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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Zak Cheney-Rice

Features Writer, New York Magazine

Zak Cheney-Rice is a features writer for New York, where he has covered race, politics, culture, and law enforcement, particularly in the South, since 2018.

  1. bad apples
    In L.A. County, Gangs Wear BadgesA helpful illustration of a perverse incentive structure.
  2. kenosha
    Trump Is an Arsonist Masquerading As a FirefighterTrump makes matters worse when he imposes himself on cities wracked by unrest. That’s why he’s going to Kenosha.
  3. jacob blake
    How the Police Radicalized the ‘NBA Bubble’Our policing culture is so brutal that NBA stars were driven to break their labor contract and buck expectations that success would buy their silence.
  4. wildfires
    California Has a Shortage of Imprisoned Firefighters. That’s Good.Fewer firefighters is a result of fewer prisoners.
  5. 2020 elections
    Trump’s Election-Day GambitAnother escalation of a well-worn strategy for the president.
  6. police unions
    The Inevitable Trump-Police Union AllianceHow a New York City police union’s rare endorsement of Trump explains their shared ideology.
  7. 2020 elections
    The ‘Tough on Crime’ TicketThe historical irony of a Biden-Harris ticket during a criminal-justice reckoning.
  8. police reform
    The Window for Major Police Reform May Be ClosingThe superficial consensus in polls demonstrating that the public supports police reform hides deeper issues.
  9. bill de blasio
    Bill de Blasio Is Using New York’s Murder Rate to DemagogueThe mayor doesn’t know why murder rates have risen in the city. But he’s using them for political purposes anyway.
  10. protests
    Portland’s Bigger Policing Problem Was Always LocalTrump’s agents may leave Portland. Police brutality won’t.
  11. empires
    Trump’s Authoritarian Theater Was Just for Show, Until It Wasn’tThe presence of federal forces in Portland marks, for the president, a political strategy ripe for replication anytime he faces the will of voters.
  12. black lives matter
    The Protest Movement’s Path ForwardThe fervor of May and June has inevitably faded. What comes next?
  13. profile
    Julián Castro and the ‘Timeless’ Policing CrisisPolicing reform was the centerpiece of his failed campaign. Now, it’s all anyone is talking about.
  14. politics
    John Lewis Never Lost HopeThe congressman and civil-rights legend died on Friday. He recently spoke with Zak Cheney-Rice about why he stayed the course.
  15. death penalty
    The Capricious Execution of Daniel Lewis LeeThe federal government has put its first prisoner to death in 17 years. It’s still unclear why.
  16. court is in sessions
    Jeff Sessions Keeps Getting WorseA new profile at the New York Times Magazine vivifies the warning about Sessions that Coretta Scott King gave in 1986.
  17. racism
    Mississippi’s Overdue ReckoningA lot had to go wrong for Mississippi’s state-flag debate to go right.
  18. protests
    Today’s Multiracial Protest Coalition Stands on a Shaky FoundationMany of the likely factors that caused the recent upsurge in dissent are fleeting and contingent.
  19. protests
    The Police Are Still RiotingCompton, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Richmond, Virginia, all saw outbreaks of police violence against protesters on Sunday.
  20. rayshard brooks
    Atlanta’s Reforms Won’t Save the Next Rayshard BrooksThe mayor’s first proposals for curbing racist police violence have already been failing for years.
  21. abolition
    Why Police Abolition Is a Useful Framework — Even for SkepticsAbolition is a goal, a process, and a practice.
  22. police brutality
    This Will Not Be ContainedTwo weeks in George Floyd’s America.
  23. george floyd
    The Rioters Aren’t Here to Convince YouCriticism that focuses on their strategic imprudence is misguided.
  24. george floyd
    The Lies We Tell About RiotsHow America mystifies the wages of its racism.
  25. police brutality
    America’s Most Resilient InstitutionThe coronavirus hasn’t stopped law enforcement from beating and killing unarmed people.
  26. veepstakes
    The ‘Law and Order’ TrapSome Democrats are agitating for Biden to try to get to the right of the Republican Party on crime. They shouldn’t.
  27. drunk history
    The Pandemic Has Led to an Outbreak of Terrible Historical AnalogiesTrump and his allies are using the coronavirus to warp history. We can’t ignore their delusions.
  28. covid-19
    The Coronavirus Makes Trump’s Cruelty Toward Indian Country Even More DeadlyTrump’s enmity for Native Americans dates from his casino days. During the pandemic, it has deadly consequences.
  29. florida man
    Don’t Overthink Ron DeSantisThe Florida governor’s tenure teaches us about sycophancy, ineptitude, and reactionary politics.
  30. ahmaud arbery
    Never Stop RunningOn the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.
  31. coronavirus
    Even During a Pandemic, the NYPD Is Still the NYPDThe novel coronavirus hasn’t changed its basic nature.
  32. tara reade
    Tara Reade Is Making It Harder to Hide Joe BidenThat doesn’t mean his campaign will abandon its most effective strategy.
  33. inequality
    Are You Rich Enough to Survive This Pandemic?The vulnerable, the virus, and America’s willful blindness.
  34. covid-19
    Donald Trump and the Luxury of IrresponsibilityWhen washing one’s hands isn’t just a precaution against the coronavirus.
  35. covid-19
    Brian Kemp Doesn’t Answer to YouHe can “reopen” Georgia without fear because he’s insulated himself from democratic consequences.
  36. covid-19
    Wisconsin Justices Voted Absentee Before Making Everyone Else Vote in PersonSafety for me, risk of infection for thee.
  37. covid-19
    Who ‘Deserves’ Jail During a Pandemic?The Cook County Jail in Chicago is America’s biggest coronavirus hotspot. Why did we allow this?
  38. covid-19
    The Novel Coronavirus Is Devastating Black Communities. This Was Predictable.Wisconsin is an object lesson in how racist policies have created an environment that leaves black Americans vulnerable.
  39. covid-19
    Rikers Island Reports Its First COVID-Related Prisoner DeathMichael Tyson, 53, had been locked up for a noncriminal, technical parole violation.
  40. politics
    Andrew Cuomo Has Learned Nothing From the Coronavirus Catastrophe at RikersA newly low prison population has helped prevent a worse outbreak, but the governor’s budget turns back the clock.
  41. coronavirus
    ‘We’re Going to All Start Dropping’: Rikers Inmates on Being Prisoners of COVID“It’s like The Walking Dead in here.”
  42. coronavirus
    Coronavirus Fears Spark Prison Strikes, Protests, and Riots Around the WorldFrom Colombia to France to the U.S., prisoners are struggling to protect themselves where their jailers won’t.
  43. death penalty
    Colorado Abolishes the Death Penalty, Becoming the 22nd State to Do SoGovernor Jared Polis obeyed COVID-19 era social distancing mandates and announced his historic signing via press release.
  44. coronavirus
    Officials Are Using the Coronavirus to Expand the Criminal-Justice SystemOfficials are asking for — and doling out — increased law-enforcement power.
  45. democratic primaries
    Stacey Abrams Is Joe Biden’s Strongest Running-Mate Prospect, Poll FindsData for Progress found that a Biden-led ticket featuring the former Georgia legislator polls uniquely well across a wide range of voters.
  46. immigration
    ICE Was a Danger to Immigrants. The Coronavirus Makes It a Danger to Everyone.The spread of the pandemic has made the agency’s reign of terror untenable.
  47. coronavirus
    Rikers Island Prisoner Tests Positive for CoronavirusAdvocates have long warned about the deadly stakes of a jail or prison outbreak.
  48. democratic primaries
    Kim Foxx Wins Reelection in Chicago, Despite Jussie Smollett CaseOpponents’ efforts to make the race a referendum on the Jussie Smollett case appear to have failed.
  49. coronavirus
    Thank God David A. Clarke Isn’t Running a County Jail AnymoreHe really wants you to expose yourself to novel coronavirus.
  50. coronavirus
    Pandemics Are a Great Reason to De-carcerateCoronavirus could wreak havoc on jails and prisons. If their inhumane conditions weren’t a self-evident reason to shrink them, this should be.
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