Thread by @ScottHech

The judge, smiling, describes how he screenshots his funny text message conversations w/ friends then emails them to himself. But when he tries to zoom in: “it’s all a blur.” Which is why he won’t allow prosecutors to zoom in on CCTV footage of the incident for the jury to see.

https://twitter.com/guinz/status/1459216913536634881

This judge did this knowing the entire country was watching. Imagine what goes on every day in empty courtrooms.

Seeing a lot of people who *know* — mostly public defenders — how horrifying the state of the judiciary is. It’s not just cruelty. It’s arrogance, stupidity, laziness, & a dangerous combination of ignorance of & disdain for the law. Cases are determined on feelings. Not reason.

Spend a day in local criminal court & you’ll see dramatic racism of who laws get enforced against. Hard benches filled with Black & brown people near exclusively. Not allowed to read or sleep. Forced to watch people like them called to stand judgement before mostly white judges.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see hundreds of court employees & prosecutors & judges who tell themselves they’re doing “gods work” & “justice,” but are really just propelling a system of mass human punishment & caging. “Enforcing the law” is euphemism for hurting people.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see survivors of violence being punished either w/ prison time for acting out harm & trauma or forced to watch their loved ones, or those that harmed them get punished against their will. Knowing state violence only furthers their trauma.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see police—who have lied, abused, overpoliced & surveilled, assaulted, violated the constitution, & even killed—treated w/ unquestioning respect. Given every benefit of the doubt. While people criminalized are screamed at if they whisper.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see judges willfully ignore & violate the law. Cage people bc they want to. Decide a case a certain way only bc they don’t like a particular charge. Smile as they they hand down the harshest of sentences. Ignore sympathetic circumstances.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see judges issue warrants & cage people bc they’re late; they couldn’t afford a fine or fee; they relapsed or expressed frustration during a mandated program; they failed to check in once w/ a probation supervisor; they spoke out of turn.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see children, literal children, cuffed w/ their arms behind their backs, yelled at for having the gall to look over their shoulder for a glance at a loved one or friend. Surrounded by court officers & sent to jail to teach a lesson.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see judges & court officers talk to people w/ obvious mental health issues like there is nothing wrong & then express anger & frustration when they don’t understand or say something inadvertently inappropriate.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see judges & court officers talk to people w/ obvious mental health issues like there is nothing wrong & then express anger & frustration when they don’t understand or say something inadvertently inappropriate.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see people arrested for being homeless, suffering from substance use, mental health issues, poverty. Offered pleas to time served like just an rest & night in cage is charity. Then sent on their way. One more crime on record. Worse off.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see the most “sympathetic” cases you can imagine. Young people. Pregnant women. Survivors of horrific abuse. Elderly. Sick & infirm. You’ll also see people that fit whatever conception you may have of “who belongs.” In reality no one does.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see prosecutors right out of law school & new judges making life & death decisions that strip people of their liberty & property & families & jobs & health & housing & wellbeing & just thinking they’re doing justice. It’s a job.

Spend a day in criminal court & you’ll see people caged for hundreds of things that shouldn’t be considered crimes at all. Made up by politicians to win elections in the far & near past. Poverty. Houselessness. Mental health & substances. Issues the system only exacerbates.

It’s not just criminal court. It’s family court. Housing court. Immigration court. Juvenile court, of course. Everyday cruelty & inhumanity drives & describes our “justice” systems. And it mostly happens in empty courtrooms. Not on camera. Courts are “open.” But no one’s there.

What can you do? A lot, but one really tangible thing is volunteer to COURTWATCH. Get trained on language of court & help collectively hold court actors to account. Judges. Prosecutors. Google “CourtWatch” & your city. CourtWatchpg.com is virtual. Join from anywhere.