Saturday Tweets: Netroots Edition

by Matt Kelley · 2009-08-15 17:41:00 UTC
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I'm at the Netroots Nation conference this weekend, talking with lots of great folks about criminal justice reform, international drug policy and plenty of other issues. I'll spare you the conference rambling (at least until tweets of the week below). I'll be posting, however, in the coming days and weeks about some of the great issues and ideas tossed around this weekend.

Here's some news from outside of the conference center bubble this week:

While in Pittsburgh this weekend, I saw Dan Bolick's stunning paintings of ten men who have served decades for crimes they didn't commit. Photo is above, more here.

The world took notice to last week's prison riot in California (which I wrote about here):

The Economist looked at the recent California prison riot, calling the state's prison conditions "a disaster."

Former San Quentin Warden Jeanne Woodford told Time: "You can't build yourself out of this mess."

A blogger in India argued for the use of the death penalty for rape perpetrators. Bad idea. India does need to address sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but the death penalty doesn't deter, and it's inherently unjust.

An arrest (regardless of whether the person is convicted or not) is enough to violate probation in several states. There's movement to do something about this destructive policy in Rhode Island.

Quote of the Week: "Racial profiling is not merely an interpersonal dispute to be settled with a nice chat over some beers. It is the means by which people of color are systematically targeted for mass incarceration. That conversation will be a long one, and it has barely just begun." Walter Wilson and Michelle Alexander, writing in the San Jose Mercury News.

ReTweets of the Week, Netroots Nation style:

@nerdette 'The minute our Pres. signs a bill on Healthcare Reform, approval will go up b/c Americans are inherently optimistic.' -Bill Clinton #NN09

@jasirix Mentally disabled man was tased for holding an umbrella http://bit.ly/108RQE #nn09

@FreeAlexSanchez Valerie Jarrett @Netroots_Nation : Pres Obama is committed to #immigration reform. May happen begin of 2010 RT @goddessjaz

@sarahkkennedy RT @isardasorensen: Video snippet of Bill Clinton responding to #DADT, #DOMA call-out at Netroots. http://tinyurl.com/qqywvf #lgbt #nn09

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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