A New York City organization called Brownsville In Violence Out is part of an experiment organizers believe could redefine law-enforcement: letting neighbors instead of police respond to low-level street crime. Several times a year, workers from the group stand sentry on two blocks for five days. The police channel all 911 calls from that area to the civilians. Unless there is a major incident or a victim demands an arrest, plainclothes officers shadow the workers. The civilians lack arrest powers. They have persuaded people to turn in illegal guns, prevented shoplifting, kept a man from robbing a bodega and stopped a pregnant woman from hitting a boyfriend who had failed to buy a promised car seat and stroller, the New York Times reports. They are part of the Brownsville Safety Alliance, made up of local groups, police officers and district attorney employees that is trying to ensure that fewer people are arrested and entangled in the criminal justice system. Over the next three years, the city will provide $2.1 million to help link local organizations in the Safety Alliance so that they can work cohesively throughout the year. The effort mirrors others that have sprung up after demonstrations to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. They are meant to reduce the use of officially sanctioned force, using a neighborhood’s innate desire for order as a tool. Residents have embraced the concept, said Nyron Campbell of Brownsville In Violence Out. “They say, ‘We feel more safe. We can walk without feeling anxiety,’” he said. “While they know that we do need police, it’s possible that we can police ourselves.” The idea came from Terrell Anderson, who in 2020 took over as commander of the area’s 73rd Precinct. Raised in Brownsville, he promised to rebuild the precinct’s relationship with a wary community.

Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law designed to place strict limits on drag shows was ruled unconstitutional by federal judge Thomas Parker. The law is both “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad” and encouraged “discriminatory enforcement,” Parker said. "There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law.” Parker said, reports the Associated Press. The law would have banned adult cabaret performances from public property or anywhere minors might be present. Performers risked being charged with a misdemeanor or a felony for a repeat offense. Parker used the example of a female performer in an Elvis Presley costume and mimicking the iconic musician who could risk punishment because she would be considered a “male impersonator.” Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based LGBTQ+ theater company, challenged the law, saying the law would harm hem because they produce “drag-centric performances, comedy sketches, and plays” with no age restrictions. The group called the ruling "a triumph over hate ... our collective success relies upon everyone speaking out and taking a stand against bigotry.” Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a sponsor of the law, said the decision was a "victory for those who support exposing children to sexual entertainment." The word “drag” doesn’t appear in the statute. Lawmakers changed the state’s definition of adult cabaret to mean “adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors.”

Students pushed Nevada middle school teacher into a set of lockers and ended up dazed on the floor. So far this year, students in the Washoe County School District have committed more than three dozen acts of criminal battery against staff. “Most minutes of the school day everything is fine, but then there are these flashpoints of violence,” school board president Beth Smith tells the Wall Street Journal. Across the U.S., violence against teachers has increased since the widespread return to in-person learning in 2021, and in some areas the problem is worse than it was prepandemic. The data are limited, because many states don’t track teacher assaults. From September through May, the number of assault-related workers’ compensation claims filed at 2,000 schools around the U.S. topped 1,350, a five-year high, says claims and risk-management services firm Gallagher Bassett. The average cost of claims increased 26% to $6,700 compared with 2018-19. High-profile attacks on educators have made national headlines, such as in Newport News, Va., where a 6-year-old student shot teacher Abigail Zwerner in January. In March, two administrators at Denver’s East High School were shot by a 17-year-old student who fled and was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. In a nationwide American Psychological Association survey of nearly 15,000 teachers and staff from July 2020 to June 2021, 14% of teachers reported physical violence from students, and 49% of teachers said they wanted to quit or switch schools. Many teachers are hurt intervening in fights, some are targeted. The incidents go along with more attention on violence in schools, including fighting and bullying among students. “Across the board, we continue to see significant mental and behavioral health challenges with youth, some of which are manifesting in violence and aggression to fellow students and staff,” said Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach of the National Association of School Psychologists. She said greater access to school psychologists, counselors and social workers is needed, along with increased involvement of families.