For anyone who cares about the many human beings locked in cages in America, this ritual is a painful one. There's a backlog of more than 17,000 federal clemency petitions waiting on Pres Biden to act. His clemency grant record is abysmal. But, sure, focus on two turkeys.

🚨Opportunity for early-career / freelance investigative reporters!

New York Focus is seeking a reporting assistant for a document-based investigation into county jails.

🧵 of details:

When we talk about Rikers and bail and crime and incarceration, fear dominates the conversation, so since I visited Rikers today here are some facts. Because we in the assembly are supposed to legislate based on facts, not fear-mongering and lies

Exciting new report from FWD.us! Justice, Safety, and Prosperity: New York’s Bail Reform Success Story.

In short - Bail reform has been ASTOUNDINGLY SUCCESSFUL for New York families.

fwd.us/news/new-york-…

Deaths in prisons more than doubled in some states during the first wave of the pandemic. Covid drove the spike, but so did suicide and violence. nytimes.com/2023/02/19/us/…

Kids at Angola have been locked in their cells for days, only allowed to leave to shower, according to a teen who was held at the former death row unit. The power often goes out when it rains. When it's cold, there's no hot water. My latest for The Appeal.
theappeal.org/angola-prison-…

So much of mass incarceration relies on the invisibility of incarcerated people to society. We warehouse poor black & brown people, mentally ill people, people w addictions, in disgusting cages, & call it “justice.”

Out of sight, out of mind.

Another person has died on Rikers Island, now the 19th this year alone. Edgardo Mejia was accused of stealing perfume. Now he’s dead.

The gall it takes for DAs to continue asking for bail, and judges setting it. Blood is on their hands.

CW: State violence

Corrections staff ignored Herminio Villanueva as he lay dying on RIkers Island, leading other people detained in his housing unit to carry him to the clinic, where they were refused entry.

They carried him back to their unit where he died half an hour later.

I’m proud to represent the Garcia family and grateful for the community advocates who came together to get this absurd ban lifted. But this story by Nick Pinto is representative of the abusive & capricious DOC visitation system—it’s a feature not a bug. hellgatenyc.com/garcia-brother…

Rikers is a PRETRIAL detention center that was declared a human rights crisis when 16 people died last year—18 people have already died in Rikers this year. Despite what the copaganda tells you, Rikers is not understaffed—there are about 7000 officers to 5000 incarcerated people.

They don’t make prisons to be rehabilitative in this country because mass incarceration is an intentional profit system that only works by preying on the most vulnerable and under resourced communities. Funneling the same communities through the criminal system is a choice

CRIME IS UP! Oh, wait. It's really not when you put it in context. The entire narrative is designed to stoke fear and override critical thinking about issues so people will vote for fascists promising to fix s nonexistent problem.

Yesterday, Rikers Island killed an 18th person this year. Today, ~6,000 people remain trapped amidst the same deadly conditions. 26 year old Gilberto Garcia had awaited trial for 3 years; 80% of people detained at the jail haven’t been convicted of a crime. #CLOSErikers

The Constitution & New York law give people accused of crime “the right to a speedy trial.” Yet 100 people on Rikers Island — a pre-trial detention facility, a place meant to *temporarily* hold the accused until their trial — have been locked up for 4 to 10 years. Staggering.

A judge set $40k bail on Erick Tavira's case, meaning that if he was wealthy enough to pay bail, Tavira would be alive today.

We still have two systems of justice. And one system kills legally innocent people for not having money.

Rikers was declared a human rights crisis last year when 16 people died, which was the deadliest year in Rikers history since 2013. Last night, a man was found hanging, making him the 17th death just this year and surpassing last year’s deadliest death toll. Rikers must close