Thread by @zei_squirrel

"defund the police" isn't just a slogan, as disingenuous liberals are claiming along with an appeal to the mythical "moderate voter" to justify their opposition to the policy proposals it advances. here's one: abolish the misdemeanor system. THREAD WITH CLIPS explaining why

the clips are of alexandra natapoff discussing her book "punishment without a crime". the title is literal: the misdemeanor system gives vast powers to police, enabling them to criminalize huge swathes of the population as a means of legitimizing and funding their own existence

but what is the history of the misdemeanor system? why was it set up in the first place? you shouldn't be surprised to learn that it originated in the post-slavery era, designed as a means to criminalize the black and poor white population and keep them in check, as it does today

to get a sense of just how apt the title "punishment without a crime" is, and how the misdemeanor system's sole purpose is to criminalize the everyday life of the poor, disproportionately of marginalized minorities, here's one absolutely shocking case study of a life destroyed

the use of the misdemeanor system to punish the poor is a routine part of policing, and it is so targeted toward specific groups that for example in the baltimore police department they had arrest forms for trespassing which had "BLACK MALE" already printed on them

watch the full talk below. the feigned ignorance on the part of liberals about what "defund the police" means is intended to obfuscate the fact that there is a wealth of scholarship that it rests on and concrete policy proposals that it seeks to advance

one of the leading scholars on the creation of the neoliberal penal state, whose function is to punish and control the poor, is loic wacquant. you can find PDFs of some of his key works in this thread:

https://twitter.com/zei_squirrel/status/1294310339652329474

and see this clip for another set of concrete proposals

https://twitter.com/zei_squirrel/status/1334158676396040193