Justice reflections June 7, 2022
San Francisco
Today is election day in California. Like many, I’m closely watching the results of the recall effort against DA Chesa Boudin (measure H), which received $900,000 in funding from a major Republican donor, among others. In honor of the election, here is my favorite thread on what the media narratives got wrong about crime and justice in SF, and here is a recent segment from Chris Hayes. Given that ballots can be postmarked by today and it will take days to count them, I don’t expect results within the next week, unless there’s a huge margin. That seems unlikely, given that the latest public poll shows that the race is a dead heat. For now I’ll extend my thanks and respect to the many people on the ground who worked tirelessly to prevent this recall, and to the donors who have contributed to Chesa’s campaign. Whatever happens in this race, I firmly believe that the public demand for humane and fair justice policies is only going to grow stronger over time. I’m in good company.
Uvalde
By now we have all read many stories about the horrific massacre of children in Texas, and the cowardly responses of the police outside, who prevented parents from saving their children and did nothing to stop the shooter while he was rampaging (and also changed their stories a dozen times). I’m not going to attempt to add another think piece. What I will say is that this is the first time in a school shooting case that I have seen journalists and the public focus so heavily on systemic issues, rather than endless details about the shooter. The public has been shocked to witness how the solutions so often lifted up - good guys with guns, policed schools, heavily armed and trained police officers (receiving 40% of Uvalde’s total budget) - did not save lives here. I have seen a lot of energetic questions online about what police are hired and trained to do, if not to step into harm’s way to save lives. In line with this, a progressive political operative told me recently that they had never seen white moms so outraged on various mom forums that she frequents. This new scrutiny of police and policing not as a racial justice issue, but as a basic safety issue, opens up some vital conversations about what public infrastructure works to produce safety.
If you’re looking for some good insight on this tragedy, one of the most perceptive commentaries I’ve read on this isthis thread by journalism professor Steven Thrasher, who has studied the phenomenon of the intensive build-up of policing capacity in small towns. For a very helpful summary of where we stand on police lies about the events of that day, with links to dozens of articles that back up the 40% figure above and many more, I recommend reading Olayemii Olurin’soped in Teen Vogue.