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Police and Prison Abolition Thread

Wanted to add this to the conversation of our criminal justice system.

NC Marsy's Law Vote:
62% yes
38% no

Ballot summary
Currently, the North Carolina Constitution guarantees victims of certain crimes the following rights:

The right to be informed of and present at proceedings related to the accused.
The right to be heard at sentencing of the accused.
The right to receive restitution.
The right to information regarding the crime, how the criminal justice system works, and the rights and services available to victims.
The right to be informed about the final result of the case.
The right to be informed of an escape, release, or pardon.
The right to express views to the Governor or appropriate agency considering release.
The right to confer with the prosecutor.

If this amendment is adopted, the Constitution would also guarantee victims the following rights:

To be treated with dignity and respect.
Reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of a proceeding, upon request.
To be present at any proceeding, upon request.
To be reasonably heard at additional kinds of court hearings.
Restitution in a reasonably timely manner, when ordered by the court.
Information about the crime, upon request.
To reasonably confer with the prosecutor.

Today, victims have legal rights if the crime was a major felony, certain domestic violence cases, or one of several other kinds of serious crimes. The amendment would expand the types of offenses that trigger victims’ rights to include all crimes against the person and felony property crimes. These rights would also apply in these cases if committed by juveniles.

This amendment directs the Legislature to create a procedure, by motion to the court, for a victim to assert his or her rights. Nothing in this proposed amendment creates a claim against the State or allows the victim to challenge any decision the court makes. The defendant may not use failure to provide these rights as a ground for relief in any civil or criminal matter.

The public fiscal note that accompanied this legislation estimates that these changes to our justice system will cost about $11 million per year.

For the record, I am against Marsy's Laws.

I am not sure how this fits into the conversation but many red, blue and purple states have this type law and if the goal is to be less punitive, this I think shows that majority don't want it if they can imagine it impacts them.
 
Wanted to add this to the conversation of our criminal justice system.

NC Marsy's Law Vote:
62% yes
38% no

Ballot summary


For the record, I am against Marsy's Laws.

I am not sure how this fits into the conversation but many red, blue and purple states have this type law and if the goal is to be less punitive, this I think shows that majority don't want it if they can imagine it impacts them.

IMO, Americans are culturally a punitive people, on top of that, American conservatives are more fearful than liberals, and fearfulness directly leads to authoritarianism.

Regarding laws themselves, I would guess that people who might be opposed to these laws have difficulty,
from reading the inscrutable legalese, of recognizing the negative consequences for prisoners.
 
The language is also intentional. If you want to pass something like Marsy's Law, ignore any negative impacts and make the framing all about "victim's rights." Who would vote against that?
 
The language is also intentional. If you want to pass something like Marsy's Law, ignore any negative impacts and make the framing all about "victim's rights." Who would vote against that?

Of course the language is intentional, it's all intentional. NC Republicans tried to pass abortion restrictions in a "Motorcycle Safety Bill". Senate Bill 178, which would have prevented the release of autopsy information and body cam footage of people killed in police custody, was a "Medical Cannabis" Bill. Republicans are so proud of their morals and ideology that they have to literally hide their legislation to ensure it passes, and pull bullshit surprise votes to prevent it getting voted down. Even with the culture war, Republican politicians can't honestly tell you what they're doing because they know that voters wouldn't support it. They rely on ignorance and apathy.
 
Since the first federal execution in 17 years happened this AM, a timely read (article is from December):

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/federal-executions-trauma/602785/

And from the executed's attorney: "It is important for everyone to understand exactly what happened last night to our client, Daniel Lewis Lee. At 2 AM on July 14, while the country was sleeping, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision vacating the injunction that had been in place against the first federal execution in 17 years. Within minutes, the Department of Justice moved to re-set Danny Lee's execution--for 4 AM, summoning media and witnesses back to the prison in the very middle of the night. When it was brought to the government's attention that a court stay still remained in place, the DOJ first maintained that that stay presented no legal impediment to executing Danny Lee, but then filed an "emergency" motion to lift the stay.
"Over the four hours it took for this reckless and relentless government to pursue these ends, Daniel Lewis Lee remained strapped to a gurney: a mere 31 minutes after a court of appeals lifted the last impediment to his execution at the federal government's urging, while multiple motions remained pending, and without notice to counsel, he was executed.
“It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution during a pandemic. It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution when counsel for Danny Lee could not be present with him, and when the judges in his case and even the family of his victims urged against it. And it is beyond shameful that the government, in the end, carried out this execution in haste, in the middle of the night, while the country was sleeping. We hope that upon awakening, the country will be as outraged as we are."
-- Ruth Friedman, attorney for Daniel Lee and Director, Federal Capital Habeas Project
--July 14, 2020
 
 

10 more by my count (20%) are meat packing plants. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is the only one that is neither.

Edit: Possibly not the thread for that point.
 
"Solving Mass Incarceration" (Abolition vs. Reform debate)

10 more by my count (20%) are meat packing plants. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is the only one that is neither.

Edit: Possibly not the thread for that point.

Prisons, meat packing plants, and the military have some things in common. All are disproportionately Black and Hispanic men. As such, they’re considered disposable even though they make a lot of money for the wealthiest people.
 
This is really good.

 
Colin Kaepernick is producing Abolition for the People, a collection of 30 essays from organizers , activists, scholars on police and prison abolition. Lots of great writers so far. Hope to share more when I’ve had a chance to read some of them.

 
Really good example of how reform fails in this Murakawa essay:

Reformers try to enhance people’s procedural rights as if arming individuals with legal protections might slow the churn of criminalization. But consider the crowning glory of the procedural rights revolution, the 1966 Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court decision requiring cops to recite the speech that begins “You have the right to remain silent.” Outraged conservatives griped about liberal courts handcuffing the cops. But police simply learned a new protocol. After Miranda rights are read during an arrest, most people waive their rights, and police secure incriminating statements in more than half of all interrogations — rates comparable to those pre-Miranda. Police routinely use lies, intimidation, and confinement in interrogation, but simply saying the magic words became proof of professionalism. In short, Miranda offers good protection — for police, not the people they interrogate.

 
How very thoughtful of him.

 
 
On July 22, President Barack Obama said about the incident, "I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately." Law enforcement organizations and members objected to Obama's comments and criticized his handling of the issue. In the aftermath, Obama stated that he regretted his comments and hoped that the situation could become a "teachable moment".[3]

On July 24, Obama invited both parties to the White House to discuss the issue over beer, and on July 30, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined Crowley and Gates in a private, cordial meeting in a courtyard near the White House Rose Garden; this became known colloquially as the "Beer Summit".

An independent panel with experts from across the nation published a report on June 30, 2010, which states that "Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates each missed opportunities to 'ratchet down' the situation and end it peacefully" and share responsibility for the controversial July 16 arrest...
 

I like Ayanna, but Obama is absolutely right on the defund the police language. Language/messaging matters, and defund the police sends an inaccurate message that harms the movement. Ayanna should acknowledge that if she wants to fight for justice.
 
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