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Scott Hechinger

29 Mar, 9 tweets, 4 min read

IMAGINE: Having power to end the impact of a KKK-passed law that still imprisons hundreds. Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum has that power, but won't use it. Instead she *turned down an interview w/ PBS* as she "awaits more guidance" from the Supreme Court. More: pbs.org/newshour/show/…

Every juror’s voice is supposed to matter. Yet Oregon & Louisiana allowed up to 2 jurors to be silenced. KKK pushed these laws to establish white supremacy. To convict whoever they wanted. Legal lynchings. Louisiana already acted to fix. Oregon wont.

In April 2020, the Supreme Court finally acknowledged what was long obvious: This racist law was unconstitutional. in oral argument, the majority of the Justices were appalled. Even Justice Kavanaugh acknowledged non-unanimous juries were "rooted in racism."

The catch: The Supreme Court decision only applies to future cases. But what about all those convicted in the past? People like Terrence Hayes: "We are all condemned by a marker in time that allows injustice &, in my case, institutional racism to persist." usatoday.com/story/opinion/…

Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum can fix this. She even called the law "an embarrassment to our otherwise progressive state." Instead, right now, she's fighting to prevent people from getting a new, fair trial. Claiming she wants to wait on the Supreme Court's "guidance." But get this..

While Ellen Rosenblum deflects blame for her local inaction to allow for new, fair trials bc she wants to see what the Supreme Court says about retroactive justice, *Rosenblum filed a strong brief in the Supreme Court calling on them to block the possibility of new, fair trials!*

Ellen Rosenblum, the AG of Oregon, could end the persisting injustice she has acknowledged is racist, if she stopped blocking people from seeking a fair trial. That's all people want. If DAs have evidence to convict with a constitutional jury, they're free to retry the case.

The new District Attorney in New Orleans, Jason Williams, just used *his* power to rectify the wrongs. Ordered 22 new trials, even though the Supreme Court didn't require it, even over political pushback, because he knew that it was the right thing to do. nola.com/news/courts/ar…

@stillinprison

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT: (1) Visit StillInPrison.org for more information & a range of actions to take. (2) Follow @stillinprison for the latest updates on the campaign for justice in Oregon. (3) Call on @EllenRosenblum to do simple justice.

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More from @ScottHech

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

30 Mar

@hrw

THREAD: Imagine having power to end the impact of a KKK-passed law that still imprisons hundreds. Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum has power, but won't use it.

Human Rights Watch (@hrw) just called her failure to act “inconsistent w/ international human rights standards." Just wow.

In May 2020, US Supreme Court held that non-unanimous juries were motivated by racial & ethnic bias. Yet Oregon’s AG is *refusing* to allow this new Supreme Court rule to apply to those whose appeals happened to be final before the decision. They're still in prison. "Too bad."

@hrw

Human Rights Watch (@hrw):

Ellen Rosenblum’s failure to end the racist stain of #JimCrowJuries is “arbitrary” and “inconsistent with international human rights standards requiring states to eliminate racial discrimination, including structural discrimination.”

Read 11 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

28 Mar

When I hear of a 13 & 15 year old charged w/ murder:

I dont think "killer." I think "child."
I dont think "punishment." I think "help."
I dont think "murder." I think "tragedy" for all.

We can call for justice for Mohammad Anwar w/o calling for the heads of young black girls.

For all of those claiming I'm "racializing" this by & wouldn't have said the same if they were white, clearly you don't know me. I don't think children should be punished as adults. And I don't think prison helps anyone. Survivors or families of survivors included.

The idea that prison is not a place for people charged with acts of violence or a solution to violence is so foreign & crazy to so most. But by any measure--rehabilitation, accountability, reducing recidivism, healing trauma for survivors, deterrence--prison just fails.

Read 12 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

28 Mar

🚨 MARIJUANA JUSTICE. A deal has been reached. This isn’t merely “legalization.” It’s also repairing the harm exacted on Black & Brown communities. A model for the nation. Early this week, the NY legislature will vote. Then onto Gov. Cuomo. Thread w/ more: nytimes.com/2021/03/25/nyr…

In NYC, the average marijuana arrest rate among high marijuana arrest precincts is 15 times higher than low arrest precincts. Between 2010-2019, there were 8 times as many arrests of Black and Latinx people as white people for marijuana.

In Buffalo, the average marijuana arrest rate among the high marijuana arrest zip codes is 68 times higher than that of the low arrest zip codes, and there were 3 times as many marijuana arrests of Black people as there were of white people. #PassTheMRTA

Read 10 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

27 Mar

A walk (and scoot) in Brooklyn thread.

Read 11 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

25 Mar

🚨🚨🚨JUST IN: MASSIVE VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA! CA Supreme Court just ruled unanimously that "the state cannot keep people behind bars simply because they cannot afford to post bail pending their trial." Cash bail as we know it over in California. Speechless.latimes.com/california/sto…

Just working my way through decision. My lord this is powerful. Highlighting furiously. Completely debunks common claims about the use of bail in theory: “It’s a different story in practice.”

“In principle, pretrial detention should be reserved for those who otherwise cannot be relied upon to make court appearances or who pose a risk to public or victim safety, but it’s a different story in practice.”

Read 6 tweets

Scott Hechinger

@ScottHech

25 Mar

@NYGovCuomo

🔥🔥THE NYT EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS TODAY FOR THE END OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.

"The isolation, confinement & sensory deprivation of solitary eats away at bodies and minds. Become prone to self-harm including suicide"

#HALTsolitary is on @NYGovCuomo's desk. nytimes.com/2021/03/25/opi…

"NY stands poised to overhaul solitary confinement in its prisons & jails, a practice widely recognized as inhumane, arbitrary & counterproductive. Despite piles of research detailing brutal physical & psychological toll of solitary confinement its a common form of discipline."

"NY correctional employees have wide discretion to throw people into “the box,” where people spend 23/hrs a day in a tiny space cut off from most human contact. Signs that someone belongs to a gang can land them in the box. So can “eyeballing” a guard."

Read 7 tweets

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