Unleash the litigation gates! These universities calling the police on their students will be in litigation for years. And those costs don't include the $ NYC is bleeding paying for these cops.:
In an interview I just taped with Rashid Khalidi about #Columbia he said words to the effect of "this is the neoliberal dream of the university--no students, no professors, just administrators and cops on campus"
"police raids do not serve a university’s own interests in maintaining peace and civility on campus. The 1960s made that crystal clear. Bringing law enforcement to campus invariably intensifies protests, fuels acrimony, and creates a climate of distrust. Police involvement doesn’t dampen protests; it accelerates them, often with devastating consequences"
If you're in the UK, check out this new Rough Sleeping Criminal Justice Bill. Feel free to boost this for visibility or add hashtags - I think it's important to set &/or maintain the precedent that these laws be debated and critiqued very thoroughly. Telling someone with no home to 'move along' is a stiff order. That police could be asked to uphold this law (as it is written) could carry a risk of moral injury to our coppers.
“Nuisance rough sleeping” starts at s.59, and the offending smelly “rough sleeping condition” can be found at s.69(5)(c). Including words from subs.(4):
> A person does “something that is a nuisance” if the person ... causes or does something capable of causing ... damage to the environment (including excessive noise, smells, litter or deposits of waste)...
If one were to parody this, I'd propose the following as a start:
"Sleeping in public in the UK must now be done only in a suit and tie or equivalent formal dress, whilst wearing a perfume. Snoring is illegal. Campaigners are lobbying the government to permit it to be carried out whilst wearing a polo-shirt and chinos, however the government maintain that this is a slippery slope to people wearing pyjamas in public, and thence anarchy."
Information about one's MP is available at https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ if you feel further critique of this law is a worthy cause. I'd suggest any MP pushing for this would get positive media coverage.
My 1st study as part of my PhD has been published. It explores the circumstances of seriously harmed missing children and the associated guardianship opportunities and issues.
AP investigation reveals Black people bear disproportionate impact of police force - Surprised? I didn’t think so. “Black people accounted for a disproportionate number of people who died after being restrained, beaten or shocked with stun guns by police officers in the United States, according to an investigation by The Associated Press. #SystemicRacism#Racism#Policinghttps://apnews.com/article/780a742c2f449460fa4b7cd7bd3dfdb6
Every day, police rely on common tactics that, unlike guns, are meant to stop people without killing them, such as physical holds, Tasers and body blows. But when misused, these tactics can still end in death.
A new AP investigation finds more than 1,000 people died after police subdued them through means not intended to be lethal. In hundreds of cases, officers weren’t taught or didn’t follow best safety practices for physical force and weapons. #policing #force https://apnews.com/projects/investigation-police-use-of-force/visual-story/
Got a legit chortle out of this gem: "Cmmr Osborne asked how many tickets the TTC actually issues today, and management answered about 100 per week. That number provoked debate considering that there are about 100 Fare Inspectors."
We've signed the open letter from Amnesty, warning of the threats to freedom of expression and protest in the UK.
The government's new protocol will "add to a chaotic patchwork of repressive legislation and policing powers that has placed undue restrictions on the right to protest."
Find out more about the open letter signed by 46 civil rights organisations ⬇️
“Despite the lack of utility to state security, [Prevent] referrals – and their storage, retention and sharing – can have disruptive and lasting impacts on individuals, including children as young as 6-years-old.”
If you’re referred to Prevent, your data rights are made difficult to enforce.
The right to erasure is weakened by a lack of transparency about data sharing between multiple databases and national security exemptions used by counter-terrorism police.
This reminds us that #policing - in #SettlerColonial societies like Canada - has always been a central force for dispossession, displacement & containment.
Mark Watson was ten when the 1984 miners' strike took over his life.
Forty years on, he wants to know what really happened and how it changed his community - and this country. Tales of violence, desperation, and determination.
"The overwhelming majority of people subject to Prevent referrals did not meet the threshold for a de-radicalisation intervention, yet their data is being retained for at least six years."
ORG's report raises serious concerns about the Prevent programme (UK).
Our report into widespread data misuse under the Prevent programme comes as referrals have spiked following the Israel/Gaza conflict.
Students should have safe spaces to process the world around them without fearing it’ll mark them for life. Prevent is a flawed programme that undermines freedom of expression and abuses data rights.