We recently went to St.Louis to produce a social biography video for a capital case. The attorneys, as committed as we have ever seen, are determined to saving their client’s life. Their state of Missouri had been on a torrid  execution pace — averaging an execution a month this year. We were asked to capture the story of the community their client grew up in during 1990’s — a decade defined as a “war zone” for that part of the city. Their client, the man who’s life we are fighting for, said, “You grow into the shape of the container you were raised in.” The poetic reflection gave us a framework for our video. We would ask people — the survivors of an era of extreme violence, drugs, and political corruption — to describe their city in the 90’s. The first response we got from someone as he showed us all of his bullet woulds and stabbing works. He said, “Three words? Do or die.” The following photos by Jean Melesaine shares some of the visions we saw — a post-war city, still holding on to what got them thru: dignity, love, and each other. (Click the image to see the full photo essay on De-Bug.)

“Bone” shows us where he was shot in his abdomen and his tattoos. When asked why we didn’t see more men of his age in the municipality, he said, “They are all dead or in prison.” His tattoos read: “Gods Son.”

By William Safford

On June 19, 2014, a federal court of appeals struck down a Los Angeles city ordinance which criminalized vehicle dwelling.  The court held that the law, which banned the use of a vehicle as “living quarters”, was unconstitutionally vague and subject to arbitrary, discriminatory enforcement.  This may seem like a Los Angeles problem, but to those immersed in Peninsula politics, it sounds eerily familiar.

Unconstitutional vagueness is a funny concept.  It sounds like a linguistic problem – tighten up the language and the law will be fine.  Yet, this decision recognizes that laws cannot be fundamentally unclear.  If you and I cannot tell what is illegal, and neither can the police, then how can enforcement ever be reasonable?  The answer, said the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, is that it cannot.  If the police arbitrarily decide who to enforce against, then there is no equality of justice, and the law becomes reminiscent of “English feudal poor laws designed to prevent the physical movement and economic ascension of the lower class.”

Why is this a Palo Alto issue?  Because the Palo Alto vehicle habitation ordinance (VHO) is identical in every important way.  Both laws criminalize living in a car, but leave important questions wide open.  The Palo Alto law attempts to define “human habitation” as “the use of a vehicle for a dwelling place, including but not limited to, sleeping, eating or resting”, but if anything, this just makes things less clear. Continue reading →

Steeda McGruder, the inspiring organizer and leader of Sisters That Been There, was included in the recent comprehensive New York Times multimedia report entitled, “Women Inmates Separate But Not Equal.” The piece also features our friend Piper Kerman, who besides authoring Orange is the New Black, is also a tremendous visionary in the movement to end mass incarceration. Steeda first came to De-Bug with her own vision about creating support systems for women coming home from prison three years ago. She has since made that dream into a successful program called Sisters That Been There. Check out the piece by clicking here or the image!