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dtha15.bsky.social
Professor studying police history, police reform, policy responses to serious mental illness, ethics. Richard Olney & John Dewey stan. Dad to a danseur and a goalie; married to a historic preservationist http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dthacher/index.html
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Every example of state or regional control over municipal policing I can think of (Kansas City, Nashville Metro, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Indianapolis, Miami-Dade) has the effect of diluting the power of minority residents over their police.

People, it's coming!

The walls in the CalArts basement are covered in graffiti, much of it obscene & disturbing. But there are also signs establishing rules (no painting floors & some walls; only students may paint; no spray paint; etc). Illustrating once again that rules of order vary, but they always exist.

Great letter from my colleagues @sbagen.bsky.social, @mjschlanger.bsky.social and other legal scholars across the country explaining why it is not necessary to start eliminating university programs because Trump

This is ban the box for police hiring. They’re forcing PDs to ignore misconduct in an applicant’s past.

This program helps disabled kids graduating high school figure out how to make a successful transition to adult life, and identify any supports that might help them do that. (Lots of kids at my son’s school use similar programs.) Canceling it hurts the kids; and it hurts their families & society too

I just remembered that the (now-reversed) explosion of NYPD vehicle chases occurred immediately after they bought these massive gun things that were supposed to shoot sticky GPS trackers at cars so they wouldn't need to chase them. Illustrating yet again that tech, by itself, does nothing (or less).

The Adams quid pro quo looks like an attack on prosecutorial independence. But it will backfire: “Should the public see every federal prosecutor and agent as just a presidential minion….the responses of judges, juries and witnesses will be simply a function of their own political preferences.”

I'm not saying this has flown under the radar (it's in the Post), but it may be lost in the cornucopia of corruption. Former police commissioner and Adams' appointee Edward Caban has a brother, James. They are, get this, identical twins. James was a cop, and fired in 2001. (thread)

the irony of this iteration of republicans is that the simplest objection to their strategy is the classic conservative (e.g. oakeshottean) objection that settled practices often embody a wisdom that rationalist reformers can’t perceive

barred own in my mother-in-law’s backyard!

"The resignations may not be able to stop the unethical behavior of this Justice Department…But they are a dramatic reminder to the public and the president that the line exists—and drama matters when the president and his men have turned the courtroom into theater."

adams was always willing to throw vulnerable people under the bus

This is some of the most disgusting, craven, selfish behavior I've ever seen from an individual in public life. He is ripping families apart and sending people to die to save his own skin. I cannot conceive of more despicable behavior from someone elected to a role of public responsibility.

Attacks on DOE are attacks on disabled kids. Funding for disability supports (along with funding for low income districts) makes up the biggest share of DOE budget. And DOE is the key recourse for families if their district & state stonewall them when they try to get the help their kids need.

Of course this was going to happen. It’s why police do not want to be intertwined with deportations. Anyone who has studied this for half a minute knows this. Destabilizes entire communities. Also makes undocumented folks targets.

this sounds fantastic

I wish more coverage would connect "illegal" & "unconstitutional" to "undemocratic". The legal provisions this administration keeps violating are the ones that aim to subordinate the exercise of government power to a range of public interests, not the priorities of one man (or "the median voter").

This is the relevant part of the @radleybalko.bsky.social interview she mentions downthread. If they immediately issue a detainer as soon as fingerprints make it to the FBI/DHS, and ICE mobilizes quickly, then sanctuary city policies become largely ineffective as a firewall between local PDs & ICE

Frederick Law Olmsted, who knew a thing or two about parks, would be horrified to learn that one of the world’s great cities may disband its specialized park police and turn the job over to the police in general.