In the noise of national news, you may have missed that Lake Charles, LA was devastated by Hurricane Laura. And the public defender office was destroyed. Records gone. Defenders now homeless. Scattered through the state. Literally looking for their clients. They need help. More:
Their plea: "In this case 'we have no office' is literally true. Something like 100,000 in furnishings, fixtures, computers, office supplies, files, & every thing you can imagine. Gone." There's a GoFundMe now set up to help impacted lawyers. gofundme.com/f/lacdl-hurric…
This public defender office was a leader. When the pandemic began to rage in Louisiana, they were one of the first to seek humanitarian release for people caged pretrial over the strenuous objection of the DA. kplctv.com/2020/04/07/pub…
From Lake Charles defenders: "But the challenge is more than the trials, the litigation for effective counsel, & the daily work in a state that is a world leader for incarceration. This challenge was Hurricane Laura, & the 150 mile per hour winds that set an all time record."
"This challenge was the public defenders finding that their office was obliterated & wind & water to such an extreme extent that nothing could be salvaged." Please help now for outreach to clients, for startup money, & other urgent needs."gofundme.com/f/lacdl-hurric…
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“No judge has ever lost their job setting bail on someone.”
A NYC judge whispered that. To a public defender. Before depriving their destitute client of freedom. This happens every day. Judges are intimidated to throw poor people in cages.
Thread on a history of intimidation:
Public defenders @elizaorlins & @APetrigh tell about the open secret of "justice" throughout the country People are deprived of liberty, not based on merit. But judicial fear of negative press.
"The NYPD’s recent social media attack against a judge who released a defendant under supervision instead of setting bail and detaining them. The case drew headlines because the NYPD’s aggressive social media posts were full of misinformation, including misidentifying the judge."
How copaganda works. Police, prosecutor, & prison interests use media to exaggerate & lie about "sensational" cases. Amplify them on repeat. Create the *perception* that "crime" or "migrants" are a "Crisis!"
Perpetual anger/fear buys votes & public opinion. Facts be damned.
How copaganda works. Police release a highly edited video that doesn't include their unprovoked, violent, & unjustified attack on a migrant. Manufactured "outcry" ensues. Lawmakers call for sweeping policy changes. New video later released. It's too late. Profound damage done.
How copaganda works. Even after previously withheld police footage showed the "attack on police" in Times Square was the opposite: An unprovoked attack *by police* on innocent people, reports continue only center the lie.
None (that I've seen) report on the overt police lie.
An interesting story for you. Was catching up w/ a friend at coffeeshop. The mother of her friend walked by & joined us briefly. She’s from Chicago. She told us a story about talking to a Chicago police officer. Thanking him for his service.
What he told her will surprise you.
As quick background, she is a white woman. In her 60s. Well off. Grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Now downtown. Forever Dem. Supported the end of cash bail. But is “fed up” w/ “all the violence.” Thinks “something has to be done.”
She saw a cop the other day & went up to him.
She told the cop how scared she was by everything she was reading in the news. Couldn’t imagine how tough things were “for him” given the “crime rates.” (Note: Homicides are down significantly in most of Chicago, but violence remains a scourge).
Extraordinary work again from @TeenVogue -- the best justice journalism outlet in the country. On the day that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, they release a critical explainer on "Copaganda."
How to identify & respond to lies & fearmongering about safety. Watch:
Must watch. The week that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, local experts debunk harmful myths that the media peddles about bail reform. In this @TeenVogue video explainer.
"This fear has been built up & stoked by media misinformation. A refrain. A scapegoat " Watch:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.
Teen Vogue out again w/ the best in political commentary, justice journalism & truth. A compelling & easily digestible explainer on "Abolition."
New vision of safety: "If policing prosecution & incarceration created safety, we'd be the safest country in the world." Watch. Learn:
When people hear the word "abolition" they think 'crazy leftist.' 'Idealistic.'
In reality: "We're the clear eyed ones. We have the whole history of the world to let us know what were doing now is not sustainable. We want a world where violence isn't the norm." Part 2:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.
An important story to share. With a conservative Supreme Court for decades to come, state judges are more important & powerful than ever before.We should all care about state court decisions.
But right now, NY judges are fighting against any scrutiny. Calling it "intimidation."
As a public defender, even judges would admit the outsized media influence on their decisionmaking. "What if I end up on the cover of NY Post?" So theyd condemn people to Rikers.
But soon as researchers began studying their behavior, judges attacked it as "dangerous." More:
Judges are some of the most powerful actors in the criminal legal system. They perpetuate mass incarceration through their sentences and bail decisions. They decide if the cops violated the constitution or not.
Yet judges mostly operate in empty, unaccountable courtrooms.