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22 Oct, 8 tweets, 2 min read
This father knows that when harsh sentences exist for those we despise like Kyle Rittenhouse, they exist for Black & Brown children disproportionately harmed by them. His call for mercy for Rittenhouse is really a call to stop locking up Black & Brown kids.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
This father is calling for less harshness across the board because he recognizes - rightly - that the laws will always get enforced in a racist, disproportionate manner, as he has seen and felt and experienced for the last 25 years as he's been fighting for his son's freedom.
I always get concerned by our rush to condemn people-even those privileged, those we abhor & want to rot in prison & hell-to the harshness of our uniquely brutal criminal legal system. Bc doing so, I fear, endorses that it's okay for all. Leads to discretion for more harshness.
Many of the reactions to this powerful, important, & thoughtful essay have been hard to read. Attacking him for simply considering a sentence less than death in prison for Kyle Rittenhouse. Accusing him of being a pawn of the right wing. I know Elder Qualls. He is no pawn.
Elder Qualls is a former pastor. An advocate for Black youth. A fierce activist against harsh sentences for youth. He’s the father of a murder victim & the father of a teen convicted of murder. He’s faced his son’s murderers in court as they stared back apathetically.
Elder knows the pain of seeing his son - then 16, now 41 - literally grow up behind bars. And also knows how much his son has changed in that time. He knows the pain of hundreds of other families of juvenile lifers still imprisoned in Michigan. He wants less pain. Less harm.
When asked what he wants for Rittenhouse, Elder only asks for possibility of redemption: "Years from now he may become someone unrecognizable from his 17 y/o self. Like every other sentenced as a child, he should be given the chance to redeem himself."
Mercy can be hard & feel wrong. I get it. I feel it. But when we support pain, punishment, harshness for one-no matter how much we despise them-we further entrench an unjust system for all. "All" tends to be Black & Brown people from only certain communities.

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More from @ScottHech

Scott Hechinger Profile picture
23 Oct
Neko Wilson. 38 years old. Finally released today after serving 479 days in county jail w/ no bail & no release hearing. Neko was incarcerated on July 2, 2019 because of a probation violation for a 17 year old marijuana case. The U.S. criminal legal system is death. More:
“I still can’t believe this. I’m free. I can’t tell you how scary it’s been locked up during COVID w/ no end in sight. I'll now spend time w/ my family & get my life back on track so I can help others like my other brother Lance, who's incarcerated in Southern California.”
Neko's brother, Jacque (@jacquewilson1), is a public defender in San Francisco. Fought tirelessly for over a year for justice for Neko. Still fighting for his other brother. “Neko has been a political prisoner of the war on drugs, the war on poor people & war on Black People." Image
Read 6 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
20 Oct
This is a tough, important read. Elder Qualls is father to a Black 16 y/o boy (now 41 y/o man) sentenced to life w/o parole for murder. Years ago, his other son was murdered. Asks for mercy for Kyle Rittenhouse. "I know that justice & mercy can coexist."theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
"My son Yusef was only 16 when, drunk and high, he drove with two men to a house in Detroit where one murdered two women. Afterward, Yusef’s mother drove him to the police station to tell officers what had happened. He was never free again."
"Yusef is now 41. While incarcerated, he has lost his mother, his brother, & last month, his sister. His good friend—another juvenile lifer who was weeks from his freedom—recently died of COVID-19. Yusef is an artist, a mentor, a leader, a facilitator, & a friend to many."
Read 14 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
15 Oct
Meet Cassandra Greer-Lee. Public school teacher. Fierce advocate. In March, her husband was caged in Chicago jail. Strong, but terrified of the COVID outbreak there. “Is anyone surviving this?” She called *132 times* to try to get help. Soap. Masks. Anything. No response. More:
I spoke to Cassandra by phone about a month after her husband died alone. Weeks after she started calling for help. It was a particularly hard day for her. But she told me: “I need to put light on what happened to my husband, so it will not happen to another.” Fought back tears.
Cassandra told me her story. For an hour she spoke. Powerfully. And asked me to record it. I shared it with local artists, who interpreted her words. Watch & listen. This is just part 1 of 3. And here’s what she said:
Read 19 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
14 Oct
Thinking about Cassandra. She called a Chicago jail *132 times* to try to save her husband from COVID. She was ignored. While Trump downplays COVID & chooses not to protect himself & others, her husband had no choice. No mask. Soap. Crowded. He died. Watch:
In early April 2020, a man named Nickolas Lee died alone in a hospital from COVID-19. Two weeks earlier, he had contracted the disease while in Cook County Jail in Chicago. Jailed pretrial in horrific conditions. His wife called 132 times. Indifference killed him.
Nickolas Lee was unable to social distance in Cook County Jail in Chicago, like so many others throughout the country. Denied even basic sanitary precautions like soap and a mask, and caged in large groups with others who were symptomatic.
Read 5 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
11 Oct
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.
Step one: Make slime. Did 3 colors.

1. Blue slime:
2. Purple slime:
Read 7 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
9 Oct
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…
Read 11 tweets

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