Federal Trial Unravels Years of Police Corruption in Baltimore

Coming up on today’s show:

• Closing arguments are scheduled to begin today in the federal corruption trial of two Baltimore police officers. This week, new revelations emerged in the case: On Monday, a convicted detective testified that he used to steal money with Det. Sean Suiter, who was killed a day before he was set to testify before a federal grand jury in November. The Takeaway gets the latest on the trial from Jayne Miller, an investigative reporter with WBAL-TV. And Kathryn Frey-Balter, a former Maryland public defender, joins to discuss how police corruption in Baltimore reflects larger systemic injustices in our country and culture.

• This week, the Supreme Court denied a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to stay a ruling ordering the state to redraw its congressional districts for the 2018 elections. That leaves lawmakers with just days to get a new map through the legislature; if they fail, the courts will draw the map instead. Emily Bazelon, a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, provides a look at what this all means for Pennsylvania — and what it could mean for other states — ahead of 2018.

• On Tuesday, the House passed a pair of measures intended to revamp the way sexual harassment complaints are handled in Congress. One is a bill that includes a provision requiring lawmakers to pay for workplace misconduct settlements involving their personal liability. Elana Schor, acongressional reporter for Politico, explains what these changes could mean for a process that has been shown to be out-of-date, difficult-to-navigate, and deters people from coming forward.

• Amtrak is experiencing record high ridership, but the rail service has had a number of fatal accidents over the past few months. The incidents raise questions about investment in infrastructure, and whether the safety of passengers and crew is being prioritized by Amtrak. Bart Jansen, a transportation reporter for USA Today, separates myth from reality when it comes to passenger safety, and gives us a sense of what Amtrak might do next to improve its record.

• Beginning in April, Israel plans to start deporting tens of thousands of African migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, if they do not meet a deadline to leave the country. The government has already pushed tens of thousands of people out, but 40,000 still remain. Now an intense liberal backlash is emerging to the plan to expel those who’ve stayed, with a message that Israel shouldn’t be turning anyone away. Ilan Lior, an immigration correspondent for Haaretz, explains the situation. 

• Every week this month, we’re teaming up with PRI’s podcast, “The Science of Happiness,” for a look at the research behind what can make us happy and successful. For this installment, we focus on an exercise called “Three Good Things.” That’s the practice of writing down and reflecting on three good things that happened to you during the day. Host Dacher Keltner’s “happiness guinea pig” for this episode is freelance journalist Shuka Kalantari. Dacher discusses Shuka’s experience trying out the exercise, and explains psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky’s thoughts about how and why the exercise actually works.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.