1. When I read these arrogant whiners at Harpers complaining essentially about experiencing criticism for the garbage they write and having the gall to call that “cancel culture,” I’m reminded of the dangers – not that long ago – of speaking out against mass incarceration
2. When I helped to exonerate a client a decade ago, the local defense counsel told me he couldn’t come to the press conference if we were going to talk about prosecutorial misconduct because such talk would injure his ability to work in the county.
3. When friends and I began a blog about prosecutorial misconduct, after much discussion, we decided to use pseudonyms because – even though we knew that would limit our credibility – it would have been impossible for some to work if our identities were public.
4. Similarly with marijuana activism, getting people to ”come out of the closet” was difficult and public and private figures were injured and ridiculed when information came out about their pot smoking.
5. For christ sakes, when friends built a p.r. agency to work on mass incarceration-related issues, the agency was a semi-secret endeavor; the mere idea they were speaking on behalf of people who did bad things carried dangers for clients & the prospect of consequences.
6. Still today, sex workers face real dangers when they speak up. So do prisoners – some of whom risk reprisal using contraband cellphones to tell us about the horrors of our prisons. Defense attorneys continue to risk getting bad plea deals for future clients if they speak up.
7. Shit, when I helped a kid release an audio tape of him being abused by NYPD as he was stopped/frisked, he was convinced he would end up dead like Ramarley. I talked him down and urged him to be brave, not knowing whether he was being histrionic or prescient.
8. Social change has always demanded that the marginalized, the powerless, the free thinkers, show courage to be heard. To hear the most comfortable people with the largest platforms complain about far less is some real bullshit. Cowards all of them.
9. One more thing: The Wall Street Journal published a piece essentially calling for *the arrest* of my dear friend Laura Poitras for her reporting on the fact that the government was illegally spying on us. She lived in exile. Fuck your cancel culture.
