Why We Courtwatch
We courtwatch because courtrooms are public spaces, but are protected by a strictly enforced secrecy that fosters the miscarriage of justice and the practice of institutionalized racism.
We courtwatch to make sure our State’s Attorney’s Office follows the will of the people. Aisha Braveboy campaigned for State’s Attorney on the platform of ending cash bail in Prince George’s County. Yet Black and brown Prince Georgians and their families continue to face a bail process that punishes poverty and criminalizes Black life. Day in and day out, Aisha Braveboy’s frontline prosecutors – those under her direct purview – request no-bond holds in order to follow the letter of the State’s Attorney’s no-cash-bail policy while blatantly disregarding its intent.
We courtwatch because our incarcerated loved ones are at extreme risk of exposure to COVID-19. It is impossible to practice social distancing and proper sanitation at Prince George’s County Correctional Center. In an effort to disguise torture as COVID-19 safety, PGCCC confines Black and brown people to dirty cells for 23 hours per day for “social distancing.”
We courtwatch because Prince George’s County judges are accountable to no one. Judges assign unaffordable money bails and no-bond holds that defy Prince Georgians’ mandate for progressive bail reform. With trials suspended due to COVID-19, we routinely see judges in District Court Room 261B hand out indefinite jail sentences to Black and brown people who have not been brought to justice, let alone convicted of any harm or offense.
That is why, in partnership with Life After Release, we are going inside the courtroom to monitor and track the actions of Prince George’s County officials including frontline prosecutors, judges, and courtroom staff. We courtwatch to shine a light into the shrouded darkness behind the curtain, where Prince George’s County has committed to harming Black and brown people.
We courtwatch because we must build a future that nurtures all Black lives in Prince George’s County.