Alec Karakatsanis

Watch this video featuring our work @CivRightsCorps to learn about how our case will free almost 20,000 people from jail every year in Houston, Texas.

As one of the justices put it: "The imposition of bail in an amount that is not reasonably attainable upsets this balance by depriving those accused of crimes of their freedom based on their financial circumstances, without any trial or conviction. Today’s opinion marks the end of that practice in our state."

I am in absolute awe of our team @CivRightsCorps and all the many people who have been fighting for this outcome for so many years. The fight is not close to over, because the punishment bureaucracy is a monster that morphs and metastasizes. But sometimes thousands of people across many walks of life doing everything they can are able to make it less monstrous, and to bend it toward justice.

THREAD. Eleven years ago, we brought the first modern constitutional challenge to the idea that a presumed innocent human being can be put in a cage, separated from their family, solely because they lack enough cash to pay money bail.

Let’s talk about Khaled Daher. A paramedic in Lebanon’s Civil Defence. Not a fighter. Not a “target.” A first responder who ran toward danger to save lives. Two days ago, he was killed, along with two of his colleagues, when they were directly targeted while trying to rescue a civilian trapped under rubble. But his story doesn’t start there. Khaled wasn’t just a paramedic. He was the backbone of his family. After his brother died in Bulgaria, he went searching for him, across borders & through uncertainty, until he finally located his grave & brought him back to Lebanon, where he laid him to rest. He then became a father figure to his brother’s daughter, raising her as his own, carrying a responsibility that wasn’t his to bear, but one he chose anyway. He was a son, a brother, a provider, a quiet pillar holding others up. And in the end, he died the same way he lived, trying to save someone else. Khaled Daher didn’t just lose his life. His family lost their support. People lost the man who showed up when everything else fell apart. His niece has now lost both fathers. Khaled spent his life saving others. He was killed while doing exactly that. This is what is being lost. Over 103 medics and rescue workers have been killed since March 2. Not numbers. First responders. Lives that held other lives together.

BRASILEIRO TORTURADO SOB CUSTÓDIA DE ISRAEL: RELATOS CONFIRMADOS PELA EMBAIXADA APONTAM ESPANCAMENTO ATÉ A INCONSCIÊNCIA, RISCO DE CEGUEIRA PERMANENTE E MORTE As informações já foram confirmadas pela própria Embaixada do Brasil. O cidadão brasileiro Thiago Ávila está sendo submetido a graves violações de direitos humanos por forças israelenses. Não se trata de relato, de boato ou de versão disputada. Trata-se de informação oficial. Thiago foi espancado de forma brutal, com inúmeros golpes direcionados ao rosto, a ponto de não conseguir sequer abrir os olhos. O olho esquerdo apresenta risco concreto de PERDA DE VISÃO PERMANENTE, evidenciando a intensidade da violência empregada. Há indícios de múltiplas costelas quebradas, compatíveis com agressões reiteradas e de alta intensidade física. Durante a condução forçada, foi ameaçado de ser jogado ao mar pelos soldados, o que por si só já configura tratamento cruel, desumano e degradante, além de indicar risco real à sua vida. Como se não bastasse, houve também ameaças dirigidas à sua família no Brasil, ampliando o quadro de intimidação e violência psicológica. O nível de violência foi tão extremo que ele DESMAIOU DUAS VEZES em decorrência das agressões, o que demonstra não apenas a brutalidade dos atos, mas também o risco concreto à sua integridade física e à sua vida. E mais: soldados israelenses disseram a ele que destruiriam seu corpo a ponto de impedir qualquer participação futura em novas missões humanitárias, o que reforça o caráter deliberado e punitivo das agressões. Isso tem nome. À luz do Direito Internacional, especialmente das normas que vedam a TORTURA e protegem a integridade física de pessoas sob custódia estatal, estamos diante de condutas que podem se enquadrar como tortura e tratamento desumano, práticas absolutamente proibidas em qualquer circunstância. Nenhuma justificativa política, militar ou de segurança autoriza esse tipo de conduta contra um civil, ainda mais um cidadão estrangeiro sob custódia. A situação é gravíssima. Estamos falando de um brasileiro que teve sua integridade física violada, sua vida colocada em risco e sua dignidade atacada enquanto estava sob controle de agentes estatais. Isso exige resposta. Não apenas diplomática, mas também jurídica, internacional e imediata. O que está acontecendo não pode ser normalizado. Não pode ser relativizado. E, sobretudo, não pode ficar impune.

Amazing work by @CivRightsCorps! They do so much to preserve the presumption of innocence, and Alec is right this good for liberty and public safety because needless pretrial detention leads to far more crime and disruption than it prevents.

We won! Hundreds of thousands of people who are currently detained and separated from their families in lower-level cases will be released from jail every year. An incredible victory for liberty and public safety. You can read the historic decision here: civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/upl…

42 Democrats just joined 192 Republicans to reauthorize FISA Section 702 – a warrantless surveillance law that's been used to access Americans' data. Democratic leadership did not whip their members, enabling them to vote with Republicans and give Trump the surveillance powers.

I explained it here more deeply, and in the most important chapter of Copaganda, called The Big Deception: x.com/equalityAlec/s…

This is a pervasive problem in corporate news: x.com/equalityAlec/s…

The genre of New York Times propaganda where it credits as reported fact the stated motivations of powerful people should be confined to the dustbin of history. Compare how it reports the unquestioned true intentions of right-wing judges versus the merely declared views of “Black southerners.”

As many of you know, we've been fighting for years to challenge the grotesque cash bail and pretrial detention policies around the U.S. that keep 100,000s of human beings in cages and separated from their families every single night, mostly because they lack cash. Tomorrow, the California Supreme Court will issue the most important court decision ever decided on this question--and probably the most important decision in U.S. history in terms of the number of people in jail. At stake is essentially whether several hundred thousand presumed innocent people every year in misdemeanors and non-violent felonies can be detained in cages prior to trial. It's the most important issue we've ever worked on.

@maustermuhle @dcwitness Martin: there are some fine sentiments expressed here, but it's extremely superficial analysis, especially the lack of understanding how the concept of "crime" is constructed. You should try to deeper your understanding of this. If you want, I can send you a copy of Copaganda.

I think more and *better* coverage of public safety is critical. Outlets that contextualize incidents with data and trends, more places that follow crime not just as an arrest but also as the start of a legal process (like @dcwitness does), etc.

This is pretty fascinating, and I heard a variation of this argument a few years ago, when crime spiked in D.C. Essentially, someone argued to me that the presence of a NY Post-style tabloid would have spurred more action on crime in the city at the time.

@misterAmos @maustermuhle It's just complete and utter nonsense. So much gibberish and a total mangling of the concept of scientific rigor. Just total selective head-in-the-sand view of science. Martin: have you read my book Copaganda? I'd be happy to send you a copy.

@maustermuhle @equalityAlec can you please drag Martin’s ass for this nonsense. we genuinely need you to do your thing more locally

New MSF report shows how “the deliberate denial of water from Palestinians is an integral part of Israel’s genocide.” Since Oct 2023, Israel has destroyed 89% of the water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructures while denying the displaced population access to water supplies.

I had the real privilege of sitting down with Dania Majid (@CanArabLaw) and @equalityAlec last fall to discuss their books "When Genocide Wasn't News" and "Copaganda", as well as the interconnections between #AntiPalestinianRacism and pro-police bias. youtu.be/uyPvg7ljqms

“I told her, ‘I’m next to you.’ She told me, ‘Don’t fall asleep and leave me.’ I said, ‘No, no.’ Then exhaustion took over. I closed my eyes for a moment. Then I heard Amal scream. They struck the room again. Amal was gone.” Reporter Zeinab Faraj recounts the harrowing hours her and journalist Amal Khalil waited for evacuation, as Israeli strikes pursued them, while preventing rescuers from reaching them. Our full interview translated:

May I recommend a Sunday morning listen? I spoke with Sasha Lilley on Against the Grain (KPFA) about BLUE POWER, focusing on the divergences between police unions and organized labor. kpfa.org/episode/agains…