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Dear human beings who know things on here. I’d like to crowdsource outrageous outcomes/consequences of the irrational laws, policies, & decisions that characterize our criminal punishment system. Facts, data, stories, comparisons welcome. I’ll start & then add yours to thread.
Injustice of those in prison fighting wildfires in Cali isn’t just their $1/hr paycheck. Once released, they *can’t get hired as firefighters.* “People spend years saving lives while incarcerated then struggle to find a place to do the same work when free.” https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article217422815.html
Officer violently tore a 1 y/o baby from a mom’s arms. Lied. Falsely arrested her. Threatened bystanders w/ a taser for filming. All caught on film. We all saw it. NYPD finds no wrongdoing. No discipline. Months later: one of the same cops involved in a brawl w/ teens on subway.
A 21 y/o overslept & missed jury duty. This Judge —John Kastrenakis—sentenced him to 10 days jail, 1 year probation, 150 hours community service, $223 fine, & to write a “sincere” apology. After appeal, judge reduced probation to 3 months & community service to 30 hours.
After 10 days sentenced for oversleeping & missing jury duty, witnessing horrors inside, leaving granddad w/o a caretaker, missing work at afterschool program, & led out in cuffs, judge explains impt of jury duty to American “justice” w/o a hint of irony. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-man-gets-10-days-jail-missing-jury-duty-n1062571
Meet Glenn Kurtzrock. Prosecuted ppl for murder he knew were innocent. To do so, he altered/withheld 100s of pages of exculpatory evidence. 5 murder cases dismissed so far. Fired. But still allowed to practice law. Using experience as “former homicide prosecutor” to get business.
This cop threw 11 y/o to the sidewalk. Put her in a banned chokehold. Lied about it under oath. NYPD shut down investigation. No consequences. He’s now patrolling Yankee stadium. Making $163k/yr while posting racist & Islamaphobic content online. Your NYPD. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kendalltaggart/nypd-paul-gaglio-bill-bratton-punishment
Although people who are trafficked are forced to sell sex to earn money for their trafficker under fear of harm or death, they are still arrested and charged with prostitution, even when police and prosecutors are aware of their precarious positions. https://www.gq.com/story/harsher-enforcement-punishes-sex-trafficking-victims
From @SomilBTrivedi: “Prosecutors jail crime victims to compel their testimony, ostensibly to protect...crime victims.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-are-prosecutors-putting-innocent-witnesses-in-jail/amp
The folly of “rehabilitation.” In prison (via @RachelBarkow):
1)20% have cognitive disability. Fewer than ever get education.
2)69% abuse drugs. 11% get services.
3)>1/2 mental illness. 1 in 3 get treatment.
4)7 of 10 rearrested/convicted w/n 5 yrs of release.
1)20% have cognitive disability. Fewer than ever get education.
2)69% abuse drugs. 11% get services.
3)>1/2 mental illness. 1 in 3 get treatment.
4)7 of 10 rearrested/convicted w/n 5 yrs of release.
1)600k/yr released from jails/prisons
2)45k laws excluding those released
3)>1/3 homeless after 6 mos
4)200k denied student loan (s.2001)
5)36 states ban welfare assistance
6)78% jobless in Indiana 5yrs post
System is senseless & undermines public safety.
2)45k laws excluding those released
3)>1/3 homeless after 6 mos
4)200k denied student loan (s.2001)
5)36 states ban welfare assistance
6)78% jobless in Indiana 5yrs post
System is senseless & undermines public safety.
From @SomilBTrivedi — “Oklahoma jailed a mother for “failure to protect” her child from a man’s abuse...leaving her unable to protect her child.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/08/she-went-prison-over-her-boyfriends-child-abuse-thirteen-years-after-he-got-out-shes-free/%3foutputType=amp
A town in Montana just jailed a senior citizen on $10,000 bail he can’t afford for marijuana. During a pandemic. https://twitter.com/bobbrigham/status/1272771519756689408?s=21 https://twitter.com/bobbrigham/status/1272771519756689408
This. https://twitter.com/seeyouincourtxo/status/1279943683714899968?s=21 https://twitter.com/seeyouincourtxo/status/1279943683714899968
On March 28. On same night Rikers became place w/ highest infection rate in the world, NY Democrats & Gov. Cuomo met behind closed doors. To discuss repealing bail reform that already had saved thousands from Rikers. This past week repeal went into effect. To the delight of NYPD.
People get arrested, jailed, prosecuted, & develop criminal records for driving on suspended licenses. And they’re, of course, mostly black. “Hundreds of thousands of criminalized motorists in NY state alone.” Via @jbenmenachem: http://www.drivenbyjustice.org
52% of of violent victimizations in the US go unreported. “More than half of the people who survive serious violence prefer *nothing* to everything available to them through law enforcement.” Via the brilliant @daniellesered. Her book:
Despite what lawmakers tell us, the majority of crime survivors recognize incarceration leads to recidivism. And 69% “preferred holding ppl accountable through options beyond prison, such as rehabilitation, mental health treatment, community supervision or service.”
It costs $1750 to arrest someone in NYC bc they can't pay $2.75 subway fare. $51 million/yr. Make this make sense.
1 sandwich: $2
1 arrest for stealing sandwich: $1750
1 night on Rikers: appx. $800
6 months Rikers (he’d be out in 4): $96k
Sandwiches he could afford after release: 0
Chances hed need to steal to survive again: 100%
Sense our punishment system makes: None. http://thecity.nyc/2019/10/new-yorks-most-desperate-caught-up-in-crimes-of-poverty.html
1 arrest for stealing sandwich: $1750
1 night on Rikers: appx. $800
6 months Rikers (he’d be out in 4): $96k
Sandwiches he could afford after release: 0
Chances hed need to steal to survive again: 100%
Sense our punishment system makes: None. http://thecity.nyc/2019/10/new-yorks-most-desperate-caught-up-in-crimes-of-poverty.html
“Da’s office in Louisiana uses state’s habitual offender statute to prosecute man charged with selling 30 dollars worth of marijuana —he’s then sentenced to life in prison.” From @ethanbrown72: https://theappeal.org/life-in-prison-marijuana/
In NJ, it’ll cost you $1000 you don’t have if you suffer from substance abuse disorder every time you get caught. https://twitter.com/emb922/status/1279948057946308609?s=21 https://twitter.com/emb922/status/1279948057946308609
You get trained in NY prison to become a barber. Released on parole, you’re required to get a job. But you can’t become a barber if you have a record. https://twitter.com/johnfpfaff/status/1279940661018591232?s=21 https://twitter.com/johnfpfaff/status/1279940661018591232
The cycle:
1. Arrested because poor.
2. Court fees imposed. Can’t afford.
3. License suspended for not paying.
4. Need car for work, appointments.
5. Arrested for driving w/o license.
6. Court fees imposed. Can’t afford.
7. Rinse. Repeat.
Make this make sense.
1. Arrested because poor.
2. Court fees imposed. Can’t afford.
3. License suspended for not paying.
4. Need car for work, appointments.
5. Arrested for driving w/o license.
6. Court fees imposed. Can’t afford.
7. Rinse. Repeat.
Make this make sense.
Paul Manafort was sentenced to less than a woman who voted while on probation without knowing she wasn’t allowed to. She was sentenced to 5 years. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/us/texas-woman-voter-fraud.amp.html
15 years in prison for drug possession. You shouldn’t need more info than that to be outraged. But then learn: Juanita is a mother of 6. Her 18 year old is now head of household. Raising 5 kids. Crime is not even a felony in Oklahoma anymore.
3 years ago, a Brooklyn teen was sentenced to 19 years for setting a mattress on fire that inadvertently lead to the death of a responding officer for smoke inhalation. Same judge sentenced Akai Gurley’s killer to probation that year. Https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/nyregion/brooklyn-teenager-gets-19-years-to-life-for-fire-that-killed-officer.html
Rosetta Cochran. 51 y/o mother of 7. Falsely arrested for crack sale in her home. Took 2.5 yrs to clear her name. Case dismissed. She even won a settlement. But the NYC Housing Authority *still evicted her.* The arrest was enough. “I could just cry.” https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1136446747100831744?s=21
A second-grader gave another some of the play money. The classmate tried to use it for lunch in the cafeteria, & before long, the Prince George’s County police were called. Then, the U.S. Secret Service. “They treated it like a counterfeit scheme.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/the-money-was-fake-the-police-were-real-it-happened-in-an-elementary-school/2019/07/05/c2652b5c-704a-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html
Money literally buys a reduced charge in Illinois. https://twitter.com/juliedicaro/status/1279951353171849216?s=21 https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/1279951353171849216
We lock people up for failure to pay child support, which costs tax-payers more than the child support due. https://twitter.com/kathylamotte/status/1279950688215355392?s=21 https://twitter.com/kathylamotte/status/1279950688215355392
Punishment & racism is so engrained in the American way that we:
We suspend preschoolers in the United States.
And do so in a way that disproportionately impacts Black preschoolers.
We suspend preschoolers in the United States.
And do so in a way that disproportionately impacts Black preschoolers.
Last year, it cost over $1 million more to arrest and jail people who didn’t pay their court fees than the total amount they hoped to collect.
We jail & imprison people for conduct that stems from abuse & trauma, and then abuse and traumatize them in jail & prison instead of helping them at all. https://twitter.com/zoepulitzer/status/1279951900906082304?s=21 https://twitter.com/zoepulitzer/status/1279951900906082304
Tried 6(!) times for the same murder. 4 of the convictions overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, for illegally striking black jurors. 2 ended in hung juries, both times when black people actually made it on. Could face 7th. Via @LibbiestLib: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/prosecutor-recuses-himself-case-curtis-flowers-tried-six-times-same-n1111611
