Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19
Mirinda Crissman | workers.org | 2020-04-08
Austin, Texas Migrants being held in detention in Texas have been facing abhorrent sanitary conditions in the detention facilities long before the coronavirus pandemic began. Now that the virus is here, and threatens to infect such a vulnerable and captive population at higher rates than the general population, many migrants . . . | Continue reading Migrants in detention in Texas face COVID-19 at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47542/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=migrants-in-detention-in-texas-face-covid-19

San Diego "Honk for Justice" Calls for the Release of people in ICE Detention
repost | indybay.org | 2020-04-08
Author Pedro Rios serves as director of the AFSC's U.S./Mexico Border Program and has been on staff with AFSC since 2003. He is a steering committee member of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which brings together over 60 organizations along the Southern border working to support migrants and border communities.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/05/18832119.php

Vindictive court rulings prove British state wants Assange dead
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
Judge Vanessa Baraitser has decreed that Assange will remain behind bars and that his extradition show-trial will proceed in May, even as the coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly in British prisons.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/pers-a08.html

Prisons: Breeding Grounds for Disease. Julian Assange's Life in Danger
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-08
The US gulag prison system is the world's largest by far, the largely unreported in the mainstream shame of the nation. | Official numbers significantly understate the true number of incarcerated inmates annually. | According to a Prison Policy Initiative analysis, nearly …
globalresearch.ca/prisons-breeding-grounds-disease-julian-assange-danger/5709067

US deal with Taliban breaks down while coronavirus spreads in Afghanistan
wsws.org | 2020-04-08
The Taliban has withdrawn from talks with the crisis-ridden Kabul regime over its failure to act on a prisoner release agreement brokered by Washington.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/08/afgh-a08.html

From heroes to pariahs: Colombia's medical personnel discriminated over coronavirus paranoia
Adriaan Alsema | colombiareports.com | 2020-04-08
Doctors and nurses throughout Colombia are reporting discrimination as general fear over the coronavirus pandemic is turning some against medical personnel. The latest case was reported by a Cali pediatrician…
colombiareports.com/from-heroes-to-pariahs-colombias-medical-personnel-discriminated-over-coronavirus-paranoia/

Prisoners resist execution by virus
Gloria Rubac | workers.org | 2020-04-08
On a good day, most of the 5,000 prisons and jails in the U.S. are filthy hellholes. Medical care is seriously lacking and can be costly. Racism is ingrained in these institutions, and violence is often the order of the day. Right now, prisoners are terrified that as the COVID-19 . . . | Continue reading Prisoners resist execution by virus at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47540/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prisoners-resist-execution-by-virus

Ecuador's Rafael Correa sentenced to 8 years in prison on bribery and corruption charges
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-08
Following the verdict, Correa has been barred from electoral politics for 25 years. The former president condemned the decision and termed it a bid to prevent him and his allies from contesting the presidential elections next year…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/08/ecuadors-rafael-correa-sentenced-to-8-years-in-prison-on-bribery-and-corruption-charges/

Assange's Life in Constant Danger as Belmarsh Prison Confirms First COVID-19 Death – WikiLeaks
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-08
WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson stressed that Assange, quarantined on the grounds of the max security London facility, is "in very bad shape", specifically bringing up the latter's chronic lung condition which makes him particularly susceptible to the raging virus.
sputniknews.com/society/202004081078880516-assanges-life-in-constant-danger-as-belmarsh-prison-confirms-first-covid-19-death—wikileaks/

Zoom Shareholders File Class-Action Lawsuit, Citing 'Zoombombing' Security, Encryption Service Flaws
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-08
Company and senior officials have been accused of hiding flaws related to the app's software encryption, including being vulnerable to hackers and disclosing personal information to third-party platforms such as Facebook, it was revealed on Tuesday.
sputniknews.com/business/202004081078877353-zoom-shareholders-file-class-action-lawsuit-citing-zoombombing-security-encryption-service-flaws/

Louisiana's Suspension of Due Process Could Be a COVID-19 Catastrophe in Jails and Prisons
Alanah Odoms Hebert | aclu.org | 2020-04-07
, Louisiana has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot, with among the highest contraction and growth rates in the nation. The state also has the highest prison and pretrial incarceration rates in the world. Those two facts might not seem related, but they are already interacting in a tragic way: Conditions in jails and prisons make them highly vulnerable to COVID-19, allowing the virus to spread like wildfire. The potential impact could…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/louisianas-suspension-of-due-process-could-be-a-covid-19-catastrophe-in-jails-and-prisons

Police are Enforcing Public Health Orders, but that Doesn't Make them Public Health Experts
Carl Takei | aclu.org | 2020-04-07
, In a desperate effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, state and local officials are following the advice of public health experts to impose severe restrictions on American life, such as social distancing and shelter-at-home orders. Unfortunately, the institutions that have the most resources available to carry out this task are not public health, medical, or housing authorities. They are our law enforcement and criminal legal systems, which typically operate by criminalization and punishment. , , There's a bitter irony to this: The tactics that law enforcement officials frequently use to protect people [mda…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/police-are-enforcing-public-health-orders-but-that-doesnt-make-them-public-health-experts

Lithuanian socialist leader Algirdas Palecki released from jail, to serve house arrest
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-07
Socialist leader Algirdas Paleckis has been incarcerated since October 2018 for allegedly "intending to kidnap prosecutors" and being a Russian spy. Critics believe that the former diplomat has been targeted by the right-wing Lithuanian government for his socialist ideology…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/07/lithuanian-socialist-leader-leaves-prison-after-court-orders-for-leniency/

Committee Concerned About Health of Palestinian Prisoners
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-07
Representative of the Ramallah-based Committee for Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-prisoners, Hassan Abd Rabo, expressed on Tuesday the committee's growing concerns over the safety of the 5,000 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails. Abd Rabo's remarks come amidst the internationally-spread Coronavirus, inside Israel and some Palestinian cities, towns and villages. He was …
imemc.org/article/committee-concerned-about-health-of-palestinian-prisoners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=committee-concerned-about-health-of-palestinian-prisoners

'Everything is bulls**t': Ecuador pins 8-year corruption sentence on Correa as dead bodies line the streets amid Covid-19 outbreak
rt.com | 2020-04-07
Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has been convicted in absentia of bribery and sentenced to eight years in prison while the country languishes in a coronavirus disaster that his successor's austerity policies exacerbated. | Correa and his vice president, Jorge Glas, were given eight-year sentences for corruption and bribery, and barred from politics for 25 years on Tuesday in the culmination of what Correa and his supporters have long framed as a politically-motivated setup. | The leftist former leader, who decamped for Belgium in 2017 after realizing his hand-picked successor, current president Lenin…
rt.com/news/485231-correa-convicted-political-sentencing/

Calls for urgent action to protect prison staff and inmates from coronavirus
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-07
Failure to reduce the number of prisoners behind bars drastically and urgently to protect them and others from coronavirus "will have a devastating impact", campaigners have warned.The comments came after it emerged the death toll of inmates who had died after contracting the virus had risen to 10.Three were inmates at HMP Littlehey, Cambridgeshire, with others being held at Birmingham, Manchester, Altcourse in Merseyside, Belmarsh in south east London, Whatton in Nottinghamshire, Sudbury in Derbyshire, and a female prisoner at Low Newton, County Durham.A total of 116 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 in…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/04/07/calls-for-urgent-action-to-protect-prison-staff-and-inmates-from-coronavirus/

Ecuador: Ex President Correa Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-07
Ecuador's former President President Rafael Correa and former Vice President Jorge Glas have been sentenced to 8 years in prison for bribery charges. | RELATED: | Trial Against Former Ecuadorean President Correa Resumes | Accordin…
telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuador-Ex-President-Correa-Sentenced-to-8-Years-in-Prison-20200407-0010.html

California, facing COVID-19, moves to release "low-risk" inmates
Marilyn Bechtel | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-07
As COVID-19 makes its way into California prisons, efforts are intensifying to secure the release of inmates nearing the end of their sentences, serving terms for nonviolent offenses, or at high risk for the virus because of age and/or health status. As of April 6, 17 people incarcerated in the state's prison system, and 53 …
peoplesworld.org/article/california-facing-covid-19-moves-to-release-low-risk-inmates/

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike against negligence amid Coronavirus threat
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-07
Israeli prison authorities have failed to provide Palestinian prisoners adequate access to medical services, testing, protective gear and other essential sanitary items crucial to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in overcrowded Israeli prisons…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/07/palestinian-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-against-negligence-amid-coronavirus-threat/

'A Day That Will Live in Infamy': This Is What It Looked Like When Wisconsin Forced In-Person Voting During a Pandemic
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-04-07
As footage of Wisconsin's crowded polling stations flooded the internet Tuesday, public health officials and civil rights advocates condemned the state's Supreme Court and Republican legislative leaders for allowing in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic and thwarting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' last-minute efforts to address voter safety concerns. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12173910311.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/07/day-will-live-infamy-what-it-looked-when-wisconsin-forced-person-voting-during?cd-origin=rss

'We Must Act': Warren Proposes Billions to Fund 2020 Election Protections in Time of Coronavirus
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-04-07
"We must not allow Republicans to exploit the pandemic to engage in voter suppression." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/warren_donors_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/07/we-must-act-warren-proposes-billions-fund-2020-election-protections-time-coronavirus?cd-origin=rss

Everyone Must be Counted in the 2020 Census
Ebony Miranda | aclu.org | 2020-04-06
Every 10 years, the federal government conducts a census to count everyone living in the United States. For people of color, especially Black people, the census has traditionally been exclusionary and deeply flawed. | Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution was intentionally designed to protect the institution of slavery by immorally reducing those enslaved to three-fifths of a human being. It remains the only reference to slavery in the Constitution and was the law when the first census was completed in 1790 and for 75 years thereafter until the 14th Amendment was passed. Two hundred thirty years later, Bla…
aclu.org/news/voting-rights/everyone-must-be-counted-in-the-2020-census

"Leaving Us Here to Die": Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infection Rates
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-06
U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis. This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. We look at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed. We speak to…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/6/covid_19_incarceration

'For Life' and Black incarceration; The twin meanings of 'Twisty'
Dennis Broe | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-06
The best network series in what might be a coronavirus-abbreviated season is ABC's For Life, a combination prison/courtroom drama about an innocent African-American inmate sentenced to life imprisonment for being a drug kingpin. The series is based on the true story of Issac Wright Jr., a New Jersey inmate who used his time in prison …
peoplesworld.org/article/for-life-and-black-incarceration-the-twin-meanings-of-twisty/

California Activists March To End Life Without Parole
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-06
Joanne Scheer, founder of the Felony Murder Elimination Project, and Kelly Savage, recently released after 23 years of incarceration, speak about how racial, gender and age disparities relate to life without parole (LWOP).
therealnews.com/stories/california-activists-march-end-life-without-parole-sentence

Rights experts warn against discrimination in COVID-19 response
news.un.org | 2020-04-06
Fearing a needless increase in COVID-19 deaths due to discrimination, UN independent human rights experts on Monday called for Governments to commit to racial equity and equality in their response to the pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061122

Cook County Jail is a death trap
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-06
Chicago, IL

Morocco releases over 5,600 incarcerated people amid COVID-19 threat in prisons
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-06
Several human rights groups and organizations had appealed to the king for the release of all political prisoners and detainees, a large number of whom were part of the popular Rif protests in Morocco.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/06/morocco-releases-over-5600-incarcerated-people-amid-covid-19-threat-in-prisons/

Prison shelling in Yemen kills five women and a child: UN rights chief condemns possible war crime
news.un.org | 2020-04-06
The UN has condemned the shelling of the women's section of the Central Prison in a district of Yemen's war-torn Taizz Governerate, in the south of the country, which has left at least five women and one child dead, and wounding more than 11, with casualties expected to rise.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061182

COVID-19: Many refugees face destitution and disease
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-04-04
Refugees & migrants Jonathan StraussIssue 1260 Australia COVID-19 temporary protection visasApril 5, 2020Other than those held in detention, refugees and those seeking asylum who are…
greenleft.org.au/content/covid-19-many-refugees-face-destitution-and-disease

Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-03
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/3/covid_us_mexico_border_immigration_jails

Inmates at Privately-Run ICE Camp Go on Hunger Strike Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, Deteriorating Conditions
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-03
ICA Farmville already has a reputation for overcrowding and poor sanitation. Last year the private ICE prison was hit with an outbreak of mumps, a classic disease of overcrowding and poor sanitation.
mintpressnews.com/inmates-ice-camp-go-hunger-strike-amid-covid-19/266369/

COVID-19 Is The New Cash Cow For Policing
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-03
American citizens are facing thousands of dollars in fines and jail time for breaking state-ordered pandemic restrictions. PAR and The Masters Report discuss how profit can still be extracted by police during the coronavirus outbreak.
therealnews.com/stories/covid-19-coronavirus-new-cash-cow-police-profit

Slave Labor, Dire Conditions: A TRNN Update On Prisons And COVID-19
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-03
Eddie Conway talks to journalists Kim Kelly and Adryan Corcione about how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the poor healthcare system in US prisons and jails.
therealnews.com/stories/coronavirus-covid-19-cases-prisons-jails-rikers

Medical experts call for release of refugees and asylum seekers
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-04-03
Refugees & migrants Zebedee ParkesIssue 1259 Australia COVID-19April 3, 2020More than 1100 medical professionals have called on Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton to urgently release people in detention for their own health and that of the community. Many are in…
greenleft.org.au/content/medical-experts-call-release-refugees-and-asylum-seekers

Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic
Katrina Huber | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world

Refugees held by ICE struggle for their lives
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2020-04-02
Immigrant refugees being held in ICE detention centers are struggling for their lives and demanding to be released to prevent their deaths from COVID-19.
liberationnews.org/refugees-held-by-ice-struggling-for-their-lives/

Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/02/alabama-prisons-hold-more-1100-older-people-greater-covid-19-risk

Family Of Imprisoned New Yorkers Call On Governor For Clemency
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-02
Family members of inmates inside New York prisons and advocates host a virtual press conference with demands, including suspension of required office visits for parole and probation and for the release of inmates.
therealnews.com/stories/family-imprisoned-california-new-yorkers-governor-clemency-cuomo-newsom

The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19
Steven K. Choi | aclu.org | 2020-04-01
Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care

Brazil's ex-President Lula on Venezuela: Maduro is democratic, Guaidó should be in prison, US blockade kills civilians
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-31
In comments ignored by English-language media, Lula da Silva slammed the US coup attempt against Venezuela, calling Nicolás Maduro a…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/30/brazil-lula-maduro-guaido-us-blockade/

Is Location Tracking Technology the Magic Pill to Stemming the Coronavirus?
Jay Stanley | aclu.org | 2020-03-30
This piece first appeared on Just Security. , , If asked to give up their privacy in the interests of stemming the coronavirus, many Americans might be inclined to say yes. But the answer requires more nuance, both because there are serious tradeoffs to be made, and because sacrificing privacy may actually backfire., , Consider, for example, serious discussions reportedly und…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/is-location-tracking-technology-the-magic-pill-to-stemming-the-coronavirus

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers
splcenter.org | 2020-03-27
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/weekend-read-splc-demands-ice-act-amid-pandemic-save-lives-countless-immigrants-trapped-its

Asylum Seekers Stranded in Mexico Face a New Danger: COVID-19
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2020-03-26
Since the Trump administration first unrolled its policy of forcing migrants to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings, advocates have been warning that the practice places them in danger. Now, the global coronavirus outbreak is putting an exclamation point on those warnings and adding a new, frightening layer of risk into the lives of asylum…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/asylum-seekers-stranded-in-mexico-face-a-new-danger-covid-19

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
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.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

[Correspondence] Immunosuppression for hyperinflammation in COVID-19: a double-edged sword?
Andrew I Ritchie, Aran Singanayagam | thelancet.com | 2020-03-24
Mehta and colleagues1 postulate that hyperinflammation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could be a driver of severity that is amenable to therapeutic targeting since retro-spective data have shown that systemic inflammation is associated with adverse outcome. However, correlation does not equal causation, and it is equally plausible that increased virus burden (secondary to failure of the immune response to control infection) drives inflammation and consequent severity (as shown for other viruses2) rather than augmented inflammation being an inappropriate host response that requires correction.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30691-7/fulltext?rss=yes