Aug 22, 2022·edited Aug 22, 2022Liked by John Hawthorne
There's so much in this series, which is brilliantly written. Some responses:
1. I'm surprised you didn't add to the "what now" list an infusion of your own profession into how we systemically practice justice. "Defund the Police" is, in my opinion, a strategically horrible label for the reforms that it is supposed to represent. Money for community intervention, salaries and better field training for social workers, etc. Where does this fit in your summation? A big yes, by the way, to your comments on public defenders and cash bail.
2. You allude to this in several ways, but I'll just add it more bluntly: The police need to be demilitarized. There are "use it or lose it" protocols in place about the armories given to police forces according to how military surplus is budgeted. I think this has to be stopped.
3. I'm going to write an article about this, but I was processed into the correctional system. According the inverted pyramid graphic you used in a previous piece, I was briefly incarcerated and then made it as far as "diversion," the midpoint in the system. I learned quite a bit from the experience, including what a thug cop is, how money works in the system, how easy it is to have your life changed by a criminal record, and where criminal danger escalates quickest during the legal process (spoiler: it's in your cell while you're waiting for bail).
There's so much in this series, which is brilliantly written. Some responses:
1. I'm surprised you didn't add to the "what now" list an infusion of your own profession into how we systemically practice justice. "Defund the Police" is, in my opinion, a strategically horrible label for the reforms that it is supposed to represent. Money for community intervention, salaries and better field training for social workers, etc. Where does this fit in your summation? A big yes, by the way, to your comments on public defenders and cash bail.
2. You allude to this in several ways, but I'll just add it more bluntly: The police need to be demilitarized. There are "use it or lose it" protocols in place about the armories given to police forces according to how military surplus is budgeted. I think this has to be stopped.
3. I'm going to write an article about this, but I was processed into the correctional system. According the inverted pyramid graphic you used in a previous piece, I was briefly incarcerated and then made it as far as "diversion," the midpoint in the system. I learned quite a bit from the experience, including what a thug cop is, how money works in the system, how easy it is to have your life changed by a criminal record, and where criminal danger escalates quickest during the legal process (spoiler: it's in your cell while you're waiting for bail).