Joseph Shapiro

Turning Up The Heat On Civil Rights-Era Cold Cases

Joseph Shapiro — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:17:00 +0000

Six years ago, the FBI took on a challenge: To review what it called cold-case killings from the civil rights era. The investigation into 112 cases from the 1950s and 1960s is winding down, and civil rights activists are weighing the FBI's efforts.

The review comes with word this week of the death of a man who'd been named, by a newspaper investigation, as a possible suspect in one notorious case.

The Case

The investigation was of the death of Frank Morris, in Ferriday, La., in 1964.

Justice In The Segregated South: A New Look At An Old Killing

Joseph Shapiro — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:03:00 +0000

This story contains language that some may find offensive.

In the segregated South in 1965, John Queen was about as insignificant as a man could be. He was black, elderly and paralyzed. His legs had been crushed when as a boy he fell off a roof. For the rest of his life, he pulled himself around with his hands.

In Fayette, Miss., he would shine shoes on Main Street for a few coins. People called him "Crippled Johnny" or "Shoe-Shine Johnny."

"He didn't have legs, so he walked like a rabbit," says Lillie Lee Henderson, Queen's great-niece.

Law Targets Sexual Violence On College Campuses

Joseph Shapiro — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:38:00 +0000

When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

Laura Dunn, who's been invited by the White House to attend, plans to be there.

In 2010, Dunn told her story on Morning Edition: She believed her Wisconsin school failed to p

Why A Young Man Died In A Nursing Home, A State Away From His Mom

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Zach Sayne was 25 when he died earlier this month at the place that had been his home for 15 years — a children's nursing home in Alabama.

But that was too far away, 200 miles too far, for his mother in Georgia. Nola Sayne was trying to bring him back, closer to her home.

Dismissed Case Raises Questions On Shaken Baby Diagnosis

Joseph Shapiro — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:16:00 +0000

When San Francisco prosecutors dismissed charges against Kristian Aspelin in early December, it became just the latest case to raise questions about how shaken baby syndrome is diagnosed. Aspelin, who was accused of causing the death of his infant son, had one thing in his favor: He had enough money to pay for medical experts who cast doubt on the prosecution's theory.