(2020-03-27). Six months in jail for standing too close to strangers? Countries worldwide roll out draconian measures to fight Covid-19. rt.com 
New regulations in Singapore which threaten prison time for anyone found violating "social distancing" protocols exemplify the harsh rules being imposed around the world in the fight against coronavirus. | According to a press release from the Ministry of Health, Singaporeans who fail to maintain a distance of one meter from other people in "non-transient" public interactions can be fined up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($6,985) and even risk a six-month jail sentence. | The strict measures come as nations around the world adopt similarly extreme provisions to halt the spread of coronavirus. | Jordan
(2020-03-27). DOJ Seeks to Exploit Coronavirus Emergency to Detain People Indefinitely. truthout.org Throughout U.S. history, presidents have exploited national emergencies to exceed their constitutional powers. Abraham Lincoln illegally suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Franklin D. Roosevelt confined people of Japanese descent in internment camps during World War II. And George W. Bush used his post-9/11 "war on terror" to launch two illegal wars, mount a program of torture, conduct extensive unlawful surveillance and illegally detain people. | In light of Donald Trump's national em…
(2020-03-27). Doctors "Strongly Condemn" UK Decision to Keep Assange Imprisoned During COVID-19 Pandemic. mintpressnews.com Assange's treatment in the UK's Belmarsh Prison has been so poor that convicted murderers and other high-security inmates had to stage a mass protest to secure his transfer to the hospital wing.
(2020-03-27). Golden Chains may explore the Stolen Legacy of Negro Bar, California. indybay.org First elected Treasurer of San Francisco, Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. acquired well over 35,000 acres along the "Gold River" Rancho Rio de Los Americanos. His "sudden death" and burial on May 18, 1848 marked the beginning of the Gold Rush on his land and the establishment of the town Negro Bar, California, today the City of Folsom. "Slavery and Freedom" in Negro Hill / Negro Bar Mining District is part of "Golden Chains" to be continued…
(2020-03-27). Headlines for March 27, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Leads World in Reported COVID-19 Cases as Hospitalizations Surge, Trump Doubts New York City's Need for 30,000 Life-Saving Ventilators, Politico: President Trump Failed to Follow Pandemic Playbook, Squandering Precious Time, Detroit and Chicago Join New Orleans as U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spots, House to Vote on Record-Shattering $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Three Unaccompanied Migrant Children Test Positive for COVID-19, Jailed Asylum Seekers Stage Hunger Strike, Demanding Release During Pandemic, Activists Demand Release of Aging Prisoners as Coronavirus Spreads, Hospitals in Spain and Italy on th…
(2020-03-27). Incarcerated Anti-Fascists Report Targeted Beatings by Guards. truthout.org The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is targeting Eric King, an unapologetically vocal anti-fascist, yogi and poet who has been incarcerated since
(2020-03-27). Australia's imprisoned refugees plead for release as coronavirus risk increases. wsws.org Detainees have protested at being held "in a potential death trap in which we have no option or means to protect ourselves."
(2020-03-27). Former K-Pop Star Choi Jong-hoon Gets 2 Years Probation for Illegal Filming, Bribery. sputniknews.com This sentence has been added to his five years in prison for aggravated rape.
(2020-03-27). Indian Groom Lands in Jail for Hosting Wedding Without Permission Amid COVID19 Lockdown. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The death toll from coronavirus has spiked in India, with 17 people succumbing to the disease so far, while the number of positive cases has surpassed 700, leading the government to introduce a 21-day national lockdown.
(2020-03-27). Selected Articles: COVID-19 Relief "Bailouts" and "Handouts" globalresearch.ca Online independent analysis of US-led wars, rampant corruption, corporate greed, civil rights and fraudulent monetary transactions is invariably relegated to the bottom rung of search engine results. | As a result we presently do not cover our monthly running costs which …
(2020-03-26). Asylum Seekers Stranded in Mexico Face a New Danger: COVID-19. aclu.org 
Since the Trump Administration first unrolled its policy of
(2020-03-26). Gerald Horne's new book 'White Supremacy Confronted' relates apartheid to Jim Crow. peoplesworld.org 
United States' support of the apartheid regime in South Africa intersected with Cold War geopolitics. Anti-communism bolstered racist oppression globally. Additionally, domestic Jim Crow and South African apartheid were two sides of the same anti-communist coin, a currency used to stifle African-American civil rights at home as well as Black liberation and anti-colonial struggles in …
(2020-03-26). The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination. thenation.com The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Get Away With Discrimination…
(2020-03-26). COVID-19: Two Major 'Waves' of Global Infection, Towards Global Contamination? globalresearch.ca The US State Department and media are heavily promoting as theology that COVID-19 is "a Chinese virus and China spread it around the world", demanding apologies and more. One American law firm in Florida filed a class action lawsuit against the Chinese government, seeking compensation for 'damages'.
(2020-03-26). Former Veterans Affairs police officer pleads guilty to excessive force. nationofchange.org Nicholson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for June 24.
(2020-03-26). Colombian prisoners ask for medical help and receive bullets. fightbacknews.org The National Prison Movement (Movimiento Nacional Carcelario) and other prisoner rights groups called a demonstration in Colombian prisons on March 21, to protest the lack of protection against the COVID-19 virus and the general lack of decent healthcare in the Colombian prisons. Twelve Colombian prisons answered the call for a 'cacerolazo,' a protest where one bangs on pots and pans to make enough noise so that the protest is heard. | The protest in the prison Carcel Nacional Modelo de Bogotá began at 9 p.m. on March 21. The prisoners were mostly on lockdown in their cells and began banging on their pots and pan…
(2020-03-26). British prisons have now seen their first coronavirus death. thecanary.co An 84-year-old man has become the first British prisoner to die after contracting coronavirus (Covid-19). | The inmate at HMP Littlehey, a category C male sex offenders' prison in Cambridgeshire, died in hospital on 22 March. | He reportedly had underlying health issues. | A Prison Service spokesman said: "An 84-year-old prisoner at HMP Littlehey died in hospital on March 22. | "Our thoughts are with his family at this time. | "As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman." | As of 25 March, 19 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus across 1…
(2020-03-25). UN rights chief urges quick action by governments to prevent devastating impact of COVID-19 in places of detention. news.un.org COVID-19 has begun to strike in prisons, jails and immigration detention centres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned on Wednesday, as she urged Governments "not to forget hose behind bars" and to protect those working in closed facilities in their overall efforts to contain the pandemic…
(2020-03-25). MN shows solidarity with Palestine during COVID-19 pandemic. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – The MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) wanted to be a part of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network's global week of action for Palestinian Land Day but they couldn't do it as a protest the way they had originally planned. Instead on March 24 the MN AWC reorganized their protest as a call-in day, and then did a five-person social distancing bannering protest. | In 1976, Land Day marked a turning point as the first mass mobilization by Palestinians within Israel against colonialism and land theft. Israeli police shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel for protesting the Israeli go…
(2020-03-25). Human Rights Council Appeals to Red Cross: Protect Palestinian Prisoners. imemc.org On 24 March 2020, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and to the Palestinian diplomatic community, Palestine News Network reported. The letters were urgent appeals with regards to the deteriorating conditions of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, …
(2020-03-25). 'The Only Plan the Prison Has Is to Leave Us to Die in Our Beds'. thenation.com 'The Only Plan the Prison Has Is to Leave Us to Die in Our Beds'
(2020-03-25). Palestinians Prisoners in Israeli Jails Appeal for Their Safety. imemc.org Around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners appealed, on Wednesday, to concerned local and international bodies to ensure their own safety, inside Israeli jails. The prisoners' appeal came in response to the widely-spread Coronavirus, worldwide and in Israel, where the prisoners are jailed. A statement released by the prisoners read; "Increasingly, we feel …
(2020-03-24). "Top Priority Is Release": Will Rikers Island Free More Prisoners as 60+ Test Positive for COVID-19? democracynow.org 
As COVID-19 begins to spread in the U.S. prison system, calls are growing in the New York City epicenter of the pandemic to release people from Rikers Island, the second-largest jail system in the country. At least 39 prisoners and 21 staff at Rikers Island have tested positive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the city had released 75 people, but advocates are calling for the release of thousands more. We speak with Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer for New York City's Correctional Health Services and author of "Life and Death in Rikers Island." His piece for The Hill is headlined "Coronavirus behi…
(2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
(2020-03-23). Former ICE Director: Release Immigrants from Detention or COVID-19 Will Spread Like Wildfire Inside. democracynow.org 
Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high risk during the pandemic.‚Ä®‚Ä® We hear from a detained person on hunger strike and speak wit…
(2020-03-23). This is No Time to Play Politics with our Democracy. aclu.org To ensure elections proceed and eligible Americans can vote, any federal legislative package addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our elections must include an immediate, substantial infusion of federal funding and federal requirements for no-excuse mail-in absentee voting and early in-person voting. While the coronavirus pandemic should not be a political issue, with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. It is simply not an option for Congress to fail to act on these basic issues to protect American elections while the pandemic is ongoing. , , F…
(2020-03-23). Headlines for March 23, 2020. democracynow.org Global COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 15,000 as Italy Drafts Military to Enforce Lockdown, Angela Merkel to Self-Quarantine After Her Doctor Tests Positive for COVID-19, First COVID-19 Cases Reported in Occupied Gaza, War-Stricken Syria and Afghanistan | , Coronavirus Cases Mount Across Africa, Two Nigerians Overdose Self-Medicating with Chloroquine After Trump Praised Anti-Malaria Drug as Possible COVID-19 Treatment, Coronavirus Leads to Lockdowns, Travel Bans in Latin America, as a Colombian Prison Riot Turns Deadly | , Fate of Tokyo Olympics Still Unknown as Canada, Australia Refuse to Send Athletes | , India Lock…
(2020-03-22). Coronavirus hits US prisons: "thousands face death sentence" thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Dr. Amanda Klonsky, the chief program officer at a prison education organization, about…
(2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…
(2020-03-20). Headlines for March 20, 2020. democracynow.org Worldwide COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 10,000 as Italian Nurses "Stop Counting the Dead", Refugee Groups Warn of COVID-19 "Carnage" in Camps Housing Millions, Coronavirus Multiplies Across Australia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order for 40 Million, New York Mayor Calls on Trump to Mobilize Military to Aid Overwhelmed Hospitals, Georgia State Legislators Urged to Self-Quarantine; Spring Break Revelers Party On in Florida, Demands Grow to Empty ICE Jails as NJ Detention Center Worker Tests Positive, Trump Blasts "Corrupt" Media at Rambling Coronav…
(2020-03-20). The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South. splcenter.org Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.
(2020-03-19). We Know Prisons Need COVID-19 Plans, but our Arizona Prison Tour Suggests it's not Happening. aclu.org Earlier this month, the
(2020-03-19). Headlines for March 19, 2020. democracynow.org Italy Records Record 475 Coronavirus Deaths as Infections Continue Climbing, British PM Boris Johnson Closes Schools After Reversing Lax Virus Containment Plan, Millions of Brazilians Protest from Windows and Balconies Demanding President's Ouster, World Health Organization Warns Critical Lack of Testing Is Costing Lives, Egypt Arrests Protesters Calling for Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Yemen, Already Wracked by U.S.-Supported, Saudi-Led War, Braces for Coronavirus, Trump Admin Tightens Sanctions That Have Devastated Iran's Public Health System, Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill Providing Paid Leav…
(2020-03-18). Delay or Hold Primaries: Can the 2020 Election Be Safeguarded Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic? democracynow.org 
Tuesday night's primary election for the Democratic presidential nomination was marred by chaos, confusion and fears over the spread of coronavirus at polling places as former Vice President Joe Biden consolidated his lead as he won Florida and Illinois by a wide margin and scored a victory in Arizona. We are joined by Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, now president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. They issued a call with 100 voting rights groups for states to proce…
(2020-03-18). The Military Should not be Searching Cars or Checking Documents at the Border. aclu.org There's an old saying that goes, "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." This adage is especially applicable to the Trump administration's approach toward border policy, which is ever more militarized. On March 6th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials
(2020-03-17). SPLC's Three Strikes Project helps nonviolent offenders move from prison to parole. splcenter.org Drugs were a way of life in the economically struggling "Brickyard" neighborhood of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Nicky Patterson grew up.
(2020-03-16). [Correspondence] COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. thelancet.com As of March 12, 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been confirmed in 125 048 people worldwide, carrying a mortality of approximately 3 ∑7%,1 compared with a mortality rate of less than 1% from influenza. There is an urgent need for effective treatment. Current focus has been on the development of novel therapeutics, including antivirals and vaccines. Accumulating evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe COVID-19 might have a cytokine storm syndrome. We recommend identification and treatment of hyperinflammation using existing, approved therapies with proven safety profiles to addre…
(2020-03-14). SPLC offices, Civil Rights Memorial Center close. splcenter.org Our work continues with fervor and is needed more now than ever.
(2020-03-12). This Law Makes Voting Nearly Impossible for Native Americans in Montana. aclu.org Voting has never been easy for In a state where the majority of individuals vote | by mail, rural tribal communities often work with get-out-the-vote organizer…
(2020-03-12). The Government Has a Secret Plan to Track Everyone's Faces at Airports. We're Suing. aclu.org U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration are putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance. But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We're
(2020-03-11). Keep Calm and Carry on Voting: How to Vote By Mail During the Coronavirus Outbreak. aclu.org Coronavirus should not be a political issue, but with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. We should protect not only our health, but our civil liberties at this time — and one of those civil liberties is our fundamental right to vote. , , For many, the best way to vote while safeguarding your health during this time may be to vote by mail. It's easy to request an absentee ballot and there's still enough time to do so for most states with upcoming primaries. While some states limit who can vote absentee — for example, to people with…
(2020-03-04). [Research Paper] Gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among child-bearing women: ELSPAC-CZ cohort study. thelancet.com The findings provide the first evidence that perceived gender discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms among child-bearing women. Social intervention programs aimed at reducing gender discrimination can potentially contribute to better mental health of women.
(2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
(2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>