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Liz Homsy Profile picture
Liz Homsy
@Lizzidi
Syrian-American criminal defense, civil rights, & election attorney, now lawyering w/ the Legal Aid Society of @MetroFamChicago. She/her. Tweets≠legal advice.
Oct 2, 2020 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
I’ve posted before about the myriad of ways a prosecutor can use a grand jury to shield them from the repercussions of not wanting to try police for their crimes. The released tapes of the Breonna Taylor grand jury give us proof that this may be exactly what happened. THREAD. 1/ As I mentioned in a previous thread, prosecutors shield officers (who they rely upon for their own career advancement and case work) by presenting little or no evidence of police wrongdoing before impaneled grand juries. 2/
Sep 29, 2020 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
Alright, I know I’ve said this is important, but folks don’t seem to understand how truly significant this grand juror case is for accountability in policing...THREAD. 1/ Grand juries, though not used in all cases, are where a prosecutor presents the evidence they have regarding a crime, then asks a panel of jurors whether the evidence is sufficient to pursue a formal case against the defendant. 2/
Sep 14, 2020 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
I’ve tried to be patient with @paulkrugman. He is neither Arab, nor Muslim, nor any ethnicity that might be mistaken for such...but these takes, including his doubling down here, are shockingly bad, & insulting to all whose experiences contradict his rosy portrayal. THREAD. 1/ Dr. Krugman, both in his initial thread, as well as in this one, has argued that anti-Arab and Islamaphobic sentiment may have gone up a little, but was not as bad as what “might have happened”. To this point he cites the rise in racism under Trump. 2/
Aug 31, 2020 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
With Bill Maher trending, it's important to remember that he has historically espoused racist, misogynist, homophobic, and transphobic rhetoric while hiding behind his rejection of the Iraq War, and his support of gun control and cannabis. THREAD. 1/13 In 2017, on his own show, Maher "joked" with Congressman Ben Sasse about how he couldn't work in the fields. In doing so, much to his own, and Rep. Sasse's apparent amusement, he used the N-word to describe why field work wasn't for him. 2/13

nytimes.com/2017/06/03/art…
Aug 23, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
One of the most important lessons I learned over the years is that activists, especially those who have done this a long time, have legitimate fears of targeting. Asking protesters to submit this kind of information before participating in an action would raise major red flags... This does not mean the action is necessarily bad, but rather the activists (who hopefully are asking for this info because they want to be able to find their people in event of arrest) don’t understand the history of targeting in movements and aren’t taking the right precautions.
Aug 4, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
All the folks posting about how “George Floyd was no saint and would have lived if he had done what the cops told him to” have a REALLY strong “she deserved to be raped because she was wearing a short skirt” vibe going. THREAD. Image “I mean if she hadn’t been drinking or doing drugs these bad things wouldn’t have happened to her. We need to teach our daughters to be more moral if they don’t want to be sexually assaulted...” Image
Jul 30, 2020 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
This is an excellent point.

Also, the federal government doesn’t really “run” elections. The US legislature sets the date and basic requirements, then the individual states and municipalities have boards of elections that run them. THREAD. 1/17 There are more elected offices than federal ones up for election this cycle. Outside of the president, federal senators, and federal representatives, most states are running elections for state houses, state senate, and many more state (and sometimes municipal) offices. 2/17
Jul 13, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
The fact that the United States has no formal paid sick leave, nor support for workers with sick children has to be dealt with long before opening schools will in any way be viable. THREAD. 1/16 I started out working as a 7-11 licensed law student in child protection when I was in law school. This meant I was allowed to work as a lawyer under licensed attorneys’ supervision. 2/16
Jul 9, 2020 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Of the decisions we’ve seen today, this one is actually, in my opinion, the most far-reaching and important. What’s impressive to me more than anything is the broad language Justice Gorsuch used in the decision. THREAD. 1/10 As shown here, Justice Gorsuch specifically addressed how merely because the government has been violating the sovereignty of native lands since the beginning, that doesn’t mean the laws themselves are invalid. 2/10 Image
Jun 20, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The lunatic two-step of this insane situation:

1. White House announces Berman resigned.
2. Berman announces that he has NOT resigned.
3. Barr announces that because Berman won’t resign, the president has fried him.
4. The president announces he’s not involved in the firing... I mean, I’m all for giving SDNY plenty of ammo to fight this corrupt monstrosity of an administration, but this is just getting ridiculous...
May 12, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This, folks, is the crux of their argument - years of study and practice means absolutely nothing so long as you feel a different way.

Believe me when I say, nobody is better off defending themselves in court without a lawyer, or treating their cancer without a doctor... 1/5 Would you prefer if your electrical grid was designed and built by people who know nothing about such things? Would you rather your sewage system be designed by people who FEEL that they know how to design complex systems, but have never bothered to learn how? 2/5
May 8, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
This is actually an important thread about the difficulties facing smaller-income candidates in the wake of Covid-19. While for most states, petition passing is over, the threat will remain if this virus continues on its likely path for the next year. THREAD. 1/9 Not everyone is aware of this, but most states require signatures of registered voters for a candidate, referendum, etc. to make the ballot. These are usually collected by volunteers who door-knock or pass petitions in public, and generally must be notarized. 2/9
Apr 18, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
There are a number of logical and legal problems with a lawsuit like this one. Since the logical ones are so obvious (who objects to keeping people safe from a deadly disease, when that’s the best and only way?!) and since I’m a lawyer, let’s focus on the legal ones...THREAD 1/15 These lawsuits contend, at their core, that stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders unjustly deprive folks of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of assembly. This is, in fact, true! But those rights are not the complete picture... 2/15
Mar 22, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
To anyone out there looking for things they can do to help during this difficult time, please consider donating to funds that provide bonds/bail for incarcerated folks in either the criminal or immigration systems. THREAD. 1/6 Jails could be hotbeds for the spread of this virus. Groups like the Chicago Community Bond Fund (@ChiBondFund) out here, and others in other states are doing what they can to get folks home so they can shelter there until this passes... 2/6

chicagobond.org
Dec 2, 2019 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
For all those out there wanting to get more involved with fixing the insane situation that is our current federal government, please consider volunteering for local races! THREAD 1/9 Don’t get me wrong, the presidency is vitally important to flip and definitely something we should not ignore! And it’s every bit as important to keep a majority in the House and win back the Senate, but in the rush to support those races, many folks forget the local ones... 2/9