13 Comments
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Tim Burns's avatar

Thank you, Alec, for your essential work.

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MBHayes's avatar

Thank you for including the video. I am eternally grateful for the work you do to release people from jails. It's utterly pathetic that children have to chalk a sidewalk to communicate with their father.

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MBHayes's avatar

And this: "The very common career path for federal prosecutors to train and develop their skills sending the poorest people in our society to cages and then to earn millions achieving leniency for wealthy corporate defendants is one of the most revealing ways to understand the true purposes and effects of the U.S. criminal legal system." Eye-opening.

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Sam Holloway's avatar

Magnificent, as always.

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Doug Porter's avatar

Truth! Thank you.

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Trisha Connolly's avatar

Wow. Thank you for this.

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David Dorman's avatar

Two things struck me about the NYTimes article after I finished reading it:

1. How misleading the headline was. No drug empire was broken up. A couple of small time operators were caught and put in jail.

2. The story says nothing about whether the city or the feds tried to find out and go after who sold the drugs to Mr. Lazardi. Any drug empire breaking could only result in an investigation trail leading to the big time producers and wholesale sellers.

Thank you Alec for your thoughful reflections on this truly terrible article--the NYTimes at its worst.

David D.

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Jason's avatar

Thanks for this piece.

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Alex's avatar

I stopped reading the nytimes years ago precisely because I saw what they were doing. The reality in the streets was just too far removed from tone and substance of their coverage. I realized I was reading elite spin and propaganda.

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Erik Paulson's avatar

Love the book and thank you

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Richard Creswell's avatar

I was enlightened about the reason I could not visit jailed activists or my unhoused neighbors who shivered cold and hungry in our county jails. Any money they have gets taken for fees and health insurance copay and $8 out of every ten dollars given to them by wellwishers after the 20 percent fee is scooped out.

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john's avatar

Knowing who won't like this makes me like it all the more.

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Glenn T Morgan Sr's avatar

The only intentions are keeping the prisons for profit industry functioning and wouldn't you know hedge funds are involved. Now they've moved into residential property and are driving prices beyond what thr average buyers can afford. This was what Kamala was working on when she was VP and now the GOP"s created the fictitious lazy basement dweller playing video games as their latest boogeyman to distract from who's really responsible for why our children can't afford to enjoy home ownership. The propaganda that convinced voters that a 6 time bankrupted man was the "businessman" to lower prices is how the GOP distracted the voters from the actual culprits of high housing costs and grocery prices. The corporations and the hedge funds who have been invading every part of personal finance. Too much progress was being made by Lena Kahn and local government in enforcement of FCC regulations and local zoning laws for hedge funds to tolerate.

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