Meet Julia Marsh. Columbia Journalism School grad. City Hall Bureau Chief for NY Post. And peddler of fearmongering lies on behalf of prosecutors & police. “Journalists” like her perpetuate mass incarceration at expense of truth & predominately Black & Latinx communities. Thread: 
You can always count on @nypost to do the dirty work of pro-carceral forces. I pay less attention to who is writing their dangerous messages. Came across Julia after her 3rd article slamming $12 million that will be spent supporting struggling people instead of jailing them.
In her article, Julia raises the alarm on release of “900 jailbirds” & criminals—actual humans stuck on Rikers on misdemeanors & nonviolent felonies, too poor to purchase their freedom—who may get incentives on top of reminders to come to court. How dare NY spend money on them?
Turns out: supervised release works. People come back to court overwhelmingly. Exceptionally few people released get rearrested. People keep jobs, housing, & their families. Only costs $12 million. If Julia was actually concerned, the cost to incarcerate same people?$272 million.
I took a look through just the last five days of Julia Marsh’s reporting. Here are some words she uses to describe people accused of crime:
“Punks”
“Criminals”
“Jailbirds”
“Inmates who get sprung”
The hate & disdain seethes from her writing.
“Punks”
“Criminals”
“Jailbirds”
“Inmates who get sprung”
The hate & disdain seethes from her writing.
Julia Marsh wrote about a man she called a “heroin-addled ex-con” & “addict.” This man was shot in neck by police, which partially paralyzed half of his body. She was upset a civil jury awarded him $11 million in damages after they rejected the cops testimony & found they lied.
By the way, here is Raoul Lopez. He is the survivor of an attempted murder by police who lied to justify their use of force. He’s been through enough. Doesn’t deserve to be dragged by a pro-carceral journalist because she’s unhappy the NYPD will have to pay out for his assailant.
On common sense, measured reforms in NY-bail, discovery, & raising the age of criminal accountability-Julia Marsh gifts cops opportunity to anonymously sell fear. And she calls changes:
“Extreme criminal-justice reforms”
“Criminal-friendly initiatives”
“Soft on crime measures”
“Extreme criminal-justice reforms”
“Criminal-friendly initiatives”
“Soft on crime measures”
This is just a survey of the *last five days* of one “reporters” writings on criminal justice. Multiply this 1000s across the country. Media drives public opinion. Public opinion drives lawmakers. Lawmakers make irrational decisions based on what they think constituents want.
Media makes mass punishment possible.
Sensationalized media coverage of crime influences public perceptions, which allows politicians to pass harsh laws disproportionately hurting Black & brown communities while undermining public safety.
Sensationalized media coverage of crime influences public perceptions, which allows politicians to pass harsh laws disproportionately hurting Black & brown communities while undermining public safety.
Here’s @adamjohnson on how media helped prosecutors & police weaponize a tragedy: “The public’s perception of crime is often significantly out of alignment w/ reality. This is caused, in part, by frequently sensationalist, decontextualized media coverage.” theappeal.org/new-york-china…
Also, *the* expert on this phenomenon is Professor @RachelBarkow. If you haven't already picked up the brilliant & important "Prisoners of Politics" -- do so. I spent a weeklong vacation digging in & marking the whole thing up.
Bottom line: Right now in NY we have an opportunity to transform our legal system. For the benefit of all. We need to have patience. We know jail doesn’t work. We know other solutions do. Identify the Julia Marshes. Know what they’re doing. Call them out on it. You know better.
What can you do now: Sign this petition calling on @nypost & @juliakmarsh to stop spreading false information and hate to incite irrational fear in communities. act.colorofchange.org/sign/ny-post-b…
Proving my point: Here’s NY GOP spokesperson sharing @jukiakmarsh’s propaganda. Supervised release, w/ supports like $10 gift cards for food, is not new & not "b/c of so-called bail reform." It’s also an enormous cost saver that enhances public safety.
