Thank you, Fiona Apple. In addition to her new music, she’s championed a campaign to give resources to asylum seekers struggling to survive in the US, narrated a know your rights film on documenting ICE, & now fighting for decarceration in the criminal legal system. Champion. ❤️.
The WhileTheyWait.org fund was inspired by Nilda. From Honduras. Survived sex & gang violence. Thought U.S. would protect her. Instead they stole her 2 y/o & detained her. Fiona donated 2 years of royalties to the fund. This is Nilda’s story:
Fiona narrated the most recent installment of wehaverights.us. On how to record abuses by law enforcement ethically & safely. Then share them for maximum advocacy impact. As with everything Fiona does, could not come at a more critical moment:
Most recently, Fiona stepped up to demand decarceration & accountability in PG County, MD for GaspingForJustice.org. She didn’t want anyone to ignore those caged pretrial. So she read their words. “I’ve lost my spirit, sort of given up.” More:
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LISTEN: A man caged pretrial in Harris County, TX. Called with terrifying details. Freezing. Starving. Denial of care. Lack of food. "I’m calling this morning because I don’t really have anywhere else to turn. I really need your help." He asked this to be shared. Listen. More:
"We haven’t had power since Monday morning. We don’t have any outlets that’s working. There’s a backup generator but it’s only being used for computers. That’s it. So we can’t use our hotpots. We didn’t get anything til about 4:30 this morning. A peanut butter & jelly sandwich."
"We don’t have any hot water. Medical guards only give us our medication but we’re not, they’re putting people in triage. Nobody's walking around, nobody’s in the day room. Everybody’s under their blankets. Nobody is moving lately. We’re cold."
🗳️ ✔️Friends & family keep reaching out, asking who should be the next Manhattan DA. Here's how to start narrowing down.
Each of these (👇) candidates were identified by NY public defenders as posing the least risk of harm to the people of NY. Tomorrow night, they'll debate.
The purpose of the debate is to help voters with decarceral priorities distinguish between candidates whose platforms may seem very similar to someone who is not intimately familiar with the criminal punishment system.
Five Boro Defenders (@5BoroDefenders), a volunteer group of NYC public defenders, will be hosting a debate (not a forum!) between the four Manhattan District Attorney candidates whose platforms represent the greatest departure from the policies of current Manhattan DA Cy Vance.
🚨The cruelty continues. What the Texas snow & power outages mean for incarcerated people. Just in from a man caged pretrial in Harris County:
"We don't have any running water anymore. No drinking water. Rations are now half measures. Tensions are running high here."
"We got 3 oz of some mashed potato something last night. This morning around 4:30 we got a one ounce packet of PB and a small muffin and a small carton of milk. They said they are out of bread."
Yesterday, this same man shared people were sleeping on the ground. Harris County Jail flat out denied it.
His response: "Well they are lying. I am counting right now. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are sleeping on the floor. They can come up and check all the 5th floor pods from A to E."
🚨 Across the country, courts are using COVID as excuse to perpetuate cruelty. Example: Trials suspended bc of claimed concern for jurors. Jailed awaiting trial indefinitely. But no concern for grand jurors forced to continue charging & caging people. More:taibbi.substack.com/p/s-t-public-d…
"Trials were suspended. This left a lot of people who couldn’t afford bail in a purgatory-like state of open-ended detention. However, official concern for jury safety seemed limited. Police continued to arrest people & prosecutors continued to use grand juries to indict."
“Speedy trial rules only worked in one direction. Officials basically said: 'Bc we’re still arresting people at same rates & need to keep prosecuting, we’re just going to have jurors risk their lives in a way we said we really cared about, to have them vote on new indictments.”
🚨What the Texas snow & power outages mean for incarcerated people. Just in from a man caged pretrial in Harris County:
"No power since Sunday night/early Monday. We didnt get dinner last night. Its freezing. They put on a movie instead of dinner. How does that make any sense?
“We asked for extra blankets. They said no. We got a PB & J at 4:30 a.m. today. Not sure if we will get any lunch. Commissary orders go in on Thursday for Friday delivery. No hot water either.”
Can you please deposit some funds so we can buy food? We'll be praying for y'all. I know it's bad out there too."
The cruelty with which we allow our leaders to treat human beings who happen to be incarcerated is constant & perpetual in this country. In a pandemic. In the cold.
Another view: Note: I’m not thinking of one definition here. Of course abolition is “relating to the fundamental nature of something.” But so many disparage abolition as “radical” i.e. extreme, crazy, irrational. And I’m like “NO. What we have now is all those things.”