Walter Katz

@walterkatz.bsky.social

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Ex-public defender now law and policy / criminal justice reform. Leadership experience in gov’t, tech, and philanthropy. Chicago-born.

“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
- Jame

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Meme away…

Guys, Bolts is my go-to source to follow justice-related electoral politics. It is what I read to keep up on what is happening with courts, AGs, prosecutors and sheriffs. 5⭐️ @taniel.bsky.social

For folks who've appreciated my coverage of the French elections... @bolts.bsky.social is quite different—but we cover US politics with such attention to detail. So give us a follow if you've enjoyed this, and care about the US. And our newsletter is free! boltsmag.org/newsletter

voters in France (and UK) did not do what the NYT claimed voters across the world are doing just two days ago: shifting to the right.

Income inequality mentioned once. Near record corporate profits never mentioned. Who is gaining from high interest rates and debt restructuring? Not a peep. How voters are manipulated to blame it all on migrants and protestors. Nada.

Video of the day, in recognition of the voters of France and our formidable task ahead. “We The People,” A Tribe Called Quest. youtu.be/vO2Su3erRIA?...

A Tribe Called Quest - We The People.... (Official Video)youtu.be Official Video for ”We The People....” by A Tribe Called QuestListen to A Tribe Called Quest: https://ATCQ.lnk.to/listenYDWatch more videos by A Tribe Called...

And here in the U.S., we’ve been at this officially since January in a slog that is so dispiriting, it invites lower turnout.

BREAKING NEWS: Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which instead came in third in initial results as polling stations closed.

Projections in France's election show voters rejecting the far rightwww.npr.org Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which ...

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Walter Katz

We need more, but credit where due: both The Nation (June 2024 issue) and Boston Review have run a breakdown of the Project 2025 “Mandate for Leadership” document. Media Matters, too. Lots of good work going on digesting this. www.bostonreview.net/articles/ins... www.mediamatters.org/project-2025

Where are the columnists who are experts in specific fields, breaking down what the Heritage Foundation + Trump want to do to each individual federal agency? E.g. I read the section dedicated to our intelligence agencies, and had to stop, since I was starting to feel a little nauseous.

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Walter Katz

There are many things that infuriate me about the pundit class right now, but probably one of the top on my list: Project 2025 has posted their plans for every single federal department on their website. They have a training academy for prospective appointees. Where are the hard hitting op-eds?

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Walter Katz

Pres. of National Black Farmers Assoc: “We’re tired of (being) mistreated by the government and Fortune 500 companies. ... Black farmers are going to start fighting back. And that’s what we’re doing.” Good. Corporations have gotten off with zero cost for giving into right wing hate campaigns.

www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...

Black farmers' association calls for Tractor Supply CEO's resignation after company cuts DEI effortswww.nbcnews.com The company said it would eliminate all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles and withdraw its goals for reducing carbon emissions.

Gullibility for $500, please.

Tam’s makes an appearance in the Not Like Us MV! It’s moments like this that I miss LA.

Local crime never features on the main page of the NYT. But now that Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe watches are being targeted… Violent crime is a traumatic episode regardless of the price of one’s watch and this coverage is remarkably oblivious of its tone.

Day 1 SCOTUS: from now on courts will decide if regulations are valid. Day 2 SCOTUS: POTUS can do whatever the f*** he wants to as long as it’s, 😉, an “official act.” Day 3 NY TIMES: Biden has to go now Day 4 NY TIMES: voting is for chumps.

I like Joe Biden. He was the President we needed to get us through the COVID crisis. The infrastructure law was a generational triumph. But now we are in an existential crisis fighting for the future of our democracy and we need the best viable response for this moment. My ticket? Harris-Beshear

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Walter Katz

Didn’t even need to click through to guess the author’s race an gender. Do you what you want, fucker. But too many people got savaged by dogs, blasted with fire hoses, and hung from trees to get me into the voting booth for me to ever opt out.

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1/ Let me explain one way that today's Trump immunity decision threatens the survival of the Republic. Under today's ruling, a President would be immune for any way in which he used the military (a "core function"), even to kill American citizens in America. Theoretically, the soldiers who . . .

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Walter Katz

Official act. Immune.

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Walter Katz

One thing I don’t understand is why, when people are outraged by some injustice or affront — like book bans — they don’t first look to see who is already tracking the issue, who’s already working on education + organization. “We need to do something!” People *are*. Find them. Help them.

New from @timcushing.bsky.social — Detroit PD used facial recognition technology and then arrested the wrong people not once, not twice, but three times based on little else than a hit in the system. One of them sued and the settlement mandates new policies: www.techdirt.com/2024/07/03/d...

Detroit Alters Facial Recognition Use Rules In Response To Multiple Bogus Arrestswww.techdirt.com All facial recognition tech is flawed. Some offerings may be less flawed than others, but the underlying problems (mainly, the inability to be as accurate when identifying minorities and women) rem…

When I was a trial lawyer, my strength lay in gaming out what the prosecution was going to do before even they knew it. That’s the feeling I get watching Heritage. You’re either defining the battlefield or reacting to it. Don’t be the latter, Democrats.

It's abundantly clear that Republicans are terrified of facing literally anyone but Biden.

Top Conservative Think Tank Vows to Make it ‘Extraordinarily Difficult’ for Dems to Replace Biden By Filing Swing State Lawsuitswww.mediaite.com Heritage Foundation has vowed to do everything possible to keep Democrats from replacing President Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee.

The last couple days have revealed the blissful ignorance that folks have had over how the criminal justice system actually works. Rule 1: protect your own. Facts and laws can are regularly twisted to get to the desired outcome and that has usually resulted in Black and Brown people losing.

This and it’s been in plain sight.

So true. The GOP's plan to "win" the election whatever the popular vote says depends on controlling state legislatures that can certify the state's results, appoint EC electors, and gerrymander district boundaries.

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Walter Katz

At the risk of being tiresome in reposting my own writings on the separation of powers and executive accountability, since prominent scholars are now in the news saying "habeas corpus will still be OK"— Montesquieu's insight was precisely that it won't be. dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG....

I have not seen discussion about the parallels between the court-created presidential immunity and qualified immunity for police. The doctrines are not identical but share similarities. However, the effects of QI shielding officers from accountability are clear and do not portend well re: POTUS

This in the latest piece by @marisakabas.bsky.social makes the essential argument that everyone needs to absorb: “This is an emergency situation where egos and baggage must be put aside in order to serve the ultimate goal of making sure Donald fucking Trump never gets back to The White House.”

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Walter Katz

Beware the temptation to downplay the SCOTUS ruling and to deny its potential implications. We've been down this road before.

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Walter Katz

frankly, the first defeat that we can hand them, in November, is the easiest possible one we are going to be offered, and we'd be fools not to make it happen.

a thing to remember, in all of this horror, is that these are not the actions of a political party that is confident it represents the will of the people, and who is currently out of power and enslaved to a deeply flawed avatar. the struggle is not over and they have not won

Just stating the facts. It’s far past time for handwringing and time for activism. Get the vote out. Protect the vote. Do whatever is needed to protect democracy.