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THREAD: I’ve been tweeting all morning and I need to step away but it’s been so hard to capture in words what I’m feeling. Gonna try to channel my energy into what I can do as a legislator and black man in this country. (1/15)
To be clear, anti-racist activism (not to be confused with the more palatable and comfortable “civil rights” framing) is what will start the road to healing. The people will lead, we will follow. This thread is an attempt at finding solutions in a sea of despair. (2/15)
Police brutality does not exist in a vacuum, and there is not enough space on this medium to go through the systems that created and maintain an entire people in subjugated status in this country (for that context, read the 1619 project) (3/15) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html
In this thread, I want to focus on policing in New York and what we can do legislatively. Passing laws are only part of the solution, but it is part I was elected to do and will give everything I have to see it through. Below are some bills and context (4/15)
Our anxiety with police interactions are based in lack of trust. Most interactions do not result in arrest but if you are black, you presume that the very interaction is based on your race. You have history and data to back up this assumption. This is its own trauma. (5/15)
Getting data on racial profiling and disparities in law enforcement has been nearly impossible. Most disclosures only come as a result of litigation. @NYSenBenjamin has a bill that would prohibit racial profiling and allow for monetary damages: (6/15) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=%0D%0A&leg_video=&bn=S01137&term=2019&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Committee%26nbspVotes=Y&Floor%26nbspVotes=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y&LFIN=Y&Chamber%26nbspVideo%2FTranscript=Y
. @bradhoylman has a bill, the Police STAT Act, that would force courts to track disparate enforcement tactics. Here’s that bill: (7/15) https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s1830
Now, let’s say you get arrested. You can be brought to the precinct and interrogated without a lawyer, even if you’re under 18. The police can lie & coerce a false confession. It is legal. The Exonerated Five are trying to change that. (8/15) https://www.innocenceproject.org/exonerated-five-and-allies-join-members-of-nys-senate-and-assembly-to-announce-reforms-to-criminal-justice-system/
Now you’re incarcerated for the alleged offense but the officer who arrested you has a history of improper arrests and excessive use of force. You want your lawyer to use this history to help you. Sorry, you can’t. (9/15)
NY shields their history so you and everyone else that officer has dealt with will never know. The law is 50-a and @jamaaltbailey has a bill to repeal it in its entirety. Read more about it here (10/15): https://gothamist.com/news/new-yorks-thin-blue-line-protected-thick-black-curtain
(Oh and police disciplinary hearings also go before a judge on NYPD payroll. You read that correctly. Unlike every other city agency disciplinary hearing that is held before an administrative judge outside that agency. I have a bill to change that (11/15) https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s7527
Police officers are the only entity in our communities with legal license to kill. It is a profound power that we’ve seen misused in NY too many times. The community has repeatedly called for a special prosecutor to investigate these cases where our loved ones are killed (12/15)
The state created a temporary special prosecutor years ago which has investigated ~18 cases. No convictions. @NNickPerry and @jamaaltbailey have a bill to make the office permanent and give it more power. (13/15) https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/a1601
And this is just the front end. Once you’re in the system the incarceration complex kicks into high gear. Conditions in our jails and prisons deserves its own thread, as does the accompanying reentry hurdles. Just as much work to do there as well. (14/15)
These bills are no panacea and are cold comfort to the millions of us enraged by the violence against our very existence. But in my role as a legislator, I will give everything I have to see these bills passed. It is the least we can do in the face of perennial tragedy. (15/15)
