Read on Twitter
This is a great article about the Dreadhead Cowboy, & I dont want to take away from that.
But it is driving me up a wall how in two paragraphs about his time in Cook County Jail, the NYT made like six obvious errors. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/style/dreadhead-cowboy-chicago.html
But it is driving me up a wall how in two paragraphs about his time in Cook County Jail, the NYT made like six obvious errors. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/style/dreadhead-cowboy-chicago.html
First they confuse jail & prison, referring to Cook County Jail as a prison.
Then they conflate the time he spent in Cook County Jail with serving a sentence, when in reality he was incarcerated while awaiting trial because he couldn't pay a money bond.
The cowboy didn't serve a prison sentence: he was sentenced to probation.
The cowboy didn't serve a prison sentence: he was sentenced to probation.
This may seem minor, but it's actually the subtle reinforcement of pretrial jailing as a form of punishment. Mr. Hollingsworth was not jailed for any reason other than that he lacked access to money. Suggesting his time in jail was a sentence after a conviction erases that.
The "jail before trial as normal & acceptable punishment" frame is very popular with cops & law and order electeds like Mayor Lightfoot. See these remarks this week from CPD Superintendent Brown: https://www.wbez.org/stories/advocates-blast-chicago-plan-to-sweep-up-drug-corner-teens-before-july-4/5ed35122-8b84-4319-a0bc-21b9e291cd2f
This is not unique to the NYT & I admit it is a pet peeve. But it also really matters. There are over 2 million people incarcerated in the US & another 4.5 million under carceral control. https://twitter.com/SharlynDGrace/status/1245403973827399685?s=20
So the fact that the most well-resourced newspaper in the country cannot get basic shit like whether or not someone was convicted already or whether or not they were in jail or prison correct is deeply troubling. And it has huge implications. https://twitter.com/SharlynDGrace/status/1245404456025456640
Of course this is the very same media that is primarily responsible for explaining "crime" to the public & holding elected officials accountable for their policies. So it is not a minor problem that many reporters & editors have no idea what they are talking about.
Closing this thread by stating the obvious, which is that THIS IS WHITE SUPREMACY. The people most targeted by the criminal punishment system are Black & Brown. The pervasive lack of basic literacy about these systems benefits people in power & hurts those targeted.
