Share this page!

Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
Twitter logo
29 Oct, 4 tweets, 1 min read
In response to a modest proposal to make it easier to discipline criminal cops, the D.C. police chief just openly suggested to the D.C. City Council that they can't expect officers to "respect constitutional rights" if they pass the measure.
A fascinating thing about this video is that this "law enforcement" official believes that following constitutional law is some sort of quid pro quo that cops can extract concessions for. He also seems to think that cops have some sort of "right" to commit crimes with impunity.
When this *police chief* talks about the "rights" of officers to avoid discipline for their serious crimes, you can see just how deeply ingrained the culture of police impunity is, as well as the police bureaucracy's total disdain for democratic control.
This is fascism.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Alec Karakatsanis

Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @equalityAlec

Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
30 Oct
This thread is about two facts: 1) Human caging kills. Each year in custody reduces a person's life duration by two years; 2) It is a scientific fact that human caging does not reduce crime. These two facts are not widely known, and that is a failure of judges and media.
First, take a moment to let this sink in: We know that caging people kills them. Every time a judge jails someone on cash bail or sentences them to prison, the judge is literally killing the person sooner. @PrisonPolicy prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/06/2…
Second, social scientists who study incarceration disagree on a lot. But the thing that the entire research community agrees on is that human caging do not reduce crime. This is an incredible finding that is almost entirely absent from media reporting.
Read 9 tweets
Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
25 Oct
Thread. A lot of people not familiar with judges don't know about one of the biggest ongoing scandals: profiting off poor people's blood. Over the years, many of my clients have been forced by judges to sell their own blood plasma in order to pay court fees for minor arrests.
The blood bank industry is worth $14 billion. As @historyprofsena pointed out to me, blood bank executives earn millions by trafficking the blood of mostly poor people for high profit margins. Only a deeply sick society profits from the blood of its poorest people.
The everyday violence perpetrated by judges goes unnoticed. When people die at Rikers, media does not focus on the prosecutors and judges in fancy suits and robes who are most responsible for that disaster. As a general rule, the nicer your suit, the more violent you are.
Read 4 tweets
Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
21 Oct
one of the reasons we should care about police, prosecutors, and judges is that they are the way people who own things enforce the inequalities and injustices of our society against people's bodies.
police, prosecutors, and judges are the ones who remove your family from your home if you can't pay the landlord or the bank.
police, prosecutors, and judges are the ones who cage you if you take the insulin medication your child needs but that you can't afford.
Read 6 tweets
Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
20 Oct
Thread. The copaganda crisis is now causing a scandal at the Associated Press. This @ap article on Portland police is one of the single worst examples of media reporting on police I've ever seen. I explain below why it's so dangerous. abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/l…
The thesis of the article is that police are powerless to stop Portland from becoming "lawless" because of a relatively toothless law that restricts use of rubber bullets and chemical irritants. (The history of police violence and criminality that led to it are not mentioned.)
1st, note that the article is basically a police union press release. It takes a pet issue of the union and local real estate developers and is full of false claims (repeated without skepticism).
Read 19 tweets
Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
19 Oct
Thread. The idea that "defund the police" is a "failed slogan" is one of the silliest things you see a lot of in the media today. If you hear people saying it, here are some thoughts on how to respond:
First, the idea that a social movement is a "failure" a few months after it first appears is odd. People like this would have declared the anti-slavery movement a "failure" in 1850, and would have said that women's suffrage, same-sex marriage, climate change, etc... all "failed."
Second, "defund the police" isn't a "slogan." It is a demand that people harmed by police violence make to get people to see that unprecedented U.S. spending on cops, weapons, and cages could be reduced and investment in arts, housing, schools, healthcare, wages, etc.. increased.
Read 8 tweets
Alec Karakatsanis Profile picture
17 Oct
Thread. This week, the New York Times's recent dangerous reporting on "crime" reached a new low. I try to document what happened carefully below, because what happens to the leading newspaper in the U.S. has effects on how we all get information about the world.
The NYT just published an article blaming nationwide corporate consolidation at Walgreens on a supposed wave of shoplifting by the poor in San Francisco. nytimes.com/2021/10/13/us/…
As you read, ask yourself: who determined that this Walgreens press release blaming shoplifters for corporate consolidation should be a NYT story, and why did they chose to tell the story the way they did?

"All the news that's fit to print."
Read 17 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @equalityAlec has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @equalityAlec!

Read all threads by @equalityAlec

:(