René Bryce-Laporte

Principal, Bryce-Laporte Information and Consulting

Last week U.S. Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) pleaded guilty to cocaine possession. While this is likely not an easy time for the congressman, let us be clear: He has many reasons relevant to this case to be grateful this Thanksgiving.

Avidan Milevsky

Professor of Psychology, Therapist, Author, Parenting media expert

As a society we do not emphasize enough the important role that parents play in the lives of children. Let's get back to basics: parents.

John Roman, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow, Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute

Noting that the American criminal justice system handles criminal cases differently depending on race is hardly newsworthy. From stop-and-frisk to motor vehicle searches at traffic stops to sentencing, racial disparities abound in modern America. However, until the George Zimmerman trial for Trayvon Martin's death, one gaping disparity had received little attention.

Yolande Cadore

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Drug Policy Alliance

With a very heavy heart, as a mother and advocate for drug policy reform, I wish other mothers and fathers who are victims of the drug war a "happy" holidays -- but can one truly have a "happy" holidays when there's an empty chair at the family table?

Anthony Papa

Manager, Media Relations, Drug Policy Alliance

I support and applaud President Obama's treatment of turkeys. But I have to ask the president: what about the treatment of the more than 100,000 people who are incarcerated in the federal system because of the war on drugs?

Caroline Fredrickson

President, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy

The impact of money in state court elections is not limited to criminal cases. Studies show that -- consciously or unconsciously -- judges tend to rule in favor of the interests of their contributors.

Larry Bodine

Journalist and Lawyer

Nothing is more compelling than an eyewitness who says in court, "that's him" and points at the defendant. But a growing body of evidence now shows the unreliability of eyewitness testimony -- and the horrendously wrong jury verdicts that eyewitnesses produce.

Davey D

Oakland resident, social justice avocate, adjunct professor, host of 'Hard Knock Radio' 94.1 FM

Many in the media are making it appear as if this is some sort of game spreading like wild fire from coast to coast. It's simply not true. The fact that they are taking any crime and calling it as part of Knockout Game trend is akin to when the police label every crime in certain communities "gang related."

Ellen Snortland

Lawyer Activist Author Playwright

In case you don't know women's history, the idea of dressing women and girls in such a way as to frustrate a rapist is as old as, well, castles, damsels-in-distress, rogue knights and Vikings.

Matthew Ebert

Writer, activist and rancher

There is no night. There is no day. There are lights that go on and off. I am not a human; I am a weed that the world hates, so they are going to whack me down with fake illumination and peanut-butter-and-baloney sandwiches. They are going to march me to my grave.

Steph Sherer

Executive Director, Americans for Safe Access

We've seen federal reviews and hearings that concluded the way cannabis is classified is flawed, that it is a safe and effective medicine whose 5,000-year history was merely prelude to the exciting scientific advances that promise cannabis-based treatments for many of the most devastating human ailments.

Christine Pelosi

Chair, CA Democratic Party Women's Caucus

It is a teaching moment that school officials covering up Steubenville rapes were indicted on the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women. It is infuriating that in the year 2013 we still have to teach the teachers that rape is rape. But it must be done.

Norma Patricia Esparza

Clinical psychologist and assistant professor, researcher and deputy head of psychology, Webster University, Geneva, Switzerland

I was raped in my college room at the age of 20. I did not report it to the police and now, 18 years later, I am facing murder charges and the death penalty for the death of my assailant. All because I did not turn to the police after I was raped.

Daryl Rowland

Award-winning screenwriter, humorist, political blogger and marketing consultant

Market research shows that the largest growth sector for illegal behavior is in corporate management. Prison owners hope to tap into that fertile market by appealing to local municipalities to get white collar criminals into the system early, where they can become lifelong customers.

Mike Weisser

Mike the Gun Guy

The NRA, the Washington Times, and all the other pro-gun stalwarts who make a living by ginning up the fears of gun owners every time someone says anything even remotely connected to gun control might do us a favor and stop concocting arguments out of whole cloth.

Tom Engelhardt

Editor, TomDispatch.com

Don't call this America a "police state," not given what that came to mean in the previous century, nor a "totalitarian" state, given what that meant back then. The truth is that we have no appropriate name, label, or descriptive term for ourselves.

Jerome D. Williams

Distinguished professor and Prudential Chair in Business, Rutgers Business School

Indeed, shoplifting does come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and in some instances, evidence suggests that other racial/ethnic groups actually are more likely to engage in shoplifting than blacks.