“Even if they’re illegal, they are still entitled to be treated humanely.”

Excerpt from Helen, a legal worker and family member of a defendant in winter 2022

Helen: Okay, if I could change the court system…The first place I would start would be with the judges.

Interviewer: Mm. Mhm.

Helen: How they administer justice, how they look at individual, how they fail to actually even read documentation that is presented to them. They automatically, um [cough]. They automatically give, the district attorneys, an open floor. If the dist--the district attorney says it, it must be true. They do not check their facts. They do not care how the law is. They do not administer the law the way it is meant and intended. So, I would start with the judges.

Interviewer: Uh huh.

Helen: The DAs. First of all, I would take qualified immunity away. There would be no qualified immunity, based on the fact that too many district attorneys, in order to get a high rate of convictions, are willing to break the law.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Helen: Um [mouth noise]. And in saying that, I know that, I-I, from a particular case we worked on, but, the DA and the, uh, public defender participated in forging the signature of an individual.

Interviewer: Mhm.

Helen: Okay. The judge was aware of this! They forged his signature on a plea deal!

Interviewer: Wow.

Helen: And they forced him to take it, as though it was okay.

Interviewer: Mm.

Helen: I had to go back... And-and go after everybody. And then the judge goes, "Oh yeah, well I did mess up." No, no, you don’t—you don’t just say that when you're playing with someone's life.

Interviewer: Right.

Helen: Judges and DAs have the lives of individuals in their hands. The disparity between the sentences that are giving out--given out to a person who is Caucasian compared to a person who is Mexican, Black, Asian are disproportionate. It's just ridiculous.

Interviewer: Right.

Helen: A Caucasian person will get five years for a robbery.

Interviewer: Mhm.

Helen: An African-American is more apt to get a 15-year sentence. A Mexican, 10. And at this point in time, the way things are playing out, um, since Trump was in office, it has gotten really ug--the racism has gotten really ugly. And-and-and, just, a blatant disregard for the laws on the--on the constitutional rights, that each and every person is afforded. Even if they're illegal, they-they are still entitled to be treated humanely.

Interviewer: Mm.

Helen: They don't do that.