Multiple things can be true: Matthew Rushin does not deserve prison. No one does. Prisons should not exist. They are violent+help no one+do not make us safe(r). Matthew also harmed others. He's been punished for that because of racism+ableism. But punishment doesn't help either.

Abolition as a practice helps us figure out what justice is and how to do justice without relying on punishment, police, or prisons. The people Matthew harmed deserve justice+healing. Matthew also deserves justice+healing. And prison ... well, prison just isn't it, folks.

People often balk at police+prison abolition because they're worried about safety from murder, rape, or drunk driving. They wonder what to do when someone has caused the worst possible harm. What they often don't realize is that police+prisons are SOURCES of harm+violence.

Transformative justice practices+processes specifically address harm already caused+work to address+heal ruptures that harm causes throughout entire communities, including the impact on the people who harmed+the people who were harmed. A core tenet of TJ is also preventing harm.

Rather than asking us to ignore harm and pretend violence doesn't happen, talking about police and prison abolition actually requires us to address harm head on. The harm that police and prisons cause, and the harms that police and prisons fail to actually do anything about.

We can and must talk about decarceration and prison abolition while also talking about how to respond to and support people who harm, AND, support people who've been harmed. (And understand the complex interplay between the two - most people who harm have also been harmed.)

(And to be clear about that last point, that is not to say that having been harmed is ever an excuse or justification for harming others. It's not. But failing to address those histories also does nothing to meaningfully address present harm, or prevent it from happening again.)

Name the anti-Black racism+ableism that led to Matthew Rushin's incarceration. Demand his freedom+return to community along with all others trapped in carceral systems. And do so honestly, without pretending that he did not harm. Harming others STILL does not justify prisons.

People do not need to be "innocent" in order to not deserve imprisonment. No one deserves prisons. Prisons are fundamentally unjust. Prisons are violent. Prisons are unsafe. Prisons cause infinitely more harm and violence to people in prison, and devastate whole communities too.