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The upcoming elections for Prosecutors in Michigan and elsewhere are hugely impactful for #PublicHealth & #HealthEquity in our communities.
#ThisIsPublicHealth
#HealthNotPunishment
Here's how
A thread.
1/
#ThisIsPublicHealth
#HealthNotPunishment
Here's how
A thread.
1/
It is the Prosecutor's DISCRETION whether poverty, mental health & homelessness is criminalized, whether charges should be brought against violent police, whether to keep people locked up while awaiting trial, & how severe charges are. 2/
This prosecutorial DISCRETION gives them huge power over who in a community is locked up or entangled in the criminal justice system and whether police have impunity. They can be a huge reason Black & Brown folks have longer sentences and are more likely to be in jail. 3/
Prosecutors who take a 'tough on crime' approach, rather than having mercy or practicing restorative justice just add to MASS INCARCERATION which is awful for #PublicHealth and health inequities. 4/
How is incarceration bad for health? Research shows that without mass incarceration policies, U.S. life expectancy between 1981-2007 would have increased by five additional years. 5/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9125.12107
How is incarceration bad for health? People who have been incarcerated are more likely to suffer from a variety of health conditions. 6/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18923131/
The impact stretches beyond just people who are incarcerated: young adults whose father was incarcerated are more likely to have high cholesterol, asthma, migraine, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. 7/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23509174/
So, how can policies implemented by Prosecutors help end Mass Incarceration? They can END CASH BAIL. Tens of thousands of people in Michigan are locked up in jail, before being tried or convicted of any crime, because of cash bail. 8/
Prosecutors can DECRIMINALIZE poverty, mental health, substance use, homelessness, and sex work. This keeps people out of the criminal justice system entirely. 9/
Prosecutors can promote DIVERSION programs that divert folks (and funding!) from criminal justice system and into community-led programs addressing housing, substance use, etc. 10/ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/9D6707735699A466C1950C5DDDCFD15D/S1092852919001561a.pdf/decriminalization_in_action_lessons_from_the_los_angeles_model.pdf
Simply put, Prosecutors make policy and have a huge role to play in our systems of mass incarceration. Voters who want to support racial justice & health equity, as well as end mass incarceration, need to pay attention to their local election for Prosecutor! 11/
. @BernieSanders has weighed in endorsing many candidates who support policies that help end mass incarceration such as @EliNSavit or @VBH4Prosecutor in Michigan. 12/ https://medium.com/@BernieSanders/endorsing-progressive-district-and-state-attorney-candidates-67aec44e00b0
So has @johnlegend who is an advocate for transforming our criminal justice system. 13/ https://twitter.com/johnlegend/status/1280932024748879872?s=20
Grassroots organizations like @DontIncarcerate & @MILiberation have also created great resources to help voters identify prosecutor candidates who take a #PublicHealth approach & support policies that end mass incarceration. 14/ https://www.liberatedontincarcerate.org/prosecutor-scorecard#:~:text=Liberate%21%20Don%E2%80%99t%20Incarcerate%20is%20a%20group%20of%20multi-racial%2C,and%20that%20embodies%20collective%20accountability%20for%20all%20humanity.
#PublicHealth groups like @PHAwakened @HumanImpact_HIP have advocated for #HealthNotPunishment and policies that would end mass incarceration. 15/ https://humanimpact.org/products-resources/browse-by-strategy/?filter=iss1-127
The Prosecutor elections are an opportunity to #VOTE to help end mass incarceration and support health! Make sure you're registered to #VOTE and vote for the change you want to see in this world.
#ThisIsPublicHealth
#HealthNotPunishment
16/END http://www.vote.org/state/michigan/
#ThisIsPublicHealth
#HealthNotPunishment
16/END http://www.vote.org/state/michigan/
