Concealed Carry Charging in Detroit

In 2022, I worked with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit to identify racially disparate patterns in how charges of possession of a firearm without a license were being used to charge Black Detroiters en masse, while white Detroiters were not experiencing the same consequences. This work received widespread media attention and ultimately led to changes in policing in Detroit.

New Data Show Dramatic Increase in Arrests and Prosecutions of Black People for Carrying a Concealed Weapon Public defenders wants CCW cases dismissed in Wayne County A surge in arrests, a court docket jammed with weapons charges: How Detroit responded to an uptick in gun crimes

Pandemic ACLU Collaboration

During the height of the first wave of the pandemic, in April 2020, I worked with the ACLU to build a tool to help identify individuals behind bars who might be eligible for release based on certian stautory criteria or their ages. I built tools to identify each person in custody and their assorted demographic information, and then to identify those who might be eligible for release. I also built tools to help identify those who might be at risk of serious illness or death if they contracted COVID-19.

ACLU-CT, Yale Law School Professors, and Others Seek Protection for Incarcerated Persons during a Global Pandemic

J20

On January 20th, 2017, 230 people were mass arrested during demonstrations against Donald Trump’s Inauguration.

The arrests were made by use of a “kettle” technique on the corners of 12th and L Streets, after no orders to disperse. 214 of these arrestees were charged under the Federal Riot Statute.

I worked on the defense campaign for these arrests, and worked to support defendants, attorneys, and support crews. You can learn more about j20 at a version of the old site reproduced here.

Antirepression crew

I also did work supporting the NoDAPL struggle, with web scraping, data analysis, and other technical work. To learn more about the struggle, you can see the old digital tour zine here.

Policing for Profit

I also contributed to the Institute for Justice’s “Policing for Profit” report, which you can read here.