Respect’s spring 2026 issue features articles on bias in facial recognition technology, DEI bans, and Immigration. A PDF of Respect’s spring 2026 edition can be downloaded or individual articles can be read and printed from Respect’s blog, The Rundown.
Any questions, contact the editor of Respect, Jodi L. Miller. She can be reached via email at jmiller@njsbf.org.
Here are the headlines from the Spring 2026 Edition:
America’s Complicated Relationship with Immigration
In 1958, when former President John F. Kennedy was a U.S. senator, he wrote an essay titled, A Nation of Immigrants, which would later become a book after his death. The title recognized the notion that unless you are the descendant of a Native American or an enslaved person, everyone in the United States can trace their ancestry to an immigrant who came to this country—the land of opportunity—from somewhere else looking for a better life.
The phrase dates back to an 1874 editorial published in The Daily State Journal of Alexandria. The full quote published in the editorial is “We are a nation of immigrants and immigrants’ children.” It was written to support a Virginia Senate bill encouraging European immigration. READ MORE
Courts Block DEI Ban in Schools
Imagine being a teacher afraid to discuss the 1960s Civil Rights Movement with your class because your school could lose federal funding. That fear became real for educators across the country in early 2025 when the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter threatening to revoke federal money from any school that kept its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The letter warned against “illegal DEI practices,” but never explained what that means. READ MORE
Legal Implications of Facial Recognition Technology
Facial recognition technology (FRT) can be helpful and make life easier, providing security control measures for accessing phones, computers, or smart homes. A broader picture shows how the technology has been integrated into everyday biometric security, allowing entry into public spaces like airports, schools and sports venues.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent, nonpartisan agency that assists the U.S. Congress with investigations, more than two-thirds of police departments across the country use FRT, mostly through body cams, dash cams or phones.
When FRT works, it can be great. Like any technology, however, FRT has flaws. Experts recommend that the technology be used as a tool to help generate leads for police investigations, but not as proof of someone’s guilt. That is because sometimes, the “matches” are incorrect, and innocent people can be misidentified. READ MORE
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