Critical read: For those suggesting an answer to police violence is social workers working hand-in-hand w/ them to respond to crises: "The same system responsible for our clients’ trauma, humiliation, & suffering should not take a role in their redemption."slate.com/news-and-polit…
The author, Lori James-Townes, was former head social worker for the Maryland public defense system. "Social workers cant build trust w/ people if we respond to a crisis accompanied by police. Police come armed w/ Tasers, guns, & batons, prepared to deploy violence & punishment."
The need for social workers to respond w/o police is based in trauma. "Many of those I serve are survivors of violence—often inflicted by police. When they call for help during a crisis, police regularly escalate rather than diffuse conflict. They traumatize the people we serve."
The need for social workers to respond w/o police is based in history: "Police were created to maintain & perpetuate many of our deepest social problems, from slavery to racial segregation. Attempting to do social work while police hover nearby would be emotionally violent."
Fire and truth: "The need to separate social working from policing, is not just a practical, outcome-oriented matter. It is a moral imperative. Social workers must not be complicit in a system of violence founded on racial oppression."
But more than social workers are needed. Must be "paired w/ profound investment in public health, housing, education, jobs, poverty alleviation, & a mental health system that does not simply replicate the existing system of oppression."
UPDATE: His life dream was to “make apple rainbow playdough slime.” It has begun. Slime ingredients on left. Play dough on right. Apple right on the middle. Updates to come.
Everyday, public defenders witness the dangerous lack of accountability for police. I think often about the officer I crossed examined who laughed when I asked him how many times he had been sued, how much the settlements were. His response: “I have no idea. City pays for me.”
Everyday, public defenders witness the dangerous lack of accountability for police. I think about the officer found incredible by one judge who I then saw weeks later waiting to have another judge sign a warrant sworn by him to search someone's home. nytimes.com/2019/09/25/opi…
Everyday, public defenders witness the dangerous lack of accountability for police. I think about the team of officers in Brooklyn my colleague and I discovered were planting guns on middle age black men to get awards and promotions:nytimes.com/2014/12/12/nyr…
Meanwhile, white people are getting rich on the industry in other states. Legalize marijuana. End the war on drugs. Invest in communities. And then prioritize licenses for entrepreneurs ONLY from the communities the NYPD has devastated with costly & wasteful arrests like this.
Legalization is a civil & human rights issue. I don’t care if you don’t care for the smell of weed. Or buy into false narrative it is a gateway drug. Or oppose drug use on moral grounds. Prohibition is objectively, observably racist & destructive.
Meet Michael Thompson is 68. Serving 60 years in Michigan for a marijuana sale 25 years ago. Mom, dad, & son died while inside. Was cuffed at his mom's funeral. Her dying wish was he wouldn't die in prison. Was hospitalized w/ COVID. More:abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-in…
BREAKING: Human Rights Watch (@hrw) out with horrifying investigation. The brutal NYPD attack on hundreds of protestors in early June in the Bronx wasn't just criminal & unconstitutional. It was *planned*. NYPD used the curfew to trap, assault, & arrest. hrw.org/news/2020/09/3…
"About 10 minutes before curfew scores of NYPD surrounded & trapped protesters–tactic called “kettling”–as they marched peacefully. W/o warning, they moved in, wielding batons, beating people from car tops, shoving, firing pepper spray into faces before arresting more than 250."
Human Rights Watch: “NYPD blocked people from leaving before the curfew & then used the curfew as an excuse to beat, abuse, and arrest people who were protesting peacefully. It was a planned operation with no justification that could cost New York taxpayers millions of dollars.”
Update in P.G. County, MD. 3 months later. The jail population is up over 700. 200+ more than even the jail admitted in court was "safe" from COVID. New cases are spiking in Black overpoliced communities. Those arrested brought in. Courts just closed out Court Watch from Zoom.
Back when Fiona Apple read 1 of over 60 sworn declarations, local public defenders were banging their heads against the wall. Top prosecutor Aisha Braveboy (@SABraveboy) was doing nothing. And local judges were so cold they started issuing boilerplate denial decisions:
60+declarations like this. All submitted to Obama-nominated Paula Xinis. On June 22, she expressed her frustration. Called them "unhelpful." Potentially "isolated" incidents. Only "marginally relevant." Complained it hard to "cull the chaff from the wheat." Yet credited the jail.