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28 Jan, 12 tweets, 3 min read
In 2020, people around the country took to the streets to demand an end to racism in the criminal legal system and in our country more broadly.

We won’t be able to achieve this goal until we end for-profit bail.
People end up owing thousands of dollars to the bail bond company — even if charges are later dropped or they are found not guilty.

This system is designed to be exploitative and predatory.
Far too many people are forced to choose between paying an exorbitant cash bail or sitting in jail.

Bail bond companies hold people’s freedom hostage.

People turn to bail bond companies to help buy their freedom.
The predatory bail industry is propped up by insurance companies, a $2 billion a year industry.

And the biggest bail underwriter by far is Canada-based Fairfax Financial.
Fairfax’s CEO, Prem Watsa, is a vocal anti-racism advocate. He co-chairs the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the @BlackNorthCA initiative.
Prem Watsa’s commitment to anti-Black racism is necessary and laudable. But it rings hollow in the face of his company’s role as the larger backer of for-profit bail bonds.
The bail bond industry is not just economically unjust. It is also deeply racist. Black people are much more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested due to racist policing and prosecution.
For example, Black and white adults use marijuana at similar rates, but a Black adult is 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. aclu.org/report/tale-tw…
Once in jail, Black people are more likely to remain incarcerated while awaiting trial.

Bail amounts assigned to Black men average 35% higher than those for white men, even when controlling for the seriousness of the offense.
For-profit bail is a tiny part (.16%) of Fairfax’s insurance business. It could easily divest.

In the last two years, 3 of the 4 largest companies in the space have done so. Fairfax is the only company left. wsj.com/articles/crimi…
We have teamed up with @ColorOfChange to send Watsa letters asking him to divest. 40,000 of our combined members sent him personal messages asking him to do so.

His team has been noncommittal. This is unacceptable.
You can learn more by reading our report.

And you can tell @BlackNorthCA that Prem Watsa’s role as a lead in the fight to end anti-Black racism rings hollow as he props up the predatory bail industry. aclu.org/report/commitm…

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More from @ACLU

28 Jan
BREAKING: We're joining the fight to restore abortion access to people in Guam.

Today we filed a lawsuit challenging two laws that are blocking abortion care on the island.
The last 400 years of Guam's history have been marked by colonization by Spain, Japan, and the United States.

Guam is currently an unincorporated, organized territory of the United States, and Guamanians are US citizens.
Led by Chamorro women, the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, Guamanians have long fought to ensure access to safe and legal abortion on the island.

But two outdated, medically unnecessary laws are currently blocking access to abortion in Guam.
Read 10 tweets
27 Jan
Today's executive order to no longer renew DOJ contracts with private prison companies validates something we've been saying for years: No one should profit from the human misery that is caused by mass incarceration.
Prison privatization increases the potential for mistreatment and abuse of incarcerated people.

Today's order is an important move in curtailing this insidious practice.
It does not, however, limit the role of other profiteers, such as for-profit prison health care companies.

And it does not end the relationship between private prison companies and DHS, including in the immigrant detention system.

There is much more work to be done.
Read 5 tweets
16 Jan
Last night marked the end of a cruel, inhumane, and lawless execution spree.

The federal government executed 13 individuals in mere months, often in the middle of the night, over the objections of lower courts.
The government killed two Black men for crimes they committed as teenagers.

They killed a woman who was a victim of sexual abuse and torture.

They killed two Black men who never killed anyone, and a man with a severe intellectual disability.
The Supreme Court paved the way for many of these executions to go forward despite lower court findings that they were unconstitutional or barred by federal law.

These executions didn't give anyone "justice." They merely perpetuated a cycle of pain and trauma.
Read 6 tweets
13 Jan
VICTORY: The Trump administration is abandoning its unconstitutional plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count used to determine seats in Congress.
We promised that if the Trump administration tried to implement this illegal plan, we’d see them in court.

We meant it — we always do.

But, we won’t need to this time: Trump lost all on his own.
Trump: 0⃣

The Constitution: 2⃣
Read 4 tweets
11 Jan
BREAKING: We're calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute Trump, his associates and any other federal officials who may have been involved in attempts to subvert the outcome of the election, including the violence at the capitol.
In the nine weeks since the November election, the president and his associates have embarked on a multi-pronged campaign attempting to overturn the clear results.
The president and his associates have tried pressuring and threatening state and local officials to reverse election results in their favor, making knowingly false statements to undermine the legitimacy of the election, and to impugn the votes of people of color.
Read 6 tweets
11 Jan
BREAKING: Today the ACLU's board of directors unanimously voted to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
As a matter of policy, we do not regularly call for the removal of public officials.
Having considered our mission, our commitment to nonpartisanship, and our policy to take a position on impeachment only where officials pose a "grave and imminent threat to civil liberties," our board resolved that Trump committed impeachable offenses and violated his oath.
Read 9 tweets

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