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8 Apr, 8 tweets, 4 min read
TOMORROW I’ll be in conversation w/ Fiona Apple! She’s court watching now. But courts are trying to shut down virtual access & accountability. Joined by friends & colleagues: organizer Qiana Johnson & public defender Marguerite Lanaux. It’s free. Sign up: 92y.org/Event/Criminal…
Early in COVID, Fiona Apple stepped up. After a federal judge dismissed dozens of sworn declarations from inside PG County, MD jail as “unhelpful” & only “marginally relevant.” She read their words. “I’ve lost my spirit, sort of given up.” Joined 60 others:
Fiona’s reading was part of a joint collaboration between public defenders, community organizers, & artists. GaspingForJustice.org is the product. Translated the lawsuit into video declarations. Asked people to sign up to court watch. Close to 200 did. Including Fiona. Explore:
Fiona Apple felt it. Witnessed. Didn’t let go. "I don't see how it's possible for anybody to not be furious. These are people. They don't deserve to be placed in these f*cking death camps. It doesn't sit with my alright. I can't just sit here."
Perhaps the only positive development for Justice to come from COVID is virtual public access to the courts. Access is a public right & a public good. With access comes accountability. No surprise they’re trying to shut it down. Petition to keep them open:campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/keep…
Howard Law students started observing. Reached out to State's Attorney, Aisha Braveboy (@SABraveboy), an alum, to ask her to change her practices. Their students also released a damning, powerful report on their findings. The Court: Removed them from Zoom. law.howard.edu/content/new-re…
“Expanding access to courts by virtual courtwatching is the only way to ensure justice is taking place in our courthouses. We should be inviting not limiting access.”

Follow @courtwatchpg, sign this petition & join us tomorrow to learn how to get involved.campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/keep…
Thanks to one of my favorite journalists @rachel_handler for organizing and @92Y for hosting.

See y’all tomorrow!

92y.org/Event/Criminal…

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Scott Hechinger Profile picture
9 Apr
“Judges don't give a damn about us. They'll start to care when we have people power behind us.”

Qiana & Carmen grew a courtwatching force of hundreds. Including Fiona Apple. Courts now trying to shut them down. Not giving up. If you read one thing today: washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…
Back near the beginning of the pandemic, I met Qiana Johnson & Carmen Johnson. Two formerly incarcerated leaders of a local organization in Prince George's County, MD helping women coming out get back in to society. Started a courtwatch program. Carmen was the lone court watcher. Image
Carmen had just been released when she "started court-watching every day. Slowly she felt her pain transform into purpose." Took meticulous notes. Sent accountability letters. Then COVID struck. Fought to secure virtual access. Was a lot for 1 person. That's when an idea arose.
Read 13 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
4 Apr
ENRAGING: Queens cop kneels on a man’s neck. Couldve killed him like George Floyd. Caught on camera. Man charged w/ a crime. But DA Melinda Katz declines to charge cop. “Insufficient evidence.” Get this: Her office didn’t even interview the man assaulted. queenseagle.com/all/queens-da-…
DA Katz: “Law requires that the officer restricted the flow of air or blood by either compressing Mr. Arnold’s windpipe or carotid arteries on each side of his neck. There could be no such finding under the facts here.” 

Any other case, the DA would rely on the survivors’ word.
Arnold’s public defender Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) said no experts spoke to her client.

“How could make that determination with no one ever speaking to him? My client said the officer obstructed his breathing. He could not breath. Deliberate miscarriage of justice.”
Read 9 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
1 Apr
🚨SIGNIFICANT MOMENT. Human Rights Watch (@hrw) has issued a warning to all state leaders with the power to act to correct past wrongs--U.S. governors, mayors, attorneys general, prosecutors. Your failure to do so violates international human rights standards. First stop: Oregon.
"When a legal system has obtained convictions through a discriminatory mechanism for decades, it should take on the task of fixing its mistake. Denial of equal rights for decades outweighs concerns about court efficiency."
In May 2020, US Supreme Court held that convictions by non-unanimous juries are unconstitutional, motivated by racial and ethnic bias. Yet Oregon’s AG @EllenRosenblum refuses to allow those whose appeals happened to be final before the decision a new trial.
Read 14 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
1 Apr
READ: "Rose didn’t want her daughter arrested; that wasn’t why she called. It would only hurt her daughter. But the police didn’t listen. They arrested Anna. And the familiar nightmare began."
On our irrational, traumatic responses to mental health crises.currentaffairs.org/2021/03/our-no…
How it starts: "Rose (57) & Anna (31) were arguing. Anna threw a plate down too hard. The plate bounced up & hit her mom's nose, which didn’t stop bleeding. Out of an abundance of caution, Rose dialed 911 & asked for medical help. Help did come—but so did 3 armed officers."
"As Rose received attention for her nose, cops asked her a series of questions. Yes, her nose was hurting. She didn’t need an ambulance. No, her daughter didn’t mean to hurt her. And she suffers from bipolar disorder & schizophrenia and sometimes loses control of her emotions."
Read 15 tweets
Scott Hechinger Profile picture
30 Mar
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."
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 Profile picture
29 Mar
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."
Read 9 tweets

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