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15 Feb, 4 tweets, 1 min read
For all those who seem to think that history will somehow hold Trumpists to account.

This happened during my lifetime. I read about the death squads Iran-Contra funded as the story broke.

This happened during my lifetime too: Iran-Contra gets turned into “democracy promotion.”
It can be easy to blame those who think Trump will be held account while we have such a shoddy understanding of Reconstruction and Redemption, but...

... but have a shoddy memory, and accounting, of... the late 1980s.
Anyway, history isn’t some passive thing that eventually demands accountability of racists.

We erect statues of traitors in the Capitol, and whitewash Iran-Contra into “democracy promotion.”

It takes hard work, with many working hard against it.
(And I should add: the tweet I was responding to was from today, and I didn't realize the article was 5 years old at this point. Thought the point still stands--I don't think anything here got better recently--it does justify the Times' recent decision to include ages on pieces.)

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John Pfaff Profile picture
16 Feb
Also, just struck me: this was a misdemeanor.

Tho framed in the article as a restorative justice case, this sort of thing—charge, wait, programming, dismiss—is how the ENTIRE misdemeanor system in NYC operates.
The conventional framing is an “ACD”: adjournment in contemplation of dismissal.

The case is held open (the A) to see if the def does certain things (the C), in which case it is dropped (the D).

Thousands and thousands of times per year. This wasn’t some unique outcome!
I mean... I’m not one to deny the racism inherent in our crim justice system! But the handling of this case looks like pure routine misdemeanor.

Now, there’s a lot to criticize even abt the ACD—like good luck getting a job or an apt or a loan during the A—but that’s a dif issue.
Read 6 tweets
John Pfaff Profile picture
16 Feb
To those outraged by this—and... everyone apparently is—two questions:

1. What does accountability entail here? Are you mad that sensitivity classes were inadequate, or are you upset at the lack of retributive vengeance?

Don’t say “this is bad.” Clarify “what is right.”
So much of the “white ppl get this while Black ppl get that” outrage never specifies what the right outcome should be... which means we default to the usual mindless punitiveness for all.

If you are (1) unhappy but (2) want change, need to give a positive account of that future.
Second, to those saying “harshness to the Coopers is the path to leniency for all,” two questions:

1. That runs head-long into the one-way Willie Horton ratchet. Never easy to go back down. What would make this case different?
Read 5 tweets
John Pfaff Profile picture
14 Feb
Always need to remember: the Portuguese law everyone praises is EXACTLY the law from 1920s Prohibition the same ppl decry.

Sale, manuf, and transport still illegal. Just possession oaky.

That’s the Volstead Act.

It’s not abt the law. It’s abt the enforcement culture.
I’m always sort of bemused by how ppl praise the Portuguese law, given what it actually says.

Also, Portugal passes three things at once: possession law, universal basic income, big treatment expansion.

It wasn’t just “less punishment.” It was also “more services.”
Also, important to note the cultural differences. As @KeithNHumphreys always points out, PRE reform Portugal didn’t have a lot of ppl in for trafficking, so the underlying enforcement culture differed a lot... and bet that matters.
Read 4 tweets
John Pfaff Profile picture
26 Jan
Sigh.

Now, TBF, the Feds rely on privates a lot more than the publics do--at nearly twice the rate (even though 76% of ppl in privates are held by the states). But still: 85% of Feds in publics!

But: don't see how this addresses racial equity, for two equally important reasons.
First, and less appreciated, if you're concerned abt racial impact of privatization in prisons, the PRISONS are not the thing to focus on.

Focus on Bob Barker (private commissary, and not that one), Securus (pay-phones), etc.

HUGE private fees w racially disparate impacts.
Second, no one ever seems to game out what closing the privates will do.

It reduces capacity, but there's a lot of excess capacity out there right now. Will the Feds just contract with, say, Texas (not a private! it's public!)?

And if they d cut back pops, who will be released?
Read 8 tweets
John Pfaff Profile picture
11 Jan
I'd like to second, third, and fourth this.

Every time I argue that less-harsh sentences are the better ones that all should receive, I hear this: "leniency for all requires severity for all first."

This strikes me as a complete miscomprehension of the politics of punishment.
Once you pass a harsh law, it's really hard to be That Guy who repeals it.

It's also why I think we should emphasize leniency when DAs set plea deals over expanding parole.* It's easier to set a shorter sentence up front than shorten a long one.
When Obama commuted Chelsea Mannings sentence, there was a lot of outrage.

But it was fascinating outrage. No one that I saw said "7 years is too short." Everyone said "1/3 of her 21 years is too short."

If the orig sentence had been 8 yrs, bet far far less outrage.
Read 9 tweets
John Pfaff Profile picture
11 Jan
"Our party egged people on to storm the Capitol, murder a police officer, and appear to have ensured that the Capitol was under-protected in an effort to overturn a legitimate election.

You've... pointed that out. And demanded accountability.

So who is REALLY at fault here?"
This would be pathetic, if it weren't such clear evidence that the GOP not only have learned nothing from this, but is doubling down on its culture of right-wing victimhood.

It's just going to keep getting worse.

But seriously: this is disgusting and pathetic--and dangerous.
And again: I don't want to hear any GOPers talk about the need to "take personal responsibility" ever again.

Having stoked an insurrection, they now equate demands for accountability with "playing politics."

Such bald (and yes, unsurprising) hypocrisy.
Read 4 tweets

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