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Clint Smith @ClintSmithIII
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
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YOU CANT END MASS
INCARCERATION BY ONLY
RELEASING NONVIOLENT
DRUG OFFENDERS ALSO
THE FALSE BINARY BTWN
VIOLENT & NONVIOLENT
IS VERY MISLEADING
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(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ 　 っ
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
FOCUSING ONLY ON NON
VIOLENT OFFENSES CAN UNINTENTIONALLY MAKE CARICATURES OF PEOPLE SENTENCED FOR VIOLENT
CRIMES & IMPLY THEYRE
LESS WORTHY OF EMPATHY
|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ 　 っ
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
THIS IS A DIFFICULT MEME
TO MASTER BECAUSE YOU
DONT KNOW WHERE TO
START THE NEXT SENTENCE
SO THAT EVERYTHING FITS INSIDE
THE SIGN THIS IS MAD
STRESSFUL
|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ 　 っ
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More from @ClintSmithIII see all

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A reminder that responding to xenophobic rhetoric by saying things like "But Steve Jobs' dad was an immigrant!" or "Albert Einstein was an immigrant!" while well-intentioned, contribute to the idea that immigration should only be understood in transactional, capitalistic terms.
No one should have to justify seeking safety for their family by trying to convince us that they'll invent new technology or cure cancer or make people rich. Market-based ideologies have tried to tell us that these are the metrics we should use, rather than our sense of empathy.
I'm less interested in immigration policy that's trying to find the next Steve Jobs than I am in policies that treat people escaping violence & poverty with dignity & compassion.
Read 3 tweets
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2019 marks the 400th year since enslaved Africans were brought here, before this was even a country. Black people have only had any semblance of full citizenship for about 50 yrs. I don't think the public always grasps the enormity of state-sanctioned oppression on that timeline.
If you kick someone for 350 years, and then stop kicking them (but really just kick them in a different way) for a *seventh* of the amount of time you spent kicking them, it would be completely disingenuous to look at the person and be like, "What's wrong with you? Just get up."
I just think it's worth reflecting on the incessant, intergenerational violence that black folks in this country have experienced, and the sheer amount of time they've experienced it for. All things considered, it's remarkable what our community has done in spite of this history.
Read 3 tweets
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I’m always struck by ppl who express admiration for those like Douglass & Tubman while labeling policies that attempt to build a more just & moral society “unrealistic.” Do these ppl think abolishing slavery was widespread & popular policy proposal in the 19th century? It wasn’t.
The US had quite literally never existed w/o the institution of slavery alongside it. The first enslaved Africans arrived in 1619 & the US became an independent nation in 1776.

Abolition required imagining a country that had never existed, a radical reconception of the republic.
So when I see ppl who express admiration for something like the abolition of slavery, but who turn around & say that something like The Green New Deal is unrealistic, it seems to demonstrate a lack of understanding of how meaningful social change has ever happened in the country.
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

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I wrote the thread below on Monday to preview #overlookedelectionstakes: stuff that's way-under-the-radar but so crucial. Now that you've digested the big-picture stuff, time to delve back into all that. In this new thread, I'll review the results of those stakes—& add new ones.
North Carolina: GOP's rumored hope to pack state Supreme Court was thwarted as civil rights attorney Anita Earls ousted Justice Jackson & expanded Dems' majority from 4-3 to 5-2. (Court can only have 2 more seats.) Matters for voting rights litigation. #overlookedelectionstakes
New Hampshire: Safiya Wazir, a one-time refugee, ousted state Rep. Dick Patten in a Dem primary. But Patten attacked Wazir for being an immigrant & a mother, & he endorsed Wazir's GOP opponent. Yesterday, Wazir won. She's heading to the state House. #overlookedelectionstakes
Read 49 tweets
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Happy Saturday everyone! Preparing for a day in court. 9-5 arraignment shift. Meeting everyone arrested in Brooklyn within the last 24-48 hours. Why? Because mass incarceration doesn’t get a day of rest in the fourth largest city in America. Follow along for observations.
Necessary ammunition:

1. Coffee
2. To-go coffee
3. Water
4. Ibuprofen just in case
5. Phone charger
6. Court ID
7. Pens
8. Biz cards
9. Memobook
10. Legal pad
11. Blank notices (more on that below)
12. Calendar (google printouts bc I lost my calendar this week)
These are my blank “notices of appearance.” They represent the unknown humans who I’ll soon meet & the stories that they’ll soon share. New York AGAINST ___________. They’ll just be a docket number to the court. Just a charge & record to prosecution. My job is to individualize.
Read 28 tweets
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An absolutely transformative result for criminal justice reform in Boston. Rachel Rollins ran by saying: "We need to end mass incarceration and restore justice in our communities."

She'll replace a DA who resisted reform. Let me quickly go over her platform.
Rollins ran on supporting repeal of mandatory minimums, on ending the use of cash bail for low-level offenses, and on increasing the use of diversion & restorative justice programs. She pledged to release demographic data relating to charging decisions.
Rollins released a list of lower-level offenses (incl. drug possession & disorderly conduct) that she'll adopt a default policy of not prosecuting. She'll either dismiss them or treat them as civil infractions. rollins4da.com/policy/charges…

And she says reform needs to go further:
Read 5 tweets
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I just pledged to vote like my rights depend on it.
Join me & become an #ACLUVoter today: aclu.org/voter/?message…
VOTE

END MASS INCARCERATION
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM
RACIAL JUSTICE
EXPAND RIGHT TO VOTE
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
LGBTQ RIGHTS
NET NEUTRALITY
DISABILITY RIGHTS
END SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
JUVENILE JUSTICE
PRIVACY RIGHTS
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
FREE SPEECH
END MANDATORY MINIMUM
86% of the time @SenKamalaHarris has voted with the @ACLU to defend & advance our civil rights & civil liberties.

Are your members of Congress fighting for civil rights?

aclu.org/voter/
Read 5 tweets
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Is it possible to turn around a low-performing school district w/o generating significant public resistance? My recently released paper on 2012 Lawrence, MA state takeover suggests the answer is YES & provides guidance on implementing politically viable district improvement. 1/14
To understand the public response, I analyzed press coverage, public documents, & survey data and I interviewed turnaround and stakeholder group leaders at the state and district level regarding the first 3 years of reform. 2/14
Full paper: scholar.harvard.edu/files/schueler…
Although LPS was not w/o controversy, it was milder than typical cases of districtwide turnaround (e.g., TN, NOLA, Newark). I find minimal signs of resistance from parents, educators & students. Local electeds supported takeover. The teachers union took a cooperative stance. 3/14
Read 14 tweets
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SMH.

Let me tell you about Sacramento's Sheriff.

His county rejected Trump by 20+ points.

buzzfeed.com/blakemontgomer…
Here's him (far right) meeting with Trump and Sessions recently at the White House.

Needless to say this guy is FAR right.
Here is is hanging out in Sacramento with the head of Trump's ICE.

Are you starting to get a sense for his moral compass?
Read 10 tweets

Trending hashtags

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