BREAKING: The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that the ban on non-unanimous jury convictions—a vestige of the Jim Crow era that the Supreme Court said in 2020 was unconstitutional—is NOT retroactive. 1500 people will not get new trials. lasc.org/opinions/2022/… The justices cited the "high administrative burden that many retrials of final convictions would impose on our system of justice" and said they "decline to act as a super-legislature by issuing a broader retroactivity approach than that approved by the voters of Louisiana."

A 24-yr-old man yesterday became the 12th person to die at Rikers Island this year. There is a lot to say (and a lot @MarshallProj & others have said & will say) about the chaos, violence, dysfunction at the jail complex. But for now, I wanted to pause for a moment and remember: Each is a human being who was loved and who died in circumstances that none of us would wish on our worst enemy. Some were accused of shoplifting, of parole violations. Some of terrible crimes. Doesn't matter. This is who they were. I've included pics where I could find them.

Every death in police custody is a preventable tragedy. But 3 recent deaths stand out, because in these cases, paramedics contributed to the circumstances of the deaths. A 🧵 about what @caryaspinwall & I learned reporting this story.
themarshallproject.org/2021/09/22/doi… Medical providers are human. Humans make mistakes. It is very, very rare for doctors, nurses, EMTs, etc. to be criminally charged for mistakes. Accountability usually comes from civil medical malpractice claims or a professional licensing board. themarshallproject.org/2021/09/22/doi…

A box of delicious arrived at my house today courtesy of @benandjerrys. Normally review copies of books are my most exciting job perk. I think @cm_thompson3 once got some bluegrass CDs from @NPRJoeShapiro. That was pretty exciting. But ice cream! Coffee! Brownies! Ice cream with coffee and brownies!!

This month, @ONDCP announced @POTUS's position on permanently making an entire class of chemicals pre-emptively illegal. Amid concerns about the OD epidemic OOH and the drug war OTOH, the admin issued a trying-to-please-everyone-and-as-a-result-pleasing-no-one "compromise." A 🧵 Until now, for a drug to be illegal, it must be proven: 1)psychoactive 2)dangerous/addictive 3)have 0 medical value. Proving this takes time. Cartel labs recognize this and invent endless compounds LIKE fentanyl but NOT fentanyl to evade law enforcement. These are analogues.

Amid an overdose crisis of historic proportions, we have medications that can cut overdose deaths by up to 60%—more than half!—among folks released from prison. But they are sorely underutilized. themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the… Risk of OD death is sky-high among those just released from prison. Reduced access to opioids behind bars → reduced tolerance and increased cravings. Enter methadone and buprenorphine (aka Suboxone), which maintain tolerance and eliminate cravings. themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the…

This woman died in jail detoxing from a drug her physician prescribed her. She was trying to do the right thing and take care of herself after a relapse. postandcourier.com/news/she-died-… Like most jails, the Charleston jail at the time did not provide suboxone (or, it seems, basic medical care for people in withdrawal). themarshallproject.org/2019/01/29/whe…