WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.968 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:00.968 --> 00:00:01.510 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:01.510 --> 00:00:02.890 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:02.890 --> 00:00:06.660 align:middle line:84% I wanted to start my presentation with this quote 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:10.830 align:middle line:84% because it raises a question that I ask myself daily 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:12.570 align:middle line:90% and the answer eludes me. 00:00:12.570 --> 00:00:16.020 align:middle line:84% And that question is, "Why do we continue 00:00:16.020 --> 00:00:20.700 align:middle line:84% to support a criminal legal system that 00:00:20.700 --> 00:00:25.650 align:middle line:84% criminalizes the poor and protects the affluent 00:00:25.650 --> 00:00:29.130 align:middle line:84% and the wealthy who are predominantly white?" 00:00:29.130 --> 00:00:34.110 align:middle line:84% And as a lawyer this is one of these questions 00:00:34.110 --> 00:00:40.080 align:middle line:84% that has haunted me because there is no real answer. 00:00:40.080 --> 00:00:42.360 align:middle line:84% And maybe it's because I'm not the person 00:00:42.360 --> 00:00:45.510 align:middle line:84% to give that answer because I don't think 00:00:45.510 --> 00:00:48.750 align:middle line:84% it's the Black, Brown, indigenous people question, 00:00:48.750 --> 00:00:51.310 align:middle line:84% I think it's the white people question. 00:00:51.310 --> 00:00:55.560 align:middle line:84% So one of the problems I thought about coming here 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.140 align:middle line:84% tonight and speaking was that I put 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:02.250 align:middle line:84% on my mask of calm and civility which is deceptive. 00:01:02.250 --> 00:01:03.610 align:middle line:90% It's really deceptive. 00:01:03.610 --> 00:01:05.790 align:middle line:84% What I really need to be doing is raising my voice 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:10.980 align:middle line:84% and screaming because there's no reason for you 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:16.110 align:middle line:84% to feel comfortable at an art and justice poetry reading. 00:01:16.110 --> 00:01:18.240 align:middle line:90% You shouldn't feel comfortable. 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:22.710 align:middle line:84% Because justice still eludes people like me and people 00:01:22.710 --> 00:01:24.440 align:middle line:90% like Ada. 00:01:24.440 --> 00:01:29.440 align:middle line:84% We're still not safe and comfortable. 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:32.820 align:middle line:84% So what I hope to do tonight is give you 00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:37.020 align:middle line:84% a real overview of how we serve up Justice to poor people 00:01:37.020 --> 00:01:39.240 align:middle line:90% in Arizona. 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:41.940 align:middle line:84% And we're going to talk about pretrial detention 00:01:41.940 --> 00:01:44.370 align:middle line:84% and we're going to talk about the things we might 00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:46.230 align:middle line:90% be able to do to change that. 00:01:46.230 --> 00:01:47.670 align:middle line:90% So can we get the next slide. 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:50.730 align:middle line:90% 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:52.730 align:middle line:84% If you want to know what pretrial detention is-- 00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:54.313 align:middle line:84% I'm going to come over here a second-- 00:01:54.313 --> 00:01:59.180 align:middle line:84% pretrial detention is basically just the prop-- thank you-- 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:08.240 align:middle line:84% it is a process of holding people in cages pending trial. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.400 align:middle line:84% That's where pretrial justice is. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:14.570 align:middle line:84% We are simply saying that some people deserve to be caged 00:02:14.570 --> 00:02:17.960 align:middle line:84% while they're waiting for trial and other people don't. 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:23.137 align:middle line:84% And in Arizona we have watched that pretrial detention explode 00:02:23.137 --> 00:02:24.095 align:middle line:90% the prison populations. 00:02:24.095 --> 00:02:28.350 align:middle line:84% It's like tripled the population of people who are incarcerated. 00:02:28.350 --> 00:02:31.850 align:middle line:84% So we're no longer doing the back end which is conviction 00:02:31.850 --> 00:02:36.040 align:middle line:84% because the conviction rates are falling all across the country, 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:38.360 align:middle line:84% we're in fact, having one of the lowest-- 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.940 align:middle line:84% historic lows when it comes to violent crimes. 00:02:40.940 --> 00:02:43.190 align:middle line:84% You may not hear that because fear mongers don't 00:02:43.190 --> 00:02:45.110 align:middle line:84% want you to know that actually you're 00:02:45.110 --> 00:02:47.240 align:middle line:84% moving in a positive direction when it comes 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:49.430 align:middle line:84% to the type of violent crimes that 00:02:49.430 --> 00:02:53.490 align:middle line:84% used to be a big part of the conversation in this country. 00:02:53.490 --> 00:02:57.320 align:middle line:84% So we have jails that are empty or emptying out 00:02:57.320 --> 00:03:00.410 align:middle line:84% not only because of policies, but also 00:03:00.410 --> 00:03:02.840 align:middle line:84% because of proactive work of abolitionists 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:05.660 align:middle line:84% and other groups who are investing in communities. 00:03:05.660 --> 00:03:07.623 align:middle line:84% And that's making a huge difference 00:03:07.623 --> 00:03:10.040 align:middle line:84% in who's going to jail and how long they're going to jail. 00:03:10.040 --> 00:03:12.500 align:middle line:84% And I know there are some things happening in this state 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:16.130 align:middle line:84% that we hope will make a difference on that end as well. 00:03:16.130 --> 00:03:19.140 align:middle line:90% Next slide. 00:03:19.140 --> 00:03:23.240 align:middle line:84% And you can see that the conviction rate, post 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:24.770 align:middle line:90% conviction rate is dropping. 00:03:24.770 --> 00:03:27.530 align:middle line:84% And you can see what the orange that the number of people who 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:30.333 align:middle line:90% are being detained is rising. 00:03:30.333 --> 00:03:32.000 align:middle line:84% And when you think of pretrial detention 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.820 align:middle line:84% I want you to know that in Arizona the people who 00:03:34.820 --> 00:03:39.200 align:middle line:84% are driving pretrial detention are judges. 00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:40.040 align:middle line:90% They're judges. 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:43.670 align:middle line:84% Because pretrial detention-- the conditions 00:03:43.670 --> 00:03:45.530 align:middle line:84% or the terms of release are decided 00:03:45.530 --> 00:03:48.200 align:middle line:90% by judges and magistrates. 00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:50.730 align:middle line:84% Now that's important because I know a lot of people say, 00:03:50.730 --> 00:03:52.880 align:middle line:84% "Oh, it's the prosecutors and it's overpolicing." 00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:55.460 align:middle line:90% They play a part in that. 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:57.620 align:middle line:84% But the decision whether to release you, 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:01.010 align:middle line:84% to put you on bond, or to give you a cash money bail, 00:04:01.010 --> 00:04:04.940 align:middle line:84% or use PSAs, which are a risk assessment 00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:07.460 align:middle line:84% tools which we'll talk about, all this is done by judges. 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:09.800 align:middle line:84% Because within the first 24 hours of your arrest 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:12.290 align:middle line:84% you're brought before a judge or a magistrate who 00:04:12.290 --> 00:04:17.750 align:middle line:84% reads the charges, who will enter guilty or innocent plea-- 00:04:17.750 --> 00:04:18.860 align:middle line:90% not guilty plea. 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.019 align:middle line:84% They will appoint attorney-- they will appoint you 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:22.430 align:middle line:90% an attorney if you need one. 00:04:22.430 --> 00:04:24.860 align:middle line:84% And then what they'll do is they will 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:28.085 align:middle line:84% make a decision about whether you get to go home-- 00:04:28.085 --> 00:04:29.210 align:middle line:90% whether you get to go home. 00:04:29.210 --> 00:04:30.950 align:middle line:84% So what we have right now are judges 00:04:30.950 --> 00:04:35.300 align:middle line:84% who are actively aiding in mass incarceration 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:36.312 align:middle line:90% but on the front end. 00:04:36.312 --> 00:04:38.270 align:middle line:84% Which is they're saying we're going to keep you 00:04:38.270 --> 00:04:40.430 align:middle line:90% in jail at the county jail. 00:04:40.430 --> 00:04:44.030 align:middle line:84% Tonight 60% to 70% of the people sitting in our jail 00:04:44.030 --> 00:04:45.962 align:middle line:90% are there because they're poor. 00:04:45.962 --> 00:04:49.260 align:middle line:90% Next slide. 00:04:49.260 --> 00:04:51.180 align:middle line:90% Now the racial disparities. 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:55.170 align:middle line:84% If you go into our court, city court, or superior court 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:57.360 align:middle line:84% and just sit and watch, you're going 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.230 align:middle line:90% to see the racial disparities. 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:01.560 align:middle line:84% This is not-- this is nothing new. 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:03.570 align:middle line:84% Now most of you will probably never go to court 00:05:03.570 --> 00:05:06.570 align:middle line:84% unless you're selected as a juror 00:05:06.570 --> 00:05:09.057 align:middle line:90% or you have a civil matter. 00:05:09.057 --> 00:05:11.640 align:middle line:84% But if you go and sit in court-- and you should go sit in that 00:05:11.640 --> 00:05:13.800 align:middle line:84% court, that court belongs to you-- 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.250 align:middle line:84% you will see the racial disparity. 00:05:17.250 --> 00:05:19.500 align:middle line:84% And the thing that is so amazing to me 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:23.622 align:middle line:84% is that all the white males, you look at the number 00:05:23.622 --> 00:05:25.080 align:middle line:84% and you see that number going down. 00:05:25.080 --> 00:05:26.370 align:middle line:90% They're underrepresented. 00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:29.430 align:middle line:84% And I always found that confounding because white males 00:05:29.430 --> 00:05:32.490 align:middle line:84% are the most violent people in this country. 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:33.828 align:middle line:90% They always have been. 00:05:33.828 --> 00:05:35.370 align:middle line:84% Now that might be news to you, but as 00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:39.480 align:middle line:84% a former prosecutor that's always the way it's been. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:44.430 align:middle line:84% But who do we see that we're incarcerating? 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:47.442 align:middle line:84% Black, Brown, and indigenous people. 00:05:47.442 --> 00:05:49.650 align:middle line:84% And the people who are doing the mass murders and all 00:05:49.650 --> 00:05:53.160 align:middle line:84% that other stuff they're not being incarcerated. 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:54.660 align:middle line:84% That in itself should say something 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:59.580 align:middle line:84% about what's wrong with our criminal legal system. 00:05:59.580 --> 00:06:02.440 align:middle line:90% Next slide. 00:06:02.440 --> 00:06:06.940 align:middle line:84% So what impact does pretrial detention have on people? 00:06:06.940 --> 00:06:10.810 align:middle line:84% Well, first of all, if you are detained, 00:06:10.810 --> 00:06:13.030 align:middle line:84% meaning that the court can do a number of things. 00:06:13.030 --> 00:06:15.405 align:middle line:84% The court can release you on your own recognizance, which 00:06:15.405 --> 00:06:19.210 align:middle line:84% means that we're going to put a few conditions on your release 00:06:19.210 --> 00:06:23.320 align:middle line:84% such as don't commit other crimes, show up to court, 00:06:23.320 --> 00:06:24.920 align:middle line:90% these are minor things. 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.320 align:middle line:84% But if we don't think that you should be free, 00:06:27.320 --> 00:06:29.890 align:middle line:84% we can do a number of other things. 00:06:29.890 --> 00:06:32.680 align:middle line:84% We can send you to pretrial services, which 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.620 align:middle line:84% is an organization that monitors people 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:38.530 align:middle line:84% and we can do things like put you on electronic monitoring 00:06:38.530 --> 00:06:42.220 align:middle line:84% or we can put you order you into a therapeutic intervention 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:44.290 align:middle line:84% like drug counseling, anger counseling, 00:06:44.290 --> 00:06:45.730 align:middle line:90% some of those things carry fees. 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:50.590 align:middle line:84% We can also impose cash money bail or secure bail. 00:06:50.590 --> 00:06:53.950 align:middle line:84% Secure bail is something that you use if you have collateral. 00:06:53.950 --> 00:06:57.077 align:middle line:84% You'll be charged a fee by bonds-bails people, 00:06:57.077 --> 00:07:01.400 align:middle line:84% and you have to put up some collateral. 00:07:01.400 --> 00:07:04.210 align:middle line:84% So if you're poor and you don't have the collateral, 00:07:04.210 --> 00:07:07.360 align:middle line:84% the judge may impose a cash money bail. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:08.290 align:middle line:90% But here's the deal. 00:07:08.290 --> 00:07:12.500 align:middle line:84% Cash money bail means 100% of your bail must be paid in cash. 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:14.800 align:middle line:84% And that's not a big deal if you have money. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:22.690 align:middle line:84% But $100, or even $50, $500 for Sandra Bland was too much. 00:07:22.690 --> 00:07:23.770 align:middle line:90% She sat in jail. 00:07:23.770 --> 00:07:26.890 align:middle line:84% And that's why most of the people in our jails 00:07:26.890 --> 00:07:29.560 align:middle line:84% are sitting there now because they have cash bail. 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.770 align:middle line:84% They may have a probation hold as well. 00:07:32.770 --> 00:07:36.670 align:middle line:84% But generally, the courts will-- they will sit you in jail-- 00:07:36.670 --> 00:07:39.220 align:middle line:84% at the local jail which is one of the hardest places 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:41.830 align:middle line:84% to be because unlike prison, there's 00:07:41.830 --> 00:07:43.810 align:middle line:90% nothing to do but weight. 00:07:43.810 --> 00:07:47.410 align:middle line:84% There are no programs, there's nothing but time. 00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:50.830 align:middle line:84% This is considered to be really hard time. 00:07:50.830 --> 00:07:54.100 align:middle line:84% And everything that you need, because you cannot work, 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:56.000 align:middle line:90% has to come from your family. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.380 align:middle line:84% So when we talk about the cost of pretrial detention 00:07:59.380 --> 00:08:03.010 align:middle line:84% understand that our jails are profiting off poor people. 00:08:03.010 --> 00:08:05.320 align:middle line:84% If you go to the commissary you pay, 00:08:05.320 --> 00:08:07.690 align:middle line:84% if you make a telephone call you pay, 00:08:07.690 --> 00:08:09.880 align:middle line:84% if you have to go to the doctors you pay, 00:08:09.880 --> 00:08:12.400 align:middle line:84% if you want to use those apps on those tablets they 00:08:12.400 --> 00:08:15.100 align:middle line:90% give you for free you pay. 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:18.250 align:middle line:84% So this is not-- this is a money making venture 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:21.340 align:middle line:84% for poor people who are being squeezed. 00:08:21.340 --> 00:08:23.290 align:middle line:84% You are taken away from your family, 00:08:23.290 --> 00:08:26.080 align:middle line:84% you might lose your job, you might lose your house, 00:08:26.080 --> 00:08:28.960 align:middle line:84% and most importantly, the presumption of innocence. 00:08:28.960 --> 00:08:32.414 align:middle line:84% That you have done nothing more than being arrested and charged 00:08:32.414 --> 00:08:33.039 align:middle line:90% with the crime. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:34.622 align:middle line:84% You haven't been convicted of a crime. 00:08:34.622 --> 00:08:40.090 align:middle line:84% But in this case, we punish you simply for being arrested. 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:42.970 align:middle line:90% Next slide. 00:08:42.970 --> 00:08:45.910 align:middle line:84% And I'll go over briefly, again, some of the ways that we do-- 00:08:45.910 --> 00:08:47.680 align:middle line:84% I mentioned already cash money bail. 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:49.510 align:middle line:84% I mentioned the issue of mass surveillance 00:08:49.510 --> 00:08:52.000 align:middle line:84% which is electronic monitoring, face recognition, 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.390 align:middle line:84% all the nifty things that we're doing to track people, 00:08:55.390 --> 00:08:58.207 align:middle line:84% and that is an invasion of privacy for people who've 00:08:58.207 --> 00:09:00.790 align:middle line:84% done nothing, like I said, other than being arrested and being 00:09:00.790 --> 00:09:03.730 align:middle line:90% too poor to bail themselves out. 00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:08.350 align:middle line:84% So through cash money bail, through risk assessments, which 00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:12.730 align:middle line:84% is an interesting tool or tactic the state is now using. 00:09:12.730 --> 00:09:16.870 align:middle line:84% Risk assessments are these so-called science-based 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.670 align:middle line:90% prediction tools. 00:09:19.670 --> 00:09:22.068 align:middle line:84% So I'm supposed to be able to have you answer 00:09:22.068 --> 00:09:24.610 align:middle line:84% a series of questions based on data that's coming from mostly 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.580 align:middle line:84% law enforcement types of institutions and folks 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:29.230 align:middle line:90% who believe in incarceration. 00:09:29.230 --> 00:09:31.450 align:middle line:84% And based on that we'll come up with a profile-- 00:09:31.450 --> 00:09:34.750 align:middle line:84% a number, and that number tells us what kind of risk 00:09:34.750 --> 00:09:36.110 align:middle line:90% is involved. 00:09:36.110 --> 00:09:39.850 align:middle line:84% And that means that if you have a high number that you're 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:44.260 align:middle line:84% going to be held and you can be held until your trial, which 00:09:44.260 --> 00:09:46.330 align:middle line:90% could be months away. 00:09:46.330 --> 00:09:49.120 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.980 align:middle line:84% The Tucson Second Chance Community Bail Fund 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:52.988 align:middle line:90% was established three years ago. 00:09:52.988 --> 00:09:55.030 align:middle line:84% And we came in initially talking about cash money 00:09:55.030 --> 00:09:57.280 align:middle line:84% bail because that was the issue, but we soon 00:09:57.280 --> 00:10:00.910 align:middle line:84% realized the problem is much bigger than cash money bail. 00:10:00.910 --> 00:10:03.160 align:middle line:84% Because every time we pivot the state pivots 00:10:03.160 --> 00:10:05.380 align:middle line:84% they will find new tactics new tools 00:10:05.380 --> 00:10:08.350 align:middle line:84% to incarcerate people because they are in this 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:10.900 align:middle line:90% for real for money and for-- 00:10:10.900 --> 00:10:13.330 align:middle line:84% because they really don't have other options. 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:16.330 align:middle line:84% Arizona has one of the highest rates of incarceration 00:10:16.330 --> 00:10:17.270 align:middle line:90% in the country. 00:10:17.270 --> 00:10:20.470 align:middle line:84% So we are into the industry of prison-- 00:10:20.470 --> 00:10:23.500 align:middle line:84% the prison industrial complex is big money for us here. 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:26.320 align:middle line:84% And we are fighting to change that. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:27.700 align:middle line:90% We're fighting to change that. 00:10:27.700 --> 00:10:29.710 align:middle line:84% We are abolitionists we don't believe 00:10:29.710 --> 00:10:32.080 align:middle line:84% in reforming the system, we believe 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.120 align:middle line:84% in dismantling the system and replacing it 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:35.020 align:middle line:90% with something else. 00:10:35.020 --> 00:10:41.020 align:middle line:90% 00:10:41.020 --> 00:10:44.530 align:middle line:84% And so how do we get to freedom and justice? 00:10:44.530 --> 00:10:45.280 align:middle line:90% And I'm going to-- 00:10:45.280 --> 00:10:48.790 align:middle line:84% I'm going to say this that I don't believe 00:10:48.790 --> 00:10:52.090 align:middle line:84% that the answer is going to come from law schools and lawyers, 00:10:52.090 --> 00:10:54.760 align:middle line:84% I think it's going to come from the creatives, the people 00:10:54.760 --> 00:10:58.690 align:middle line:84% visionaries, the poets, the artists, the painters, 00:10:58.690 --> 00:11:02.750 align:middle line:84% the dancers, the people who are free who challenge us. 00:11:02.750 --> 00:11:06.550 align:middle line:84% So tonight is an important part of the conversation 00:11:06.550 --> 00:11:10.030 align:middle line:84% because people have that heart of fire, who've always 00:11:10.030 --> 00:11:13.150 align:middle line:90% provoked us and made us-- 00:11:13.150 --> 00:11:15.760 align:middle line:84% held us accountable, those are the people 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:16.990 align:middle line:90% that we need to look to. 00:11:16.990 --> 00:11:20.410 align:middle line:84% Not lawyers and law school and legislatures. 00:11:20.410 --> 00:11:23.740 align:middle line:84% This is ground zero for what I think Octavia Butler called 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:25.180 align:middle line:90% God change. 00:11:25.180 --> 00:11:29.530 align:middle line:84% This is where the old is swept away 00:11:29.530 --> 00:11:32.620 align:middle line:84% and something new comes to replace it. 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:36.100 align:middle line:84% And I'd love to hear what my sister poet has to say. 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:40.480 align:middle line:84% I'm sure she's placing seeds of liberation planting them 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.290 align:middle line:90% everywhere. 00:11:41.290 --> 00:11:43.390 align:middle line:84% I hope I didn't make you guys feel comfortable. 00:11:43.390 --> 00:11:45.440 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:45.940 align:middle line:90% 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:47.560 align:middle line:90% Not my goal. 00:11:47.560 --> 00:11:50.170 align:middle line:84% But I think what I didn't do she'll do. 00:11:50.170 --> 00:11:50.950 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much. 00:11:50.950 --> 00:11:52.800 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE]