Sean Hannity and Rick Scott's best sheriff friend under DOJ and Fl DOH investigation
SCOTT A HUMINSKI | indybay.org | 2020-04-24
The Justice Department and Florida Department of Health are investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for civil rights abuses, human rights abuses, ADA violations and felony abuse of disabled adults.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/23/18832583.php
Mass Incarceration Could Add 100,000 Deaths to US Coronavirus Toll
Ed Pilkington | zcomm.org | 2020-04-24
Only 5% of more than 10m arrests in the US each year are for violent offences. Most people ending up in jail are there for low-level infractions, including failure to meet bail terms…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/1032456/
Aren't We All in This Together? College Students Told Hell No
Greg Moses | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-24
In a stormy week of denunciation and discrimination, the Trump administration sent a blaring announcement to America's college students: you shall not be in this together. Everything now depends upon college students resolving to believe different. Wedges of denunciation and discrimination were hammered in this week, beginning Monday morning with a Huffington Post headline that…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/24/arent-we-all-in-this-together-college-students-told-hell-no/
Election Protection in 12-18 States Will Decide the Fate of the Earth
Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-24
The 12-18 states that will decide the presidency this fall are already being primed for voter suppression and election theft by the Trump GOP. Our ability to overcome will decide the fate of the Earth. Donald Trump is in the White House because in 2016 the vote count was stolen in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/24/election-protection-in-12-18-states-will-decide-the-fate-of-the-earth/
The Fight For PPE On The Docks, The War On Workers & May Day 2020 With ILWU
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-04-24
WorkWeek interviews ILWU Local 10 president Trent Willis and ILWU president Keith Shanklin about the struggle protect longshore workers from being contaminated by Covid-19 and the war against working people. They also discuss May Day and the fight of the over 500 seafarers on the Grand Princess who are being kept as prisoners on the ship.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/22/18832560.php
Immigrant detainee hunger strikes spread amid COVID-19 danger
John Bachtell | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-23
"We are human beings and want to be treated as human beings," declared Karopet Vatyan, one of many immigrant detainees on hunger strike since April 10 at the Adelanto Detention Facility. The hunger strikers are protesting refusal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to protect them from COVID-19 spreading throughout the facility, a privately run …
peoplesworld.org/article/immigrant-detainee-hunger-strikes-spread-amid-covid-19-danger/
After a Lifetime Apart, COVID-19 Prison Release Reunites Mother and Daughter
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2020-04-23
"You're on the list.", , It took a few seconds for Chalana McFarland to grasp what was happening. Her name was one of just a few on the list of people who would be released from prison early due to COVID-19. Behind her stood a line of dozens of other women waiting to see if they made it. Only some of them had. But as Chalana received the news, they started cheering, and caused such an uproar that the correctional staff had to reprimand them. That's when it finally clicked for Chalana
UN chief warns that coronavirus pandemic is becoming a 'human rights crisis'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-23
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said the coronavirus pandemic is "a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis".The UN chief issued a video message warning there is discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle coronavirus (Covid-19) and there are "structural inequalities that impede access to them".He said the pandemic has also seen "disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the targeting of vulnerable groups, and the risks of heavy-handed security responses undermining the health response".He warned that with "rising ethno-nationalism, populi…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/04/23/un-chief-warns-that-coronavirus-pandemic-is-becoming-a-human-rights-crisis/
Missouri's COVID-19 lawsuit against China another effort to distract from Republican failure
Tony Pecinovsky | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-23
This week, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed suit against the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China (CPC), making the Show-Me-State the first state in the U.S. to seek recompense from another nation for damages caused by the spread of the coronavirus. Schmitt said in a statement, China "lied to the world about …
peoplesworld.org/article/missouris-covid-19-lawsuit-against-china-another-effort-to-distract-from-republican-failure/
Mexico: Amnesty Law to Free People Convicted of Minor Crimes
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-23
The Mexican government issued an Amnesty Law on Wednesday to speed up the release of prisoners who have been accused of crimes in the midst of health contingencies. | RELATED: | Mexico Prohibits Cremation of People Killed by COVID-19 | Only two days after its approval by the Senate, the law will enter into force this Thursday, after its publication in the Official Gazette. | The law was presented to the Senate by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and aims to free at least 6,000 people con…
telesurenglish.net/news/mexico-amnesty-law-to-free-people-convicted-of-minor-crimes-20200423-0003.html
Psychological Remarks on "Authority Obedience". Say No!
Dr. Rudolf Hà§nsel | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-23
What is happening in front of all our eyes at the moment is a huge scary dizziness. "Corona" is a geopolitical operation by the "global elite" and their "depopulation agenda" is real. Isolation imprisonment makes people sick and kills …
globalresearch.ca/psychological-remarks-authority-obedience/5710555
Car caravan to free Gerald Reed, prisoners facing pandemic
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-22
Chicago, IL – 100 cars surrounded the Thompson Center in Chicago's Loop, April 20, during Governor J.B. Pritzker's daily press briefing on COVID-19. The caravan protest was held to demand Pritzker free police torture survivor Gerald Reed and all vulnerable prisoners at Cook County Jail, Illinois Department of Corrections prisons and ICE detention centers in Illinois – especially those over 60, those with medical conditions, and those who the governor's own Torture Commission has already confirmed are victims of police torture and therefore wrongfully convicted. | In the lead car of the caravan, Frank Chapman of t…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/22/car-caravan-free-gerald-reed-prisoners-facing-pandemic
New Model Shows Reducing Jail Population will Lower COVID-19 Death Toll for All of Us
Udi Ofer | aclu.org | 2020-04-22
The Trump administration optimistically projects that "substantially under" 100,000 people will die from COVID-19 in the United States. Horrific as that statistic is, a new model suggests it could be a huge underestimate. The government models fail to consider the impact of the virus on the incarcerated population, who will be infected and die at higher rates. And any prison or jail outbreak is bound to spill over into the broader community
Palestinian Detainee Dies In Israeli Prison
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-04-22
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that a detainee died, on Tuesday at night, in the Negev Desert Detention Camp, after fainting in the shower, and Israeli soldiers failed to provide him with any medical aid for more than thirty minutes. The PPS stated that the detainee, Nour Jaber …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-detainee-dies-in-israeli-prison-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=palestinian-detainee-dies-in-israeli-prison-2
First person to die in Alabama's prisons with COVID-19 spent more than four decades behind bars
splcenter.org | 2020-04-22
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/22/first-person-die-alabamas-prisons-covid-19-spent-more-four-decades-behind-bars
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
Defying Medical Experts, Lawmakers are Weaponizing COVID-19 to Restrict Abortion Access
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2020-04-21
In the latest development in a fast-moving court case, on Monday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to block nearly all abortion services in the state. The ruling came after a legal challenge to Abbott's inclusion of abortion care in a March 22 executive order instructing health care facilities across the state to "postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary.", , For Abbott and his allies, the COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be exactly…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/defying-medical-experts-lawmakers-are-weaponizing-covid-19-to-restrict-abortion-access
Rotating on Boredom's Spit
Edward Curtin | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-21
And all the news just repeats itself Like some forgotten dream we've both seen
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 fell ill.
mintpressnews.com/ramsey-orta-says-prison-guards-deliberately-gave-him-covid-19/266782/
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/
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, marijuana laws have been used to criminalize Black and Brown peo…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/a-tale-of-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-in-the-era-of-marijuana-reform
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
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
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
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
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
UN: Israel must release vulnerable Palestinian inmates
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-24
A group of UN human rights experts on Friday called on Israel not to discriminate against thousands of vulnerable Palestinian prisoners facing high-risk exposure to the coronavirus.Women, children, older persons and those with pre-existing medical conditions are among the most vulnerable, according to experts."There are currently more than 4,520 Palestinian prisoners, including 183 children, 43 women and 700 detainees with pre-existing medical conditions in Israeli jails," they noted."They remain dangerously vulnerable in the context of the current pandemic and the relative increase in the number of transmission…
yenisafak.com/en/world/un-israel-must-release-vulnerable-palestinian-inmates-3517832
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
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