THREAD: Meet Cash Spencer. Oregon juror. Only Black person other than defendant. Thought he was innocent. White jurors didn’t need her. Convicted him anyway. Oregon juries didn’t have to be unanimous. “It breaks my heart. The system is not built for me.”
Most think of the KKK in terms of physical violence. Lynchings. Intimidation. But they also used legal & legislative process to pass laws exacting legal violence. In Louisiana & Oregon they pushed laws to silence Black jurors. To convict who they wanted. "Non-unanimous juries."
Impact: Black people are already less likely to be selected to be on a jury. More likely to be accused of crime. Non-unanimous juries led to disproportionate convictions. *They would have never been convicted & sent to prison anywhere else in the country.* The KKK got their way.
The impact of non-unanimous Jim Crow juries wasn't only felt by those locked up bc of them. Non-white jurors were demoralized. Shut down. Attacked by their "peers." Shut up.
Cash Spencer: "With my voice being silenced by the system, I decided to use my voice in another way."
"I think people have this false sense that Oregon is pretty liberal, pretty diverse, pretty tolerant of diversity. The reality is I have family members that were not allowed to even live in the state. I'm a black woman who has to work just a little bit harder in order to fit in."
Cash Spencer (former juror): "If this whole non-unanimous jury thing was put on the books to silence the minority, then it worked exactly the way it was supposed to." Another non-white juror in another case:
"The prosecutor: he made his case. I think it was more circumstantial than anything else. As we continued to have these deliberations, everybody focused their attention on me as far as I was the bad person. 'Something must have happened!'"
It didnt matter. All it took in Oregon was 10 jurors voting to convict. "Myself & the lady who were still the 2. We just stared at each other. I put my head down. The foreman called the clerk back to let them know we had arrived at the guilty verdict. And that is how that ended."
In April 2020, the Supreme Court finally acknowledged what was long obvious: This racist law in Oregon allowing Black & Brown jurors to be silenced was unconstitutional. Even *Justice Kavanaugh* acknowledged how racist it was. The problem: The decision only applies going forward.
Ramos v. Louisiana was a great win. But it only applies to future cases. But what about all those convicted in the past?
Right now, they're out of luck. Hundreds still in prison in Oregon. Thousands since released are burdened by their unconstitutional conviction. Why on earth?
Oregon can fix this. Theres no reason why people should still be oppressed by a racist law the Supreme Court called unconstitutional. Oregon's AG Ellen Rosenblum called the law "an embarrassment to our progressive state." Shes the one who can do something. Instead she's fighting.
Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon's AG, could end the persisting injustice, she has acknowledged is racist, if she simply 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.
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.
TAKE ACTION: Join Cash Spencer and thousands around the country calling on Ellen Rosenblum to end this racist injustice. Please sign this petition. act.colorofchange.org/sign/People_st…
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Wow. Fiona Apple is a real one. Watch this video. Calling for donations to bail out Black mothers for Mother’s Day. Her fans already came through w donations & spreading the word. Over $30k! Let’s “fetch the bolt cutters” & support even more. I just gave. givebutter.com/nHSrnp
Two years ago, Fiona Apple popped up on a zoom call to get trained by local organizers to Court watch. Dedicated ever since. Her work has led to freedom, lawsuits, accountability.
The stories all here in this short video. She wrote & performed the score:
Be like Fiona Apple. Volunteer to CourtWatch. Visit this campaign hub, learn more, connect w/ a local courtwatch program, &/or learn how to start your own.
Injustice happens in empty courtrooms. Which allows police brutality to continue outside of them. Courtwatch.org
“No judge has ever lost their job setting bail on someone.”
A NYC judge whispered that. To a public defender. Before depriving their destitute client of freedom. This happens every day. Judges are intimidated to throw poor people in cages.
Thread on a history of intimidation:
Public defenders @elizaorlins & @APetrigh tell about the open secret of "justice" throughout the country People are deprived of liberty, not based on merit. But judicial fear of negative press.
"The NYPD’s recent social media attack against a judge who released a defendant under supervision instead of setting bail and detaining them. The case drew headlines because the NYPD’s aggressive social media posts were full of misinformation, including misidentifying the judge."
How copaganda works. Police, prosecutor, & prison interests use media to exaggerate & lie about "sensational" cases. Amplify them on repeat. Create the *perception* that "crime" or "migrants" are a "Crisis!"
Perpetual anger/fear buys votes & public opinion. Facts be damned.
How copaganda works. Police release a highly edited video that doesn't include their unprovoked, violent, & unjustified attack on a migrant. Manufactured "outcry" ensues. Lawmakers call for sweeping policy changes. New video later released. It's too late. Profound damage done.
How copaganda works. Even after previously withheld police footage showed the "attack on police" in Times Square was the opposite: An unprovoked attack *by police* on innocent people, reports continue only center the lie.
None (that I've seen) report on the overt police lie.
An interesting story for you. Was catching up w/ a friend at coffeeshop. The mother of her friend walked by & joined us briefly. She’s from Chicago. She told us a story about talking to a Chicago police officer. Thanking him for his service.
What he told her will surprise you.
As quick background, she is a white woman. In her 60s. Well off. Grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Now downtown. Forever Dem. Supported the end of cash bail. But is “fed up” w/ “all the violence.” Thinks “something has to be done.”
She saw a cop the other day & went up to him.
She told the cop how scared she was by everything she was reading in the news. Couldn’t imagine how tough things were “for him” given the “crime rates.” (Note: Homicides are down significantly in most of Chicago, but violence remains a scourge).
Extraordinary work again from @TeenVogue -- the best justice journalism outlet in the country. On the day that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, they release a critical explainer on "Copaganda."
How to identify & respond to lies & fearmongering about safety. Watch:
Must watch. The week that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, local experts debunk harmful myths that the media peddles about bail reform. In this @TeenVogue video explainer.
"This fear has been built up & stoked by media misinformation. A refrain. A scapegoat " Watch:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.
Teen Vogue out again w/ the best in political commentary, justice journalism & truth. A compelling & easily digestible explainer on "Abolition."
New vision of safety: "If policing prosecution & incarceration created safety, we'd be the safest country in the world." Watch. Learn:
When people hear the word "abolition" they think 'crazy leftist.' 'Idealistic.'
In reality: "We're the clear eyed ones. We have the whole history of the world to let us know what were doing now is not sustainable. We want a world where violence isn't the norm." Part 2:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.