shadowproof--2020-07-14--Federal Asset Forfeiture May Undermine Efforts To Defund Police

Between 2001 and 2017 , the federal government seized $ 40 billion from ordinary people and high profile criminal defendants , including major corporations , through asset forfeiture .
The money was funneled into the Assets Forfeiture Fund ( AFF ) , a trust founded in 1984 through the Comprehensive Crime Control Act as part of the War on Drugs .
Asset forfeiture is potentially a major hurdle for the Black Lives Matter movement .
Since the burning of the third police precinct in Minneapolis , the mainstream conversation around policing has shifted from reforming to defunding departments .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the budgeting process , and no control over external revenue sources like asset forfeiture , which massively contribute to the expansion of the carceral apparatus .
In 2012 , for example , following a joint investigation between Rhode Island police departments and federal law enforcement against Google for advertising illegal pharmaceutical businesses , the AFF transferred two-hundred thirty of the $ 500 million settlement across five Rhode Island law enforcement agencies through the equitable sharing program .
The equitable sharing program , also founded through the Comprehensive Crime Control Act , allows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ profit from federal seizures .
From 2000 to 2016 , 86 percent of equitable sharing forfeitures were civil , meaning the property was legally seized without a charge or a conviction .
Criminal forfeiture seizures are intended to be punitive and take place after a conviction .
The North Providence and the East Providence Police Department were awarded sixty million dollars each , a figure eight-to-ten times the size of their regular budgets , while $ 45 million went to the state police .
Rhode Island officers personally profited from the AFF , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their pension plans and millions more into overtime pay .
Departments used the money to purchase tasers and guns , a new firing range , dozens of vehicles , upgrade technology , and build new facilities , and still had tens of millions left over .
Meanwhile , North Providence had to take out bonds to build a new middle school , despite millions leftover from the Google settlement .
Twenty organizations calling for the abolition of the equitable sharing program , including the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild , say civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of civil forfeiture have no right to an attorney in forfeiture cases and are overwhelmingly those least able to afford representation to defend themselves which worsens the economic struggles that already plague low-income communities , ” they wrote in a letter to the Attorney General in 2016 .
And since the carceral system disproportionately targets marginalized communities , criminal forfeiture is similarly unjust during an already expensive legal process .
The Justice Department argues that the AFF and equitable sharing use “ statutory authority to support a wide variety of law enforcement programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fund.
” “ These state and local officers , often deputized as federal agents , act as a critical force multiplier in helping to achieve the law enforcement mission of our federal agencies .
The AFF pays for officer overtime and a variety of critical equipment needs , including life-saving ballistic shields and helmets necessary to ensure officer safety , ” according to the Justice Department .
From 2000 to 2016 , the Justice Department gave more than 6.8 billion dollars to local law enforcement through the AFF , while the Treasury Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Federal Prison Program received over one billion from the fund over the past five years .
Although the “ Pentagon ’ s hand-me-downs ” are primarily responsible for police militarization , equitable sharing payments contribute to the phenomenon .
The BearCat armored vehicle used by the Alameda County Sheriff ’ s Office to evict the Moms4Housing campaign in Oakland earlier this year , for example , was partially funded through the county ’ s federal asset forfeiture trust fund .
Through the “ adoption , ” route of AFF , a local agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal agency to adopt the property for forfeiture under federal law in order to circumvent increasingly strict state laws .
For years , California agencies relied on the adoption route , since California law required a criminal conviction before the state could seize assets under $ 25,000 .
But in 2016 , California passed SB 443 , which closed the loophole by limiting equitable sharing payouts to criminal forfeiture .
Local and federal law enforcement argue in favor of the AFF and equitable sharing , with the Justice Department claiming that “ asset @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dismantle criminal organizations that would continue to function if we only convicted and incarcerated specific individuals.
” Yet , the DOJ describes the AFF as a “ permanent indefinite fund , ” which contradicts its supposed image as a tool for harm-prevention .
An Institute of Justice analysis supports the idea that forfeiture is , in reality , a fail-safe for stabilizing police budgets .
“ When local economies suffer , equitable sharing activity increases , suggesting police make greater use of forfeiture when local budgets are tight , ” they write .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ local unemployment—a standard proxy for fiscal stress—is associated with a statistically significant nine-percentage point increase in equitable sharing seizures.
” They concluded that increased forfeiture funds had “ no meaningful effect on crime-fighting , ” but was “ strongly linked to worsening economic conditions.
” This finding suggests local and state police departments in jurisdictions with some of the more successful , militant demonstrations—Seattle , Portland , New York City and St. Louis , for example—could supplant dwindling budgets with seized funds .
Only abolition and alternative community accountability structures guarantee that the @ @ @ @ @ @

Between 2001 and 2017, the federal government seized $40 billion from ordinary people and high profile criminal defendants, including major corporations, through asset forfeiture. The money was funneled into the Assets Forfeiture Fund (AFF), a trust founded in 1984 through the Comprehensive Crime Control Act as part of the War on Drugs.
Asset forfeiture is potentially a major hurdle for the Black Lives Matter movement. Since the burning of the third police precinct in Minneapolis, the mainstream conversation around policing has shifted from reforming to defunding departments. However, the public has little direct control over the budgeting process, and no control over external revenue sources like asset forfeiture, which massively contribute to the expansion of the carceral apparatus.
In 2012, for example, following a joint investigation between Rhode Island police departments and federal law enforcement against Google for advertising illegal pharmaceutical businesses, the AFF transferred two-hundred thirty of the $500 million settlement across five Rhode Island law enforcement agencies through the equitable sharing program.
The equitable sharing program, also founded through the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, allows 7,000 state and local police departments to profit from federal seizures.
From 2000 to 2016, 86 percent of equitable sharing forfeitures were civil, meaning the property was legally seized without a charge or a conviction. Criminal forfeiture seizures are intended to be punitive and take place after a conviction.
The North Providence and the East Providence Police Department were awarded sixty million dollars each, a figure eight-to-ten times the size of their regular budgets, while $45 million went to the state police.
Rhode Island officers personally profited from the AFF, with over 100 million dollars going into their pension plans and millions more into overtime pay. Departments used the money to purchase tasers and guns, a new firing range, dozens of vehicles, upgrade technology, and build new facilities, and still had tens of millions left over.
Meanwhile, North Providence had to take out bonds to build a new middle school, despite millions leftover from the Google settlement.
Twenty organizations calling for the abolition of the equitable sharing program, including the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild, say civil forfeiture exacerbates existing inequalities.
“Victims of civil forfeiture have no right to an attorney in forfeiture cases and are overwhelmingly those least able to afford representation to defend themselves which worsens the economic struggles that already plague low-income communities,” they wrote in a letter to the Attorney General in 2016. And since the carceral system disproportionately targets marginalized communities, criminal forfeiture is similarly unjust during an already expensive legal process.
The Justice Department argues that the AFF and equitable sharing use “statutory authority to support a wide variety of law enforcement programs that would not exist but for the fund.”
“These state and local officers, often deputized as federal agents, act as a critical force multiplier in helping to achieve the law enforcement mission of our federal agencies. The AFF pays for officer overtime and a variety of critical equipment needs, including life-saving ballistic shields and helmets necessary to ensure officer safety,” according to the Justice Department.
From 2000 to 2016, the Justice Department gave more than 6.8 billion dollars to local law enforcement through the AFF, while the Treasury Department handed over 1.9 billion dollars. The Federal Prison Program received over one billion from the fund over the past five years.
Although the “Pentagon’s hand-me-downs” are primarily responsible for police militarization, equitable sharing payments contribute to the phenomenon.
The BearCat armored vehicle used by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to evict the Moms4Housing campaign in Oakland earlier this year, for example, was partially funded through the county’s federal asset forfeiture trust fund.
Through the “adoption,” route of AFF, a local agency can seize assets, then ask a federal agency to adopt the property for forfeiture under federal law in order to circumvent increasingly strict state laws.
For years, California agencies relied on the adoption route, since California law required a criminal conviction before the state could seize assets under $25,000. But in 2016, California passed SB 443, which closed the loophole by limiting equitable sharing payouts to criminal forfeiture.
Local and federal law enforcement argue in favor of the AFF and equitable sharing, with the Justice Department claiming that “asset forfeiture has the power to disrupt or dismantle criminal organizations that would continue to function if we only convicted and incarcerated specific individuals.”
Yet, the DOJ describes the AFF as a “permanent indefinite fund,” which contradicts its supposed image as a tool for harm-prevention.
An Institute of Justice analysis supports the idea that forfeiture is, in reality, a fail-safe for stabilizing police budgets.
“When local economies suffer, equitable sharing activity increases, suggesting police make greater use of forfeiture when local budgets are tight,” they write. “A one percentage point increase in local unemployment—a standard proxy for fiscal stress—is associated with a statistically significant nine-percentage point increase in equitable sharing seizures.”
They concluded that increased forfeiture funds had “no meaningful effect on crime-fighting,” but was “strongly linked to worsening economic conditions.”
This finding suggests local and state police departments in jurisdictions with some of the more successful, militant demonstrations—Seattle, Portland, New York City and St. Louis, for example—could supplant dwindling budgets with seized funds.
Only abolition and alternative community accountability structures guarantee that the system will stop expanding itself.


shadowproof--2020-07-15--In A Week, COVID-19 Infections Triple At Women’s Prison Where NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Is In

In A Week, COVID-19 Infections Triple At Women’s Prison Where NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Is Incarcerated

In A Week , COVID-19 Infections Triple At Women ’ s Prison Where NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Is Incarcerated At Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth , Texas , where NSA whistleblower Reality Winner is incarcerated , the number of COVID-19 infections have tripled in one week .
Her sister Brittany Winner said one of her bunkmates had “ severe symptomatic COVID-19 and was removed.
” Brittany Winner believes it is a “ matter of time ” before Reality Winner falls ill .
Reality Winner received one of the 733 tests administered at the facility , but as of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the results .
The rapidly intensifying facility outbreak comes as the 11th United States Court of Appeals deliberates over Winner ’ s request to reverse a district court ruling and release her into home confinement .
Reality Winner filed an appeal on May 12 .
Her attorneys warned , “ The entire basis for Reality ’ s motion—and so many like hers—is that she can not afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher , or worse , before she is afforded relief.
” Two months later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruled on her appeal or scheduled a hearing on the increasingly dire circumstances she faces during the pandemic .
Reality Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept .
She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election .
She has served well over half of her 63-month sentence .
According to the Bureau of Prisons ( BOP ) , in the last two weeks , 134 inmates and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
Winner submitted a filing on July 13 with additional details on the outbreak that indicates how cases have spiked .
On June 29 , according to the BOP , there were zero confirmed cases among prisoners .
There were 45 confirmed cases on July 6 .
Three days later , there were 68 confirmed cases .
One day later , there were 77 confirmed cases .
The BOP reported 113 cases among prisoners on July 11 and 127 cases among prisoners on July 12 .
“ Reality ’ s burden in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her circumstances–including , for instance , her underlying health issues coupled with her environment at FMC Carswell–meet the required test of being “ extraordinary and compelling , ” justifying her release , ” declared Winner ’ s attorney Joe Whitley .
“ The exponentially growing harm at FMC Carswell is relevant to that inquiry and—combined with the other evidence in this record—justifies her release.
” Brittany Winner communicates with her sister regularly and said those in Reality Winner ’ s unit are “ confined to their cells except at specific times to shower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” After her bunkmate contracted the virus , Reality Winner suggested it was “ almost better in the cell with only three people now , as they have more space , but they still can ’ t all stand up at the same time because the space is so tight.
” In recent days , guards are “ using the stairs and the hallways for personal exercise ” while prisoners remain confined .
Not only do they feel like they are being taunted , but Reality Winner and other prisoners are concerned their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 .
“ She hasn ’ t seen the sun in almost three weeks and hasn ’ t been given the time or space to exercise , ” Brittany Winner shared .
“ Her sciatica is flaring up , and her anxiety is through the roof , as she isn ’ t allowed video chats with her family and some days is not allowed to use the phone or computer .
She ’ s helpless and frustrated and trapped.
” The July 13 filing mentions it took “ over a week for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to schedule a phone call with her to obtain more insights into her current circumstances , ” which her attorney sees as an illustration of “ BOP ’ s inadequate handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole.
” “ It is apparent , in view of the spiking numbers at this facility , that her health is , as argued in the district court and in this Court , in serious jeopardy .
Counsel fears what information will be learned that is not reflected in the BOP ’ s numbers alone when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Reality , ” Whitley added .
Local news reporting from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram paints an increasingly bleak picture .
One prisoner named Sandra Shoulders suggested she is living in a “ horror movie.
” “ Every day , prison staff at FMC Carswell , a federal medical prison in Fort Worth , take about a dozen people out of [ Shoulders ’ ] unit to get tested for COVID-19 .
Some of them come back ; others do not.
” The newspaper added , “ When a woman tests positive for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the room she shares with three other people and stacked in what used to be the TV room .
Every day , the mountain of mattresses grows .
Shoulders tries to avoid walking past it.
” “ Multiple women in the prison who did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation wrote the Star-Telegram to describe the conditions , ” according to the newspaper .
The women shared the following : When an inmate tests positive , her belongings are not removed from the shared living space for hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected rooms but often do not have the proper PPE , two inmates wrote .
One inmate who tested positive was allowed to use a shared bathroom , which was not cleaned for hours after she used it .
The inmates are primarily responsible for cleaning the showers , phones and computers the women share , Shoulders said , even though they have not all been tested and do not have the proper cleaning supplies .
One man named Steven , who withheld his last name because he is fearful of retaliation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she will die at Carswell .
“ She thinks nobody in that place cares .
And she watches people holding up signs at the men ’ s prison when that ( outbreak ) happened , and she ’ s saying , ‘ Why does no one care about what ’ s happening here ?
’ ” Reality Winner believes she is “ suffering through this hell in a black hole , where nobody seems to know or care what ’ s happening to them.
” If a prisoner tests positive at Carswell , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has grown by 500 percent during the pandemic .
A recent paper from researchers and physicians at Amend Correctional Culture at the University of California San Francisco highlighted the effect solitary confinement could have .
“ Many advocates fear that use of isolation to curb transmission of COVID-19 in correctional facilities will complicate the emerging crisis , as incarcerated people become reluctant to report symptoms for fear of being moved to solitary confinement , those who do report symptoms will be forced to endure an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harm , and system-wide unrest will be triggered in institutions where fears about being placed in medical isolation could run rampant , ” the paper warned .
“ Given the grave health risks that COVID-19 pose to correctional institutions and their surrounding communities , ” the group of researchers and physicians recommends “ corrections officials and advocates for incarcerated people and their families ” persuade “ governors , legislators , and the public that rapid decarceration , including of the sentenced population , is necessary and can be done safely.
” Winner ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First Step Act and argues it allows her to bring a motion before a federal court that shows “ extraordinary ” and “ compelling ” reasons exist , which require the court to free her .
If she is released , her case could be a model for other prisoners who are vulnerable to COVID-19 .
But the 11th Circuit is notorious when it comes to appeals from prisoners .
In June , Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated , “ The 11th Circuit is significantly out of step with other courts.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York Times noted , requires that prisoners us a form that is so small one is lucky to fit 100 words .
That submission can form the basis for rulings on appeals without “ even an individualized response from the government.
” “ This stands in stark contrast to the practices of the other circuits , which often hear oral argument and read particularized government briefs , and which consider the statutory 30-day time limit to be optional , ” Judge Charles R. Wilson declared in 2019 .
Winner is not appealing her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difference .
Absent a recognition of the health risks facing prisoners , and how the outbreak may fuel the spread in surrounding communities if decarceration does not happen , the 11th Circuit is likely to reject the notion she should be released .
There is a deep prejudice against people like Winner who leak classified information in the Justice Department and the courts .
As a result of their hostility , they may transform her already harsh sentence into a death sentence if the press and public do not shame them into showing @ @

Editor’s Note The following is the first edition of a newly launched newsletter, “The Dissenter,” which covers whistleblower stories and the obstacles they face. A subscription is $5/month. To subscribe, visit https://dissenter.substack.com/subscribe
At Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, where NSA whistleblower Reality Winner is incarcerated, the number of COVID-19 infections have tripled in one week.
Her sister Brittany Winner said one of her bunkmates had “severe symptomatic COVID-19 and was removed.” Brittany Winner believes it is a “matter of time” before Reality Winner falls ill.
Reality Winner received one of the 733 tests administered at the facility, but as of July 14, she is still waiting for the results.
The rapidly intensifying facility outbreak comes as the 11th United States Court of Appeals deliberates over Winner’s request to reverse a district court ruling and release her into home confinement.
Reality Winner filed an appeal on May 12. Her attorneys warned, “The entire basis for Reality’s motion—and so many like hers—is that she cannot afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher, or worse, before she is afforded relief.”
Two months later, the 11th Circuit still has not ruled on her appeal or scheduled a hearing on the increasingly dire circumstances she faces during the pandemic.
Reality Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept. She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election. She has served well over half of her 63-month sentence.
According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), in the last two weeks, 134 inmates and three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Winner submitted a filing on July 13 with additional details on the outbreak that indicates how cases have spiked.
On June 29, according to the BOP, there were zero confirmed cases among prisoners. There were 45 confirmed cases on July 6. Three days later, there were 68 confirmed cases. One day later, there were 77 confirmed cases.
The BOP reported 113 cases among prisoners on July 11 and 127 cases among prisoners on July 12.
“Reality’s burden in the district court was to demonstrate that her circumstances–including, for instance, her underlying health issues coupled with her environment at FMC Carswell–meet the required test of being “extraordinary and compelling,” justifying her release,” declared Winner’s attorney Joe Whitley. “The exponentially growing harm at FMC Carswell is relevant to that inquiry and—combined with the other evidence in this record—justifies her release.”
Brittany Winner communicates with her sister regularly and said those in Reality Winner’s unit are “confined to their cells except at specific times to shower once per day or use the restroom.”
After her bunkmate contracted the virus, Reality Winner suggested it was “almost better in the cell with only three people now, as they have more space, but they still can’t all stand up at the same time because the space is so tight.”
In recent days, guards are “using the stairs and the hallways for personal exercise” while prisoners remain confined. Not only do they feel like they are being taunted, but Reality Winner and other prisoners are concerned their increased breath rate will exacerbate the spread of COVID-19.
“She hasn’t seen the sun in almost three weeks and hasn’t been given the time or space to exercise,” Brittany Winner shared. “Her sciatica is flaring up, and her anxiety is through the roof, as she isn’t allowed video chats with her family and some days is not allowed to use the phone or computer. She’s helpless and frustrated and trapped.”
The July 13 filing mentions it took “over a week for Reality’s counsel to be able to schedule a phone call with her to obtain more insights into her current circumstances,” which her attorney sees as an illustration of “BOP’s inadequate handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole.”
“It is apparent, in view of the spiking numbers at this facility, that her health is, as argued in the district court and in this Court, in serious jeopardy. Counsel fears what information will be learned that is not reflected in the BOP’s numbers alone when he does have the opportunity to speak to Reality,” Whitley added.
Local news reporting from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram paints an increasingly bleak picture. One prisoner named Sandra Shoulders suggested she is living in a “horror movie.”
“Every day, prison staff at FMC Carswell, a federal medical prison in Fort Worth, take about a dozen people out of [Shoulders’] unit to get tested for COVID-19. Some of them come back; others do not.”
The newspaper added, “When a woman tests positive for the virus, her mattress is dragged from the room she shares with three other people and stacked in what used to be the TV room. Every day, the mountain of mattresses grows. Shoulders tries to avoid walking past it.”
“Multiple women in the prison who did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation wrote the Star-Telegram to describe the conditions,” according to the newspaper.
The women shared the following:
When an inmate tests positive, her belongings are not removed from the shared living space for hours. Inmates are responsible for cleaning the infected rooms but often do not have the proper PPE, two inmates wrote. One inmate who tested positive was allowed to use a shared bathroom, which was not cleaned for hours after she used it. The inmates are primarily responsible for cleaning the showers, phones and computers the women share, Shoulders said, even though they have not all been tested and do not have the proper cleaning supplies.
One man named Steven, who withheld his last name because he is fearful of retaliation, told the Star-Telegram that his wife believes she will die at Carswell. “She thinks nobody in that place cares. And she watches people holding up signs at the men’s prison when that (outbreak) happened, and she’s saying, ‘Why does no one care about what’s happening here?’”
Reality Winner believes she is “suffering through this hell in a black hole, where nobody seems to know or care what’s happening to them.”
If a prisoner tests positive at Carswell, they are put in solitary confinement. The use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has grown by 500 percent during the pandemic.
A recent paper from researchers and physicians at Amend Correctional Culture at the University of California San Francisco highlighted the effect solitary confinement could have.
“Many advocates fear that use of isolation to curb transmission of COVID-19 in correctional facilities will complicate the emerging crisis, as incarcerated people become reluctant to report symptoms for fear of being moved to solitary confinement, those who do report symptoms will be forced to endure an experience known to cause psychological and physical harm, and system-wide unrest will be triggered in institutions where fears about being placed in medical isolation could run rampant,” the paper warned.
“Given the grave health risks that COVID-19 pose to correctional institutions and their surrounding communities,” the group of researchers and physicians recommends “corrections officials and advocates for incarcerated people and their families” persuade “governors, legislators, and the public that rapid decarceration, including of the sentenced population, is necessary and can be done safely.”
Winner’s request for compassionate release invokes the First Step Act and argues it allows her to bring a motion before a federal court that shows “extraordinary” and “compelling” reasons exist, which require the court to free her. If she is released, her case could be a model for other prisoners who are vulnerable to COVID-19.
But the 11th Circuit is notorious when it comes to appeals from prisoners. In June, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated, “The 11th Circuit is significantly out of step with other courts.”
The 11th Circuit, as the New York Times noted, requires that prisoners use a form that is so small one is lucky to fit 100 words. That submission can form the basis for rulings on appeals without “even an individualized response from the government.”
“This stands in stark contrast to the practices of the other circuits, which often hear oral argument and read particularized government briefs, and which consider the statutory 30-day time limit to be optional,” Judge Charles R. Wilson declared in 2019.
Winner is not appealing her conviction, but there may be little difference. Absent a recognition of the health risks facing prisoners, and how the outbreak may fuel the spread in surrounding communities if decarceration does not happen, the 11th Circuit is likely to reject the notion she should be released.
There is a deep prejudice in the Justice Department and the courts against people like Winner who leak classified information. As a result of their hostility, they may transform her already harsh sentence into a death sentence if the press and public do not shame them into showing mercy.


shadowproof--2020-07-15--Community Organizers Address Sexual Violence Without The Criminal Justice System

When college student L. saw photos of her feet in a boy ’ s Snapchat , she felt scared .
She had never consented to those photos being taken , let alone shared on a Snapchat account , where the boy was constructing a romantic narrative for both of them without her knowledge or permission .
L. ’ s friends were furious on her behalf , threatening to beat up the boy who hurt her .
When L. realized the situation might devolve into physical violence , she approached Jasmyn Elise Story ’ s organization and requested a restorative justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been kept purposefully vague for the anonymity of the involved parties ) .
Story , an international restorative justice practitioner and the founder of The People ’ s Coalition , started the process of alternative justice—one that does not require the involvement of police or the criminal justice system but does require a commitment to accountability—through pre-conferencing with the victim and the boy who harmed her separately .
“ Pre-conferencing are the meetings that occur prior to any restorative process before we get to the actual dialogue about how we are going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who has worked as a restorative justice practitioner since 2014 .
“ We practice and we meet and we work through that conversation ahead of time.
” L. was concerned about the boy ’ s safety , but she also wanted to make sure the boy knew how much she hurt and scared her .
Pre-conferencing asks participants to answer five restorative questions that confront the harm caused : What happened ?
What were you thinking at the time ?
What have you thought about since ?
Who ’ s been impacted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ to this kind of process ] is to hear the survivor , hear their needs—and that doesn ’ t necessarily mean that we are doing a deep dive in their narrative and their story—but to understand what they are seeking and what does justice look like for them , and why they are looking for this particular process , ” Story added .
After both students had gone through pre-conferencing , L. was told that she had options for moving forward .
She could meet face-to-face with him , there could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ request time and treatment before the conferencing section of the process , where victim and harm-doer dialogue with each other .
“ As a practitioner , I ’ m focused on what the survivor is going to need to be able to show up fully in the process that they choose , if it ’ s a face-to-face process , if it ’ s a circle process , if it ’ s a letter-writing process .
My job is to figure out what they need to move forward and be able to participate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be customizable to make the survivor comfortable , Story said .
The survivor might need time or mental health support , or they might request the harm-doer go through therapy or substance abuse treatment before the conference , depending on what the harm was and the needs of the survivor .
In L. ’ s case , she decided she did not want to speak to the harm-doer face-to-face and requested that Story brought her answers to the restorative questions to him .
“ What came out was that he wanted people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ girlfriend , and he wasn ’ t even thinking about the fact that taking pictures without consent , sharing them on the internet without consent , building a narrative that is untrue without consent , is something that is terrifying .
But this absolutely did not cross this student ’ s mind , and I would say that there were social cues that the student missed , ” Story said .
“ Once this was clarified , the student was willing to be fully accountable to this , and he deeply understood that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him ] was really something he needed to be deeply grateful for as well because part of why this was being brought to us was fear of violence against this young man that the survivor could not handle being done in her name.
” The process ended up being really positive ; the harm-doer took responsibility and made the adjustments that were requested by L. and everyone was able to move on .
L. also requested that Story inform her friends that justice had been achieved by her standards and that her needs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story is one example of a prison abolitionist approach to gendered harm , where harm against a woman is dealt with outside of the traditional criminal justice system .
A DIY Approach In The Absence Of The State Recent public debates about police and prisons have brought up questions of the usefulness of police and the criminal justice system in cases of gendered violence .
Critics of the criminal justice system and how it deals with rape and sexual assault point out that the current system retraumatizes sexual violence survivors , that police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gendered violence themselves , and that some survivors are incarcerated for fighting back against their abusers .
Story is a survivor of sexual violence and extremely open about their experiences with the criminal justice system and the ways it failed them .
“ The first thing that happens in a traditional carceral justice process is intake , and the only thing that ’ s happening to a survivor is invasive harm , ” declared Story .
“ The gathering of a rape kit is a violent process , it is invasive , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , it can be extremely , extremely painful .
Then you have the fact-finding part of the piece which is even more invasive , where you have someone who is allowed to ask you whatever questions they feel relevant .
It ’ s a completely arbitrary process that is to the discretion of whoever is sitting across the table from you.
” Story and other abolitionists are also critical of the lack of support survivors receive from the system .
“ When it comes to support in America , in particular where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ welfare , what is provided to survivors is unbelievably poor .
I ’ ll never forget the neon sheet of paper I was given with services I could tap into for a limited amount of time that the government was willing to pay , ” they shared .
This lack of trauma-informed care and support for survivors inspired twenty-five-year-old writer Nylah Burton to start a healing fund for Black survivors who were harmed at Howard University .
Burton suffered sexual violence on the Howard University campus , and though filing a Title IX @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspension , the lack of care and support compounded by already existing mental health issues resulted in a derailment of her life .
She is still recovering .
“ The reason that I started the healing fund was because I knew first-hand how those assaults can completely destabilize your life in ways that people don ’ t even think about , ” she said .
“ I remember after the first time that I experienced sexual violence , my mother was incredibly abusive to me because she felt it was my fault .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ led to me losing my scholarship [ at Howard ] , being estranged from my parents , having incredibly bad relationship problems , and I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the same time.
” Burton ’ s experience with inadequate support and the subsequent unraveling of her mental state is common .
It is part of what advocates call the “ sexual abuse to prison pipeline.
” A study from 2004 by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network revealed that if the trauma of sexual abuse in girls and women is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ further development of mental health problems and behaviors that are criminalized .
“ At the very least you need money to get through that , ” Burton said , referring to her fund that provides survivors with a stipend of $ 5000 for mental health care .
Burton mentioned survivors might not be able to work for a while or that the assault might result in huge medical bills and impact a survivor ’ s career aspirations.. “ Dealing with the trauma of sexual assault delays your education , it delays so much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first person who abused me , he graduated med school , and I am just now being able to start this journey of thinking maybe I can go to med school too , and he ’ s literally a doctor now .
I feel a lot of resentment about that , and I know a lot of survivors who didn ’ t graduate college and don ’ t know what they ’ re going to do next and are financially insecure.
” Financial instability and poverty have been proven to increase people ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the National Crime Victimization Survey , the prevalence of sexual assault increases dramatically as annual household income decreases .
“ The work of healing is so intense , ” said twenty-six-year-old survivor Nisa Dang , when asked about structural issues she had to battle due to being a survivor .
“ Especially as someone who was unemployed and financially unstable [ after the assault ] , it just added to the process of being retraumatized throughout so to be able to get a stipend to spend it however I need it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the difference between a carceral and a restorative process is who is centered .
“ In a carceral process , the only reason the state cares about what happened is because the person who harmed you owes the state for breaking a law , ” they added .
“ That means it ’ s never about you .
It ’ s never about the harm that you ’ ve experienced .
It ’ s never about the harm that your family has experienced .
It ’ s never about the punitive damages that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , albeit paying for doctors , therapists , things like that .
It ’ s solely about how the state gets repaid for having to go through this.
” According to the Rape , Abuse , & Incest National Network ( RAINN ) , the vast majority of sexual assault perpetrators will not go to jail or prison , and a recent survey with survivors revealed that 20 % were afraid of police retaliation for reporting a sexual crime .
There are issues within the actual police force as well : one study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York City for years and a 2018 study revealed the lack of training of police officers investigating sexual assaults in Austin , Texas .
“ The only thing that I ever wanted [ after the assault ] was the ability to feel safe again and to live in a society where it is normalized to discuss harm without it being litigated in court , without it being wrapped up in incarceration , ” Dang shared .
Collective Action for Safe Spaces ( CASS ) , a grassroots organization in Washington , D.C. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survivors without police .
Originally a chapter of Hollaback , an organization that seeks to stop sexual harassment in public spaces , CASS works to prevent sexual violence without the involvement of police through workshops on masculinity and bystander intervention .
It is an example of abolitionist work that seeks to prevent sexual violence before it happens , recognizing that the social problem of sexual violence is more complex and wide-ranging than penetrative rape .
“ We train local bars and restaurants in the hospitality industry on bystander intervention so if someone is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in these public spaces , the restaurant and bar staff are equipped with the tools needed to intervene directly and in a way that does not involve the police , ” stated Je ’ Kendria Trahan , executive director for CASS .
“ We also have our Rethink Masculinity program which is an eight-week cohort model where men and masculine of center folks come together to unpack toxic masculinity and rape culture and talk about building accountable communities.
” While CASS did not start as a prison abolitionist space , Je ’ Kedria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused on the prevention of sexual violence because of the harm the system causes survivors looking for support .
“ By virtue of being in the decriminalization [ of sex work ] space , we were almost an oddball in the domestic violence and sexual assault world because some folks are very invested in carceral feminism , ” she said .
“ Because we are now in this political moment of an uprising , it ’ s really important to make a decision about what side we are going to be on as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Let ’ s also think about how the money and the resources can be pulled away from the police and away from prisons and allocated into community-driven solutions that don ’ t cycle these instances of criminalization and harm.
” CASS is an example of abolitionist work that seeks to prevent sexual violence before it happens , recognizing that the social problem of sexual violence is more complex and wide-ranging than penetrative rape .
As someone expanding their experience as a restorative justice practitioner to other identity-based harms , Story has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ There is so much gender-based harm , and for the whole world and communities to solely focus on penetrative rape , penetrative sexual assault .
I feel like that does survivors a disservice , ” they said .
In many ways , what survivors need to feel safe is a completely different world .
“ Everything that [ survivors ] are asking for is so simple , ” Dang concluded .
“ The idea that I could have a night out with my friends and not have to form a barrier between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we could be in spaces and be free and that if we were drunk , that was okay , and we wouldn ’ t be shamed or humiliated or harassed .
”

When college student L. saw photos of her feet in a boy’s Snapchat, she felt scared. She had never consented to those photos being taken, let alone shared on a Snapchat account, where the boy was constructing a romantic narrative for both of them without her knowledge or permission. L.’s friends were furious on her behalf, threatening to beat up the boy who hurt her.
When L. realized the situation might devolve into physical violence, she approached Jasmyn Elise Story’s organization and requested a restorative justice process (locations for this story have been kept purposefully vague for the anonymity of the involved parties).
Story, an international restorative justice practitioner and the founder of The People’s Coalition, started the process of alternative justice—one that does not require the involvement of police or the criminal justice system but does require a commitment to accountability—through pre-conferencing with the victim and the boy who harmed her separately.
“Pre-conferencing are the meetings that occur prior to any restorative process before we get to the actual dialogue about how we are going to move forward,” according to Story, who has worked as a restorative justice practitioner since 2014. “We practice and we meet and we work through that conversation ahead of time.”
L. was concerned about the boy’s safety, but she also wanted to make sure the boy knew how much she hurt and scared her.
Pre-conferencing asks participants to answer five restorative questions that confront the harm caused: What happened? What were you thinking at the time? What have you thought about since? Who’s been impacted and how?
“The first step [to this kind of process] is to hear the survivor, hear their needs—and that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are doing a deep dive in their narrative and their story—but to understand what they are seeking and what does justice look like for them, and why they are looking for this particular process,” Story added.
After both students had gone through pre-conferencing, L. was told that she had options for moving forward. She could meet face-to-face with him, there could be a letter-writing process, or she could request time and treatment before the conferencing section of the process, where victim and harm-doer dialogue with each other.
“As a practitioner, I’m focused on what the survivor is going to need to be able to show up fully in the process that they choose, if it’s a face-to-face process, if it’s a circle process, if it’s a letter-writing process. My job is to figure out what they need to move forward and be able to participate,” Story shared.
The process can be customizable to make the survivor comfortable, Story said. The survivor might need time or mental health support, or they might request the harm-doer go through therapy or substance abuse treatment before the conference, depending on what the harm was and the needs of the survivor.
In L.’s case, she decided she did not want to speak to the harm-doer face-to-face and requested that Story brought her answers to the restorative questions to him.
“What came out was that he wanted people at home to think he had a girlfriend, and he wasn’t even thinking about the fact that taking pictures without consent, sharing them on the internet without consent, building a narrative that is untrue without consent, is something that is terrifying. But this absolutely did not cross this student’s mind, and I would say that there were social cues that the student missed,” Story said.
“Once this was clarified, the student was willing to be fully accountable to this, and he deeply understood that the extension of this process [to him] was really something he needed to be deeply grateful for as well because part of why this was being brought to us was fear of violence against this young man that the survivor could not handle being done in her name.”
The process ended up being really positive; the harm-doer took responsibility and made the adjustments that were requested by L. and everyone was able to move on. L. also requested that Story inform her friends that justice had been achieved by her standards and that her needs were being supported.
L.’s story is one example of a prison abolitionist approach to gendered harm, where harm against a woman is dealt with outside of the traditional criminal justice system.
A DIY Approach In The Absence Of The State
Recent public debates about police and prisons have brought up questions of the usefulness of police and the criminal justice system in cases of gendered violence. Critics of the criminal justice system and how it deals with rape and sexual assault point out that the current system retraumatizes sexual violence survivors, that police can often be perpetrators of sexual and gendered violence themselves, and that some survivors are incarcerated for fighting back against their abusers.
Story is a survivor of sexual violence and extremely open about their experiences with the criminal justice system and the ways it failed them.
“The first thing that happens in a traditional carceral justice process is intake, and the only thing that’s happening to a survivor is invasive harm,” declared Story.
“The gathering of a rape kit is a violent process, it is invasive, and depending on how fresh that physical harm is, it can be extremely, extremely painful. Then you have the fact-finding part of the piece which is even more invasive, where you have someone who is allowed to ask you whatever questions they feel relevant. It’s a completely arbitrary process that is to the discretion of whoever is sitting across the table from you.”
Story and other abolitionists are also critical of the lack of support survivors receive from the system.
“When it comes to support in America, in particular where we don’t have robust social welfare, what is provided to survivors is unbelievably poor. I’ll never forget the neon sheet of paper I was given with services I could tap into for a limited amount of time that the government was willing to pay,” they shared.
This lack of trauma-informed care and support for survivors inspired twenty-five-year-old writer Nylah Burton to start a healing fund for Black survivors who were harmed at Howard University.
Burton suffered sexual violence on the Howard University campus, and though filing a Title IX complaint against her attacker resulted in his suspension, the lack of care and support compounded by already existing mental health issues resulted in a derailment of her life. She is still recovering.
“The reason that I started the healing fund was because I knew first-hand how those assaults can completely destabilize your life in ways that people don’t even think about,” she said. “I remember after the first time that I experienced sexual violence, my mother was incredibly abusive to me because she felt it was my fault. And that started a chain reaction that led to me losing my scholarship [at Howard], being estranged from my parents, having incredibly bad relationship problems, and I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the same time.”
Burton’s experience with inadequate support and the subsequent unraveling of her mental state is common. It is part of what advocates call the “sexual abuse to prison pipeline.”
A study from 2004 by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network revealed that if the trauma of sexual abuse in girls and women is not resolved, it may result in the further development of mental health problems and behaviors that are criminalized.
“At the very least you need money to get through that,” Burton said, referring to her fund that provides survivors with a stipend of $5000 for mental health care.
Burton mentioned survivors might not be able to work for a while or that the assault might result in huge medical bills and impact a survivor’s career aspirations..
“Dealing with the trauma of sexual assault delays your education, it delays so much [of your life]. The first person who abused me, he graduated med school, and I am just now being able to start this journey of thinking maybe I can go to med school too, and he’s literally a doctor now. I feel a lot of resentment about that, and I know a lot of survivors who didn’t graduate college and don’t know what they’re going to do next and are financially insecure.”
Financial instability and poverty have been proven to increase people’s vulnerabilities to sexual violence. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the prevalence of sexual assault increases dramatically as annual household income decreases.
“The work of healing is so intense,” said twenty-six-year-old survivor Nisa Dang, when asked about structural issues she had to battle due to being a survivor. “Especially as someone who was unemployed and financially unstable [after the assault], it just added to the process of being retraumatized throughout so to be able to get a stipend to spend it however I need it would have been helpful.”
Story suggested that the difference between a carceral and a restorative process is who is centered.
“In a carceral process, the only reason the state cares about what happened is because the person who harmed you owes the state for breaking a law,” they added. “That means it’s never about you. It’s never about the harm that you’ve experienced. It’s never about the harm that your family has experienced. It’s never about the punitive damages that you as a survivor might take on, albeit paying for doctors, therapists, things like that. It’s solely about how the state gets repaid for having to go through this.”
Preventing Sexual Violence Without The Police
According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), the vast majority of sexual assault perpetrators will not go to jail or prison, and a recent survey with survivors revealed that 20% were afraid of police retaliation for reporting a sexual crime.
There are issues within the actual police force as well: one study revealed that the NYPD undercounted rapes in New York City for years and a 2018 study revealed the lack of training of police officers investigating sexual assaults in Austin, Texas.
“The only thing that I ever wanted [after the assault] was the ability to feel safe again and to live in a society where it is normalized to discuss harm without it being litigated in court, without it being wrapped up in incarceration,” Dang shared.
Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), a grassroots organization in Washington, D.C., recognizes the need for safety for survivors without police. Originally a chapter of Hollaback, an organization that seeks to stop sexual harassment in public spaces, CASS works to prevent sexual violence without the involvement of police through workshops on masculinity and bystander intervention.
It is an example of abolitionist work that seeks to prevent sexual violence before it happens, recognizing that the social problem of sexual violence is more complex and wide-ranging than penetrative rape.
“We train local bars and restaurants in the hospitality industry on bystander intervention so if someone is being harassed or assaulted in real time in these public spaces, the restaurant and bar staff are equipped with the tools needed to intervene directly and in a way that does not involve the police,” stated Je’Kendria Trahan, executive director for CASS. “We also have our Rethink Masculinity program which is an eight-week cohort model where men and masculine of center folks come together to unpack toxic masculinity and rape culture and talk about building accountable communities.”
While CASS did not start as a prison abolitionist space, Je’Kedria said they have organized around abolition and focused on the prevention of sexual violence because of the harm the system causes survivors looking for support.
“By virtue of being in the decriminalization [of sex work] space, we were almost an oddball in the domestic violence and sexual assault world because some folks are very invested in carceral feminism,” she said. “Because we are now in this political moment of an uprising, it’s really important to make a decision about what side we are going to be on as folks are calling to defund the police. Let’s also think about how the money and the resources can be pulled away from the police and away from prisons and allocated into community-driven solutions that don’t cycle these instances of criminalization and harm.”
CASS is an example of abolitionist work that seeks to prevent sexual violence before it happens, recognizing that the social problem of sexual violence is more complex and wide-ranging than penetrative rape.
As someone expanding their experience as a restorative justice practitioner to other identity-based harms, Story has a similar perspective on justice and gender.
“There is so much gender-based harm, and for the whole world and communities to solely focus on penetrative rape, penetrative sexual assault. I feel like that does survivors a disservice,” they said.
In many ways, what survivors need to feel safe is a completely different world.
“Everything that [survivors] are asking for is so simple,” Dang concluded. “The idea that I could have a night out with my friends and not have to form a barrier between them and a man. Or that we could be in spaces and be free and that if we were drunk, that was okay, and we wouldn’t be shamed or humiliated or harassed.”


shadowproof--2020-07-18--More Than A Bunch Of Corporate Platitudes: Jen Perelman’s Campaign Against Florida Congresswoman Deb

More Than A Bunch Of Corporate Platitudes: Jen Perelman’s Campaign Against Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

More Than A Bunch Of Corporate Platitudes : Jen Perelman ’ s Campaign Against Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz Jen Perelman has had the same representative in the United States Congress for nearly 16 years—Rep .
Debbie Wasserman Schultz , a Democrat in Florida ’ s 23rd congressional district .
Now , Perelman is mounting a primary challenge against Wasserman Schultz .
Primary day is August 18 .
She has until July 20 to convince independents in the district to switch their registration to Democrat to vote for her .
Wasserman Schultz is a well-known corporate Democrat , who chaired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to resign in 2016 after WikiLeaks published emails that exposed the DNC helped rig the presidential primary to favor Hillary Clinton .
Perelman is running on a platform of demilitarizing the police , ending marijuana prohibition , abolishing for-profit prisons , and forgiving student loan debt .
She also backs Medicare for All , the Green New Deal , and affordable housing initiatives .
She is quick to point out that Wasserman Schultz ’ s political career has been funded by special interests opposed to these popular proposals .
Wasserman Schultz opposes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because she has relied on money from political action committees tied to the alcohol industry .
Wasserman Schultz has served the interests of Big Sugar at the expense of cleaning up environmental degradation in the Everglades .
She voted for farm bills in 2008 and 2014 that contained what Politifact described as “ lucrative benefits ” for major sugar companies .
In a bid to become the chair of the House Appropriations Committee , if she is re-elected , Wasserman Schultz promises to “ establish an advisory panel to address systemic racism in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perelman , Wasserman Schultz ’ s past campaigns have relied on donations from police groups that have objected to proposals to address the killings of Black people by officers .
Wasserman Schultz has benefited from campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs , and she is one of several Florida lawmakers who defended a payday lending law that consumer advocates bashed because it “ traps the poor in a debt cycle.
” She also voted against a bill that Politifact concluded was “ intended to provide clarity about the law on racial discrimination related to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes to appropriation , Perelman called attention to the fact that the websites jenperelman.com and jenperelmanforcongress.com redirect to Wasserman Schultz ’ s government website .
‘ Most Of The Things That I Support Are Populist ’ Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson , along with Brand New Congress , the Sunrise Movement , and 350 Action , have all endorsed Perelman ’ s campaign .
“ You know most of the things that I support are populist .
Most of the things that we are behind and pushing are what most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Seventy-two percent of the American people want Medicare For All .
So these are not fringe radical ideas ” “ She ’ s representing a very small faction of people that are served by corporate interests , ” Perelman added .
Perelman said her background is in journalism .
“ I went to college for journalism , and I ’ ve always had this sort of investigative journalism kind of sense to me , and I ’ ve been the same with regard to policy and following the money trail.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which regrettably was a few years of whoring myself to corporate interests .
But eventually I ended up going to law school because I decided I wanted to get involved in policies for nonprofits.
” As a supporter of abolishing the death penalty , Perelman first sought out a job as an advocate for the Innocence Project or a similar organization that advanced criminal justice reform .
She did not live in a state capital so this kind of lobbying work was difficult to do .
She moved into criminal defense and witnessed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Perelman would like to see profit removed entirely from policing in the United States .
“ whether it ’ s different municipalities having different quotas , whether it ’ s things like stop-and-frisk versus citations of any kind , those things are incentives to harass and patrol and police .
“ When you get into incarceration , Florida has the most for-profit facilities of any other state in the country .
There are literally people that profit per person per night in a facility .
And it isn ’ t just the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so all the people that provide the laundry , the transportation , the internet service , the commissary , all of the different things .
They also then utilize prison labor as basically current slave labor.
” Like most criminal justice reform advocates , Perelman supports marijuana legalization and releasing , commuting , and expunging the records of so-called nonviolent drug offenders .
Wasserman Schultz , however , has a record of opposing even medical marijuana because she contends it is a gateway drug to harder substances like heroin .
( Perelman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Big Pharma . )
Perelman supports the effort to de-prioritize policing and reallocate funds from departments to mental health or other social services .
She does not believe massive amounts of money need to continue to go to departments to patrol vulnerable or marginalized communities .
‘ They ’ re Serving At The Behest Of Corporate Overlords ’ Over 5.4 million laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic lost their health insurance .
Asked whether she thinks establishment Democrats have botched a key opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic to back the expansion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggested it shows the vast majority are “ not really interested in solving problems.
” Perelman welcomes the fact that President Donald Trump is essentially facilitating the revolution and more people are paying attention , which I knew they would .
More people are paying attention .
What ’ s happening now is because of COVID , more and more people see the man behind the curtain and know they don ’ t really give a crap.
” “ It ’ s not like [ Democrats ] don ’ t understand how it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pay for it .
They understand that it ’ s all possible .
They completely understand that we could have Medicare For All .
This isn ’ t rocket science .
They ’ re choosing to not do it because they ’ re serving at the behest of corporate overlords.
” Many Democrats are losing the ability to hide behind circumstance , Perelman added .
“ More and more people are saying , wait a minute .
Maybe having my health care tied to my employment isn ’ t a good idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So more and more people are getting a taste of how backwards we actually are.
” This shift has fueled successes in a number of primary races , where progressives have defeated incumbents or the candidate backed by the Democratic Party establishment .
For example , in New York , Jamaal Bowman roundly defeated Congressman Eliot Engel , a hawkish neoliberal who was a 16-term incumbent backed by Hillary Clinton , Senator Chuck Schumer , and Nancy Pelosi , the Speaker of the House .
Perelman supports Representative Barbara Lee ’ s push @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by 50 percent .
She believes troops should be brought home from overseas wars , including in Afghanistan .
She think the revolving door between defense contractors and Washington , D.C. , institutions must be shuttered .
In effect , Perelman is a rare voice running for Congress who advocates for dismantling the military industrial-complex .
It distinguishes her from Wasserman Schultz , who has accepted $ 170,000 in contributions from PACs tied to defense contractors during her career .
She is tired of regime change wars and finds it offensive to enlisted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used as “ profit pawns.
” “ I ’ m against our intervention in other sovereign nations .
I think short of a genocide it ’ s really not our business , and then even then , it ’ s really more of the world that has to come together .
It isn ’ t us .
We are not the police of the world .
So I do not support an imperialist agenda.
” “ I do not support American exceptionalism .
I do not support any of that .
I do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rife with human rights violations .
I don ’ t support illegal sanctions .
Those are illegal acts of war .
What we ’ re doing in Venezuela , what we ’ re doing in Iran , I don ’ t support any of that , ” Perelman declared .
Wasserman Schultz , Representative Donna Shalala , and other representatives in Congress , particularly from Florida , have consciously acted as demagogues on Venezuela .
They invoke the country to drag down progressives and make it harder for advocates to campaign for public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs .
They pander to upper class white Venezuelans and prey upon citizens ’ ignorance of what is actually unfolding in Venezuela to sow discord .
Perelman does the best she can to “ reeducate people.
” She tells those in her district “ look , the problems in Venezuela and Cuba are not because of socialism .
It ’ s because of authoritarianism and also because of our interference [ with ] sanctions and things that are basically suffocating their economy .
It isn ’ t because of a social democratic system.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of one of many corporate Democrats that are essentially Republican on this issue .
She supports who we decided , this Juan Guaido , that we tweeted is the new leader Venezuela—which is the most absurd American exceptionalist thing that it even happened .
It disgusts me.
” Perelman continued , “ I ’ m not making a personal statement on [ Venezuela President Nicolas ] Maduro one way or the other .
I really am not .
I ’ m not a fan , but that was a democratically elected person .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ t recognize that is so are the people that are pushing their different agenda.
” As Perelman acknowledged , Wasserman Schultz , Shalala , and others are “ sucking up to the wealthy white Venezuelans that reside in south Florida.
” It is a “ pretty large contingency of people.
” They ’ re known as Westonzuelans because they live in Weston , Florida , which Money magazine ranked 19th in a list of cities with the “ biggest earners ” in 2010 .
( Median annual family income was near $ 120,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people that are not the rich white Venezuelans but are just your regular average working class Venezuelans , they support Maduro , and that ’ s really what matters to me .
He ’ s not committing a genocide , like I said earlier .
So it ’ s not something that warrants our interference , ” Perelman said .
“ Debbie , she stood in front of the Venezuela embassy with [ Florida Republican Representative ] Mario Diaz-Balart and was standing there talking about getting rid of Maduro and bringing in Guaido @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s not Republican.
” Democratic Party insiders typically whip up outrage these days when someone like Perelman challenges an incumbent like Wasserman Schultz .
Any time a candidate like Perelman highlights policy differences , that candidate is accused of creating division or violating guidelines for “ civility.
” But this charade is all a way to protect those with entrenched power in the system .
“ The thing about the Democratic Party in Florida is they ’ re fairly feckless .
You ’ re talking about a state that out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only six that are blue .
They ’ re a feckless party .
Our [ Democratic Executive Committee ] in Broward [ County ] hasn ’ t made quorum in like four years .
They ’ re pretty weak , ” according to Perelman .
“ If you came down here right now and got on to one of their Zoom meetings , you wouldn ’ t even know there was a congressional race .
They ’ re just completely ghosting the whole race .
So they ’ re doing forums for sheriffs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clerk of court .
They ’ re doing all these different types of things for candidates and they are not even addressing that there ’ s a congressional race and primary in [ the 23rd District ] .
” Perelman is convinced Wasserman Schultz does not want to debate her because she has no policies .
She is a “ just a bunch of empty platitudes.
” So the Democratic Party must protect her by pretending there is no race .
The insurgency in the Democratic Party , spurred by Senator Bernie Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major generational differences within the party , especially between the base and elite representatives .
“ Your older sort of centrist blue Democrats , they are clinging on for dear life for everything to be exactly as they know it , and they ’ re just not capable of seeing past that , ” Perelman said .
Most in the United States support term limits for members of Congress .
They are sick and tired of politics and wholeheartedly agree with the idea of out with the old and in with the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before some of these “ insider dinosaurs ” retire or die off and progressives outnumber them on Capitol Hill ?
Until they are no longer a presence in Congress , such Democrats will remain an obstacle for movements for racial , economic , environmental , and social justice that are working to truly improve people ’ s lives .

Jen Perelman has had the same representative in the United States Congress for nearly 16 years—Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat in Florida’s 23rd congressional district. Now, Perelman is mounting a primary challenge against Wasserman Schultz.
Primary day is August 18. She has until July 20 to convince independents in the district to switch their registration to Democrat to vote for her.
Wasserman Schultz is a well-known corporate Democrat, who chaired the Democratic National Committee until she was forced to resign in 2016 after WikiLeaks published emails that exposed the DNC helped rig the presidential primary to favor Hillary Clinton.
Perelman is running on a platform of demilitarizing the police, ending marijuana prohibition, abolishing for-profit prisons, and forgiving student loan debt. She also backs Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and affordable housing initiatives.
She is quick to point out that Wasserman Schultz’s political career has been funded by special interests opposed to these popular proposals. Wasserman Schultz opposes marijuana legalization, and that is likely because she has relied on money from political action committees tied to the alcohol industry.
Wasserman Schultz has served the interests of Big Sugar at the expense of cleaning up environmental degradation in the Everglades. She voted for farm bills in 2008 and 2014 that contained what Politifact described as “lucrative benefits” for major sugar companies.
In a bid to become the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, if she is re-elected, Wasserman Schultz promises to “establish an advisory panel to address systemic racism in federal funding.” However, according to Perelman, Wasserman Schultz’s past campaigns have relied on donations from police groups that have objected to proposals to address the killings of Black people by officers.
Wasserman Schultz has benefited from campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs, and she is one of several Florida lawmakers who defended a payday lending law that consumer advocates bashed because it “traps the poor in a debt cycle.” She also voted against a bill that Politifact concluded was “intended to provide clarity about the law on racial discrimination related to car loans.”
Plus, when it comes to appropriation, Perelman called attention to the fact that the websites jenperelman.com and jenperelmanforcongress.com redirect to Wasserman Schultz’s government website.
‘Most Of The Things That I Support Are Populist’
Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson, along with Brand New Congress, the Sunrise Movement, and 350 Action, have all endorsed Perelman’s campaign.
“You know most of the things that I support are populist. Most of the things that we are behind and pushing are what most people want,” Perelman told Shadowproof. “Seventy-two percent of the American people want Medicare For All. So these are not fringe radical ideas”
“She’s representing a very small faction of people that are served by corporate interests,” Perelman added.
Perelman said her background is in journalism. “I went to college for journalism, and I’ve always had this sort of investigative journalism kind of sense to me, and I’ve been the same with regard to policy and following the money trail.”
“Journalism then led to advertising, which regrettably was a few years of whoring myself to corporate interests. But eventually I ended up going to law school because I decided I wanted to get involved in policies for nonprofits.”
As a supporter of abolishing the death penalty, Perelman first sought out a job as an advocate for the Innocence Project or a similar organization that advanced criminal justice reform. She did not live in a state capital so this kind of lobbying work was difficult to do. She moved into criminal defense and witnessed firsthand the disparities in the justice system.
Perelman would like to see profit removed entirely from policing in the United States. “whether it’s different municipalities having different quotas, whether it’s things like stop-and-frisk versus citations of any kind, those things are incentives to harass and patrol and police.
“When you get into incarceration, Florida has the most for-profit facilities of any other state in the country. There are literally people that profit per person per night in a facility. And it isn’t just the facilities. It’s the subcontractors, so all the people that provide the laundry, the transportation, the internet service, the commissary, all of the different things. They also then utilize prison labor as basically current slave labor.”
Like most criminal justice reform advocates, Perelman supports marijuana legalization and releasing, commuting, and expunging the records of so-called nonviolent drug offenders. Wasserman Schultz, however, has a record of opposing even medical marijuana because she contends it is a gateway drug to harder substances like heroin. (Perelman says this is because she takes money from Big Pharma.)
Perelman supports the effort to de-prioritize policing and reallocate funds from departments to mental health or other social services. She does not believe massive amounts of money need to continue to go to departments to patrol vulnerable or marginalized communities.
‘They’re Serving At The Behest Of Corporate Overlords’
Over 5.4 million laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic lost their health insurance.
Asked whether she thinks establishment Democrats have botched a key opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic to back the expansion of Medicare to cover all Americans, Perelman suggested it shows the vast majority are “not really interested in solving problems.”
Perelman welcomes the fact that President Donald Trump is essentially facilitating the revolution and more people are paying attention, which I knew they would. More people are paying attention. What’s happening now is because of COVID, more and more people see the man behind the curtain and know they don’t really give a crap.”
“It’s not like [Democrats] don’t understand how it works and how we’re going to pay for it. They understand that it’s all possible. They completely understand that we could have Medicare For All. This isn’t rocket science. They’re choosing to not do it because they’re serving at the behest of corporate overlords.”
Many Democrats are losing the ability to hide behind circumstance, Perelman added. “More and more people are saying, wait a minute. Maybe having my health care tied to my employment isn’t a good idea now that I’m unemployed. So more and more people are getting a taste of how backwards we actually are.”
This shift has fueled successes in a number of primary races, where progressives have defeated incumbents or the candidate backed by the Democratic Party establishment. For example, in New York, Jamaal Bowman roundly defeated Congressman Eliot Engel, a hawkish neoliberal who was a 16-term incumbent backed by Hillary Clinton, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House.
Perelman supports Representative Barbara Lee’s push to cut the Pentagon’s budget by 50 percent. She believes troops should be brought home from overseas wars, including in Afghanistan. She think the revolving door between defense contractors and Washington, D.C., institutions must be shuttered.
Dismantle The Military Industrial-Complex
In effect, Perelman is a rare voice running for Congress who advocates for dismantling the military industrial-complex. It distinguishes her from Wasserman Schultz, who has accepted $170,000 in contributions from PACs tied to defense contractors during her career.
She is tired of regime change wars and finds it offensive to enlisted members of the military because they are used as “profit pawns.”
“I’m against our intervention in other sovereign nations. I think short of a genocide it’s really not our business, and then even then, it’s really more of the world that has to come together. It isn’t us. We are not the police of the world. So I do not support an imperialist agenda.”
“I do not support American exceptionalism. I do not support any of that. I do not support propping up nations that are rife with human rights violations. I don’t support illegal sanctions. Those are illegal acts of war. What we’re doing in Venezuela, what we’re doing in Iran, I don’t support any of that,” Perelman declared.
Wasserman Schultz, Representative Donna Shalala, and other representatives in Congress, particularly from Florida, have consciously acted as demagogues on Venezuela. They invoke the country to drag down progressives and make it harder for advocates to campaign for public programs that would help address basic human needs. They pander to upper class white Venezuelans and prey upon citizens’ ignorance of what is actually unfolding in Venezuela to sow discord.
Perelman does the best she can to “reeducate people.” She tells those in her district “look, the problems in Venezuela and Cuba are not because of socialism. It’s because of authoritarianism and also because of our interference [with] sanctions and things that are basically suffocating their economy. It isn’t because of a social democratic system.”
“Debbie is just an example of one of many corporate Democrats that are essentially Republican on this issue. She supports who we decided, this Juan Guaido, that we tweeted is the new leader Venezuela—which is the most absurd American exceptionalist thing that it even happened. It disgusts me.”
Perelman continued, “I’m not making a personal statement on [Venezuela President Nicolas] Maduro one way or the other. I really am not. I’m not a fan, but that was a democratically elected person. And the only people that don’t recognize that is so are the people that are pushing their different agenda.”
As Perelman acknowledged, Wasserman Schultz, Shalala, and others are “sucking up to the wealthy white Venezuelans that reside in south Florida.” It is a “pretty large contingency of people.” They’re known as Westonzuelans because they live in Weston, Florida, which Money magazine ranked 19th in a list of cities with the “biggest earners” in 2010. (Median annual family income was near $120,000.)
“When you go to people that are not the rich white Venezuelans but are just your regular average working class Venezuelans, they support Maduro, and that’s really what matters to me. He’s not committing a genocide, like I said earlier. So it’s not something that warrants our interference,” Perelman said.
“Debbie, she stood in front of the Venezuela embassy with [Florida Republican Representative] Mario Diaz-Balart and was standing there talking about getting rid of Maduro and bringing in Guaido. I don’t see how that’s not Republican.”
‘Just A Bunch Of Empty Platitudes’
Democratic Party insiders typically whip up outrage these days when someone like Perelman challenges an incumbent like Wasserman Schultz. Any time a candidate like Perelman highlights policy differences, that candidate is accused of creating division or violating guidelines for “civility.” But this charade is all a way to protect those with entrenched power in the system.
“The thing about the Democratic Party in Florida is they’re fairly feckless. You’re talking about a state that out of sixty-something counties I think there’s only six that are blue. They’re a feckless party. Our [Democratic Executive Committee] in Broward [County] hasn’t made quorum in like four years. They’re pretty weak,” according to Perelman.
“If you came down here right now and got on to one of their Zoom meetings, you wouldn’t even know there was a congressional race. They’re just completely ghosting the whole race. So they’re doing forums for sheriffs, state attorney, public defender, clerk of court. They’re doing all these different types of things for candidates and they are not even addressing that there’s a congressional race and primary in [the 23rd District].”
Perelman is convinced Wasserman Schultz does not want to debate her because she has no policies. She is “just a bunch of empty platitudes.” So the Democratic Party must protect her by pretending there is no race.
The insurgency in the Democratic Party, spurred by Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, has brought out major generational differences within the party, especially between the base and elite representatives.
“Your older sort of centrist blue Democrats, they are clinging on for dear life for everything to be exactly as they know it, and they’re just not capable of seeing past that,” Perelman said.
Most in the United States support term limits for members of Congress. They are sick and tired of politics and wholeheartedly agree with the idea of out with the old and in with the new.
The question is, how long before some of these “insider dinosaurs” retire or die off and progressives outnumber them on Capitol Hill?
Until they are no longer a presence in Congress, such Democrats will remain an obstacle for movements for racial, economic, environmental, and social justice that are working to truly improve people’s lives.


shadowproof--2020-07-18--Dissenter Weekly: Whistleblowers Expose ICE, Bureau of Prisons’ Indifference To COVID-19

On this edition of the “ Dissenter Weekly , ” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola covers the COVID-19 outbreak @ @ @ @ @ with a particular focus on NSA whistleblower Reality Winner , who requested compassionate release months @ @ @ @ @ show , Gosztola covers allegations from whistleblowers who work for LaSalle Corrections , a private @ @ @ @ @ operate immigrant detention facilities .
At Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana , whistleblowers say the @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus seriously .
Richwood ’ s Health Service Administrator reportedly said two days after the @ @ @ @ @ that COVID-19 was not a big deal , no worse than the flu , and @ @ @ @ @ had no right to complain about the need for extra precautions .
We also cover @ @ @ @ @ worker who faced retaliation after she challenged the way Gray Construction was manipulating thermometer readings @ @ @ @ @ at an Amazon construction site had COVID-19 .
To watch the show , click on @ @ @ @ @ here .

On this edition of the “Dissenter Weekly,” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola covers the COVID-19 outbreak at Federal Medical Center Carswell with a particular focus on NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, who requested compassionate release months ago.
Later in the show, Gosztola covers allegations from whistleblowers who work for LaSalle Corrections, a private company contracted by ICE to operate immigrant detention facilities. At Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, whistleblowers say the facility has not taken the coronavirus seriously.
Richwood’s Health Service Administrator reportedly said two days after the Louisiana governor declared an emergency that COVID-19 was not a big deal, no worse than the flu, and employees who got flu shots had no right to complain about the need for extra precautions.
We also cover the story of an Oregon worker who faced retaliation after she challenged the way Gray Construction was manipulating thermometer readings taken to determine whether workers at an Amazon construction site had COVID-19.
To watch the show, click on the above player or go here.
This week’s stories:


shadowproof--2020-07-20--COVID-19 Cases At Carswell Spike To More Than 500 As Reality Winner Tests Positive, Faces Retaliatio

COVID-19 Cases At Carswell Spike To More Than 500 As Reality Winner Tests Positive, Faces Retaliation

COVID-19 Cases At Carswell Spike To More Than 500 As Reality Winner Tests Positive , Faces Retaliation More than 500 women imprisoned at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth , Texas , have tested positive for COVID-19 .
The facility has the second-most cases out of all federal prisons in the United States , and one of the prisoners who has tested positive is NSA whistleblower Reality Winner .
Last week , The Dissenter reported that COVID-19 cases tripled at Carswell in one week .
The article included comments from Winner ’ s sister Brittany Winner .
Staff at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to Brittany Winner , she is experiencing retaliation for our reporting .
“ Reality is being retaliated against for speaking out about the conditions in the prison , but she won ’ t stop fighting for better treatment for herself and her fellow inmates , ” Brittany Winner declared .
“ She will continue to update us , and I want everyone to know that we are watching and won ’ t stop being her voice.
” Brittany Winner continued , “ I am terrified that she will develop severe symptoms and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the huge swell of cases in FMC Carswell and the likelihood that the region ’ s hospitals are already overwhelmed , I have no confidence that she will receive the care she needs.
” “ She belongs at home where she can be safely quarantined and receive medical care , ” Brittany Winner contended .
It took at least five days for Reality Winner to receive the results of her COVID-19 test , and fortunately , she has not exhibited symptoms of the virus yet .
Reality Winner is waiting on the 11th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she filed after a lower court denied her request for compassionate release .
As her attorneys warned in May , “ The entire basis for Reality ’ s motion—and so many like hers—is that she can not afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher , or worse , before she is afforded relief.
” Reality Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept .
She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2016 election .
She has served well over half of her 63-month sentence .
On July 20 , the Bureau of Prisons ’ number for “ inmates positive ” with COVID-19 spiked dramatically from less than 200 cases to 509 cases .
The spike raises questions about the extent to which the facility has failed to report or track the spread of an outbreak that seems to increasingly be out of control .
According to Brittany Winner , Reality Winner is in a “ home unit ” that is quarantining more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
Reality Winner told her family that she sought “ administrative remedies ” for retaliation she experienced as a result of reporting that was published on her case and the prison outbreak .
One corrections officer apparently visited Reality Winner to tell her , “ I just wanted to congratulate you on your positive results , ” said Brittany Winner .
As Brittany Winner recalled , the same officer confronted Reality Winner last week and refused to allow her to clean .
She alleges this officer tried to have her thrown in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to talk to her attorney .
“ I think they know that she enjoys cleaning .
It ’ s how they are punishing her , ” Brittany Winner stated .
For a prisoner , cleaning the little amount of space that they can call their own gives them some sense of control , and in a pandemic , that means being able to disinfect and dramatically slow the spread of the virus .
But in a system , where facility personnel want prisoners to remain dependent on them , staff can impose their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a cruel act .
It effectively intensifies the trauma a prisoner is already feeling , as they deal with the fact they are trapped in a facility in which it is nearly impossible to social distance from fellow prisoners .
Brittany Winner shared a story from Reality Winner about an incarcerated person , who has diabetes , COVID-19 symptoms , and can barely walk on the stairs .
They tried to have this woman do Reality Winner ’ s paid prison detail .
Furthermore , according to Brittany Winner , Reality Winner said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with chemo and dialysis patients after someone who tested positive was allowed into the unit .
There are isolation units that did not have prisoners with COVID-19 , but that is not the case anymore .
Reality Winner believes this is a result of staff coming and going and spreading the virus .
Previously , The Dissenter reported that Reality Winner ’ s bunkmate tested positive and was removed from her unit .
Reality Winner ’ s prosecution was a high-profile prosecution and received a substantial amount of attention .
The warden at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , are well aware that she can marshal press coverage to a degree that no other prisoners in the facility can and may have even marked this down in her file .
When CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou was imprisoned at Federal Correctional Institution Loretto in Pennsylvania , his file was marked with , “ CAUTION – Inmate has extensive access to the press , ” and , “ CAUTION : Publicity.
” “ [ Staff ] will do everything in their power to stop prisoners from telling the world what conditions are like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll operate both within the rules and outside the rules , ” Kiriakou declared .
“ They know that there is so little that a prisoner can do to protect herself that they push the envelope daring that prisoner try to do something about it.
” “ In my case , the media were my friends because they allowed me a voice that I otherwise would not have had .
And , yes , I was punished for being outspoken in the media , ” Kiriakou added .
“ But it was worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Reality Winner , told R. Robin McDonald at Law.com that they hoped the 11th Circuit would permit her to “ serve the balance of her sentence in home confinement.
” “ She fits all the parameters that have been set by the Bureau of Prisons for release .
It serves no real purpose to have her confined any longer , given the incidents of COVID at Carswell , ” Whitley added .
Reality Winner has not emailed or mailed any messages to The Dissenter .
Everything we have published comes from Reality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bureau of Prisons should cease their retaliation against Reality Winner immediately .

Editor’s Note The following is the second edition of a newly launched newsletter, “The Dissenter,” which covers whistleblower stories and the obstacles they face. A subscription is $5/month. To subscribe, visit https://dissenter.substack.com/subscribe
More than 500 women imprisoned at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, have tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has the second-most cases out of all federal prisons in the United States, and one of the prisoners who has tested positive is NSA whistleblower Reality Winner.
Last week, The Dissenter reported that COVID-19 cases tripled at Carswell in one week. The article included comments from Winner’s sister Brittany Winner. Staff at Carswell apparently read the story, and according to Brittany Winner, she is experiencing retaliation for our reporting.
“Reality is being retaliated against for speaking out about the conditions in the prison, but she won’t stop fighting for better treatment for herself and her fellow inmates,” Brittany Winner declared. “She will continue to update us, and I want everyone to know that we are watching and won’t stop being her voice.”
Brittany Winner continued, “I am terrified that she will develop severe symptoms and require urgent medical care, but with the huge swell of cases in FMC Carswell and the likelihood that the region’s hospitals are already overwhelmed, I have no confidence that she will receive the care she needs.”
“She belongs at home where she can be safely quarantined and receive medical care,” Brittany Winner contended.
It took at least five days for Reality Winner to receive the results of her COVID-19 test, and fortunately, she has not exhibited symptoms of the virus yet.
Reality Winner is waiting on the 11th Circuit to rule on an appeal that she filed after a lower court denied her request for compassionate release.
As her attorneys warned in May, “The entire basis for Reality’s motion—and so many like hers—is that she cannot afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher, or worse, before she is afforded relief.”
Reality Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept. She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election. She has served well over half of her 63-month sentence.
On July 20, the Bureau of Prisons’ number for “inmates positive” with COVID-19 spiked dramatically from less than 200 cases to 509 cases.
The spike raises questions about the extent to which the facility has failed to report or track the spread of an outbreak that seems to increasingly be out of control.
According to Brittany Winner, Reality Winner is in a “home unit” that is quarantining more than 200 inmates that have tested positive for COVID-19.
Reality Winner told her family that she sought “administrative remedies” for retaliation she experienced as a result of reporting that was published on her case and the prison outbreak.
One corrections officer apparently visited Reality Winner to tell her, “I just wanted to congratulate you on your positive results,” said Brittany Winner.
As Brittany Winner recalled, the same officer confronted Reality Winner last week and refused to allow her to clean. She alleges this officer tried to have her thrown in isolation so she would not be able to talk to her attorney.
“I think they know that she enjoys cleaning. It’s how they are punishing her,” Brittany Winner stated.
For a prisoner, cleaning the little amount of space that they can call their own gives them some sense of control, and in a pandemic, that means being able to disinfect and dramatically slow the spread of the virus. But in a system, where facility personnel want prisoners to remain dependent on them, staff can impose their authority by refusing to permit cleaning is a cruel act.
It effectively intensifies the trauma a prisoner is already feeling, as they deal with the fact they are trapped in a facility in which it is nearly impossible to social distance from fellow prisoners.
Brittany Winner shared a story from Reality Winner about an incarcerated person, who has diabetes, COVID-19 symptoms, and can barely walk on the stairs. They tried to have this woman do Reality Winner’s paid prison detail.
Furthermore, according to Brittany Winner, Reality Winner said the virus spread in a hospital unit with chemo and dialysis patients after someone who tested positive was allowed into the unit.
There are isolation units that did not have prisoners with COVID-19, but that is not the case anymore. Reality Winner believes this is a result of staff coming and going and spreading the virus.
Previously, The Dissenter reported that Reality Winner’s bunkmate tested positive and was removed from her unit.
Reality Winner’s prosecution was a high-profile prosecution and received a substantial amount of attention. The warden at Carswell, as well as the staff, are well aware that she can marshal press coverage to a degree that no other prisoners in the facility can and may have even marked this down in her file.
When CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou was imprisoned at Federal Correctional Institution Loretto in Pennsylvania, his file was marked with, “CAUTION – Inmate has extensive access to the press,” and, “CAUTION: Publicity.”
“[Staff] will do everything in their power to stop prisoners from telling the world what conditions are like in these prisons, and they’ll operate both within the rules and outside the rules,” Kiriakou declared. “They know that there is so little that a prisoner can do to protect herself that they push the envelope daring that prisoner try to do something about it.”
“In my case, the media were my friends because they allowed me a voice that I otherwise would not have had. And, yes, I was punished for being outspoken in the media,” Kiriakou added. “But it was worth it.”
Joe Whitley, an attorney for Reality Winner, told R. Robin McDonald at Law.com that they hoped the 11th Circuit would permit her to “serve the balance of her sentence in home confinement.”
“She fits all the parameters that have been set by the Bureau of Prisons for release. It serves no real purpose to have her confined any longer, given the incidents of COVID at Carswell,” Whitley added.
***
Reality Winner has not emailed or mailed any messages to The Dissenter. Everything we have published comes from Reality Winner’s family, and the Bureau of Prisons should cease their retaliation against Reality Winner immediately.