Death Trap Jail: Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-21
We look at the mounting number of COVID-19 cases inside immigration jails across the country and one of the largest outbreaks at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, run by private prison company CoreCivic. Prisoners were told to sign contracts, written only in English, in exchange for receiving face masks. When some refused to sign, guards pepper-sprayed them. This comes as activists say hundreds imprisoned in detention centers in California are on hunger strike. We get an update from Ruth Mendez, community activist and volunteer with Otay Mesa Detention Resistance.
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/21/otay_mesa_immigrant_detention_center_coronavirus
Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
Image Credit: AFSC
Trump Wants to Shield Companies Against COVID-19 Lawsuits From Sick Workers
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
President Donald Trump said during a press briefing Monday evening that his administration is aiming to shield corporations from legal responsibility for workers who contract the novel coronavirus on the job, a move that the Chamber of Commerce and right-wing advocacy groups are aggressively lobbying for as the White House pushes to reopen the U.S. economy against the warnings of publ…
truthout.org/articles/trump-wants-to-shield-companies-against-covid-19-lawsuits-from-sick-workers/
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's prison release extended
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-21
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release from an Iranian jail has been extended by a month, according to her MP. | The British-Iranian mother has been freed from Evin prison in Tehran in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. | Tulip Siddiq tweeted on Tuesday morning: "Very happy to hear from Richard Ratcliffe that Nazanin's furlough has been extended for a month
Blame the Covid-19 failure on your governments, not on China
Davide Mastracci | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
The anti-Chinese narrative is based on false statements and serves to distract people from the failure of neoliberalism. Build hospitals and make health care universal! Cut military spending in half! Testing, not imprisonment, abuse and neglect!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/18832513.php
AFGE: Feds fail to protect 290,000 workers from coronavirus
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
WASHINGTON–The top federal workers union, the Government Employees (AFGE), formally charged the Veterans Affairs Department and the Bureau of Prisons, with endangering the health and safety of 290,000 workers by exposing them, without protection, to patients
Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax
Betsey Piette | workers.org | 2020-04-21
When a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections spokesperson callously claimed that Mumia Abu-Jamal was being hospitalized with COVID-19 at 5 p.m. on April 15, the news was shared worldwide in minutes. Supporters, who have been misled by DOC statements in the past, immediately flooded the institution with calls demanding confirmation from . . . | Continue reading Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47861/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mumia-abu-jamal-supporters-respond-quickly-to-prison-hoax
Car caravan protesters demand release of immigrant detainees in Arizona
Sarah Roberts | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
TUCSON, Ariz.
Man Who Filmed Police Murder of Eric Garner Says Prison Guards Threatened to Give Him COVID-19
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
WeCopwatch, an activist organization dedicated to the nonviolent observation of police, says that corrections officers threatened to deliberately infect Ramsey Orta for weeks before he tested positive.
mintpressnews.com/ramsey-orta-says-prison-guards-deliberately-gave-him-covid-19/266782/
LA May Day car caravan protest set
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-20
Los Angeles, CA – Luis Sifuentes, of the community group Cento CSO states, "Due to the pandemic and Stay At Home order in Los Angeles, Centro CSO is organizing this year's May Day as a car caravan through Boyle Heights with our demands: Jail killer cops, defend public education, and legalization for all – along with demands for hazard pay, better protections for workers in the front lines during this pandemic and expand COVID-19 testing in Black and brown communities." | The car protest will take place May 1, assembling before 4 p.m. on Chavez/Lorena at 5 Puntos, in Boyle Heights. | Event information here:…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/20/la-may-day-car-caravan-protest-set
The Devastating Emotional Toll of Suspending Prison Visits
Karina Piser | thenation.com | 2020-04-20
The Devastating Emotional Toll of Suspending Prison Visits…
thenation.com/article/society/prison-visits-suspension/
Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-19
Fight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort. | Fight Back!: How has the pandemic impacted Palestinian political prisoners? | Charlotte Kates: One of the major concerns has been the fact that Palestinian prisoners are essentially cut off from the outside world. Israel claims that its ban on family visits and legal visits are attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they are…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/19/interview-charlotte-kates-covid-19-threat-israeli-jails-fight-free-palestinian-political-p
COVID-19 and the Wasting Disease of Normalcy
Brian Terrell | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-19
"But what of the price of peace?" asked Jesuit priest and war resister Daniel Berrigan, writing from federal prison in 1969, doing time for his part in the destruction of draft records. "I think of the good, decent, peace-loving people I have known by the thousands, and I wonder. How many of them are so …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/covid-19-and-the-wasting-disease-of-normalcy/
Decision on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release delayed again
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-19
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces another "deeply unsettling" couple of days as the wait continues to find out if her temporary release from a prison in Iran has been extended.The British-Iranian mother was temporarily freed from Evin prison in Tehran in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Zaghari-Ratcliffe's furlough was extended by two weeks in late March, and she was scheduled to return to prison on Saturday 18 April.When her family had not received a decision by Saturday on whether or not her furlough is to be extended, they were told to return to the prosecutors office in Iran on 19 April
Philadelphia failure to empty jails causes COVID-19 death
Joe Piette | workers.org | 2020-04-18
The first COVID-19 death in Philadelphia jails occurred on April 14. She was Yvonne Harris, a 48-year-old woman incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility. In the meantime, city judges have mocked the danger our incarcerated neighbors face and have only reduced the jail population by 13 percent in the past month . . . | Continue reading Philadelphia failure to empty jails causes COVID-19 death at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47797/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=philadelphia-failure-to-empty-jails-causes-covid-19-death
Hamas Offers Israel a Mediated Prisoner Swap Deal
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-18
Political Leader of the ruling Islamist Hamas party in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, told the Alaraby Arabic TV channel, on Friday, that his party has four Israeli soldiers in captivity, and that the party is ready to indirectly negotiate over a possible prisoner swap deal with Israel. The leader of Hamas …
imemc.org/article/hamas-offers-israel-a-mediated-prisoner-swap-deal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hamas-offers-israel-a-mediated-prisoner-swap-deal
ICE is Deporting COVID-19 Positive Detainees from Private Immigration Prisons
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-17
By continuing deportations of quarantined detainees during a pandemic, ICE is greatly increasing the risk of spreading the deadly virus to other countries officials and activists warn.
mintpressnews.com/ice-deporting-covid-19-positive-detainees-private-immigration-prisons/266739/
What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic
aclu.org | 2020-04-17
As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/what-its-like-in-ice-detention-during-a-pandemic
A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform
aclu.org | 2020-04-17
| For decades…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/a-tale-of-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-in-the-era-of-marijuana-reform
Why we need a WW Prisoners Page
Mirinda Crissman | workers.org | 2020-04-17
Houston This article is based on remarks given by Crissman during a Workers World Party webinar on April 9: "Free Them All! COVID-19 and Racist Mass Incarceration." Workers World Party provides nearly 1,000 free newspaper subscriptions to incarcerated people. Readers interested in supporting this can donate at patreon.com/wwp. We're particularly . . . | Continue reading Why we need a WW Prisoners Page at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/04/47777/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-we-need-a-ww-prisoners-page
Apple and Google Announced a Coronavirus Tracking System. How Worried Should We Be?
Jennifer Stisa Granick | aclu.org | 2020-04-16
Apple and Google last week announced a joint contact tracing effort that would use Bluetooth technology to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Similar proposals have been put forward by an MIT-associated effort called PACT as well as by multiple European groups., , These proposals differ from…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/apple-and-google-announced-a-coronavirus-tracking-system-how-worried-should-we-be
CROWN Act movement seeks to protect Black people from racial discrimination based on hairstyles
splcenter.org | 2020-04-15
Jordan Winder did not apply to the high school of his choice, because the dreadlocks he's been growing nearly half his life are not allowed there.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/15/crown-act-movement-seeks-protect-black-people-racial-discrimination-based-hairstyles
CROWN Act movement seeks to protect Black people from racial discrimination based on hairstyles
splcenter.org | 2020-04-15
Jordan Winder did not apply to the high school of his choice, because the dreadlocks he's been growing nearly half his life are not allowed there.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/15/crown-act-movement-seeks-protect-black-people-racial-discrimination-based-hairstyles
Isolation, Before and During a Pandemic
aclu.org | 2020-04-14
As many Americans round out the end of their first month of social distancing, it's clear that the toll of "stay at home" orders during the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than economic. The anxiety and fear that wash over us each day that we spend alone, away from friends, coworkers, and family, inflict their own kind of emotional damage. , , The cost of social isolation is a worthy cost in this case
Let's Stop the Scapegoating During a Global Pandemic
Cecillia Wang | aclu.org | 2020-04-14
Just like tens of millions of people sheltering in place in the U.S., I'm adjusting to the new realities and worries of day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But on top of worrying about my elderly family members, U.S. hospitals' shortage of basic medical equipment, or where I can find toilet paper and eggs, I have another fear. Like other Americans of East Asian descent (including citizens and non-citizens), I worry that I might be attacked on the street or in a store because of my race., , There are so many news reports that spur my concerns. For example, on March 14, a man in Midland, Texas, attacke…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/lets-stop-the-scapegoating-during-a-global-pandemic
Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2020-04-13
With 10 deaths and more than 500 positive COVID-19 cases in the nation's federal prisons, wardens must " move with dispatch" to " move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions." These are the words that Attorney General William Barr used on April 3rd when he directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to reduce the federal prison population in the wake of COVID-19…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/federal-wardens-must-immediately-flatten-the-curve-in-our-nations-prisons
Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic
David Cole | aclu.org | 2020-04-10
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the work of preserving civil liberties and civil rights continues, as essential as ever. Reports of courts closing down can be misleading. While public trials that require jurors and in-person testimony have been suspended, most courts and lawyers can do their work remotely. The filing of legal briefs continues, and oral arguments and hearings are being held remotely. The work of securing justice continues., , At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on civil liberties and civil rights issues arising from the government's response (or lack thereo…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/civil-liberties-never-sleep-the-aclu-in-the-pandemic
ACLU Lawsuit Over Baltimore Spy Planes Sets Up Historic Surveillance Battle
Jay Stanley | aclu.org | 2020-04-09
Imagine a day in the future when everyone, from the moment they step outside their home, has to live with the knowledge that their every movement is being recorded by powerful cameras circling in the skies above. Not just where they work, shop, eat and drink, and whose homes they visit, but details about their political, religious, sexual, and medical lives
'Irresponsible, Completely Ill-Founded': Pakistan Slams India's Remark on PM Khan's Post on Muslims
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-21
New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday launched a scathing attack on India's leadership by comparing the Modi-led government to the Nazis against the backdrop of alleged discrimination against Muslims in the country. In response, India's External Affairs Ministry slammed Khan's comments as a "baseless allegation".
sputniknews.com/asia/202004211079039266-irresponsible-completely-ill-founded-pakistan-slams-indias-remark-on-pm-khans-post-on-muslims/
COVID-19: Rights experts highlight LGBTI discrimination, antisemitism
news.un.org | 2020-04-17
New guidance from the UN human rights office, issued on Friday, sets out key actions to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people against discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1062042
I'm Queer and I've Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn't Experiencing What I Did
Dominique Morgan | aclu.org | 2020-04-09
On Monday, I ended a 12-hour day returning emails to incarcerated queer folks, providing direct aid for housing to folks living with HIV & AIDS who have been incarcerated and challenging the state of Nebraska to provide humane conditions for incarcerated individuals and decided to mindlessly scroll on Twitter. , , I found the quote from the show Ellen DeGeneres filmed from her multimillion-dollar, multi-room mansion: "One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people
Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat
splcenter.org | 2020-04-08
Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/04/09/nativist-hate-groups-want-keep-people-ice-detention-despite-covid-19-threat
If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?
ReNika Moore | aclu.org | 2020-04-08
COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the Midwest and the South reveal that Black people are contracting and dying from the virus at far higher rates than whites. Louisiana just released data which shows that African Americans account for 70 percent of all deaths in the state. In Milwaukee…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/if-covid-19-doesnt-discriminate-then-why-are-black-people-dying-at-higher-rates
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
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
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
Evaluation of Association Between Gastric Acid Suppression and Risk of Intestinal Colonization With MDROs
Willems RJ, van Dijk K, Ket JF, et al. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-01
This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the association of use of gastric acid suppressants with the risk of colonization with multidrug-resistant microorganisms (MDROs).
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2761273
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