"A Washington, DC-based civil rights organization is taking Durham officials to court—for keeping them out of court."⁠
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Read more in this new article by @LenaRoseGeller in the @indyweek: bit.ly/3UPKkBN Civil Rights Corps (CRC) filed a federal lawsuit against District Court Judge Doretta Walker and Sheriff Clarence Birkhead on Wednesday alleging that the officials have systematically blocked the organization’s staff from monitoring dependency court hearings. 2/10

The for-profit bail industry is a multi-billion $ industry causing generational harm to poor families solely because they can't pay bail amounts.
Check out this important article by our Founder and Exec. Director Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec
equalityalec.substack.com/p/the-news-med… Facts: Of the 50,000 people arrested for misdemeanors in Harris County each year before CRC filed a lawsuit, about 20,000 were detained, even though presumed innocent, solely bcse they couldn’t pay small amounts of $ (a few 100 dollars usually). They pled guilty 84% of the time.

🧵WATCH: Our lawsuit claims three Pasadena, #Texas cops lied to courts to justify a wrongful arrest.

Earlier this month, #TeamCRC sued the three police officers in this video for violating our client’s
constitutional rights. In February 2020, our client was driving home when police pulled him over for a traffic violation and asked him to participate in multiple field sobriety tests. He agreed. According to our Complaint, the officers concluded that our client was not intoxicated or impaired.

🚨CASE UPDATE: Last week, a federal judge approved the final Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree in Giles County, #TN ➡️ civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/upl… This means:

🚫Giles must stop pay-only probation

🚫The county can’t collect $ from people who need gov. assistance or are indigent

🚫Giles must recall outstanding misdemeanor probation warrants

🚫 Limits enforcement of drug tests & other harsh conditions.

We have reached a historic settlement with the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office today, officially ending OPDA’s years-long use of fake subpoenas and intimidation to coerce and jail survivors & witnesses of harm. #NOLA #Louisiana In 2017, we joined @ACLU, @ACLUofLouisiana, @VenableLLP, SilenceIsViolence, and the plaintiffs to file a lawsuit against then-DA Cannizzaro for fabricating subpoenas to force folks into out-of-court interrogations. DA Cannizzaro's office was breaking the law in #Louisiana.

NEW CASE: In Hamblen County, #Tennessee, alongside partners at @GeorgetownICAP, we are bringing a lawsuit challenging their unconstitutional money bail system. #endmoneybail #aThread (1/4) In Hamblen County, 50% of the nearly 400 people in jail on any given day in 2019 were detained pretrial. These are legally innocent people being jailed in overcrowded and unsafe conditions due to their poverty. (2/4)