Thursday Noodles 2/8/24

Lawyers and law students struggling for justice edition

Well hello. Happy Thursday, angelic troublemakers.

Ad for Friends Committee on National Legislation, featuring Quaker-raised Bayard Rustin, the source of the term “angelic troublemakers.”

Today’s Noodles is an appreciation post for the angelic troublemakers at Emancipate NC.

They tell it best, so I’ll quote them from their recent email newsletter:

Emancipate NC Uncovers Durham Jail Conditions 

Last month, Emancipate NC filed a lawsuit against the Durham County Sheriff’s Office for violating the North Carolina Public Records Act by heavily redacting its jail policies in response to a public records request for the Durham County Jail’s manual. Some pages are almost entirely black. In contrast, the state prisons put their policy manual online in searchable text, and the Mecklenburg County Jail provided its full manual to Emancipate NC without redaction.

Meanwhile, conditions at the Durham County Jail are concerning. Under the supervision of Elizabeth Simpson, UNC Law students John Schengber and Nikolai Wise interviewed people in jail custody and collected their stories. 

Many of these stories are included in an in-depth article in the INDY Week:

“It was freezing outside when a detainee at the Durham County Detention Facility said he saw a staff member at the jail tie another detainee’s wrists and legs to a restraint chair for a few hours, with just a T-shirt and thermals to keep them warm that winter morning.”

The man recently recounted the memory to John Schengber and Nikolai Wise, two law students with the Civil Legal Assistance Clinic at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. UNC law students interviewed four detainees who also mentioned the chair.

As of right now, most of the policies on use of restraint chairs at the jail are not available to the public. But a new lawsuit seeks to change that. Emancipate NC, a local nonprofit, filed a lawsuit against the Durham County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, January 17 for violating the North Carolina Public Records Act by redacting too many policies in response to a public records request.

Read the full article in The Indy here→

Photos of pages of redacted “information” about policies in the Durham County Jail, submitted by the Durham County Sheriff 6 months after Emancipate NC’s public records request for “all written Durham jail policies.”

We’ve talked about the conditions in the Durham County Jail before, in multiple posts.

I am so, so grateful to these angelic troublemakers — especially, in this case, friend and fierce movement lawyer Elizabeth Simpson, UNC law professor and the strategic director of Emancipate NC; and law students John Schengber and Nikolai Wise with the Civil Legal Assistance Clinic at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill — for taking action and demanding justice for our vulnerable neighbors.

Do read the Indy Week article. It is well worth your time.

The Durham County Jail, caging our neighbors in inhumane conditions.

An incarcerated neighbor’s testimony given to Emancipate NC, as conveyed in their newsletter.

Some actions you can take:

— Write to Durham County Sheriff Birkhead, who ran as a progressive sheriff. Tell him you are concerned about the conditions in the Durham County jail:

Sheriff Clarence Birkhead

P.O. Box 170
Durham, NC 27702

— Donate to Emancipate NC online and/or send them a note of appreciation -

Emancipate NC
PO Box 309
Durham, NC 27702
(919) 682-1149

— Sign up for Emancipate NC’s email list to know all the justice they are struggling for.

— Donate to the North Carolina Community Bail Fund of Durham to free caged neighbors, many of whom are living behind bars just for being poor.

— Raise awareness in your circles by sharing the Indy Week article. Talk about conditions in jails and prisons next time you meet up with friends.

— Think up other creative ways to demonstrate solidarity with incarcerated neighbors.

What are your ideas for actions?

Great big love to all you angelic troublemakers.

XOXO