sharonbrett.bsky.social
Associate Professor, University of Kansas Law School. Teaching civ pro/evidence/fed courts/social justice lawyering. Writing abt procedural and structural barriers to reform of govt institutions.
Bio: https://law.ku.edu/people/sharon-brett
124 posts
742 followers
567 following
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Big Law should not give in for all of the rule-of-law reasons so many people have spoken about already.
But also because if Big Law folds, the domino effect for smaller firms, and therefore small nonprofits, will be devastating.
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The chilling effect for Big Law is huge. It will be felt deeply by cause lawyers at national organizations, but also civil rights lawyers in smaller states with hostile state legislatures.
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Either way, the result is that non-profit legal orgs won't be able to bring new cases that they desperately need to bring. They will literally not be able to foot the bill.
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(1) State legislators may try to mimic these EOs and pass legislation that threatens more regional/local firms engaging in pro bono work with progressive orgs.
OR
(2) Local firms may become paranoid, and avoid working with civil rights orgs altogether.
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So in addition to the threats to Big Law participation in pro bono work, we should be worried what might happen at the local level, too. Two things are possible:
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They are inundated with intake/requests for legal assistance and are often the first line of defense against unconstitutional legislation passed in their states. They depend on law firms to partner with them, pro bono, often in suits against state government actors.
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Looking forward to reading this, Joanna!
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Also the first case I worked on as a baby attorney was a CRIPA case filed two years after I was born. The jurisdiction still wasn’t in compliance.
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Police departments, too.
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@vanessamiller.bsky.social new campus police force incoming. 🚨🚨🆘🆘
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My favorite player on the team for sure. So disappointed in hunter in his 45th consecutive season of college basketball.
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GO BLUE!
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@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social the harms from these policies cannot be overstated, esp. b/c these police depts have cooperative intelligence sharing agreements w/ the fed govt. ppl are listed in these local databases, & that info gets shared w/ the feds, who can then initiate immigration proceedings.
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The @aclukansas.bsky.social and Kansas Appleseed were able to negotiate a settlement that included long overdue policy reforms to the Wichita Police Department's policy. But there are lots of departments still using these vague, overinclusive criteria to label people as gang members w/o due process.
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So now tons of money will pour in on both sides of this ballot initiative—money that would be so helpful to Kansans who lack well funded public schools, access to medical care in rural areas, veterans services, and on and on. (3/x)
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they didn’t like that SCOKAN found a right bodily autonomy in the KS constitution. So they want to change the makeup of the court. This, despite the fact that Kansans voted to retain that right during the leg’s *last* attempt to rewrite the state constitution. (2/x)
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Oh goodness! Thank you! Honored by your GIF choice.
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Thanks friend!
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Thanks friend. 💙
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The deepest of sighs. Hope you're doing well!
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Thanks Joanna - very grateful for your feedback and engagement with it, and for fielding my panicked emails. :)
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Thanks so much Corey!
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@kenwhite.bsky.social: exactly this. bsky.app/profile/shar...
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All of this is to say that marking people as gang members based on vague evidence like certain tattoos or styles of dress raises deep constitutional issues, not just for deportations at the federal level, but for additional criminal-legal system punishment at the state and local level.
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Brave plaintiffs have challenged these practices across the country. The ACLU of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed reached a settlement with the Wichita Police Department about its use of a gang database just last year.
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Conditions of release may include staying away from anyone else on the gang list - even though you're never told who else is on there. Even though entire families are often listed. If you violate this condition--i.e. if you see your brother at a family picnic--you risk reincarceration.
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If you got the tattoo as a dumb teenager, when you are 65 years old, that same tattoo can be used to re-up your inclusion on the gang list. Meaning if you got arrested, even for something unrelated, you'd be subjected to increased levels of community supervision upon sentencing/release.
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Tattoos uses to add people to these lists can be innocuous as the name of a dead relative, or a specific set of colors, or numbers representing your zip code.
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Once added, people stay on these lists for years, often indefinitely. Which means every few months an officer is checking your social media, watching who you are w/ in public, etc - even if you are no longer on supervision, haven't committed a crime in years, or haven't committed a crime ever.
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Many police departments maintain gang lists or databases that are used to surveil (predominately minority) community members who police *believe* are involved in gang activity.
In some jx, you can get added to the list for something as simple as tattoos + wearing particular colors or sports teams.
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Thank you, Colin! But I can't have BYU-athletics related gifs on my timeline during March. Thank you for your understanding.😜
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Thank you!
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The original post, which I linked, has a thread that includes a description of the article. But thanks.
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We’re talking about Michigan hoops here right?
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Woot woot Bluesky official! Congrats again - thrilled for you.
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totally with you on that point.