be grieving, too, worried over what comes next. I do not ignore their fear or uncertainty. I do not deny their right to safety. This is where, I suspect, we confront the unspoken cause of the irreversible divide. Israel's security cannot be achieved at the expense of Palestine's freedom and sovereignty. That is not peace, let alone the elusive 'co-existence'. It is domination – brutal and unforgiving. This kind of loss, profound and lasting, gives way to clarity born from rejection. It sharpens your appreciation of loyalty and authenticity in relationships. Perhaps the people I thought I knew, I did not know at all. And perhaps the people who thought they knew me, did not know me at all. There is a reckoning under way. Like most reckonings, big or small, near or distant, it can be messy and painful. We are trying to navigate a pitiless world that, on the disagreeable whole, punishes dissent and rewards compliance. To those friends who have opted for distance, I say this: I am convinced that you believe what you're doing is right and just. So am I. I write not to wound. I write to insist. I insist that Palestinian lives matter. I insist that Palestinians cannot be erased by edict, force, and intimidation. I insist that mourning should not be a daily ritual for any people. I insist that justice cannot be selective and humanity must be universal. I insist that Palestinian children rediscover the fullness of life beyond occupation, terror, and grief. I insist that Palestinian children, like our children, have the chance, again, to play, to learn, and to thrive. I insist that the killing lust that has gripped a nation like a fever that will not break, has to be broken. Too much damage has been done. Can we agree on that? When I have stopped writing, the account will show that in this obscene moment of slaughter and starvation, I was not among the silent. It will find me – for better or worse – on the record. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
The Dreyfus affair lives on in a new era of French antisemitism
More than a decade after being convicted of treason Alfred Dreyfus was rehabilitated when French officials conceded that he had fallen victim to injustice against a backdrop of antisemitism. The Jewish army captain, whose case divided France in the late 19th century, never lost his patriotism despite spending more than four years in solitary confinement in the notorious Devil's Island penal colony off French Guiana. After the case against him had finally been recognised as void, he signed up again to fight for his country when war broke out in 1914. But the French military establishment was less magnanimous, reinstating him with the rank of chef d'escadron (major), a downgrade for an officer who had seemed destined for the highest posts until his wrongful conviction.
