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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 3h

They apparently complained offline to local officials that the poster for my book event was disrespectful to police. The poster had my photo, and event logistics, and the book cover lol.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 3h

Last night in New York, Copaganda was awarded a book prize. It's nice, because the book continues to be essentially blacklisted by major outlets. I sadly missed the ceremony, but I had an incredible time in Milwaukee, where police complained about my book talk... goddard.org/bookprizes/

Book Prizes | Goddard Riverside

The Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize and Stephan Russo Book Prize celebrate the power of the written word to create change in the name of justice for all people—a value shared by the publishing ...

goddard.org

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Reposted by alec karakatsanis

Andrew Quemere @andrewqmr.bsky.social · 9h

By the way, journalists do a huge disservice to their readers with stories that quote cops and right-wing lawmakers upset about judges setting affordable bail without citing the evidence that pretrial detention leads to more crime and causes people to plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · Jan 14

Despite this, mainstream media engaged in a years-long panic about “bail reform” that looks a lot like the tobacco industry and fossil fuel industry’s deception. U.S. and Philippines are the only two countries in the world with for-profit bail industry: equalityalec.substack.com/p/the-news-m...

The News Media and Bail

A case study in fear and science denial

equalityalec.substack.com

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks to Jack Dodson for making the film and making it widely available now.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 1d

Also, an older film I was involved with from a decade ago about modern debtors prisons--still extremely relevant--was recently re-released and is now widely available. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaSs...

Pay or Stay — 2016 mini documentary on debtor's prisons and U.S. incarceration for poverty

YouTube video by Entropy Journal

www.youtube.com

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 1d

I'm proud to have been involved in this new musical documentary by Robe Imbriano about the horrors of the money bail system and the Harris County jail. It was many years in the making, but it has finally premiered for the public today: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

A Musical Indictment of the Harris County Jail in “Criminal”

Robe Imbriano’s documentary short uses music and animation to illustrate the grave injustices taking place at Houston’s notorious jail and in the cash-bail system at large.

www.newyorker.com

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 1d

Update: because of the breaking news from Gaza, our episode will be recorded and aired later. Will update when I know the details.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

We will be discussing my book Copaganda and then the incredible new film Criminal, which premiers today on the New Yorker’s YouTube channel. Tune in to hear from all the people involved.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

I will be live tomorrow at 8am eastern on @democracynow.org.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

Lawyers need to be pushed from individual client strategy designed for the world and legal system in which they were trained to broader strategies rooted in the politics of solidarity necessary for a fight against fascism.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

If you are in any of these institutions, the most important thing you can do is insist to your lawyers--and hire lawyers who understand--that none of the institutions can survive in the long run without a shared collective action strategy.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

It amounts not only to a totally uncoordinated response that allows the fascists to pick people off one at a time and to give the sense that the fascists are more powerful than they are, but it also destroys the kinds of solidarity and collective action that we need.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

They're giving advice to these institutions that they think will help protect their individual clients--retreating, laying low, making concessions, obeying in advance, etc. The combination of all these isolated, individual acts of reasonable self-protection is a disaster.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

Lawyers are not only risk averse by nature, but they are trained to think about individual clients. This is a bad problem in the kind of complex Prisoner's Dilemma situation we find ourselves.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

In this context of fear, people and institutions have a natural impulse to try to protect themselves. This makes sense. But it's also where traditional lawyering becomes dangerous. The mindset of many of the elite lawyers being hired by these institutions is a big problem.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

Across elite sectors of our society--universities, philanthropic foundations, law firms, non-profits, various companies, etc...--the fascist movement is targeting institutions and creating a climate of extraordinary fear.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

THREAD. Across the U.S., a lot of skilled lawyers, many of whom are well meaning, pose a big threat right now to our society. The legal advice the profession is giving to clients is walking us off a fascist cliff. We as lawyers need to shift our thinking.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

that would be great! send me a message on my Copaganda Newsletter substack?

Reposted by alec karakatsanis

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 5d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 4d

Bring the whole class. Tell the teacher it will be a great experience for everyone!

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Reposted by alec karakatsanis

Alexander M. Krijgsman @vagabonderro.bsky.social · 4d

You should absolutely go to these if you're able. Alec's book is as insightful as it is infuriating and helps bring into sharp focus many of the pressing issues we need to address if we're to change things for the better.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 4d

Share this with friends and family in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee. And also journalists, university professors, public defenders, and other people within institutions that need to be thinking more critically and rigorously about propaganda, narrative, power, and strategy.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 5d

THREAD. This week, I'm doing Copaganda events in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee about the role of elite institutions--media, Democrats, universities, nonprofits--in the great problems of our time. And what we can do about it together.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 4d

Share this with friends and family in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee. And also journalists, university professors, public defenders, and other people within institutions that need to be thinking more critically and rigorously about propaganda, narrative, power, and strategy.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 5d

THREAD. This week, I'm doing Copaganda events in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee about the role of elite institutions--media, Democrats, universities, nonprofits--in the great problems of our time. And what we can do about it together.

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 4d

came twice this year for events, including last week...

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 5d

nothing public planned yet but will announce here when i do!

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alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 5d

And finally Milwaukee on Wednesday, October 8. This should be an incredible event we have planned for a long time. Please join us: www.milwaukeeturners.org/vel-phillips...

Vel Phillips Forum — Milwaukee Turners

www.milwaukeeturners.org

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