Sarah M

Pun-loving public defender. She/her.

[Sister Helen Prejean @helenprejean]

FL already accounts for more than half of all U.S. executions in 2026. Florida also leads the nation in death row exonerations. 30 people have been freed since 1973 after being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. That’s roughly one exoneration for every three executions.

[Christopher Ingraham🦗 @_cingraham]

NEW: An @ij review of media reports has identified at least 14 recent cases of police officers allegedly using Flock and other automated license plate reader systems to stalk wives, girlfriends, exes, and even strangers who caught their eye in public.

[Brad Haywood @BradleyRHaywood]

I don’t expect @SpanbergerForVA to agree with criminal justice reform advocates often, but I do expect better than Youngkin-grade veto explanations.

Nothing in this press release regarding the governor’s veto of SB 23 is true.

- Only a small handful of extremely regressive jurisdictions still use 4A plea waivers
- Prosecutors who use them overwhelmingly target Black defendants, stripping them of their 4th Amendment rights forever.
- No standards exist under Va law for the use of 4A plea waivers, let alone standards to “protect defendants”
- If you believe 4A waivers are a “plea agreement option” for defendants, then I’ve got an employment contract with forced arbitration and NDA clauses to sell you.

I get why Youngkin’s staff only listened to Republican prosecutors (and Jason Miyares) on matters of criminal justice policy. I do not understand why Spanberger is doing the same.

CJ reform in Virginia has been incredibly successful—and durable—over the 5-6 years since the last trifecta accomplished so much. The reason? Because we have a community of brilliant, experienced and PRAGMATIC advocates, committed to working collaboratively with legislators to ensure transformative change, while guarding against going “too far, too fast.”

Despite a true overhaul of criminal law and procedure in recent years, and a huge decrease in the prison population, violent crime in Virginia is near historic lows, proving that reform can actually ENHANCE public safety and community wellness when done right.

In the years to come, I hope the Governor and her staff will acknowledge Virginia’s progress as well as the contributions of CJR advocates, demonstrate an openness to a different paradigm for public safety, and include more of the voices that have dedicated their careers to making our system more humane and equitable.

[CNN @CNN]

A Tennessee grandmother spent more than five months in jail after police used an AI facial recognition tool to link her to crimes committed in North Dakota – a state she says she’d never been to before. https://t.co/35hGrOzPce

[Alex DeLuca @AlexLDeLuca]

Breaking: A Mexican teenager has died while in ICE custody in South Florida.

He appears to be the youngest person to die in ICE custody since Trump took office last year.

https://t.co/F85wPVKzgU

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

"A new way to get released" is quite the way to describe habeas corpus, a right so ancient that it predates the Magna Carta.

[CNN @CNN]

Alabama governor grants clemency to 75-year-old death row inmate, sparing the accomplice in a 1991 murder from execution this week https://t.co/ZedXjAztGu

[Pablo Manríquez @PabloReports]

"bets made among the staff over which detainee would be next to die by suicide."

[Thomas Kennedy @tomaskenn]

An ICE officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen months ago and the agency failed to disclose it.

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped. https://t.co/okuUtfxaLj

[Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie]

Private prisons are criticizing ICE on their investor calls for not filling up their prisons fast enough.

Your reminder that ICE is a for-profit industry — and the companies profiting are big campaign donors to the politicians voting to fund them.

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

Oh, be careful, Merriam-Webster, lest we suffer vertigo from the dizzying heights of our lexical ground.

[David J. Bier @David_J_Bier]

"Since October, 73% taken into ICE custody had no criminal conviction and only 5% had a violent criminal conviction, according to a Cato Institute review of ICE data." https://t.co/Y5ck1pu65e

[Kenneth Roth @KenRoth]

The Trump administration deported this five-year-old girl to Honduras despite her being a US citizen. https://t.co/94RITIE64K

[Matt McDermott @mattmfm]

As insane as this sounds, it’s true: Pam Bondi sent Minnesota officials a letter today saying ICE would leave the state if Minnesota turns over its voter files to the Trump Administration.

They’re openly using state violence as a bargaining chip to seize election infrastructure.

[Jim Morrison @jimmor12]

Flock cameras in Hampton Roads surveil Black communities more intensely than white ones, CNU study says https://t.co/rebAEbM0x0

[Nicole Foy @nicoleMfoy]

“Imagine the chaos”

[Blinkin @blinkinriley]

Hey, "Don't Tread on Me" guys, this is the treading part.

[NYTPitchbot @DougJBalloon]

Whether it's Barack Obama asking for Dijon mustard or Donald Trump screaming "fuck you" in a Ford plant at someone calling him a "pedophile protector," presidential norms have been challenged in the 21st century