Whitney W.

Criminal Justice funder. Former public defender. A consistent advocate for dismantling the system. Tweets are my own. STL ✈️ CHI ✈️ NYC

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

"A policeman's badge may well be a symbol of the community's trust, it should never be considered a license to oppression."

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Fantastic reporting from @injusticewatch on Cook County's policy to issue warrants on MISDEMEANOR TRAFFIC cases where the clients are in immigration custody or have already been deported. Ridiculous. https://t.co/uKkqjwPAt8

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Young people are always told what not to do. But what should you do?

Did you know that most public libraries have a Nintendo Switch to use? That parks show free movies at night? That there's a map of pickup basketball games?

https://t.co/Nb8rOAGO4T is a map of free and affordable things to do this summer that we made just for you.

Because public programs mean nothing if you don't know how to access them. 


[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

A great entry from Wren Collective on the desire of tech oligarchs to ignore the will of voters in big cities. https://t.co/sOlIdMBVzx

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I just… can’t even

[Stacey Abrams @staceyabrams]

The Voting Rights Act ended 150 years of Jim Crow and finally gave truth to the 15th Amendment. In a democracy, the faith of the people is born of a belief that they can participate in its processes and benefit from its success.

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I like this kind of direct feedback

[Gavin Bena 🗳 @gavinbena]

On March 30th, Festus, Missouri’s city council voted 6-2 to approve plans for a $6 Billion data center in the area despite fierce vocal opposition.

Today, one week later, every single incumbent was utterly obliterated.

Collier: 34.6%
Wehner: 20.2%
Venz: 17.6%
Tinnin: 19.6%

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Public defender pilot program sees early success - Magnolia Tribune

3 attorneys, 3 support staff and 1 investigator. More of this please.

https://t.co/28fOGoHAWr

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

This was kind of hard to read. If our court systems rely on pay-to-play schemes to dispense "justice," then we've lost the plot.

In Iowa, Prosecutors Want to Bring Back Court Fees as Bargaining Chips https://t.co/4DWbKKjYmC

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Yikes

[Moish Peltz @mpeltz]

Your AI conversations aren't privileged. Yesterday, Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that 31 documents a defendant generated using an AI tool and later shared with his defense attorneys are not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine.

The logic is simple: an AI tool is not an attorney. It has no law license, owes no duty of loyalty, and its terms of service explicitly disclaim any attorney-client relationship. Sharing case details with an AI platform is legally no different from talking through your legal situation with a friend (which is not privileged).

You can't fix it after the fact, either. Sending unprivileged documents to your lawyer doesn't retroactively make them privileged. That's been settled law for years. It just hadn't been tested with AI until now.

And here's what really hurt the defendant: the AI provider's privacy policy (Claude), in effect when he used the tool, expressly permits disclosure of user prompts and outputs to governmental authorities. There was no reasonable expectation of confidentiality.

The core problem is the gap between how people experience AI and what's actually happening. The conversational interface feels private. It feels like talking to an advisor. But unless you negotiate for an enterprise agreement that says otherwise, you're inputting information into a third-party commercial platform that retains your data and reserves broad rights to disclose it.

Judge Rakoff also flagged an interesting wrinkle: the defendant reportedly fed information from his attorneys into the AI tool. If prosecutors try to use these documents at trial, defense counsel could become a fact witness, potentially forcing a mistrial. Winning on privilege doesn't make the evidentiary picture simple.

For anyone advising clients or managing legal risk, this is a wake-up call. AI tools are not a safe space for clients to process their counsel's advice and to regurgitate their legal strategy. Every prompt is a potential disclosure. Every output is a potentially discoverable document.

So what do we do about it?

First, attorneys need to be proactive. Advise clients explicitly that anything they put into an AI tool may be discoverable and is almost certainly not privileged. Put it in your engagement letters. Make it part of onboarding. Don't assume clients understand this, because most don't.

Second, if clients want to use AI to help process legal issues (and they clearly will, increasingly), then let's give them a way to do it inside the privilege. Collaborative AI workspaces shared between attorney and client, where the AI interaction happens under counsel's direction and within the attorney-client relationship, can change the analysis entirely. I'm excited to be planning this kind of approach, and I think it's where the industry needs to head.

https://t.co/NFqsznVdXh

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Yikes 😳

[Chad Mizelle @chad_mizelle]

If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me.

We need good prosecutors. And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.

[Eric Woods @EricWoods]

They have been doing this consistently for a year, it’s shocking there is just now mainstream reporting being done on it. https://t.co/1JP64nV7Dh

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I hope the state and local prosecutors find the courage to bring these cases. These officers need to be held accountable. https://t.co/ZWAynRkaBq

[Eric Woods @EricWoods]

When Republicans jammed through the horrendous “Let Politicians Lie” bill on the very last day of session last year, I stood up and told all of them that it was unconstitutional and would be overturned.

My statement on today’s ruling:

“I told you so.” #moleg

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Raised my eyebrows at this opinion article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy because the national groups EYE know aren’t using academic language to describe their work, but funders are. https://t.co/9a7jQunBPD

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I just saw this picture in a Washington Post newsletter and had to laugh. Donald doesn't see stuff like this and feel bad about himself? He doesn't have any shame, does he?

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I missed this polling -- @YouGov poll found that 52% of U.S. adults surveyed disapprove (with 40% strongly disapprove) of how ICE is doing its job and, perhaps shockingly, 42% of U.S. adults said they support abolishing ICE entirely.

Well damn

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Great reel from @prosalliance featuring their Prison Visit Program, Pathways to Understanding, which continues to expand, with 80 prosecutors, victim advocates, and journalists participating in the program this year. https://t.co/CnhOuMmQVK via @YouTube

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

Let’s get it started https://t.co/uYqUpVZRFv

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

It's Not Just Murder That Is Falling Rapidly
Death rates from several causes in the US are falling fast.

https://t.co/ZjiAFA2cPt

[Whitney W. @WhitneyWJD]

I'm excited to share this resource on nonprofits adopting AI, which includes insights and next steps!

I'm grateful to support @Schusterman_Org grantees in turning AI curiosity into real capability—building tools that strengthen nonprofit impact.

https://t.co/zMYAn5SZEN

[Blake Allen @Blake_Allen13]

If you are a Democrat considering running for office next year - and candidate filing is still open - go do it now. You may not have a better opportunity to flip a district in your life, the national environment we are seeing for Rs is bad