Michael Crowley
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mikecrowley.bsky.social
Michael Crowley
@mikecrowley.bsky.social
76 followers 60 following 54 posts
Locally, I have advocated for better budgeting and school funding. Nationally, I have plugged criminal justice reform. Former school board member. Former Senior Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice. Former White House OMB. Now Belmont MA Town Moderator.
Posts Replies Media Videos
mikecrowley.bsky.social
First, they came for the truth tellers: WaPo editorial staff, CBS 60 Minutes, Stephen Colbert, & now Jimmy Kimmel. Trump is suing the New York Times & the Wall Street Journal (itself, a deeply conservative rag). Now a tragic killing is being used to justify more silencing of truth and conscience.
September 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Michael Crowley
resnikoff.bsky.social
Like I've been saying, Trump is not defending American cities. He is attacking them. publiccomment.blog/p/notes-on-a...
August 20, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Michael Crowley
michaeljstern.bsky.social
June 6, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Reposted by Michael Crowley
jordanuhl.com
Put together a quick site to gather links to bail funds for people arrested on college campuses.

Please share the link with others and if you see any new bail funds pop up send them my way: campusbailfunds.com
Campus Bail Funds
Links to bail funds for student protesters.
campusbailfunds.com
April 25, 2024 at 5:13 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Massachusetts governor proposes mass pardon of thousands of misdemeanor simple cannabis possession convictions. It’s the right thing to do. Criminal convictions often carry collateral consequences that can negatively affect people’s lives for years.

www.wbur.org/news/2024/03...
Healey announces sweeping pardons for simple possession of cannabis
Healey's pardon forgives all state court misdemeanor convictions for possession of marijuana before March 13, 2024. It does not apply to charges of distribution, trafficking, or operating a motor vehi...
www.wbur.org
March 14, 2024 at 1:57 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Our criminal justice system has failings that boggle the minds of thinking, rational people. The death penalty is the worst. In addition to its barbarity, it permanently silences claims of innocence. And we know that innocents have been executed in the U.S.

apnews.com/article/texa...
Texas man who long claimed innocence is executed for the slayings of 2, including cousin
A Texas inmate who has long said he’s innocent faces execution Wednesday for fatally shooting two people.
apnews.com
February 29, 2024 at 4:07 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Legislation introduced in Ohio and supported by its AG would restart executions using nitrogen hypoxia — smothering people to death — copying Alabama’s horrific recent execution.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
After Alabama execution, Ohio Republicans push to allow nitrogen gas for death penalty
Ohio's Republican Attorney General Dave Yost wants to restart executions, but this time with nitrogen hypoxia, the same method Alabama used.
www.usatoday.com
January 31, 2024 at 4:17 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Just because the Supreme Court has ruled that Alabama may proceed with a nitrogen gas execution doesn't make the decision correct. Effectively death by smothering, nitrogen gas execution is an ethical and legal abomination.

www.politico.com/news/2024/01...
Supreme Court rules Alabama can proceed with the country’s first execution by nitrogen gas
Alabama plans to put a face mask on 58-year-old Kenneth Eugene Smith and replace the air he is breathing with nitrogen to cause oxygen deprivation.
www.politico.com
January 26, 2024 at 2:58 AM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
No evidence linking him to a murder except shifting testimony of a jailhouse informant who stood to benefit. DNA evidence links someone else. So why is Missouri fast tracking Marcellus Williams' execution? #deathpenalty #criminaljustice

theintercept.com/2024/01/14/m...
Crime Scene DNA Didn’t Match Marcellus Williams. Missouri May Fast-Track His Execution Anyway.
Gov. Mike Parson dissolved a panel that was reinvestigating the case of Marcellus Williams before it could report its findings.
theintercept.com
January 15, 2024 at 8:25 AM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
A judge has granted Alabama permission to perform a nitrogen gas execution. Let's be honest, this is suffocating the man to death and pure barbarism. It has no place in a true justice system. #deathpenalty #criminaljustice

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Judge rules Alabama can move forward, become first state to perform nitrogen gas execution
Alabama plans to put a respirator-type face mask over Kenneth Eugene Smith's nose and mouth to replace breathable air with nitrogen.
www.usatoday.com
January 11, 2024 at 2:48 AM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Federal prisons are a mess, shortstaffed and posing a danger to those employed AND incarcerated there. Yet programs to ease crowding are ending, just when it is clear that they should be expanded. #criminaljustice #prisons

www.themarshallproject.org/2024/01/06/f...
Federal Prisons Are Over Capacity — Yet Efforts to Ease Overcrowding Are Ending.
The Bureau of Prisons’ system is in trouble and needs serious upgrades on several fronts.
www.themarshallproject.org
January 6, 2024 at 5:25 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Just a handful of mostly southern states still execute people in the U.S., running counter to prevailing public opinion. But they’re also inventing new ways to kill people and bring back old ones. It’s a pox on our justice system. #criminaljustice #deathpenalty

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/j...
US death-penalty states buck public sentiment to find new ways to kill
Half of Americans call capital punishment unfair but a handful of states are pressing ahead using novel methods and secrecy
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2024 at 5:51 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Exonerated after 42 years in prison just in time for Christmas. It is beyond tragedy that we deprive the innocent of liberty for so long before correcting our errors. #criminaljustice #wrongfulconviction

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Chicago cousins freed after being wrongfully incarcerated for 42 years
James Soto, 62, and David Ayala, 60 were wrongfully convicted in two 1981 murders and were expected to be released on Thursday.
www.cbsnews.com
December 26, 2023 at 10:31 AM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
So many lives and hopes destroyed. We -- every one of us -- need a ceasefire now and a return to negotiations over hostages and the future of Gaza & the West Bank. Every Palestinian and Israeli deserves life and a bright future.
December 24, 2023 at 11:29 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Several men were exonerated recently of murders they didn’t commit after spending decades in prison. A common thread — witness misidentification. If this doesn’t give you pause about the fallibility of our criminal justice system…#wrongfulconviction #criminaljustice

www.cnn.com/videos/us/20...
Watch: They spent decades in prison for crimes they didn't commit. See them get their freedom | CNN
CNN’s Josh Campbell reports on the release of four men who spent decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted for murders.
www.cnn.com
December 21, 2023 at 11:25 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Almost 50 years in prison for a crime not committed. If someone wrongs you, usually there is recourse. Yet when it comes to wrongful convictions, you can spend years deprived of liberty, with little recourse. It’s wrong. #wrongfulconviction #criminaljustice

www.bbc.com/news/world-u...
Glynn Simmons: US judge exonerates inmate after 48 years in prison
Glynn Simmons says his nearly half-century in prison is a "lesson in resilience and tenacity".
www.bbc.com
December 21, 2023 at 7:12 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Why racial disparities in criminal justice?

1. Laws/policies can have a disparate impact.
2. Racial bias affects prosecutors & judges.
3. The justice system disadvantages the poor, often people of color. #criminaljustice

New report: www.sentencingproject.org/app/uploads/...
www.sentencingproject.org
December 7, 2023 at 4:59 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
"The holidays in prison are depressing and most if not all of [the incarcerated] just wish it would hurry up and pass."
#prisonvoices #prisonjournalism

prisonjournalismproject.org/2021/11/23/c...
Celebrating Thanksgiving While Incarcerated
I was born on Thanksgiving. My family would gather at my grandparents’ farm. I remember Grandma in the grand kitchen cooking, baking, and fluttering around creating memorable smells. There was alway...
prisonjournalismproject.org
November 23, 2023 at 5:24 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Abuse was out of control at the federal Thompson prison in Illinois. A warden brought in to fix things thought several correctional officers needed to be fired. Instead, they bribed prisoners to physically attack the warden. Stunning corruption & abuse.

www.themarshallproject.org/2023/11/15/i...
A Warden Tried to Fix an Abusive Prison. He Faced Death Threats.
He was tasked with ending abuse at a federal penitentiary, but he says his own officers and the Bureau of Prisons stood in the way.
www.themarshallproject.org
November 17, 2023 at 8:42 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
In 2018, there were almost 28,000 allegations of sexual assault in U.S. correctional facilities, and this is likely an undercount. Those incarcerated have little protection and little recourse. Cynthia Alvarado tells her story… #prisonrape #jailrape

measuresforjustice.org/mfj-media-ca...
Let's Be Clear: Criminal justice data has a story to tell.
Watch Cynthia's story.
measuresforjustice.org
November 16, 2023 at 9:50 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
At this rate, NYC will pay out $101M this year for police misconduct. Just 10 officers, all still on the payroll, accounted for $68M+ in payouts over the last 10 years. Why are these people still wearing badges?
#policemisconduct #criminaljustice

gothamist.com/news/over-a-...
Over a decade, 10 NYPD officers accounted for $68M in police misconduct payouts: Report
The city settled 48 cases against one officer. Another officer was named in lawsuits totaling more than $12 million.
gothamist.com
September 28, 2023 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Michael Crowley
ali-gharib.theintercept.com
"Public defenders across America regularly work triple the cases they can effectively handle, and some work upwards of 10 times too many cases" www.stltoday.com/news/nation-...
Public defenders work 3 times too many cases, milestone study and new data show
www.stltoday.com
September 14, 2023 at 2:53 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
Starting Monday in Illinois, cash bail is over, a huge win for the poor for whom bail is unaffordable. Detention will still be authorized in serious felony cases like "murder, sexual assault, robbery," etc. Otherwise, prosecutors have to prove flight risk. #bailreform

www.wcia.com/top-stories/...
September 17, 2023 at 6:32 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
In 2002, Robert Roberson rushed his limp 2-year old to the emergency room. She died, but he did the right thing. So why does Texas plan to execute him? Junk science and evidence that should have been discredited long ago. #deathpenalty

www.themarshallproject.org/2023/09/15/t...
How a Dubious ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case Sent a Man to Death Row
A Texas man faces execution for his daughter's death. Now science suggests it was an accident.
www.themarshallproject.org
September 15, 2023 at 3:13 PM
mikecrowley.bsky.social
The old "lock 'em up" for years & "tough on crime" paradigms don't work. We can be smarter than that. Criminal justice reform is effective and it makes us all safer. #criminaljustice #cjreform

vimeo.com/fairandjustp...
Reform Makes Us Safer
After decades of failed tough-on-crime policies, we must embrace a new vision of justice to create lasting public safety. In the first video of FJP's “Reform…
vimeo.com
September 13, 2023 at 9:34 PM