Black people only make 28% of the population of Lynchburg, Virginia's second largest city.

But in 2020 they accounted for 78% of all residents taking plea deals that waive their constitutional rights, opening them up to random and invasive police searches.boltsmag.org/fourth-amendme…

Virginia prosecutors are asking people to waive their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures in exchange for plea deals. In Richmond, 96% of people who signed away these rights were people of color.

New Bolts
boltsmag.org/fourth-amendme…

“You can be walking down the street, and a uniformed law enforcement officer can stop you, recognize you, and know that you have a waiver and then proceed to just search you without any cause,” said Rob Poggenklass Rob Poggenklass, executive director of Justice Forward Virginia.

Bonkers stuff in Virginia: local prosecutors are pressuring some defendants... to waive their constitutional rights against unreasonable police searches for years to come!

There was a bill to ban that practice, but Youngkin just vetoed it.

boltsmag.org/fourth-amendme…

Public defenders are just incredible, critical, needed bulwarks for fairness, justice, and accountability. We see things no one else sees. And have the ability to identify & challenge patterns, complexities. Fully funding & supporting public defense is imperative. Exposed this:

There is nothing I relate to less than the desire to put humans in cages for a living.

This week in 1970 at UVA, the May Strike halted classes as Grounds erupted in student demonstrations, building takeovers, student demands, marches on Carr’s Hill, + student arrests by police in riot gear—culminating in a historic, healing address by Pres. Edgar Shannon. A 🧵…

Cops removed #IrvoOtieno from a hospital where he was to receive a mental health evaluation to charge him with 3 counts of assault on law enforcement instead.

He was transported back to a hospital days later where cops ended up restraining him and pressing on him until he died.

Regardless of how you feel about Israel, a university's burden to justify paramilitary action against its own students should be tougher than simply tweeting, after the fact, vagueries about 'violent conduct.'

Any evidence to offer? At all?

almost all of the 26 people arrested have been processed & released with their court date. still waiting on a few, but 1 person is being held without bail on a charge of assaulting an officer, despite clearly exonerating video. she’ll be in jail all weekend because a cop lied.

Violent crime is way down, so we’re going to hire 100,000 new police officers. whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

MOMENTS AGO: Police in riot gear cleared the encampment using force. Upwards of a dozen protestors have been detained. Chemical irritants have been used. Large crowd remains, and is being pushed back to University Ave.

Fifty four years ago today, the Kent State shootings of unarmed students at a rally protesting the expanding Vietnam War launched a nationwide awakening as universities, including UVA, saw student walkouts and demonstrations. #maydays

i guess glenn youngkin finished his european tour and decided to re-engage with his constituents in the most american way possible: police brutality

VCU Faculty: “These are OUR students, integral members of OUR community,' they wrote in the letter. 'We insist that you not call the police or campus security to intervene in peaceful demonstrations, restrict access to campus spaces, or curtail free speech.'