On March 31, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Padilla v. Kentucky, holding that attorneys who represent non-citizens on criminal charges have a constitutional obligation to advise their client of the immigration consequences of those charges.

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I’d like to direct your attention to some recent media activity about Japan and an American journalist living there named Jake Adelstein.  Jake’s new book, entitled Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, is a memoir of his experiences investigating the Yakuza, one of the largest crime syndicates in the country.  He recently discussed this topic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and on NPR. [Read more →]

A year ago this month the movie “Cadillac Records” was released, recounting how Chess Records in Chicago popularized the blues of musicians – notably Muddy Waters – plucked from post-slavery sharecropping.  Recently, I was amused as a I sat with Chicago’s leading anti-human trafficking activist Samir Goswami listening to Muddy Water’s son join a blues band in a Chicago club to sing one tune.  (We thought he’d best have left the singing to his late dad.) [Read more →]

As I waited in line to make a purchase at Barnes & Noble today, I started scanning over the items in the “Gift Ideas” display. Right next to a Harry Potter wizard kit and a Hello Kitty jewelry kit, I saw “Pimp My Pumpkin” emblazoned on a small shiny box. [Read more →]

Every night in downtown Washington, DC, there’s a specific 10-block area that transforms from a typical retail and business district from upscale clubs, office buildings, hotels, and restaurants to an open-air market where the sex trafficking of women and girls occurs [Read more →]