As the negotiations over DHS budget continue, please remember: the ICE detention budget alone was exploded in 2025 so it is now 62% greater than the entire Bureau of Prisons. People are not clocking what this infusion of cash to build concentration camps will do to our society.

Much of the public believes violent crime is a major problem, even though it's at historic lows in the United States. This disconnect is "the product of carefully cultivated propaganda," says author @equalityalec.bsky.social. https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/27/alec_karakatsanis

Rapid responders still out there, tracking ICE. In spite of everything, even now. Heroes

Once again: Focusing on their lack of training is a mistake. With "better training," their violence would simply cost more, and they would still kill whoever they wanted, but make it look more professional — to make people more comfortable, the way many of you are at ease with local police violence.

Excellent @radleybalko.bsky.social piece on why what we are seeing in Minneapolis is, in fact, something qualitatively different than the police violence that happens all too often. This struck me as a key line: the OPEN contempt for accountability. Such explicitness matters.

“Abolish ICE” isn’t radical, it doesn’t go far enough. Latest in @theguardian.com written with my friend @victorerikray.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I have been as impressed by the normal people of this country as I have been disgusted by elite institutions and every bit of optimism I have that we are going to make it comes from that

Happy 2026! 🥳 We are kicking off 2026 with our first Be Well Wednesday session of the year: Mindful Gratitude Walks with @jpandrews.bsky.social ✨ As always, you can find more information on upcoming and previous BWW sessions at the link in our bio!

That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers. Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?

The work we do at BeSustained to support public defender well-being is truly special and satisfying. Our board has build a strong foundation in these first two years to continue to grow this important work. Reach out to me if you are interested in joining our board!

Be Well Wednesdays are taking a holiday pause! We will return on January 7th with a session on mindful gratitude walks with @jpandrews.bsky.social ✨ Happy Holidays to all; we hope you find rest and joy this holiday season!

Is there a way to block AI content on here? It’s not what I’m here for.

So-called "smart" devices are pushed heavily for the holidays, but be mindful of what you're opting that gift recipient into. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

EFF is fighting back against tyrants abusing tech by 🔨 Creating tools to protect your digital rights 📸 Pushing back against surveillance regimes 📣 Safeguarding your right to speak your mind online We just need your support: eff.org/power-up

This week’s BWW is in collaboration with the LA County Bar Association’s Well-Being Project! Please note that this session will start 10 minutes earlier than usual and run for the full hour. You can find more info and sign up for our newsletter to receive the Zoom link at our website in our bio!

Pardon power is not the problem. More people should be freed from this vicious system. Corruption and organized crime as governance are the problem. Shady pardons are just one symptom of the much larger clusterfuck we're in. If you zoom in too much on any detail as "the problem," you lose the plot.

Inspiring leadership as ever from The Handbasket: a BRILLIANT Independent Journalism Gift Buying Guide. Thank you @marisakabas.bsky.social!! The @flaminghydra.com lair is roaring with pride to be included among great IRL publications, for great IRL readers. www.thehandbasket.co/p/independen...

BeSustained is doing good things to support public defender well-being!

Check out what’s on deck for December’s Be Well Wednesdays! Please note that the 12/10 session will start 10 minutes earlier than usual and run for the full hour. Hope to see you at one of these sessions before we take another holiday pause 👀✨ #bewellwednesdays

Kelly Hayes’ writing and her Movement Memos Podcast episodes about AI have been immensely useful to me and I recommend them. In this clip from our recent conversation, Kelly talks about how AI is emerging in a context of alienation and dehumanization.

2/2: Thank you all for an incredible 2025! Your support and collaboration have been deeply appreciated. Please consider sharing our donation link from our website (link in bio) for this #givingtuesday

Pt 1/2: a look back at 2025!

BWW will take a winter pause and return on 12/3 (swipe to see the BWW for December!). We hope you all will rest and recharge in ways that are meaningful for you. Stay well and see you in December! #publicdefender

If you are called for jury duty you have the power to stand up to the government like this on behalf of your fellow citizens. Don't avoid it; do your civic duty like these people did.

I found this a really illuminating thread on what demonstrations do and why they matter.

The criminal legal system has always been used as a tool to dehumanize and control people with the full participation of communities who have been convinced that this is the only option for safety. The immigration detention system uses the same myths and tactics. We must choose freedom over fear.

San Diego stroll.

Justice Eddins has been assailing SCOTUS. In another decision this month, he said the Roberts Court is "pretend law." In this decision, he said federal rights protections are "suddenly fluid," he describes Dobbs as "stripping autonomy" and "force births."

If you attend, work for, once went to, or plan to send your kids to a University of California school, write to the presidents and board of regents and demand UC stand up to Trump's attempts to bribe and cower the greatest public unvierstiy system in the world: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/u...

not to brag but @democracydocket.com has this incredibly helpful timeline where you can see how the department of justice voting section has turned upside down since january. if you haven't been following you can get caught up. from @mattdcohen.bsky.social www.democracydocket.com/timeline-tra...

Parents of young children should be organizing relentlessly for free universal childcare because this seems unsustainable. Truly. At the very least, folks should be vociferously backing politicians who run on this.

Precisely.

better things are possible!!!!

Thread, on how LA and MS are sending NatGuard troops to DC even as homicide rates are higher in many of their own cities, and even as Trump guts federal funding for any and all programs that reduce crime but don't use a gun. Social control, not safety. Over and over and over and over.

Big appreciation to unions and workers today and all days.

On Labor Day, we rise together. While billionaires buy up our government, we’re coming together to demand a country that puts workers first. Find an event near you: www.mobilize.us/mayd...

61 years ago today Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer one of the most courageous activists of the Civil Rights Movement posed the question that echoes today with every migrant round-up by masked officers, as federal troops converge on D.C.,as institutions are threatened: “IS THIS AMERICA?” youtu.be/DFC1nc3IXBM

The Illinois constitution guarantees each defendant a right to effective legal representation, but public defenders throughout the state are facing significant understaffing that undercuts their ability to win their cases. boltsmag.org/illinoi...

This is unfortunate: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u... I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.

Always enough money for cops, but never enough for the public defenders... "More than 120 cases, including some for assault on family members and police, were dismissed... fallout from a monthslong dispute over pay that has led public defenders to stop taking new clients" Reports @apnews.com

Many, many, MANY studies show that the cumulative costs of harassing homeless people—cops, prison, jail, etc—are much more expensive than just housing them and providing income, and that doing those things helps people get to the point where they’re not in crisis any longer. We choose cruelty.

Crockett: Earlier someone was talking about cities being hellholes. Los Angeles contributes almost 20 billion in taxes. That’s more than all states in this country except for four.

Police who keep their identities secret are, quite literally, secret police. I don’t know why this is even controversial. You don’t get to yank people off the streets while hiding your face and identity and still retain the respectability of an accountable, democratic police force.

It's just hilarious (in an existential dread sort of way) that SCOTUS didn't consider Covid and climate change emergencies meriting extraordinary executive action, but Trump's completely made-up migrant "invasion" and laughable fentanyl-tariff link get complete deference.