Over 35K people are detained in Texas jails for crimes of which they have not been convicted (often just because they cannot afford to post bail). Many do not have water, heat, or enough food, and judges are refusing to even hold hearings to consider lower bail amounts. 🧵: In Houston, almost 9K people are packed in an overcrowded jail with no running water, no hot food, and overflowing toilets. People are sleeping on the floor in freezing temperatures. A man has already died.

1/ BREAKING: Noting that “the right to vote is fundamental to our democracy,” 79 CJ leaders issued a joint statement today condemning efforts to undermine the voting process through USPS interference & threatened deployment of law enforcement to the polls. bit.ly/32XilEC 2/ "Public trust in democracy, the rule of law, and the integrity of our government is integral to public safety. When one system is attacked & fails, it compromises the ability of all systems to function."

1/ “As the RNC plays out this week, a public service warning to all Americans: Don’t buy the hype you are hearing when it comes to crime in America.”
Read my new @thehill op-ed with @RAustin_Jr thehill.com/opinion/civil-… 2/ “More than 178,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19...on the other hand, in 2018, the last full year of available data, there were 16,214 homicides in the U.S.—less than 10% of the deaths from a virus this president has largely ignored.”

1/ NEW: Today, 53 current and former elected prosecutors & law enforcement leaders joined in a letter calling on Congress to decriminalize marijuana, expunge prior convictions and invest in communities harmed by past drug policies. 2/ "The MORE Act provides a clear path forward that rights the wrongs of prohibition, and will significantly help law enforcement forge better relationships with the people we serve and bring justice to families of serious, violent crimes." Read more: bit.ly/2YbPcDX

1/ Youth prisons are “giant monuments to failure.” Read my new @sacbee_news op-ed w/Gladys Carrión, fmr NYS commissioner of youth justice services & co-chair of YCLJ @CUJusticeLab, about efforts in CA to abolish youth prisons. bit.ly/3iyvSZ6 2/ “Youth prisons carry the stain of racism, with Black, Native American and Latinx youth incarcerated at five, three and 1.7 times the rate of white youth, respectively.”

1/ BREAKING NEWS: 76 CJ leaders - DAs, AGs, Chiefs & Sheriffs nationwide - filed an amicus brief urging inclusive & thoughtful reform of policing & challenging the flawed process & Commission the President & AG have put in place to address these issues. fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/ Against the backdrop of the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, the brief highlights the deeply frayed relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl…

1/ BREAKING: 40 elected prosecutors condemn the murder of George Floyd, calling for enhanced police accountability and reforms to address racially-biased policing: fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/ “We denounce the murder of George Floyd as a profound tragedy and an affront to justice everywhere... We demand accountability from police and our fellow prosecutors, and we demand systemic change -- and commit to bringing about these changes in our own communities.”

1/ Four Texas DAs, FJP, @Pretrial & @PoliceForReform filed amicus brief challenging @GregAbbott_TX efforts to limit release of ppl held pretrial. Brief argues: preventing the release of ppl who can safely return to the community puts us all at risk. fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/ The Governor’s order undermines the ability of judges and DAs to protect lives of those behind bars and who work in jails - and misunderstands the efficacy of money bail.

1/ The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This starting point is a ticking time bomb in the midst of the current public health crisis. There IS a better way. In this new FJP video, hear lessons learned from Germany, where incarceration is 1/9 that of the US. 2/ “We over arrest, we overcharge, we over prosecute and we over sentence. That’s why we have a mass incarceration problem.” @AGKarlRacine

In contrast, the vast majority of cases in Germany are dealt with through diversion and noncarceral approaches.

1/ The firing of two public defenders in PA threatens the rt to counsel – a fundamental part of the fabric of our CJ system. DAs & defenders need to JOINTLY speak out – as we did in @thelegalintel w/ @NACDL @NACDLExecDir bit.ly/2uT66vA 2/ The integrity of our criminal legal system depends upon the willingness of defenders who work within it to be advocates in every sense – for individual clients and also for a CJ system that is systematically fair and just.

1/ We are safer now than ever before, yet AG Barr continues to promote a fear-driven narrative that attacks reform-minded DAs. Today 39 elected DAs & AGs came together to denounce these attacks & caution against a return to failed tough on crime policies: fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/"We will not go back to the... tough on crime era. We will not adhere to policies that failed to make our communities safe & punished poverty, mental illness or addiction-policies that filled prison beds & made our country an international outlier in our rate of incarceration."

1/5: 45 elected prosecutors filed a brief in the MO Supreme Court supporting @KimGardnerSTL's efforts to #FreeLamarJohnson, believed to have been wrongfully convicted. DAs have a duty to remedy wrongful convictions. This is the essence of pursuing justice. fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/5: CA Gardner’s CIU discovered evidence that Johnson was wrongfully convicted. Rather than let him languish in prison, she has sought justice at every turn, even as other actors, including the MO State Attorney General, have tried to impede her efforts.

1/5: Trauma-informed care is critical for any young person in detention & is the constitutionally required standard of care. Read the brief joined by 57 CJ leaders & @disAbilityLawVA challenging conditions of confinement of immigrant children in VA. fairandjustprosecution.org/wp-content/upl… 2/5: “All children detained in our nation’s facilities must be treated in a way that recognizes, & does not further exacerbate, the trauma they have already suffered.” @WesleyBell4STL @Deberry4DA @DADoughertyCO @keithellison @StLouisCityCA @markdegonz3 @KathyJenningsDE

1/7: Every day 200 ppl are dying on our streets from an overdose. These deaths are preventable & we know there is a better way. Watch FJP’s new video on lessons learned from Portugal. vimeo.com/362354747?ref=… 2/7: “Too often we think we know everything as Americans. I know I don't have universal healthcare. I know I don't have a lot of the resources, but I can take back humanity & take back compassion.” - @NuecesCoDA

1/4 “It’s time to choose a different pathway & support public health solutions that save lives.” Read my new @PhillyInquirer op-ed w/ former Chief Brendan Cox & @AdarrelOmarF on the Safehouse case and why we need harm reduction strategies that save lives. medium.com/fair-and-just-… 2/4 “The opioid crisis is testing our moral compass & calls for action. Yet our primary response to the problem has been punitive measures that have failed for decades.”