brian nam-sonenstein
@bson.bsky.social
senior editor & researcher @prisonpolicy.org; 1/2 of @beyondprisons.bsky.social; fmr editor and founder shadowproof.com
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
The culture of disposability around criminalized people set us up for this moment, and to fight fascism, we are going to have to rage against that culture of disposal. Submitting to it (or hiding behind it) is an egregious form of surrender.
November 15, 2025 at 11:15 PM
The culture of disposability around criminalized people set us up for this moment, and to fight fascism, we are going to have to rage against that culture of disposal. Submitting to it (or hiding behind it) is an egregious form of surrender.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Tacking onto Bolts’s great coverage here: “The GOP leaders are being very candid, very straight up in saying that they are introducing this bill because they have been in communication with ICE.”
theintercept.com/2019/04/04/n...
theintercept.com/2019/04/04/n...
November 15, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Tacking onto Bolts’s great coverage here: “The GOP leaders are being very candid, very straight up in saying that they are introducing this bill because they have been in communication with ICE.”
theintercept.com/2019/04/04/n...
theintercept.com/2019/04/04/n...
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Stop and frisk laid the groundwork for this moment and many many people ignored that stop and frisk was and is a real problem.
November 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Stop and frisk laid the groundwork for this moment and many many people ignored that stop and frisk was and is a real problem.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
To be fair, it is much much easier to create a national police force that uses excessive violence on everyone than it is to get one cop to stop shooting people so.
November 15, 2025 at 5:47 PM
To be fair, it is much much easier to create a national police force that uses excessive violence on everyone than it is to get one cop to stop shooting people so.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Remembering when people told me in late 2024 that "Trump couldn't create his own police force because federalism" mmhmm
With @arynbraun.bsky.social, this week we ran this big look at what ICE/CBP has become under Donald Trump and how the agencies increasingly resemble a sort of national police force he can send to whatever city he likes to intimidate people:
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
See how Donald Trump is creating his own police force
Immigration agents are operating in cities with few legal constraints
www.economist.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Remembering when people told me in late 2024 that "Trump couldn't create his own police force because federalism" mmhmm
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
There are no appropriate targets.
November 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
There are no appropriate targets.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Humans need other human beings to survive. I'm sorry that this makes some people lose their shit but it's one of the key truths of life.
November 15, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Humans need other human beings to survive. I'm sorry that this makes some people lose their shit but it's one of the key truths of life.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Please stop using language that suggests that people with criminal records are appropriate targets for this administration's violence. One in three adults has a criminal record. Stop playing sacrifice games with fascists. Stop surrendering entire categories of people in your own mind.
November 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Please stop using language that suggests that people with criminal records are appropriate targets for this administration's violence. One in three adults has a criminal record. Stop playing sacrifice games with fascists. Stop surrendering entire categories of people in your own mind.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
OWNED has been reviewed at NYT, New Republic, FAIR, Times Literary Supplement, Irish Times, and more; I've discussed the themes on numerous podcasts, CNN, and CSPAN.
The response is heartening—people want to know more about how Silicon Valley is controlling speech.
The response is heartening—people want to know more about how Silicon Valley is controlling speech.
November 15, 2025 at 9:19 PM
OWNED has been reviewed at NYT, New Republic, FAIR, Times Literary Supplement, Irish Times, and more; I've discussed the themes on numerous podcasts, CNN, and CSPAN.
The response is heartening—people want to know more about how Silicon Valley is controlling speech.
The response is heartening—people want to know more about how Silicon Valley is controlling speech.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Many people dismissed the announcement Catholic hospitals will ban gender-affirming care nationwide under the assumption that there will be other options. In reality, Catholic hospitals make up as much 46% of options in some states. This map is 2020, prior to Trump’s assault on safety net hospitals.
November 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Many people dismissed the announcement Catholic hospitals will ban gender-affirming care nationwide under the assumption that there will be other options. In reality, Catholic hospitals make up as much 46% of options in some states. This map is 2020, prior to Trump’s assault on safety net hospitals.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”
November 15, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
RIP Alice Wong
‘Death remains my intimate shadow partner. It has been with me since birth, always hovering close by. I understand one day we will finally waltz together into the ether. I hope when that time comes, I die with the satisfaction of a life well-lived, unapologetic, joyful, & full of love.’
—Alice Wong
—Alice Wong
November 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
RIP Alice Wong
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
This article is from 5 years ago, and I've included an NIH study on the reporting in the comments.
The reason I bring this up is ICE was forcibly sterilizing women during Trump's first term. We new this. And then Biden took office.
Biden gave ICE $3.4 billion to expand detention efforts in 2024.
The reason I bring this up is ICE was forcibly sterilizing women during Trump's first term. We new this. And then Biden took office.
Biden gave ICE $3.4 billion to expand detention efforts in 2024.
"They tried to shut me up by deporting me."
www.npr.org/2020/12/22/9...
www.npr.org/2020/12/22/9...
Dozens Of Women Allege Unwanted Surgeries And Medical Abuse In ICE Custody
More women are coming forward to say they were pressured to have reproductive surgeries they did not want or understand, offering a glimpse into alleged medical abuses at an ICE detention center.
www.npr.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
This article is from 5 years ago, and I've included an NIH study on the reporting in the comments.
The reason I bring this up is ICE was forcibly sterilizing women during Trump's first term. We new this. And then Biden took office.
Biden gave ICE $3.4 billion to expand detention efforts in 2024.
The reason I bring this up is ICE was forcibly sterilizing women during Trump's first term. We new this. And then Biden took office.
Biden gave ICE $3.4 billion to expand detention efforts in 2024.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Earlier this year, I wrote a guide for Freedom of the Press Foundation about some ways that prison agencies obscure what happens inside their facilities and how to overcome some commonly used obstructions. You can find that resource here.
freedom.press/issues/cover...
freedom.press/issues/cover...
November 14, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Earlier this year, I wrote a guide for Freedom of the Press Foundation about some ways that prison agencies obscure what happens inside their facilities and how to overcome some commonly used obstructions. You can find that resource here.
freedom.press/issues/cover...
freedom.press/issues/cover...
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business
Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.
www.wsj.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Rather than trivializing how much toilet paper Ghislaine Maxwell has access to behind bars, remember that most incarcerated people have little to their name.
Toilet paper isn't a luxury – it's a basic necessity.
Toilet paper isn't a luxury – it's a basic necessity.
Apparently, Ghislaine Maxwell is living it up in prison with unlimited toilet paper. Here’s what we know about her alleged special privileges at her new federal prison camp in Texas.
Ghislaine Maxwell Is Living It Up With Unlimited Toilet Paper
What we know about the special privileges Epstein’s accomplice is reportedly receiving at her new federal prison camp in Texas.
nymag.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Rather than trivializing how much toilet paper Ghislaine Maxwell has access to behind bars, remember that most incarcerated people have little to their name.
Toilet paper isn't a luxury – it's a basic necessity.
Toilet paper isn't a luxury – it's a basic necessity.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
I think it is definitely a story that Maxwell is getting preferential treatment behind bars, but good luck writing that story without encouraging the dehumanization of incarcerated people.
November 14, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I think it is definitely a story that Maxwell is getting preferential treatment behind bars, but good luck writing that story without encouraging the dehumanization of incarcerated people.
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
NEW: Before the recent Epstein disclosures, Larry Summers was poised to lead the economic policy plank for the Democrats' "Project 2029" effort at the Center for American Progress. He signed off on a housing policy paper CAP was prepping for next week.
prospect.org/2025/11/14/e...
prospect.org/2025/11/14/e...
Epstein Confidant Larry Summers Guiding Democrats’ ‘Project 2029’ - The American Prospect
Summers was overseeing the economic policy plank of the Center for American Progress’s effort. Emails released this week show him in regular contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
prospect.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
NEW: Before the recent Epstein disclosures, Larry Summers was poised to lead the economic policy plank for the Democrats' "Project 2029" effort at the Center for American Progress. He signed off on a housing policy paper CAP was prepping for next week.
prospect.org/2025/11/14/e...
prospect.org/2025/11/14/e...
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
a lot of people don’t know that prison expansion in the 1950s was largely constrained by the belief that you couldn’t safety operate an institution that held over 1,000 people (CUS is endlessly interesting to me for its points of comparison with carceral history)
In critiquing the neoliberal university, I have never seen it considered whether simply having more than, say, 25,000 students enrolled at a single institution is intrinsically impractical to the educational objective.
November 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
a lot of people don’t know that prison expansion in the 1950s was largely constrained by the belief that you couldn’t safety operate an institution that held over 1,000 people (CUS is endlessly interesting to me for its points of comparison with carceral history)
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
I'm seeing that certain pundits have also published things about Jessica Tisch today, and accordingly I feel obligated to note that this article is more detailed and not limited to Substack subscribers 💅
Zohran showed that a socialist can take City Hall—but the ruling class still forced him to keep Jessica Tisch at the NYPD. For Zohran to fight the police unions and win, the Left has to build power beyond the ballot box.
New from me for The Nation:
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
New from me for The Nation:
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
If We Want Mamdani to Beat the NYPD, the Left Must Build Power
We won’t be able to push Mamdani, or anyone else, to undermine police power unless we become a force to be reckoned with.
www.thenation.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I'm seeing that certain pundits have also published things about Jessica Tisch today, and accordingly I feel obligated to note that this article is more detailed and not limited to Substack subscribers 💅
90% of political discourse in 2025 involves navigating words like "identity" to engage material issues. bc they're burying in that term the understanding that theyd rather not defend/represent classes of ppl systematically made vulnerable, marginalized, & disposable in political/social/economic life
Speaking at a Texas Tribune Festival on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticized the Democratic Party for failing to reach everyday Americans, arguing that it “got sucked in” to a conversation about identity. #TribFest25
Pete Buttigieg critiques Democrats for focus on identity
The former U.S. transportation secretary said the Democratic Party should focus more on issues gripping the country, such as health care and housing affordability.
www.texastribune.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:12 PM
90% of political discourse in 2025 involves navigating words like "identity" to engage material issues. bc they're burying in that term the understanding that theyd rather not defend/represent classes of ppl systematically made vulnerable, marginalized, & disposable in political/social/economic life
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
Yeah like, someone as evil as Maxwell shouldn’t get any preferential treatment in prison, but its incredibly bleak that “preferential treatment” includes “you are allowed to wipe your ass”
November 14, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Yeah like, someone as evil as Maxwell shouldn’t get any preferential treatment in prison, but its incredibly bleak that “preferential treatment” includes “you are allowed to wipe your ass”
Reposted by brian nam-sonenstein
This week, DHS claimed they were responsible for a "historic drop in crime" in Chicago, citing numbers but no sources.
@araceligomezaldana.bsky.social and I fact-checked that claim.
Our analysis shows the blitz had little impact on an ongoing decline in violent crime.
www.wbez.org/data/2025/11...
@araceligomezaldana.bsky.social and I fact-checked that claim.
Our analysis shows the blitz had little impact on an ongoing decline in violent crime.
www.wbez.org/data/2025/11...
November 14, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This week, DHS claimed they were responsible for a "historic drop in crime" in Chicago, citing numbers but no sources.
@araceligomezaldana.bsky.social and I fact-checked that claim.
Our analysis shows the blitz had little impact on an ongoing decline in violent crime.
www.wbez.org/data/2025/11...
@araceligomezaldana.bsky.social and I fact-checked that claim.
Our analysis shows the blitz had little impact on an ongoing decline in violent crime.
www.wbez.org/data/2025/11...