Angela Lipps spent nearly six months in jail in Tennessee and North Dakota after being misidentified by Fargo police through AI facial recognition in a bank fraud investigation.
"Fargo police did not cover Angela’s expenses to get home after her release from jail. Local defense attorneys gave her money to pay for a hotel room and food on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The day after Christmas, F5 Project founder Adam Martin drove Lipps to Chicago so she could get home to Tennessee. Fargo-based F5 Project is an organization providing services and resources to individuals struggling with incarceration, mental health and addiction."
It’s bittersweet to read bits like this. It reminds me of the Mr Rogers line about how, in a disaster, you should “look for the helpers” if you need reminders of goodness to avoid becoming demoralised.
I am glad that there are so many good people who are fighting for real justice — even people who have committed crimes don’t deserve the inhumane treatment they experience under our legal system. I wish it weren’t necessary though. These small kindnesses don’t make up for all the ways this imprisonment fucked up her life.
It’s bittersweet to read bits like this. It reminds me of the Mr Rogers line about how, in a disaster, you should “look for the helpers” if you need reminders of goodness to avoid becoming demoralised.
I am glad that there are so many good people who are fighting for real justice — even people who have committed crimes don’t deserve the inhumane treatment they experience under our legal system. I wish it weren’t necessary though. These small kindnesses don’t make up for all the ways this imprisonment fucked up her life.