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Scott Hechinger Profile picture
@ScottHech
Sep 30, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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.
Advocates were shut down. The people they represented, were unable actually to be heard, so at risk of retaliation shared their experiences via writing. Then denigrated as "marginally relevant" by a federal judge. We launched GaspingForJustice.org. Their words read on camera.
Jesse Williams. "I didn't come here to die."
Professor & Pulitzer Prize-Winner, James Foreman: "When people first started to get sick we didnt even get soap for free."
Alec Baldwin. "They don't seem to care about us."
Things started to change after launching GaspingForJustice.org. $25k in bail fund. 175+ new court watch volunteers. Thousands of petition signatures. Top prosecutor, Aisha Braveboy (@SABraveboy) got concerned. Howard Law, her alma mater, started showing up to court watch. Then:
Then COVID in jails & prisons receded from national & local headlines. Yes, prosecutors were acting a little more careful in court with all these court observers. But still, the jail population started to climb, as in the rest of the country:
Just last week, unannounced, the courts in Prince George's County, MD cut the court watch program off from Zoom. Courts are supposed to be "open." But who is going to go down in person given everything?
Advocates & those directly impacted in PG County, MD need you to pay attention. If you're a reporter, please reach out to me. I'll put you in touch. Things are awful. The top prosecutor is claiming to be doing everything, but she's doing nothing. Microcosm of rest of country.

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More from @ScottHech

Scott Hechinger Profile picture
Oct 16
My new op-ed is now live. In it, I explain how it's *legal to execute an innocent person* in the U.S. How that's a feature, not bug of the system. And what we can do about it now. Hint: Robust public defense. Teen Vogue again leading the way with truth. teenvogue.com/story/robert-r…
It is legal in the U.S. to execute an innocent person. Indeed, the Supreme Court has twice ruled it is perfectly constitutional to do so bc the value of expediency & finality in the legal process is more important than truth, justice, & even human life.teenvogue.com/story/robert-r…
As a civil rights attorney who served as a public defender, I saw how killing an innocent person was the most extreme example of a legal process designed *not to achieve justice, fairness, or truth, but enable unjust outcomes & erect every obstacle toward redress.
Read 22 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
Sep 20
There is no evidence that police in the subways are lowering crime. What we do know: NYPD is swallowing up valuable resources, harassing New Yorkers, making needless arrests, & engaging in violent & reckless confrontations on the subway.

Some research and stats.
City records show a $151 million increase in 2023 for NYPD overtime pay for subway policing. NYC went from spending $4 million in 2022 on NYPD overtime pay for subway policing to $155 million in 2023.

That’s a staggering 3,775% increase. gothamist.com/news/nypd-over…
In addition to the $150mil+ extra spent on NYPD for subway policing in overtime alone in 2023,

NYC Eric Adams ordered NYPD in March 2024 to send an another “800 police officers specifically to keep watch on turnstiles." apnews.com/article/new-yo…
Read 7 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
Aug 29
Pay attention. 800,000 incarcerated workers are currently forced to labor in prisons for pennies.

Don’t believe me? Read on for first hand accounts from inside. Slavery is alive in the US. Thread:
Cell blocks, prison grounds, kitchens, laundry rooms, libraries, medical centers — these are the common spaces that make up America’s vast carceral architecture.

Hundreds of people documented their experiences of prison slavery. Visit: EndTheException.com/lettersImage
Grounds: "My first job in the prison system was on yard crew. The duties include digging through trash bags to collect recyclables. The pay for some positions in this prison is 8 cents an hour.

I remember feeling degraded and humiliated. ” Tasha in Texas. Image
Read 14 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
May 11
Wow. Fiona Apple is a real one. Watch this video. Calling for donations to bail out Black mothers for Mother’s Day. Her fans already came through w donations & spreading the word. Over $30k! Let’s “fetch the bolt cutters” & support even more. I just gave. givebutter.com/nHSrnp
Two years ago, Fiona Apple popped up on a zoom call to get trained by local organizers to Court watch. Dedicated ever since. Her work has led to freedom, lawsuits, accountability.

The stories all here in this short video. She wrote & performed the score:
Be like Fiona Apple. Volunteer to CourtWatch. Visit this campaign hub, learn more, connect w/ a local courtwatch program, &/or learn how to start your own.

Injustice happens in empty courtrooms. Which allows police brutality to continue outside of them. Courtwatch.org
Read 10 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
Mar 18
“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: Image
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.

Story is paywalled. So Im transcribing it here:nydailynews.com/2024/03/15/int…
"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." Image
Read 11 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
Feb 17
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
Read 12 tweets

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