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Abolitionist Law Center

@abolitionistlawcenter.org
2.9K followers 1.5K following 213 posts

ALC is a movement lawyering and organizing project that defends human rights and challenges incarceration and other state & structural violence abolitionistlawcenter.org

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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 09/10/2026
zeteo.com/p/judge-who-... via @zeteo.com
zeteo.com
Judge Who Accused Israel of Genocide Given Nobel Peace Prize (Sorry Trump)
The Nobel committee has infuriated Israel and rebuffed the U.S. president – just two of the many reasons Navi Pillay is an excellent choice. This is a win for international justice.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/10/2026
Share this with the people in your life who say "Cameras shouldn't bother you if you've got nothing to hide" and "don't do the crime if you can't do the time."
reason.com
Banning Flock won't be enough without police reform
It was Flock that led cops to the wrong woman. It was police who ignored the other evidence and jailed her.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/10/2026
The problem isn't just one company. The current alternative to Flock that governments are switching to is Axon, which you may have heard of under the company's former name: Taser. prospect.org/2026/10/01/l...
prospect.org
License Plate and Switch - The American Prospect
Cities are succumbing to public pressure and removing Flock license plate readers. But they are substituting alternatives with the same capabilities.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/10/2026
ICE calls ankle monitors ATDs - alternatives to detention. But "ATD is not an alternative to mass detention—it is an expansion of the carceral logics that feed into mass detention."
austinkocher.substack.com
“This Is Really an Alternative Form of Detention”: Attorneys from Amica Center, Kennedy Human Rights, and Just Futures Law Discuss ICE’s 50,000 GPS Ankle Monitors
Watch or listen to my conversation with attorneys Evan Benz, Anthony Enriquez, and Lesley Nash on challenging ICE's expansion of punitive forms of electronic monitoring.
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
The American Prospect @prospect.org · 01/10/2026
To temper the backlash, communities have been switching out Flock cameras for different ALPRs with nearly identical capabilities, merely evading the negative connotation of the brand name while maintaining the surveillance. buff.ly/E60kN30
buff.ly
License Plate and Switch - The American Prospect
Cities are succumbing to public pressure and removing Flock license plate readers. But they are substituting alternatives with the same capabilities.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 06/10/2026
"These flying machines are being sold to law enforcement agencies and local authorities as DFRs — Drones as First Responders.... @eff.org has said that the adoption of drones like the ones Flock sells 'jeopardizes privacy in communities across the country'." www.techradar.com/cameras/dron...
techradar.com
'Do not normalize mass surveillance': Flock announces its fastest growing business is in drones, but users have the same privacy concerns as with license plate readers
Despite a public backlash against the tech, Flock's business is continuing to expand beyond license plate readers.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 06/10/2026
Nicholas O'Rourke & City Council want answers on how things were allowed to get this bad with a medical contractor, YesCare, that had a clear record of failure nationwide—and so do we. www.phillytrib.com/news/local_n...
phillytrib.com
All the nurses failed to show for an overnight shift inside a Philadelphia jail. The City Council wants answers.
Thirteen months before every registered nurse and licensed practical nurse called out for an overnight shift at Philadelphia’s largest jail, Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick appeared before City C...
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 28/09/2026
“No one can change the harm and the pain that was caused by Christa’s actions when she was 18.... No one has denied that pain is real. What I do not understand is how our collective reaction to that pain is to create more pain and harm.”
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ACLU @aclu.org · 27/09/2026
Tennessee is set to execute Christa Pike on September 30. Christa has spent nearly three decades in solitary confinement after committing her crime as an 18-year-old girl with severe, untreated mental illness stemming from childhood abuse. Tell Governor Lee to stop her execution now.
mercyforchrista.org
Petition | Christa Pike
Sign the petition to support Christa Pike's clemency campaign in Tennessee.
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The Philadelphia Citizen @thephilacitizen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Life without parole means growing old inside a correctional institution and remaining there until death, regardless of transformation, rehabilitation or declining physical capacity. The care for our aging prison population is costing PA taxpayers. A bipartisan bill may help. bit.ly/4A0fadV
thephiladelphiacitizen.org
Is it Time to Move Beyond Death by Incarceration?
PA state prisons have become costly nursing homes, hospitals and care facilities for elderly inmates. House Bill 1550 promises to change that
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 04/09/2026
3-day weekend? Get the back-to-school spirit with this reading list of startling and illuminating reads on how—and why—the US built the world's biggest carceral system, and where it may be heading.
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
Bolts @boltsmag.org · 02/08/2026
The Marshall Project reports on an Illinois prison that has repeatedly failed to adequately respond to fires within the facility:
themarshallproject.org
How An Illinois Prison Drove Desperate Men to Set Themselves on Fire
Designed to help people with serious mental illness, Joliet Treatment Center repeatedly failed to prevent or respond to fires, despite two deaths.
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The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · 18/08/2026
From 2024: Incarcerated journalists detail the first signs of a heat wave in prison — and how they’ve coped with record-breaking temperatures. www.themarshallproject.org/2024/09/19/p...
themarshallproject.org
How We Survived Extreme Heat in Prison
Incarcerated journalists detail the first signs of a heat wave in prison — and how they’ve coped with record-breaking temperatures.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/08/2026
www.cityandstatepa.com/policy/2026/...
cityandstatepa.com
What the Flock? 8 things to know about automated license plate readers in Pennsylvania
ALPRs have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and civil liberties groups, while proponents tout them as an important law enforcement tool.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/08/2026
"Taxpayers and city officials lack access to citywide performance data for one of Philadelphia’s biggest and fastest-growing surveillance tools, according to the @eff.org." www.phillytrib.com/news/local_n...
phillytrib.com
Special Report: Philadelphia scanned 25 million license plates, but can’t say whether the investigative tool works
Twenty-five million. That’s the number of license plates scanned so far by Philadelphia’s expanding network of automated license plate readers (ALPR) after about 100 fixed cameras started operating in...
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 06/08/2026
🗓️ Thur. 8/6 | 4–6 PM 📍
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 06/08/2026
We also need answers on their legionella bacteria response, discharge & release procedures, and the continued lack of a family & attorney notification policy for medical emergencies. Join us: Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board public meeting County Courthouse: 436 Grant St, 4th Fl Gold Rm 4-6 PM
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 06/08/2026
“This is another piece of surveillance technology under the guise of safety and wellness.” Join community members TONIGHT 8/6 4-6 PM in holding Allegheny County officials accountable for protecting the rights & well-being of those held at the county jail. community.triblive.com/news/4105952
community.triblive.com
Lockup lookout: Allegheny County Jail goes high-tech for medical alerts
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
FAMM Foundation @famm.org · 06/08/2026
A matter of life and death: Understanding the debate over second-degree murder sentencing in PA (via @cityandstatepa.bsky.social) pulse.ly/yzzpolpt7z
pulse.ly
A matter of life and death: Understanding the debate over second-degree murder sentencing in PA
City & State examines the ongoing debate over second-degree murder sentencing and what comes next as lawmakers struggle to reach a consensus on how to reform the state’s felony sentencing statute.
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
Truthout @truthout.org · 28/07/2026
Political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is suffering multiple health problems and may die in prison, say legal advocates in a request they filed today that asks the United Nations to support his release. Abu-Jamal was a Black Panther and journalist when he was convicted of the murder of a police officer.
buff.ly
Legal Team of Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal Appeals to the UN for Support
Lawyers are appealing to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which had urged the release of Leonard Peltier.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 03/08/2026
Interested in joining ALC as a legal fellow? Applications are now open! abolitionistlawcenter.org/jobs-and-int...
abolitionistlawcenter.org
Jobs and Internships
ALC accepts applications from October 1st thru January 31st for our summer legal internship positions.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 03/08/2026
Sanaa and our other summer interns have been an excellent addition to our team, and we foresee great things in their futures. @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2026/07...
news.law.fordham.edu
Advocating for Human Rights: Meet Sanaa Akindele ’28 JD
The Abolitionist Law Center, where Sanaa Akindele ’28 JD is interning this summer, is a non-profit law firm based in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia that supports litigation on behalf of people
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 29/07/2026
ALC supports HB 1042, which grants parole eligibility after 30 years served for the 1k+ people now doing LWOP for 2nd-degree, with further guidelines by the Sentencing Commission. SB 1400 would instead make our state the 3rd most punitive in US for 2nd-degree. PA doesn't need more incarceration.
metrophiladelphia.com
Lawmakers miss deadline to rewrite Pennsylvania's second-degree murder law - Metro Philadelphia
Pennsylvania lawmakers missed a court-imposed deadline to rewrite the state's second-degree murder law after the Supreme Court struck down mandatory life without parole.
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The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · 28/07/2026
"In 2004, when I was 16 years old, I spent 78 days in Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center. Twenty-two years later, I am still reeling from the effects, most often in the form of violent flashbacks."
themarshallproject.org
I Spent 78 Days in a Violent Youth Jail. I Have PTSD for Life.
Vivid flashbacks, extreme anxiety and feelings of isolation continue to plague me 22 years later.
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 25/07/2026
New in books: It starts with questioning the legitimacy of the camps. In this excerpt, John Washington of Lookout News explains how we got here ... and looks toward a future where we put an end to immigrant detention.
texasobserver.org
Excerpt: How to Close a Camp
Detention was sold as both a law-and-order necessity and an economic opportunity, welding together the rac­ist politics of the drug war with the rise of private prisons.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 28/07/2026
You can read the petition we filed on his behalf with @ccrjustice.org, @aclu.org, California Coalition for Women Prisoners & @rappcampaign.bsky.social bit.ly/2026-Mumia-UN
bit.ly
Petition for Relief in the Matter of Mumia Abu-Jamal v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
On July 28, human rights organizations submitted a petition to the United Nations seeking relief from a life without parole sentence for journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 28/07/2026
Mumia Abu-Jamal is approaching the 45th anniversary of his incarceration. Today, he took his claim of arbitrary imprisonment for a crime he did not commit to a new tribunal: the United Nations. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Imprisoned writer Mumia Abu-Jamal seeks UN intervention after 44 years behind bars
The former Black Panther’s lawyers ask a UN panel to review his detention after US legal avenues were exhausted
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 24/07/2026
"We're going to be proactively looking to disseminate lessons and strategies and ways that others can apply what happened here to their own locale. This can and should serve as a model to be adapted to local conditions." – Bret Grote, legal director, Abolitionist Law Center
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 22/07/2026
"...if the only constitutional power left to “the people” is to sit around, waiting for a Supreme Court justice to die of old age, we live in a medieval monarchy, not a modern, dynamic constitutional system." slate.com/news-and-pol... via @slate.com @dahlialithwick.bsky.social
slate.com
The Supreme Court Has Gone Off the Rails. There’s an Age-Old American Solution.
We bring you this series on popular constitutionalism—local, organic farm-to-table making of legal meaning—as a thought experiment.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 22/07/2026
Live in Philly: We're not going back! Community leaders, victims advocates & Philadelphia residents have gathered at Salt & Light Church to speak out & condemn the PA Supreme Court for recent racist rulings aimed to perpetuate oppression, harm and marginalization of Black people. snlphilly.com/live
snlphilly.com
Live - Salt & Light
About Giving Welcome to Salt & Light Live! Tune in to the Salt & Light Experience on the go! Follow us on YouTube for previous broadcasts and more! Select the tabs above to read the bible or give onli...
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Illinois law requires that the police report traffic stops to state authorities for oversight into what’s going on. Our new investigation has found that the Chicago police has been violating this requirement — keeping ***hundreds of thousands** of stops secret. boltsmag.org/chicago-poli...
boltsmag.org
Chicago Police Promised to 'Fix' Secret Traffic Stops. A Year Later, the Problem Has Only Gotten Worse. - Bolts
As Chicago’s top cop steps down, police are making fewer traffic stops. But our new investigation finds half of stops are still not being reported to oversight agencies, despite a state law mandating ...
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
WESA @wesa.fm · 17/07/2026
As previously reported by WESA, the nine-member board has largely moved substantive discussions about healthcare, staffing, uses of force and the welfare of incarcerated people from monthly public meetings to subcommittee meetings not open to the public.
wesanews.org
Advocates warn Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board may run afoul of state public meeting laws
The board has used closed-door committee meetings to discuss uses of force, healthcare, and other issues.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 17/07/2026
"Prisoners in solitary confinement like Jason Wilson are basically being cooked to death.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
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Interrupting Criminalization @interruptcrim.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
One Million Experiments explores snapshots of community-based projects that expand ideas about what keeps us safe. To subscribe and get info about amazing projects like The Radical Monarchs right in your inbox, go here:
substack.com
One Million Experiments | Substack
One Million Experiments explores snapshots of community-based projects that expand our ideas about what keeps us safe.
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TribLive @triblive.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
How did an inmate end up dead just minutes after being moved into general population at the Allegheny County Jail? A TribLive investigation examines the unanswered questions, security concerns and possible failures that may have allowed the fatal attack to happen.
triblive.com
Questions remain over fatal attack at Allegheny County Jail — and possible failures that allowed it to happen
Two months after a group of inmates beat a man to death inside the Allegheny County Jail, binding his wrists with a mesh bag and leaving his cell spattered with blood, it remains unclear how such a br...
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 10/07/2026
We're hiring a FT paralegal for our Philadelphia office to work with our legal dept on litigation, investigation, and research tasks, communicating with incarcerated clients, managing case files, and managing intake correspondence. Salary: starts $57,500 abolitionistlawcenter.org/jobs-and-int...
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The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · 09/07/2026
A project by photographer Daniella Zalcman shows the casual prevalence of goods made by prison labor in public and private spaces. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/07/09/p...
A grid of 12 photos of different objects, including road signs, chairs, a standing cross, dorm room furniture, and a park grill
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Reposted by Abolitionist Law Center
Inquest @inquest.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The War on Drugs, which is 55 years old this summer, "reshaped the front end of the criminal justice system and laid the groundwork for a dramatic expansion of pretrial detention." Nicole Zayas Manzano from The Bail Project lays out the harm it continues to do.
inquest.org
How the War on Drugs Packed Jails - Nicole Zayas Manzano - Inquest
The impact of the War on Drugs continues to be felt in how it dramatically expanded the use of pretrial detention and bail.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 07/07/2026
The 5th Circuit is “one of the worst in the country, so I don’t have high hopes that this would be overturned, although I hope that there is a judge on that circuit who will look at it and say that this is an injustice.” — ALC exec dir Saleem Holbrook www.salon.com/2026/07/03/p... via @salon.com
salon.com
Prairieland sentences brings war on terror home - Salon.com
Protesters at ICE's Prairieland facility recieved far harsher sentences than anyone from Jan. 6's violent mob
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
In May, the PA Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that mandatory life w/o parole sentences for 2nd-degree murder are unconstitutional. The PA General Assembly has until 7/24 to rectify these illegal sentences. Join us Thurs eve for updates on this legislative battle for 2nd chances.
bit.ly
Commonwealth v. Derek Lee Debrief #4
Please join us on Thursday, July 2 at 6:00 PM as we discuss updates on efforts to end PA's mandatory life without parole sentences for 2nd-degree murder following the PA Supreme Court's March 26th Commonwealth v. Derek Lee decision that they are unconstitutional.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
This invites further challenges from an emboldened reactionary movement that aims to end any vestige of legal protection for communities of color. The U.S. Supreme Court is an enemy of human rights and the system that created it needs to be dismantled root to branch.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
Accepting this case rather than denying a writ of certiorari and upholding the lower courts shifts the frame as to what is permissible or plausible legal argument and constitutional principle in this country.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
The US Supreme Court should not have taken up the Trump administration’s case on whether the 14th Amendment actually ensures birthright citizenship, something that has been long settled. Doing so was racist overreach.
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Public Defenseless Podcast @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court struck down mandatory life without parole for felony murder. 1,000+ people condemned to die for deaths they never intended. The legislature has 30 days. Ep. 492 with Nia Holston and Sean Damon @abolitionistlawcenter.org //open.spotify.com/episode/2iazbbnPvv3z4AWYuhnNL2
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
Every jail has a duty to protect & care for the people it is holding. Join us on Thursday as we push for transparency & human rights at the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board monthly public meeting. July 2 | 4:00 p.m. Allegheny County Courthouse, 4th Floor Gold Room 436 Grant St. Pgh
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
Research is also clear that the path to true public safety lies in taking the huge fortune we waste on policing, prosecuting, and imprisoning children & adults and invest it instead into the types of resources that help individuals & communities i.e. actual crime *prevention* not just punishment.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 30/06/2026
Psst - we could also reduce prison sentences for men, even violent offenders, without an increase in violent crime because – and the research is clear – INCARCERATION DOESN'T REALLY DETER OR REDUCE SOCIETAL VIOLENCE.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 25/06/2026
This event has been postponed. Stay tuned for new date & time.
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 25/06/2026
Gutting safety net programs does real harm to low-income households & communities—increasing poverty, trauma, and mental health issues at all ages. It's a perfect recipe to fuel "crime" rates, grease the school-to-prison pipeline, and keep jails & prisons full. www.propublica.org/article/snap...
propublica.org
More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program
Republican backers of Trump’s signature domestic policy bill repeatedly claimed that revisions to the food benefits program wouldn’t affect the most vulnerable. But reports from a dozen states show ch...
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Abolitionist Law Center @abolitionistlawcenter.org · 24/06/2026
Philly - join us Thurs 6/25 11 AM. Stand against anti-blackness. Stand with victims of violence & mass incarceration. Stand with the Philadelphia DA elected by our communities. abolitionistlawcenter.org/2026/06/23/j...
abolitionistlawcenter.org
Jun. 25: Tell the PA Supreme Court We Won’t Go Back – Press Conference
On June 16, the PA Supreme Court handed down a decision that will block Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner from pursuing justice on behalf of incarcerated people.
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