Piper French

@psfrench.bsky.social

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reporting on prisons, DAs, and people working to change the criminal legal system with Bolts Magazine

Freelance work: New York Review of Books site, Lux, the Drift, TNR, The Nation etc

@ los angeles, mostly
-> psfrench.com

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Los Angeles voters in 2022 elected Holly Hancock, a public defender who talked about using judicial discretion to alleviate mass incarceration, to a local judgeship. Diversion, alternatives: @psfrench.bsky.social talked to her about what that's looked like since. boltsmag.org/judge-electi...

Public Defenders Look to Grow Their Presence on the Bench in Los Angelesboltsmag.org Hoping to reform county courts, three public defenders are running for judge this fall. They want to build on the success of one candidate in 2022 and another in March.

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NEW: Guards at a notorious federal prison in California sexually abused women who were incarcerated there. The abuse survivors are now demanding justice—and pressing for a pathway out known as compassionate release. Tough story from @psfrench.bsky.social. boltsmag.org/federal-pris...

“What’s More Extraordinary and Compelling?”boltsmag.org Women who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of guards at a notorious federal prison in California are now seeking compassionate release.

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"Written from the perspective of a longtime activist, 𝘜𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 is grounded in the practical realities of organizing." @silkys13.bsky.social 's new book reviewed by @psfrench.bsky.social along with César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández's. boltsmag.org/beyond-crimm...

Beyond Crimmigrationboltsmag.org Two new books probe the criminalization of migration and offer alternative visions for migrant justice and organizing.

I have a new feature on the long afterlife of family separation in this week’s issue of New York magazine. A lot of families still aren’t reunited. The ones who are face another daunting challenge: confronting radically altered lives amidst a still uncertain future. nymag.com/intelligence...

Will the Families Separated by Trump Ever Be Reunited?nymag.com The Trump administration forcibly separated 5,000 families at the border. Five years later, the work of reunifying them is painfully incomplete.

I thought again of Dr. Lucas's quest to find what happened to her son when I read about Navalny's death - reportedly of a "pulmonary embolism," just like Stanley. A Russian prison rights activist explained to TNY that prisons there use "pulmonary embolism" as a catch-all term. It's not just Russia.

Researchers analyzed the autopsies of dozens of people who died in Los Angeles jails. In most deaths classified as “natural,” there were signs of violence on the body. “What we're looking at is really capital punishment through other means.”

As Los Angeles Politicians Trade Barbs, Jail Deaths Keep Mounting - Boltsboltsmag.org Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who oversaw a string of deaths in custody, is now running to join the Board of Supervisors, which has also done little to alleviate the crisis.

In the US, if you say you won't seek the death penalty or LWOP, there's always somebody saying: "But what about Charles Manson?" And policy gets fashioned in the shadow of these extremes. What happens when you try to chart a different course? A deep dive on George Gascón's first term:

Under the Shadow of the Extreme Caseboltsmag.org On his first day in office, Los Angeles DA George Gascón rolled out a suite of blanket bans against some severe punishments. The ensuing years have been a crash course in the politics of reforming pr...

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Boston's mayor ran on reforming the embattled local police, & vowed to end a surveillance program that's been criticized for racial profiling. But instead she pushed for millions of new funding to that program earlier this month. NEW from @psfrench.bsky.social:

Boston Mayor Backtracks on Ending Controversial Police Surveillance Centerboltsmag.org Instead, she helped direct an extra $3.4 million in funding to the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, a police surveillance operation that has long been criticized for racial profiling.

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they did what they were told and were killed anyway.

Big news: after the board rejected every application outright, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards has *directed* the pardon board to consider this historic mass clemency request. Looks like Edwards, who came out against the death penalty, is putting his money where his mouth is. @bolts.bsky.social

The Death Penalty on Trial in Louisianaboltsmag.org Petitions filed on behalf of dozens of people on death row are asking the governor for mass clemency, and showcasing the injustices that undergird capital punishment.

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Tbh I have never had the slightest idea what RICO charges were, except a plot device on the Sopranos But here is a thorough history on the statute and how its come to be used on rappers and public school teachers (but not the Sacklers) https://www.thedriftmag.com/an-offer-you-cant-refuse/

An Offer You Can’t Refusewww.thedriftmag.com How a Mob Statute Metastasized

RICO: first a silver bullet for the Mafia, now the weapon of choice against the Hells Angels, street gangs, corrupt politicians, rappers, teachers... I interviewed Gunna's lawyer, a former federal mob prosecutor, & people who've been RICO'd to find out why.

An Offer You Can’t Refusewww.thedriftmag.com How a Mob Statute Metastasized

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