Important story: Homelessness in the USA was the highest ever on record in 2023. In 2024, homeless shelters and services are seeing an uptick in people WITH JOBS who are living in cars, etc. Low-wage workers can't afford rent.

Does pretrial detention deter crime? No. Does it encourage court attendance? Nope. Does it ensure justice? Also no. It has the opposite effects, generating life-threatening consequences after just 1 day behind bars. My latest for @prisonpolicy prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/08/0…

1. Some new stats out from US BJS regarding the number of people under carcel supervision and control in America – prisons, jails, probation and parole. As you can see, there has been a significant overall decline (22.2%) over the past decade. bjs.ojp.gov/document/cpus2…

3. The decline of those in jail actually reached its nadir at the outset of the pandemic and the number then increased quite substantially.

6. This chart reveals that despite a common misperception (a misperception often held by political liberals), private prisons are NOT an important diver of mass incarceration. (They hold only about 4.6% of people in custody in the U.S.) The problem is public facilities.

7. And this chart reminds us that the problem remains absolutely massive. On any given night in the “land of the free,” 3.5% of the male population is under carceral control or supervision.

Of course they have zero problem calling bail fund clients “felons” and “criminals” — even though, unlike Trump, our clients have not been tried or convicted.

Because the "law enforcement" bureaucracy is set up to enforce only *some* laws against *some* people and acts itself as an undemocratic force to protect wealth aggregations, it is entirely ill-equipped (and uninterested) in being a bulwark against fascism.

When we see police sweeping a homeless encampment, we must ask: How much did this cost? And what difference could that money have made if it went instead to housing—or, better yet, the people themselves? Read more from Nika Soon-Shiong 🇵🇸 of Fund for Guaranteed Income: theappeal.org/los-angeles-ho…

US police use force on 300,000 people a year, with numbers rising since George Floyd: ‘relentless violence’ theguardian.com/us-news/articl…

Minneapolis, St. Paul police departments use force on suspects at rates well above the national average minnesotareformer.com/2024/08/28/twi…

Yesterday, The Appeal published my reporting tracking new camping bans passed since the Supreme Court's anti-homelessness ruling. A majority are in small, non-coastal cities whose homeless populations grew substantially in recent years. Find out if your city is one of them:🧵

3. Duluth, Minnesota In late July the city passed a ban imposing fines for public camping. The ban is an amended version of an initial proposal that included criminal charges, and was only amended after 7 hours of public debate. Reporting by Dan Kraker mprnews.org/story/2024/07/…

4. Brainerd, Minnesota In early August, the city banned camping everywhere except on tourist campgrounds. Violations are misdemeanors, which come with a sentence of up to 90 days in jail or a fine not to exceed $1,000. Reporting by Theresa Bourke brainerddispatch.com/news/local/bra….

Happening tonight Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis ppl!