The Latest on The Lowdown

Welcome to the first issue of the Lowdown newsletter, a bi-weekly round-up of recent articles and teacher resources featured on the site.Please contact us with questions or ideas you have for future coverage   California Police Killed More than 150 in 2014     The Lowdown analyzed user-submitted media reports to a site called Killed By the Police, and found 156 incidents in which on-duty officers killed civilians last year in California. We look at the lack of federal data on officer-related fatalities, and map each of the 156 incidents in California.Read the Post     Mapping America's Abortion Laws     January 22 marked the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide. But today, the practice is still very much under attack, and restrictions vary significantly by state. We map the different rules and rates.Read the Post   The March on Washington 50 Years Later     In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement led the now famed March on Washington, announcing a set of demands for legal and economic equality. But today, more than 50 years later, many of those demands are still unrealized. We look at where African-Americans have made the most and least progress, particularly in terms of economics. This post also includes a downloadable lesson plan.Read the Post     Should More Police Live Where They Serve?     In the bay area, a very small percentage of police officers live in the cities where they serve, according to our extensive analysis. We map these rates by city and discuss the issue in greater depth.Read the Post