alec karakatsanis
@equalityalec.bsky.social
founder, Civil Rights Corps
civil rights lawyer
author of usual cruelty (2019) and
copaganda (2025)
any views expressed here are my own, and not those of civil rights corps
civil rights lawyer
author of usual cruelty (2019) and
copaganda (2025)
any views expressed here are my own, and not those of civil rights corps
Pinned
I just received the first copy of Copaganda! It will be sold anywhere books are sold. I try to explain the role of the media, the police, and academia in how we got to this authoritarian moment.
My 94-year-old grandmother is doing some light reading.
December 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
My 94-year-old grandmother is doing some light reading.
Thousands of articles, podcasts, and "think pieces" where liberals dismiss "defund" as unpopular, and yet the policy demand to reduce the size of police, prosecutor, and prison budgets is one of the most popular, consistently polled issues in the U.S: equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
December 21, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Thousands of articles, podcasts, and "think pieces" where liberals dismiss "defund" as unpopular, and yet the policy demand to reduce the size of police, prosecutor, and prison budgets is one of the most popular, consistently polled issues in the U.S: equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
"Every single conversation happening in the political consultant and campaign class among Democratic Party figures is proceeding from a set of “conventional wisdom” assumptions that are wrong about what people want and that fly in the face of a scientific consensus."
THREAD. Has anyone ever told you that we can't reduce the size and power of the police, prosecutor, surveillance tech, and prison bureaucracies because it's not popular? In my latest newsletter, I debunk that myth. equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
Conventional Wisdom and "Popularity"
And a weird debate I just had.
equalityalec.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:37 PM
"Every single conversation happening in the political consultant and campaign class among Democratic Party figures is proceeding from a set of “conventional wisdom” assumptions that are wrong about what people want and that fly in the face of a scientific consensus."
I've now updated this post to include the overwhelming poling data from crime survivors themselves. The fact that establishment figures lie to people about what crime victims want is one of the great shames of the modern Democratic Party and liberal punditry:
THREAD. Has anyone ever told you that we can't reduce the size and power of the police, prosecutor, surveillance tech, and prison bureaucracies because it's not popular? In my latest newsletter, I debunk that myth. equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
Conventional Wisdom and "Popularity"
And a weird debate I just had.
equalityalec.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I've now updated this post to include the overwhelming poling data from crime survivors themselves. The fact that establishment figures lie to people about what crime victims want is one of the great shames of the modern Democratic Party and liberal punditry:
THREAD. Has anyone ever told you that we can't reduce the size and power of the police, prosecutor, surveillance tech, and prison bureaucracies because it's not popular? In my latest newsletter, I debunk that myth. equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
Conventional Wisdom and "Popularity"
And a weird debate I just had.
equalityalec.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:48 AM
THREAD. Has anyone ever told you that we can't reduce the size and power of the police, prosecutor, surveillance tech, and prison bureaucracies because it's not popular? In my latest newsletter, I debunk that myth. equalityalec.substack.com/p/convention...
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
It's copadandize the children season. For the second year in a row, the SWAT team rappelled down the face of the Montreal Children's Hospital and then went inside to distribute gifts. Many hospital staff have criticized this training/PR exercise, but they've been ignored.
December 9, 2025 at 12:03 PM
It's copadandize the children season. For the second year in a row, the SWAT team rappelled down the face of the Montreal Children's Hospital and then went inside to distribute gifts. Many hospital staff have criticized this training/PR exercise, but they've been ignored.
One of the darkest aspects of this is that the Editorial Board can be presumed to understand its audience. The level of manufactured ignorance it takes for a non-predator to respond positively to these ideas is breathtaking.
A full, official editorial today in the New York Times. Not an op-ed. The statements and images are made on behalf of the paper itself.
December 10, 2025 at 2:05 AM
One of the darkest aspects of this is that the Editorial Board can be presumed to understand its audience. The level of manufactured ignorance it takes for a non-predator to respond positively to these ideas is breathtaking.
A full, official editorial today in the New York Times. Not an op-ed. The statements and images are made on behalf of the paper itself.
December 9, 2025 at 2:36 AM
A full, official editorial today in the New York Times. Not an op-ed. The statements and images are made on behalf of the paper itself.
If you don’t know about our Right2Hug campaign, you should check out the links below. What these kids around the country are enduring and also how they are fighting back is something a lot more people should know about.
THREAD. Today our lawyers will be in a small courtroom in Colorado fighting for a constitutional right for children to hug their parents. Did you know that millions of children every year are barred from hugging their parents because of new policies? Do you know who benefits?
December 8, 2025 at 6:33 PM
If you don’t know about our Right2Hug campaign, you should check out the links below. What these kids around the country are enduring and also how they are fighting back is something a lot more people should know about.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
THREAD. There are alarming developments in Canada recently. Some politicians are apparently doing their best impression of Trump's Executive Orders on cash bail--they want to determine who is in a cage and who is free with their family based on who pays up-front cash.
December 8, 2025 at 3:13 AM
THREAD. There are alarming developments in Canada recently. Some politicians are apparently doing their best impression of Trump's Executive Orders on cash bail--they want to determine who is in a cage and who is free with their family based on who pays up-front cash.
THREAD. There are alarming developments in Canada recently. Some politicians are apparently doing their best impression of Trump's Executive Orders on cash bail--they want to determine who is in a cage and who is free with their family based on who pays up-front cash.
December 8, 2025 at 3:13 AM
THREAD. There are alarming developments in Canada recently. Some politicians are apparently doing their best impression of Trump's Executive Orders on cash bail--they want to determine who is in a cage and who is free with their family based on who pays up-front cash.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
there are unique aspects of this new immigration detention regime, but as someone with an incarcerated sibling, many of the tactics are, sadly, familiar. international humanitarian law, supreme court rulings, federal rules and regulations, basic decency — all are optional in our prison system.
Torture is a feature of life in thousands of US jails and prisons. It’s often blamed on “guards,” but someone had to design this contraption, build it, plan its use, and run it up the chain of command. Judges and lawyers had to create a legal regime where this stuff pervades for decades.
December 5, 2025 at 5:21 PM
there are unique aspects of this new immigration detention regime, but as someone with an incarcerated sibling, many of the tactics are, sadly, familiar. international humanitarian law, supreme court rulings, federal rules and regulations, basic decency — all are optional in our prison system.
Torture is a feature of life in thousands of US jails and prisons. It’s often blamed on “guards,” but someone had to design this contraption, build it, plan its use, and run it up the chain of command. Judges and lawyers had to create a legal regime where this stuff pervades for decades.
December 5, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Torture is a feature of life in thousands of US jails and prisons. It’s often blamed on “guards,” but someone had to design this contraption, build it, plan its use, and run it up the chain of command. Judges and lawyers had to create a legal regime where this stuff pervades for decades.
This event is tonight in DC. It’s the last book event I have scheduled for the Copaganda tour. Hope to see folks! Talk starts at 6:30pm.
DC folks: I'm excited to announce a last minute Copaganda event at Busboys and Poets this Thursday! As a special treat, one of the best journalists in the U.S. will be joining us to discuss authoritarianism. I'll let you know who it is later in the week... www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-ev...
Unmasking Copaganda: How Media and Policing Fuel Mass Incarceration | Busboys and Poets
Brown, Goldstein & Levy and partner Jacqueline Cadman, head of BGL’s Criminal Defense Section, are honored to host nationally recognized civil rights attorney Alec Karakatsanis, founder of Civil R...
www.busboysandpoets.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This event is tonight in DC. It’s the last book event I have scheduled for the Copaganda tour. Hope to see folks! Talk starts at 6:30pm.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
I wrote about local lobbying for body cams and reviewed @equalityalec.bsky.social's excellent new book, Le caméra d'intervention (Éditions de la rue Doirion), last month.
tedrutland.substack.com/p/body-camer...
tedrutland.substack.com/p/body-camer...
Body cameras are not a solution
The history of police body cameras tells a different story than the marketing campaign
tedrutland.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I wrote about local lobbying for body cams and reviewed @equalityalec.bsky.social's excellent new book, Le caméra d'intervention (Éditions de la rue Doirion), last month.
tedrutland.substack.com/p/body-camer...
tedrutland.substack.com/p/body-camer...
THREAD. Today our lawyers will be in a small courtroom in Colorado fighting for a constitutional right for children to hug their parents. Did you know that millions of children every year are barred from hugging their parents because of new policies? Do you know who benefits?
December 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
THREAD. Today our lawyers will be in a small courtroom in Colorado fighting for a constitutional right for children to hug their parents. Did you know that millions of children every year are barred from hugging their parents because of new policies? Do you know who benefits?
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
✨It's Giving Tuesday✨ This year, consider donating to Civil Rights Corps! CRC is committed to our fight to dismantle the systems that punish and cage our communities, but with the increased attacks on nonprofits, we need your support.
Donate here: bit.ly/crc-donate
Donate here: bit.ly/crc-donate
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
✨It's Giving Tuesday✨ This year, consider donating to Civil Rights Corps! CRC is committed to our fight to dismantle the systems that punish and cage our communities, but with the increased attacks on nonprofits, we need your support.
Donate here: bit.ly/crc-donate
Donate here: bit.ly/crc-donate
THREAD. As Orwell explained, once you lose the capacity to say 2+2=4, all else is lost.
Alec Karakatsanis | Heising-Simons Sparks of Hope Talk
YouTube video by Civil Rights Corps
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
THREAD. As Orwell explained, once you lose the capacity to say 2+2=4, all else is lost.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:33 PM
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
DC folks: I'm excited to announce a last minute Copaganda event at Busboys and Poets this Thursday! As a special treat, one of the best journalists in the U.S. will be joining us to discuss authoritarianism. I'll let you know who it is later in the week... www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-ev...
Unmasking Copaganda: How Media and Policing Fuel Mass Incarceration | Busboys and Poets
Brown, Goldstein & Levy and partner Jacqueline Cadman, head of BGL’s Criminal Defense Section, are honored to host nationally recognized civil rights attorney Alec Karakatsanis, founder of Civil R...
www.busboysandpoets.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:09 PM
DC folks: I'm excited to announce a last minute Copaganda event at Busboys and Poets this Thursday! As a special treat, one of the best journalists in the U.S. will be joining us to discuss authoritarianism. I'll let you know who it is later in the week... www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-ev...
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
Precisely.
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Precisely.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
Many journalists are tracking the procurement and deployment of new technologies and tactics, but it's hard to get the entire picture. A generational threat to civil liberties that I suspect future governments will struggle (or refuse) to roll back. Dramatic reform/abolition will be required.
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Many journalists are tracking the procurement and deployment of new technologies and tactics, but it's hard to get the entire picture. A generational threat to civil liberties that I suspect future governments will struggle (or refuse) to roll back. Dramatic reform/abolition will be required.
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
“Labeled as ‘domestic terrorists’ by the administration, these targets include anti-ICE protesters and anyone who allegedly funds them — all of them part of a supposed left-wing conspiracy to violently oppose the president’s agenda.”
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“Labeled as ‘domestic terrorists’ by the administration, these targets include anti-ICE protesters and anyone who allegedly funds them — all of them part of a supposed left-wing conspiracy to violently oppose the president’s agenda.”
Reposted by alec karakatsanis
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:33 PM
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...