Despite Falling DC Crime Rate, Liberal Authorities Empower Cops to Use Drones, CCTV Cameras and License-plate readers to Constantly Surveil Law Abiding Black People and Put Them in Greater Confinement

/

From [HERE] D.C. will soon have more eyes in the sky.

The Metropolitan Police Department will start using drones in limited situations to try to protect residents from violent crime. It comes as Mayor Muriel Bowser adds hundreds of closed-circuit TV cameras and license plate readers.

Taking off from its base near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, Falcon 1 is ready for action. MPD unveiled the $6 million chopper at a press event Monday. The pilot called the helicopter a “game changer” because of its mapping technology and infrared cameras, which can help during car chases.

MPD’s air fleet now includes five drones. Chief of Police Pamela Smith said the drones will not be used for patrol operations but will be used in situations including barricades, crowd management, missing persons cases and major crash reconstruction.

“We will not be using artificial intelligence, and nor will we be using facial recognition with the drones yet,” she said.

Bowser said D.C.’s newly approved budget includes funding for 200 new CC TV cameras and nearly 50 more license-plate readers, which will be added over the next year.

UK Tests Emotion Recognition Cameras in Train Stations [coming soon to urban cities w/large Black/Latino Populations that are Controlled by elite white liberals]

/

From [HERE] For the last two years, British authorities have been testing AI-powered emotion recognition cameras on travelers in train stations, according to recently disclosed documents.

What can the cameras see?

In each of eight train stations around the UK, five to seven cameras or sensors scan the passing crowds. Using AI software from Amazon, the cameras use object recognition algorithms to spot criminal activity, trespassing, weapons, wet floors, overcrowding, and overstuffed trash cans. 

They can also alert authorities when passengers engage in “unusual behavior,” such as shouting, running, smoking, or skateboarding. 

A combination of existing cameras and newly installed smart cameras are being used for the surveillance project. All are equipped with Amazon’s Rekognition surveillance system.

Emotional recognition

Through a combination of facial and behavioral analyses, the Rekognition software allows officials to also analyze visitors’ emotions. Internal documents note that the cameras can detect whether a passenger is “happy, sad [or] angry.” They can also recognize passenger satisfaction, which “could be utilized to maximum advertising and retail revenue.”

Anti-social behavior

Authorities can also detect passengers who exhibit “anti-social behaviour,” which according to London’s Metropolitan Police Service means “behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person.”

Social distancing, face masks, and demographics

Other use cases for the surveillance cameras include detecting whether passengers are keeping to social distancing rules and wearing face masks. The cameras can also scan for demographics by identifying people’s age profiles and “socio-economic classification,” which the documents note can create “revenue opportunities for better targeted advertising and product placement.”

Jury Finds MD Cop Guilty of Excessive Force for Peppering Spraying a Handcuffed Black Man After an Unlawful Stop and then Waiting Several Hours to Transport him to Jail. Faces 10 Years in Prison

/

From [HERE] A former police officer in Maryland was recently convicted for using excessive force during a traffic stop, a federal jury determined. Philip Dupree, 40, formerly with the Fairmount Heights Police Department was found guilty of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, along with comments from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke and FBI Assistant Director David Sundberg. Dupree, who now faces up to 10 years behind bars, will be sentenced at a later date with a particular consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other statutory factors.

"We depend on law enforcement officers to protect our communities from crimes and to protect our civil rights while doing so," U.S. Attorney Graves said. Graves pointed out the breach of community trust that occurs when an officer such as Dupree "unjustly and unreasonably" uses their authority against citizens. The conviction stemmed from an incident on Aug. 4, 2019, where Dupree initiated a traffic stop on Eastern Avenue NE, just within the District of Columbia's border and allegedly without proper cause.

During the stop, Dupree's aggressive handling of the situation escalated to physical violence, even after the victim was handcuffed and placed in Dupree's personal vehicle. The encounter, much of which was captured on both body-worn camera footage and cell phone video by an eyewitness, showed Dupree pepper-spraying the restrained driver in the face and chest. Later, instead of following department policy to transport the victim to county lock-up, Dupree took the driver to the local station and reportedly fabricated a statement of Probable Cause claiming, the driver had attacked him.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke vehemently condemned Dupree's actions, stating, "Police brutality and violent misconduct against defenseless people are disgraceful acts that have no place in our society today." Similarly, FBI Assistant Director Sundberg reassured the public of the FBI's dedication to investigating such cases, emphasizing their commitment to protecting citizens' civil rights against law enforcement misconduct.

Dupree was arrested on August 24, 2022, in Washington D.C., following an investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office with the prosecution being led by Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Howland for the District of Columbia. Details of Dupree's sentencing will be released upon scheduling by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Kansas AG Civil Suit Claims Pfizer Lied About COVID Shots to Get Paid. Pfizer Knew Injections Caused Death, Miscarriages, Heart Problems, Strokes and Knew “Vaccine” Didn’t Stop or Prevent Transmission

/

UNJUST ENRICHMENT, FRAUD, BATTERY AND MURDER. consent obtained by lies, halfTruths, non-disclosures, fraud, coercion is not lawful consent. A plaintiff cannot ordinarily be regarded as actually consenting to the defendant's conduct if the plaintiff assented to the conduct while mistaken about the nature and quality of the invasion intended by the defendant. — Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 18, at 119-20 (5th ed. 1984).

The failure to provide informed consent is a basis of medical malpractice. But it also may be the basis of a lawsuit for an intentional battery, negligence or fraud. Battery is an intentional, unwanted or offensive touching by another. A lawsuit for battery increases the likelihood of punitive damages and unlike a claim for negligence, no proof of injury or harm is necessary. A lawsuit for battery generally has a shorter statute of limitations than a claim for negligence. [MORE]

From [HERE] Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach brought 9 Counts against Pfizer under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and 1 Count of Civil Conspiracy for conspiring with the US government (including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS*), the media, social media, universities, the lobbying group BIO, and other organizations in order to generate billions of dollars in revenue by willfully concealing material evidence and misrepresenting the fraudulent safety and efficacy claims of Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA injections to Kansas residents.

In the lawsuit, AG Kobach correctly points out that after Pfizer received their FDA-approval on August 23, 2021, the pharma giant and HHS were legally obligated to disclose all clinical trial data, as well as adverse events reported to Pfizer and the government agencies.

The complaint states:

1. Pfizer misled the public that it had a “safe and effective” COVID-19 vaccine.

2. Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths. Pfizer concealed this critical safety information from the public.

3. Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was effective even though it knew its COVID19 vaccine waned over time and did not protect against COVID-19 variants. Pfizer concealed this critical effectiveness information from the public.

4. Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine would prevent transmission of COVID-19 even though it knew it never studied the effect of its vaccine on transmission of COVID-19.

5. To keep the public from learning the truth, Pfizer worked to censor speech on social media that questioned Pfizer’s claims about its COVID-19 vaccine.

6. Pfizer’s misrepresentations of a “safe and effective” vaccine resulted in record company revenue of approximately $75 billion from COVID-19 vaccine sales in just two years.

7. Pfizer’s actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine violated previous consent judgments with the State of Kansas.

8. Pfizer’s actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, K.S.A. 50-623 et seq., regardless of whether any individual consumer ultimately received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

9. Pfizer must be held accountable for falsely representing the benefits of its COVID19 vaccine while concealing and suppressing the truth about its vaccine’s safety risks, waning effectiveness, and inability to prevent transmission.

The suit says “Pfizer concealed, suppressed, or omitted material facts it possessed showing significant safety concerns associated with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. It states,

“As of February 28, 2021, Pfizer’s adverse events database contained 158,893 adverse events (from 42,086 case reports) from its COVID-19 vaccine. As of February 28, 2021, Pfizer’s database contained 1,223 fatalities after taking Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, although Pfizer did not make causality findings.

Pfizer was receiving so many adverse event reports that it had to hire 600 additional full-time staff and expected to hire more than 1,800 additional resources by June 2021. Pfizer’s representations that its COVID-19 vaccine did not have any safety concerns was inconsistent with the adverse events data it possessed.”

The suit claims the billionaire corporation knew its injections were harming pregnant women. As of February 28, 2021 Pfizer knew that its shots cause miscarriages, pre-mature births and “other adverse effects on the reproductive systems of women.“ Also, by April 2022, Pfizer knew of tens of thousands of adverse events connected to its COVID-19 vaccine including heavy menstrual bleeding (27,685); menstrual disorders (22,145); irregular periods (15,083); delayed periods (13,989); absence of periods (11,363); and other reproductive system effects.”

Furthermore, since at least early 2021 Pfizer knew its injections were causing myocarditis and pericarditis, especially in teenagers and children.

According to the lawsuit, while Pfizer kept advertising and promoting the so-called “vaccine” as effective against COVID they knew that it was not effective at preventing infection or hospitalization. It states, Pfizer’s concealment, suppression, and omission of the waning effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine allowed Pfizer to profit from vaccinations of Kansans who may have been deterred from Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine had they known about its waning effectiveness.

The suit also claims that Pfizer never even tested the COVID shots to determine whether they were effective on stopping transmission. It explains, “Despite admissions by Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Bourla and Board Member Dr. Scott Gottlieb that Pfizer did not know if its vaccine prevented transmission, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Bourla warned Kansans on multiple occasions that not receiving a COVID-19 vaccine would affect the lives of those around them, thus implying that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine prevented transmission.” Specifically, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said;

  • on December 2020, “I repeat once more, that this choice not to vaccinate will not affect only your health or your life. Unfortunately, it will affect the lives of others and likely the lives of the people you love the most, who are the people that usually you are in contact with.” CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ Today

  • on January 2021: “What I would say to people who fear the vaccine is that they need to recognize that the decision to take it or not will not affect only their own lives. It will affect the lives of others. And most likely it will affect the lives of people that they love the most, who are the people that they socialize the most with.” Bloomberg

  • on June 2021: “I try to explain to them that the decision to vaccinate or not is not only going to affect only your life. . . . But unfortunately will affect the health of others and likely will affect the health of people you like and you love the most. . . . When you try to explain that their fear could stand in the way of protecting their loved ones, I think this is the argument that mostly works.” CBS NEWS

  • on November 2021: “The only thing that stands between the new way of life and the current way of life, frankly, is the hesitancy to get vaccinated, the people that are afraid to get the vaccines, and they create issues not only for them. Unfortunately, they are going to affect the lives of others and, frankly, the lives of the people that they love the most because they are putting at risk the people that they hug, they kiss, [and] they socialize with.” Pfizer’s Albert Bourla on how the pandemic ends, ATLANTIC COUNCIL

“In other words, on multiple occasions, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Bourla represented to Kansans that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine prevented transmission since not getting vaccinated threatened the lives of loved ones with whom a person closely interacted.”

According to the filing, “Pfizer’s concealment, suppression, and omission of the waning effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine allowed Pfizer to profit from vaccinations of Kansans who may have been deterred from Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine had they known about its waning effectiveness.”

The lawsuit seeks an unstated amount of financial damages.

Dennis Behreandt: Depopulation by Design

/

From [HERE] Here is a bit of bad news: We are in the end stage of a multi-pronged, multi-front, multi- decadal war against life itself. It gets worse: Most people have only a vague idea, at best, that this war is raging around them and that they and their families and their nations are the target. The enemy’s objective is to destroy the family, the nation that inevitably has its roots in the family, the religion that supports and breathes life into this superstructure, and even a majority of the individual people who live within this “vital framework.” The goal is simply the complete revolution of life, resulting in a globally managed state run through the United Nations and its affiliate NGOs and peopled by a carefully “curated” and “managed” population of humans “who own nothing and are happy.”

One of the most significant battles in this war that is now in its “kinetic” phase in Ukraine and Israel is biowarfare — specifically the Covid pandemic and the seemingly insane response to it. The global “insane” response to the pandemic, in fact, was the “skeleton key” that unlocked the pathway to the truth about what was happening. From a public-health standpoint, none of the policies instituted did a single thing to help human health and well-being. From standing six feet apart, following arrows on the floor in grocery stores, wearing masks, and telling people that for the most part they were “non- essential workers,” pandemic response policies had zero to do with actually helping people stay healthy, but everything to do with controlling and managing a population through fear and peer pressure. And this was pandemic policy at its best.

At its worst, the most extreme pandemic responses were and remain outright deadly attacks on human life. The virus itself almost certainly was bioengineered. Many public policies directly intermingled the sick with the weak and elderly, in a barely concealed attempt to do in the old and infirm. Globally, life- saving medications such as ivermectin were ridiculed and removed from the market, while dangerous concoctions were prescribed to the sick and hospital “protocols” including “ventilation” turned healthcare facilities into killing fields and medical practitioners, mostly unknowingly, into executioners. Finally, the vax with a raft of deadly side effects was unleashed on billions who believed with starry- eyed faith that everything being done to them was for the their own good.

Worldwide, this was a globally managed operation to lead billions of good and trusting people to injury, sickness, and, in far too many cases, death. But Covid was just the most recent, and perhaps most egregious, event in the biowarfare front of the Deep State global war on everyone else. The triple aims sought by the Deep State on this front are population transformation, control, and reduction. As this special report of The New American will demonstrate, the Deep State death cult has made significant advances, to the bloody detriment of millions around the globe, just since 2019. [MORE]

Study: COVID Shots Possibly Fueled Millions of Deaths in 47 Countries Since Beginning of the Pandemic Due to “Adverse Events”

/

From [HERE] A recently released significant study has confirmed the suspicions of so-called COVID “conspiracy theorists” by suggesting a link between the COVID-19 shot and millions of excess deaths worldwide.

As GB News reported on Tuesday, scientists from the Netherlands’ Vrije Universiteit discovered despite the rollout of 13.5 billion COVID vaccines across the globe, excess mortality remained shockingly high. These findings were published in BMJ Public Health.

The scientists wrote that this “new” information raised “serious concerns.” They then elaborated on adverse events that have been reported following the introduction of the Fauci ouchie, including severe injuries and deaths.

“Although COVID-19 vaccines were provided to guard civilians from suffering morbidity and mortality by the COVID-19 virus, suspected adverse events have been documented as well,” the authors wrote. “Both medical professionals and citizens have reported serious injuries and deaths following vaccination to various official databases in the Western World.”

“During the pandemic, it was emphasized by politicians and the media on a daily basis that every Covid-19 death mattered and every life deserved protection through containment measures and Covid-19 vaccines,” they continued. “In the aftermath of the pandemic, the same moral should apply.”

The scientists went on to cite numerous studies which revealed that COVID-19 vaccination may induce myocarditis, pericarditis, and autoimmune diseases.

“This commonality hinders clinical suspicion and consequently its detection as adverse vaccine reactions,” the authors wrote. [MORE]

Most Studies Show COVID Vaccine Affects Menstrual Cycles, BMJ Review Finds

/

From [HERE] Women experienced menstrual cycle disruption following COVID-19 vaccination, including changes in cycle length, flow and menstrual pain, according to a new “state of the science” review published Monday in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.

Although women comprised about half of the participants in the original COVID-19 vaccine trials, no data were collected on how the shots affected their menstrual cycles.

Soon after the shots were rolled out, many women started reporting longer periods and heavier-than-normal bleeding, and many women who did not normally menstruate — including women on long-acting contraceptives and post-menopausal women — also reported unusual bleeding.

Tens of thousands of women reported symptoms to researchers and medical regulators in the U.S. and the United Kingdom respectively by mid-2021.

At the time, women’s concerns were often “blown off” and they felt “gaslighted,” Dr. Alison Edelman, one of the review article authors, told NBC.

Researchers called for studies into the issue, in part because they said disrupted menstrual cycles were driving “misinformation” that the vaccines were dangerous and fueling “vaccine hesitancy.”

Since then, dozens of studies have been published on the issue.

For the BMJ review, researchers from Harvard, Boston University, Michigan State University and Oregon Health & Science University surveyed and summarized the existing published literature in the PubMed database — which contains peer-reviewed research in the biomedical and life sciences literature — on the COVID-19 vaccines and menstruation. [MORE]

CNN's Enten: We're Watching Historic Numbers Of Black Voters Under 50 Giving Up On Democratic Party

/

CNN's Harry Enten takes a look at polls showing black voters under 50 defecting from the Democratic Party.

"Look at Black voters under the age of 50. Holy cow, folks," he said. "Joe Biden was up by 80 points among this group back at this point in 2020. Look at where that margin has careened down towards. It's just -- get this -- 37 points. That lead has dropped by more than half."

"I've just never seen anything like this. I'm, like, speechless... We are looking at a historic moment right now where Black voters under the age of 50, who have historically been such a big part of the Democratic coalition, are leaving it in droves." [MORE]

Contrary to Gas Lighting by The Dependent Media about the Economy BP Research Finds that Over half of Latinos are concerned about not being able to pay next month's rent or mortgage

/

From [HERE] Over half of Latinos in Arizona, Texas and California say they are worried about not being able to pay next month's rent or mortgage, according to a new survey conducted by BSP Research on behalf of the Latino civil rights and advocacy organization UnidosUS.

The study, "titled Latino Banking and Financial Health Survey," sought to better understand the financial situation of the 62 million Latinos living in the United States.

Researchers surveyed 1,200 Latinos on economic issues such as their use of bank accounts, junk fees, and access to credit, as well as other financial health measures, including their saving levels, retirement savings, health care spending, and debt.

Among the most pressing concerns, 54 percent of respondents in Arizona and California said they were afraid of not being able to make their rent or mortgage payments, while 49 percent of respondents in Texas felt that way, UnidosUS specified during a briefing on the study on Tuesday.

These rates are higher among young Latinos. The findings show that about two-thirds (66 percent) of young Latinos aged 25-39 are concerned about next month's rent or mortgage payment, compared to 44 percent of those aged 40 and over.

Debt is also higher among younger Latinos. 59 percent of all respondents have $100,000 or more in mortgage debt, but that figure is 53 percent for those 40 and older and 81 percent for those between 25 and 39.

Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Identifies Death Penalty as a Legislative Priority Due to Legacy of Racial Violence and Bias

/

From [HERE] On June 11, 2024, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC) held a press conference highlighting the group’s legislative priorities, which included the death penalty as a key concern. Noting “the racial cycle of injustice perpetrated by the death penalty,” State Representative Terrence Upchurch, who is also the president of the OLBC, insisted that legislative leadership move toward “dismantling this flawed system and establishing a new legacy of equality and justice in Ohio.”

Rep. Upchurch and other members of the OLBC espoused many of the key takeaways from the Death Penalty Information Center’s latest report, Broken Promises: How a History of Racial Violence and Bias Shaped Ohio’s Death Penalty. Chief among their concerns were the race of victim effect and the potential for innocent people to be sentenced to death due to bias among prosecutors, judges, and juries. As noted in Broken Promises, homicides involving white female victims are six times more likely to result in an execution than homicides involving Black victims. The report also revealed that innocent Black Ohioans collectively spent nearly 200 years on death row for crimes they did not commit. The stories included in the report underscore the OLBC’s concerns about racial bias tainting capital proceedings. Jurors, expert witnesses, and attorneys who made overtly racist statements participated in sentencing multiple Black Ohioans to death.

“Ohio’s death penalty system reflects a legacy of racial violence and bias,” said Rep. Upchurch. “Black defendants face a prejudiced process, making a fair trial nearly impossible.” Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 259, both advocating for death penalty abolition, have bipartisan support in both chambers. Neither bill has progressed since being referred to committee in 2023.

New Accusations of Prosecutorial Misconduct in Virginia Capital Case Emerge Three Years After State Abolishes Death Penalty

/

From [HERE] A June 2024 petition filed in the Prince William County, Virginia Circuit Court, accuses former Commonwealth Attorney (CA) Paul Ebert of withholding exculpatory evidence during the trial of Louis Jefferson Dukes Jr., who, along with his nephew Lonnie Weeks Jr., was convicted of murdering a state trooper in 1994 during a traffic stop. Mr. Dukes was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, while Mr. Weeks was found guilty, received the death penalty, and was executed in 2000. In the petition filed with the circuit court, Mr. Dukes’ attorney alleges that CA Ebert made “material misrepresentations” in court when the prosecution claimed that serology reports established Mr. Dukes’ proximity to the state trooper when he was killed. The petition states that “the commonwealth’s attorney knew this was not the victim’s blood on [Mr. Dukes’] jacket,” despite his arguments regarding proximity. Richard MacDowell, an attorney for Mr. Dukes, alleges that CA Ebert also made a deal with Mr. Dukes’ cellmate that included a promise to seek a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony in Mr. Dukes’ case. 

Throughout his more than 50 years in office, CA Ebert secured 13 death sentences, placing Prince William County, Virginia, on the list of top death penalty jurisdictions. Despite his success securing death sentences, courts have found several other instances in which CA Ebert and his office withheld exculpatory material in capital cases. In 2009, CA Ebert was criticized for withholding evidence in the case of John Allen Muhammad, but the Court decided the evidence would not have altered the trial’s outcome. Just two years later, citing evidence that CA Ebert’s office once again withheld evidence, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson overturned the capital conviction of Justin Wolfe, holding that crucial impeachment evidence was withheld from the defense. Upholding Jude Jackson’s ruling, the appeals court wrote that because of the earlier ruling in Mr. Muhammad’s case, CA Ebert’s office should “err on the side of disclosure, especially when a defendant is facing the specter of execution.”

Supreme Court Ruling Weakens Protections for Poor Defendants Sentenced to Death

/

From [HERE] In a 6-3 decision on May 30, the Supreme Court deviated from its own precedent and practice to uphold an Arizona man’s death sentence despite a federal appellate court ruling that his trial lawyer was ineffective in violation of the Sixth Amendment.

Danny Jones was accused of killing three people during an attempted theft in 1992. Arizona prosecutors sought the death penalty. Mr. Jones, who said his drug use led to the offense, could not afford to hire an attorney. A public defender who had been an attorney for only about three years and had never been a lead attorney on a capital case was assigned to represent him.

A long line of precedent flowing from the Court’s 1986 decision in Strickland v. Washington establishes that defense attorneys have a constitutional duty to investigate and present evidence of mitigating circumstances to the sentencer in a capital case.

But Mr. Jones’s lawyer did not investigate potential mitigation evidence until after the jury had already convicted him of capital murder. He never hired a mental health expert and failed to request neurological or neuropsychological testing until the day of the sentencing hearing, even though he knew that Mr. Jones was “oxygen-deprived at birth and had a lithium deficiency—a condition linked to serious psychiatric disorders” and that “he was medicated for mood disorders, had attempted suicide and had been admitted to a mental hospital,” Courthouse News reports.

Mr. Jones was sentenced to death. On appeal, he argued that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed and reversed his death sentence, finding that the public defender’s performance was deficient and there was a reasonable probability that Mr. Jones would not have been sentenced to death if his lawyer had presented available evidence about his mental health. [MORE]

Justice for the Rich and White: Pennsylvania Public Defense System is Unconstitutional, Underfunded by at Least $100M, New ACLU Suit Says

/

From [HERE] Pennsylvania has failed to live up to its constitutional responsibility to provide an effective defense to people who can’t afford attorneys and will need to spend at least $100 million to fulfill this obligation, the ACLU of Pennsylvania said in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The group brought the suit on behalf of 17 people facing issues including little to no contact with the public defenders they are entitled to, according to the lawsuit.

It was also filed on behalf of all current and future indigent people, those accused of a crime and unable to pay for a private defense attorney. If the court approves this group as a class, any outcome will extend to all of those affected.

The suit blames the state, not the counties, for failing to properly fund these constitutionally mandated services and names Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) and state House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) as defendants.

At the moment, Pennsylvania only provides $7.5 million to support indigent defense. Counties must make up the rest with limited local funds, and public defenders’ offices are often shut out from funding opportunities available to prosecutors, the suit asserts citing Spotlight PA reporting.

The suit asks Commonwealth Court to rule the current public defense system unconstitutional and retain oversight until the state fully complies with the constitutional right to counsel.

Rather than seeking damages for specific plaintiffs, the suit is pursuing holistic reform, said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director Vic Walczak.

“You’re trying to change how an institution works — here we’re actually talking about how 67 institutions work,” he told Spotlight PA.