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Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
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9 Apr, 4 tweets, 1 min read
I rarely talk about personal stuff on here, but the coverage of DMX's death is making me angry and upset.

My father died at age 66 from complications related to his alcohol addiction.

My baby sister, who also struggled with alcohol addiction, died by suicide at 31.
Neither ever went to jail or prison because alcohol is legal and they were White.
And I am fine. My dad passed away 14 years ago. My sister 5 years ago. This isn't about me. I am just angry and upset about the coverage.
And I wish that people had enough empathy to be able to put themselves in another person's shoes and try to feel their suffering rather than writing about it in terms of how many times they went to fucking jail or prison.

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More from @DrRJKavanagh

Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
10 Apr
This is an absolutely appalling denigration of the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide.
It appears the journalist who wrote the @VICE story didn't even look at the original S21 photos to understand the photographer, Matt Loughrey, had not just colourised them but also changed them to make the victims appear to be smiling. vice.com/en/article/y3d…
Even more mind-blowing, when he is asked a question about the fact that some victims are smiling (again the interviewer has apparently not compared the original photographs) Loughrey says this: Image
Read 7 tweets
Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
10 Apr
Every now and then a White person has to go to jail or prison to preserve the illusion that we are all equal under the law.

The same way that Derek Chauvin being convicted doesn't for one second mean the American criminal legal system provides justice for Black people.
My mentor and professor, Derrick Bell, (the founder of critical race theory jurisprudence) talked about this: in order to preserve White supremacy every now and then you have to allow people small victories so they don't challenge the underlying power structure.
He talked a lot about Brown v. Board of Education and the fact that 50 and then 60 years after the decision declaring legal segregation of public schools unconstitutional, they were more segregated than ever.
Read 5 tweets
Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
8 Apr
There's been a lot of discussion about why evidence of Derek Chauvin's past brutality, including the fact that he previously shot and killed a man, has not been admitted into evidence.

The more relevant question is, why wasn't he prosecuted for it?

mintpressnews.com/chief-prosecut…
Lest we forget, it was Amy Klobuchar who was head prosecutor of Hennepin County at the time and made the decision not to prosecute Chauvin.

Had she done that, George Floyd would be alive today.
Believe me, I understand the frustration that the jury will not hear about Chauvin's lengthy history of misconduct. But as a criminal defense attorney, I absolutely understand why.

Chauvin is on trial for George Floyd's murder - not anyone else's.
Read 7 tweets
Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
7 Apr
This is the @CNN article that @TomCottonAR tweeted with his statement that the US has an under-incarceration problem.

Problem is the entire article is based on statistics from a study by the MCCA, an organization made up of the heads of police departments.cnn.com/2021/04/03/us/…
MCCA is cited as the source of the report at the end of the article's second paragraph, but it's not made clear that it is a police organization.
And the rest of the article reports all the statistics as if they are objective fact.
Read 5 tweets
Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
7 Apr
This headline is super misleading.

First, George Floyd did not die of a drug overdose.

But, if he had, what Mr. Hall theoretically could be charged with is not ordinary 3rd degree murder, but murder as a "drug-induced homicide."

Let me break that down.
nydailynews.com/news/national/…
Minnesota, like most states, has a drug-induced homicide statute. Originally intended as a tool to prosecute drug dealers, they are now used almost exclusively to prosecute family members, friends and acquaintances of people who die of drug overdoses.

theappeal.org/the-lab/explai…
Mostly the prosecutions go unreported.

However, the prosecution of Caleb Smith, a young White man, drew some attention. Mr. Smith facing 20 years in prison after giving his girlfriend fentanyl contained in an adderil pill, killed himself.

theappeal.org/murder-by-pros…
Read 6 tweets
Rebecca Kavanagh Profile picture
6 Apr
I don't know why Chauvin's attorney didn't insist that this chair be removed before the trial began.

As a criminal defense attorney, you know optics are everything.

You've now just signaled to the jury that your client doesn't have one person willing to support him in court.
One of the most important things you want to do is have friends and family attend court for your client.

Here, because access to the courtroom is restricted, Chauvin's lawyer had to know no one was going to be showing up, so it seems a significant oversight.
It may be less important for a White former cop in front of a majority-White jury, but when you are representing a Black or Brown person in front of a majority-White jury, you are already starting from a position where you have to overcome all the usual racist tropes.
Read 5 tweets

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