1/ Today @MotherJones and @typeinvestigate published a major investigation into the US Marshals' detention archipelago. Deaths, dereliction of duty, private prisons, anti-immigrant policies, this piece by @SethFW has it all: motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW 2/ We also partnered with @LatinoUSA, whose producers made this amazing accompanying documentary n.pr/2W8F1xu
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 3/ The US Marshals run a bigger detention system than ICE, with a higher death rate. Here's @SethFW
with a quick overview:
with a quick overview:
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 4/ To get this story, @Sethfw had to sue the US Marshals and go into repeated court battles: motherjones.com/crime-justice/… 
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 5/ The US Marshals are the nation's older law enforcement agency. First agents appointed by George Washington. It's job has historically been to enforce the will of the federal courts, and bring law and order where there is none. You probably think of this guy
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 7/ And something I didn't now, this guy was also a US Marshal! (I hear he's getting noticed, more and more)
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 8/ The Marshals detain (for days, weeks, months...) federal pre-trial detainees. Which is to say, none of these people have been found guilty. That population was first swelled by the War on Drugs...
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 9/ But the war on immigrants have swelled it anew, especially with the Trump administration's decision to criminalize more border violations—which is the pretext they used to take children from their parents. motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 10/ Now the Marshals hold detainees in about 1,100 jails and private facilities around the country. bit.ly/2PjMqIW
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 11/ So the population of Marshals' detainees—again, no one has been proven guilty—is swelling again: motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA And the death rate is nuts. Three times that of ICE detention facilities:
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 13/ "Wait! How come I've never heard of this?" you might be wondering. Well, it's because Marshals detainees are scattered all over the country, held in some of the worst local jails and private prisions
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 14/ The Marshals far flung detention system flies so below the radar that the agency's role in Jeffrey Epstein's detention and death was barely noted: motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 15/ But the other reason you've never heard about this is that the Marshals fought in court for a year to keep @SethFW from getting the hundreds of inspections and death reports from coming to light
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 16/ The Marshals essentially contract out with private prisons and local jails to house their detainees. This brings those companies and municipalities a LOT of money, ie your tax dollars. motherjones.com/impeachment/20…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 17/ Without that injection of federal dollars, many of those jails and private prisons could not afford to operate.
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 18/ The Marshals perform *extremely* perfunctory inspections of facilities, basically designed to allow these places to keep functioning, regardless of horrid conditions or deaths. They have a chance and a window for real oversight, and instead they give cover to bad prisons.
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 19/ Case in point, Joe Arpaio motherjones.com/crime-justice/…
@MotherJones @typeinvestigate @SethFW @LatinoUSA 20/ Will leave you (for the moment) with this video on the story and how @sethfw got it:
