Elizabeth SchaferDec 23, 2022
myrmepropagandist

A teenager in the Bronx was accused of stealing a backpack. The police arrested him.

Couldn't make bail. Would spend 2 years on Riker's island awaiting a trial.

-only for the charges to be dropped. Many were appalled, they set it up for him to go to community college. That's where I met him once- my electronics club. Made an LED Christmas tree-he seemed... so so so sad.

He took his own life later that year.

Anyways. Uh, Sam Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bail. #cw

Dec 22, 2022 at 10:43pmWeb
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 22, 2022

our "justice" system!

We should all be so ashamed.

Show threadJTDec 23, 2022
@futurebird and it’s nothing new. Ken Lay died in July 2006 while vacationing in his house near Aspen, Colorado, three months before his scheduled sentencing and 5 years after he and others stole over $1 billion from 20,700 employees’ retirement savings plans. We keep letting it happen because we keep believing greed is good.
Show threadDaddyScruffJan 3, 2023
@futurebird Let’s not get it twisted. The justice system is not broken.
It’s doing EXACTLY what it was designed to do.
Show threadVicki KyriakakisDec 22, 2022
@futurebird 😡🤬 They might as well have pulled the trigger. I am so so sad for this young man and his family.
Show threadAndrew BartlettDec 22, 2022
@futurebird Money/cash bail should be abolished.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 22, 2022

@abartlet

either they are so dangerous or such a flight risk they need holding ... or not ...bunch a game

And what doe prison have to do with a teenager (maybe) stealing a backpack?

Show threadRichservo Dec 24, 2022
@futurebird @abartlet garnish his wages for a month and have him pay it back. Then when it’s found he didn’t do it, reimburse him with interest. Being poor shouldn’t be a crime.
Show threadSriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼Dec 23, 2022
@abartlet @futurebird I think it is happening. Denver eliminated it. The woman who did it ran for the local state legislature won !!
Show threadAndrewDec 23, 2022
@abartlet exactly what we're trying to pass in Illinois right now for exactly this reason.
Show threadRichservo Dec 24, 2022
@abartlet @futurebird 100% the current bail system makes it so rich can literally be free on murder charges and innocent poor people can sit in jail for years for the crime of being poor.
Show threadKevix (he/him) :debian:Dec 22, 2022
@futurebird
Sounds like Kalief Browder?
I met his brother at an activist event and protest. We have modified bail to eliminate some of that horror. It's not a 'justice' system, it's a criminal legal system.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 22, 2022

@kevix

Yeah it was him.

He just came to the club that one time. I was excited to have a new member and set him up with one of the top students at the soldering station. It was a fun day for the club, just making things. I looked for him in the spring and he was gone. The school had a memorial and the student who was his partner kept blaming himself for years.

Well I did too if I'm honest.

Show threadKevix (he/him) :debian:Dec 22, 2022
@futurebird
so damn sad :(
Show threadRichservo Dec 24, 2022
@kevix @futurebird sure. Criminal justice implies that if you are convicted of a crime you make penance with time or resources. Innocent until proven guilty means just that. Being unable to pay bail shouldn’t be a crime.
Show threadkikiDec 22, 2022
@futurebird what a tragic story. I'd very much appreciated a content warning for suicide.
Show threadRussDec 23, 2022

@Kiki @futurebird

Please do not tone police other people's grief. Please. I'm begging you.

Show threadRichservo Dec 24, 2022
@Kiki @futurebird that’s all you took from this??
Show threadLeft Field FarmDec 22, 2022
@futurebird One system for them, another for the rest of us plebeians.
Show threadRussDec 22, 2022

@futurebird

"I felt like something needed to be done about this.
I felt like something needs to be said.
If I just cop out and say that I did it, nothing's going to be done about it.
I didn't do it.
No justice is served."
- Kalief Browder

He was so brave.

Show threadNeil A. EvansDec 22, 2022
@futurebird it’s so tragic that so many people who can never imagine themselves in a position of ever having to raise bail money care so little about reforming a system that penalizes the most at risk people in the prison system.
Show threadPhilip Ives 🖖Dec 22, 2022
@futurebird Your article is so shocking. I really didn't realise this still happens in the 21st Century. I hope that this site galvanises people and you get connections to bring about positive change. #blacklivesmatter
Show threadlirosoDec 22, 2022
@futurebird
For-profit prisons need to be abolished.
Show threadSriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼Dec 23, 2022
@liroso @futurebird they do. It makes no sense to have a system that encourages incarceration!
Show threadJR 🏳️‍🌈Dec 22, 2022
@futurebird Worse than that he has 250m bond but is not in jail - the bail is only what he will owe if he doesn't show for court.
Show threadRobert MartinDec 23, 2022
@futurebird "justice"
Show threadElizabeth AlcinoeDec 23, 2022
@futurebird That sucks.
Show threadJennifer SlackDec 23, 2022
@futurebird
My fury at the disparities in the “justice” system has grown exponentially over the past decade.
Show threadpedvroDec 23, 2022
@futurebird I guess that’s a perk od having $250 million at hand to post bail with
Show threadAlditrusDec 23, 2022

@futurebird

words cannot describe how utterly pissed I am about SBF getting off easy while Pertsev sits in a cold cell for the holidays. I still dearly hope that Sam's punished to the fullest extent of the law and that he rots in jail for the rest of his life, but for now I am absolutely pissed.

Show threadHammancheezDec 23, 2022
@futurebird murder with extra steps
Show threadFranco MDec 23, 2022
@futurebird #cryptocurrency is a monumental scam. Get your money out before its total collapse. There is no happy ending to this. The rich will still be rich.
Show threadUnprecedented 2023Dec 23, 2022
@futurebird 😢😢
Show threadKevin Karhan Dec 23, 2022
@futurebird #CashBail should be illegal and abolished!
Show threadBenj Soule🫂💙HumanityFirst🌅Dec 23, 2022
@futurebird disgusting story on how one's freedom depends upon money.
Show threadTomDec 23, 2022
@futurebird but if all the investors have lost their money because it went bust, where did this 250 million come from
Show threadRonDec 23, 2022
@futurebird Gensler is guilty as hell!
Show threadBobseeDec 23, 2022
@futurebird You steal a backpack (allegedly) and you go to jail, become a victim. You steal billions and you get to go home to Mom and Dad in Palo Alto. Sickening.
Show threadprogressiveartistDec 23, 2022

@futurebird Kalief Browder - say his name. 😢

#bailreform NOW!

Show threadJessicaDec 23, 2022
@futurebird I thought he said he was down to $100,000. Where did the money come from
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 23, 2022

@JessicaPerthWA

I suspect it's a loan bail most often is a loan. Who loaned him money? why?

Show threadRobinDec 23, 2022
@futurebird Kalief Browder? :/ #SayHisName
Show threadnullagentDec 23, 2022
@futurebird An absolute slap in the face to people everywhere doing serious time waiting for trial.
Show threadDiligence JonesDec 23, 2022

@futurebird
The enraging tragedy of our terrible justice system.

Our country is addicted to punishment and cruelty -- especially when directed at poor black folks.

Show threadRobcyclesDec 23, 2022

@futurebird

Wow. So sad...so..avoidable

Show threadJimRIDec 23, 2022
@futurebird How awful. So sorry about your friend. Our racist unequal justice system needs a total overhaul.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 23, 2022

@JimRI I would have really liked to be a friend.

But I only met him that one time that he came to the club.

I remember, though, because the student I paired him with that day was upset about it for a long time. Everyone on campus was.

Show threadJimRIDec 23, 2022
@futurebird Truly heart breaking.
Show threadBooksyDec 23, 2022
@futurebird I learned
Kalief Browder's story a few years ago and it stays with me, so very tragic and nothing absolutely nothing has changed or anyone help responsible.
Show threadESteinNYCDec 23, 2022
@futurebird no words, none, for what was done to that child.💔 May his memory be for a blessing.
Show threadMargaret MonteithDec 23, 2022
@futurebird I think about that poor kid and the injustice of it so often. Especially when I listen to stories about things like the misrepresentive ways crime is reported/cited in terms of what is considered a crime and what doesn’t count in statistics and the idea of rising crime. White collar embezzling or wage theft? Not counted like stealing diapers and formula are. Sigh.
Show threadCher TailorDec 23, 2022
@futurebird What if bail for rich people was just getting a real job for a few days.
Show threadCindy McCoyDec 23, 2022
@futurebird this is absolutely unconscionable. Wyte collar crime, even of this magnitude, is treated with kid gloves.
Show threadAprilShowers99452871Dec 23, 2022
@futurebird
Oh, terrible story. Close Rikers now!! Horrible place!! Impeach the NYC mayor and the Governor!! Nobody should be there. Nobody!!
Show threadJordan (they/them)Dec 23, 2022
@futurebird 🥺😢
Show threadLes TaylorDec 23, 2022
@futurebird #bailproject.org
Show threadAmyDec 23, 2022
@futurebird Because of the influence of Lobbyists, PACS, and Opposition Research Groups that has permeated into every facet of law and govt. That's why. That's power.
Show threadJewish conversationsDec 23, 2022

@futurebird

Horrifying. Our legal system needs to remember this -

#Deuteronomy 16:18-20

You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the Lord is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.

You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just.

#Justice, justice shall you pursue.

Show threadantipode77Dec 23, 2022

@futurebird

700 days in solitary is 700 days of soul destroying loneliness.

He was subjected to that and more. It is well known that solitary imprisonment is a very inhumane punishment.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/federal-agenda-criminal-justice-reform

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalief_Browder
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_Three

A Federal Agenda for Criminal Justice Reform

From policing to prisons, the Biden administration and Congress must act to make our systems of public safety less punitive and more equitable.

Brennan Center for Justice
Show threadLightning DuckDec 23, 2022
@futurebird Tragic...that's why I'm in favor of jurisdictions dropping bail requirements for non-violent offenses
Show threadCat KeeperDec 23, 2022
@futurebird There are some moments that really grind into us that we just aren't valued in society. This is one of them. Stay strong.