Martin Kaste
Martin Kaste is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. He covers law enforcement and privacy. He has been focused on police and use of force since before the 2014 protests in Ferguson, and that coverage led to the creation of NPR's Criminal Justice Collaborative.
In addition to criminal justice reporting, Kaste has contributed to NPR News coverage of major world events, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the 2011 uprising in Libya.
Kaste has reported on the government's warrant-less wiretapping practices as well as the data collection and analysis that go on behind the scenes in social media and other new media. His privacy reporting was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 United States v. Jones ruling concerning GPS tracking.
Before moving to the West Coast, Kaste spent five years as NPR's reporter in South America. He covered the drug wars in Colombia, the financial meltdown in Argentina, the rise of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and the fall of Haiti's president Jean Bertrand Aristide. Throughout this assignment, Kaste covered the overthrow of five presidents in five years.
Prior to joining NPR in 2000, Kaste was a political reporter for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul for seven years.
Kaste is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
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A scandal over racist and violent social media posts by police officers has led to investigations in several cities. What's the damage to public trust, and how much free speech should cops have?
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Tennessee is caught in a vicious cycle: Fear of gun crime in traffic has caused more people to carry guns in their cars, which has created a new supply of stolen guns for criminals. -
The Supreme Court ruled that seizing a $42,000 Land Rover was an "excessive fine" in a recent landmark decision on civil asset forfeiture. Future rulings will have to further define that term. -
The probe of two Boeing plane crashes is focused, for the moment, on software. We examine how software has become a common fix for problems with hardware across industries, and how it can go too far.
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Boeing's 737 Max line has been grounded, making things tricky at the plant near Seattle. It's filled with undelivered 737s and it's not clear what will happen to them.
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The House is voting Wednesday and Thursday to "enhance" the background check system for gun purchases. One proposed fix is extra time for the checkers.
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By refusing to enforce the gun-control law, it's the latest example of sheriffs who claim they have a special duty to resist "bad" laws in the name of the people who elected them.
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The federal ban on bump stocks announced in December takes effect March 26. Sellers and gun rights groups are taking advantage of that extra time to boost sales, despite the upcoming ban. -
Prisons are already understaffed, but employees there are considered essential and must work without pay as the federal government shutdown continues.
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A hot job market and skepticism about law enforcement are making it harder for police departments across the country to replace officers who are retiring.
