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mathuclair.bsky.social
Sociologist at Stanford and author of PRIVILEGE & PUNISHMENT www.matthewclair.org
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U Mich spent $800,000 on private security who tailed student activists and sent evidence to prosecutors—and $1.5 million on two consultants who handled internal disciplinary action. Admin will spend big bucks to avoid small endowment reallocation, it seems

Join us. Learn how to be part of our network of community members watching ICE in the courts, in the streets, and wherever else they are! Tinyurl.com/NCRJune10 on Zoom at 7pm June 10

Hundreds gathered today outside the Palo Alto Courthouse in support of 12 Stanford students being prosecuted by the Santa Clara County DA for their involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest and occupation of the president’s office last year.

Great thread from the always thoughtful @michellesphelps.bsky.social. Also: read her book! bsky.app/profile/mich...

Great thread from the always thoughtful @michellesphelps.bsky.social. Also: read her book! bsky.app/profile/mich...

I’d imagine many students of color at PWIs are beginning to wonder whether the price of admission is worth it. www.cnn.com/2025/05/24/u...

As we remember George Floyd, we must see police violence as part of the broader carceral state. 5 yrs ago in @thenation.com: “the M4BL has critiqued the broader system, which reinforces a regime of police brutality and punishes poor communities of color in other insidious ways” tinyurl.com/jhe4hd35

Nearly three years before the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd as he cried that he couldn’t breathe, Zoya Code found herself in a similar position: handcuffed facedown on the ground, with Chauvin’s knee on her. Code said she began pleading: “Don’t kill me.”

Tomorrow marks 5 years since George Floyd’s murder. I was skeptical then that protest and performative solidarity would lead to lasting change. I share some thoughts in this @washingtonpost.com piece, alongside others reflecting on the moment: wapo.st/43DsEgq

“Too often, commentators portray Trump as an aberration in American history. But Trump didn’t begin this alliance. He merely peeled away the diplomatic niceties that once masked it.” time.com/7287684/hist...

An IT worker for the nat'l parks drove to a bridge & called a friend to talk him down. A Medicaid researcher killed herself after repeating "I’m not enough" to her family. A Social Security worker, whose data was under siege by DOGE, died at her cubicle. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Congrats, @hopeharvey.bsky.social! Eager to read this important book on how families double up to make ends meet amid the housing crisis and precarious labor market bsky.app/profile/prin...

Coverage of the "progressive prosecutor" movement has often focused on its setbacks. ...Meanwhile, Larry Krasner just crushed his opponent in Philly. And, writes @taniel.bsky.social, reformers have lately racked up other big wins, incl. in MN, TX, MI, VT, FL, VA, CO. boltsmag.org/larry-krasne...

A must read. If we’re getting out of this mess, we need insights on how the US Constitution got us here, and how it might get us out

Where is research on the legal profession and legal education headed in this moment of crisis? Check out this American Bar Foundation/Stanford Law School report for some ideas. @abfresearch.bsky.social www.americanbarfoundation.org/wp-content/u...

“When I had started out in the movement, all I wanted were my rights … but the more I thought about it the more I realized … the only way we could get true equality was if America changed completely, top to bottom. And this change had to start with my own people, with Black revolution” — Nina Simone

I finally finished reading the entirety of "Leadership: A Mythic Paradigm" -- just in time for this presentation on Friday. Please DM me if you want to access a zoom link otherwise hope to see you in person. New summary of the talk below: 🧵

"I am getting very sick & tired of having to go onto news programs because journalists aren't allowed in to point out what is happening here... this is a televised slaughter. History will not judge us kindly." I spoke today to Dr Tom Potokar, UK surgeon in Gaza: Full intv: zeteo.com/p/televised-...

Using rare skin tone data from the Freedman’s Bank (1865–74) linked to the 1870 Census, researchers find wealthier or literate people with the same complexion were more often classified as White or Mulatto—fueling future segregation. By @aadukia.bsky.social and co-authors. Read more: bit.ly/42NSnU6

“There is value in continued presence, in bearing witness, in working for reform from within. But there comes a point when presence itself becomes an endorsement, when working within the system becomes indistinguishable from working for it.” bsky.app/profile/alon...

The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled @repbonnie.bsky.social, and arrested Mayor Baraka. They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we’re elected to do. But we’ll never back down in our fight for what is right.

A timely @thenation.com piece on policing’s racist/violent history—and the present-day propaganda that maintains it. “Johnston introduced Senate Joint Resolution 65 in 1961 to establish National Police Week, signaling his contempt for the sit-ins of Black youth” www.thenation.com/article/soci...

One activist who Columbia Public Safety drove to the floor required medical attention, but medics were repeatedly denied access by officers. “You’re not going to let me in to treat the student who might have a concussion?”

Three justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court who tried to steal this election for Griffin are up for election in 2028: Paul Newby, Phil Berger Jr., and Tamara P. Barringer. When Election Day comes around, I hope the state's voters remember what these lawless partisans tried to do here.

Brutal account of what it’s like to teach at the University of Florida right now in the NYT—extraordinary climate of fear. People afraid to say intersectional and talk about lynchings. Fake students trying to entrap Muslim faculty or just making things up altogether. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/o...

“History tells you about how people in the past stood up to things like this," Taliafero said. "So I think when we look at history, we can find a lot of inspiration to continue the work that we're doing.” bsky.app/profile/teen...

“Heaven without people is not worth going to.” Our 7-year study of 52 Syrian families shows most remain separated by policy, not by choice. And when resettlement rules exclude kin, the cost is isolation, debt + desperation. Check out our article & full special issue here: doi.org/10.1080/0141...

Just received my copy of Mary Ellen Stitt’s empirically rigorous new book on the failures of court-mandated diversionary treatment programs. An important addition to research on courts and legal reform. Grab a copy! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

The biggest project I've worked on for the last chunk of years was just published. It asks, how big are US Black-white lifespan differences? This might seem like a narrow question. I hope to convince you by the end that there are answers you didn't anticipate. And I hope some of them will move you.

This important documentary on Black health in the United States airs on PBS tonight. Proud of my brilliant friend Ralph Bouquet, who co-produced the film. Check it out: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vi...

This important documentary on Black health in the United States airs on PBS tonight. Proud of my brilliant friend Ralph Bouquet, who co-produced the film. Check it out: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vi...

Look what made it to the airport bookstore shelf... Thanks, MN Open Book! And while I hope people will shop local, reviews on that other site always appreciated if you found the book helpful!

Are you wondering how this presidential administration is impacting local policing policies? (Spoiler: not great) Check out this webinar sponsored by @justjournalism.bsky.social with myself, Wanda Bertram with @prisonpolicy.org and Alejandro Fernandez. us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Yes, and as many scholars have argued, every region outside of the South had its own manifestations of legal and extralegal racism. The US has always been fundamentally undemocratic, with some brief and inconsistent exceptions in the last 75-100 years

A reminder that one of the most iconic photos of the twentieth century is a portrait of a federal worker—Ella Watson, then employed cleaning federal offices in Washington DC—and was taken by Gordon Parks, who was also working for the federal government in the FSA's photography division

The arrest of judge Dugan in Wisconsin underscores the central role that local courts and judges are expected to play in upholding the carceral state. www.californialawreview.org/print/courts...