(2020-04-10). Locked down, literally: Indian officials PUT LOCKS on homes of quarantine violators to prevent them from sneaking out. rt.com 
Local authorities in two towns in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh went to great lengths to stop the spread of coronavirus, sealing quarantine violators in their homes, while ensuring they have food and essentials delivered. | With India in a state of complete lockdown since March 25, state officials are taking no prisoners in enforcing the strict stay-at-home regulations… well, almost. | Some 47 people have been effectively interned in their homes by district authorities in the towns of Khajuraho and Rajnagar for breaching quarantine as they came back after being released from hospitals in other areas, th…
(2020-04-10). Grand jury records in notorious 1946 US lynching case to remain sealed. wsws.org The heinous crime near the Moore's Ford Bridge in Georgia sparked wide outrage which contributed to the emergence of the civil rights movement.
(2020-04-10). Sanders Campaign Energized Millions & Shifted U.S. Politics. zcomm.org The worst crime he committed, in the eyes of the establishment, is not the policy he's proposing; it's the fact that he was able to inspire popular movements, which had already been developing — Occupy, Black Lives Matter, many others — and turn them into an activist movement…
(2020-04-10). Three Illinois prisoners die of COVID-19 as Chicago jail identified as a "hotspot" wsws.org Protests have taken place against inhumane treatment, crowded conditions, inadequate sanitation and official inaction on the growing demands for inmate release.
(2020-04-10). Iranian judiciary chief calls Gaza 'world's biggest prison'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 10 (MNA) — In a telephone conversation with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on Friday, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi named Gaza the biggest prison in the world.
(2020-04-10). I think the New York State Prison system is trying to kill Ramsey Orta. indybay.org As Ramsey Orta, (who filmed the 2014, NYPD chokehold murder of Eric Garner) sits in solitary confinement in New York State prison, the virus is spreading rapidly across the prison systems. Time is running out.
(2020-04-10). Myanmar reporter released after charged over interview. yenisafak.com A journalist in Myanmar was released from prison 10 days after being held under the country's counter-terrorism law over an interview with an ethnic rebel group in the country's volatile Rakhine state.Nay Myo Lin, founder and editor of Voice of Myanmar, a local news outlet based in the second-largest city of Mandalay, was arrested on March 30 for publishing an interview with a spokesperson of the Arakan Army, a predominantly Buddhist armed ethnic group engaged in fighting with the country's military.He was charged in a local court under sections of the law prohibiting organizations and individuals from contacting…
(2020-04-09). ACLU Lawsuit Over Baltimore Spy Planes Sets Up Historic Surveillance Battle. aclu.org 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 — all captured and stored in databases without a warrant and available to law enforcement upon request., , That day is here., , The city of Baltimore is about to deploy a new program that, if allowed to move forward, would do just that. It would be…
(2020-04-09). A Mother in ICE Detention Pleads for Her Life. commondreams.org "As a trained healthcare worker, I could be helping with COVID-19 response efforts. Instead, I am fighting for my life." (Photo: Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cruelty_0.jpeg …
(2020-04-09). What Will Feds Do About Corporate Bailout Bill Corruption? Look to Walmart's Opioid Case. cepr.net Here is a simple question: if a heroin dealer sells a product that oftentimes leads to death, should the Justice Department try to put them in jail? Here, it seems, is the Trump administration's answer: Not if they are a large enough corporation. ProPublica published a walloping investigation last month showing how Trump appointees at …
(2020-04-09). Prison Guards Are Receiving Hand Sanitizer. My Incarcerated Son Is Not. truthout.org Thirty years ago, my son
(2020-04-09). Puebla Group Rejects Sentencing of Former President Correa. telesurenglish.net The Puebla Group on Wednesday demanded an end to the judicial persecution of political leaders in Latin America after Ecuadorian courts imposed a prison sentence on former President Rafael Correa. | RELATED: | The Latin American leader was sentenced to eight years in prison on alleged corruption charges. The decision includes the withdrawal of his political rights for 25 years. | "Ecuador's reactionary political sectors have incre…
(2020-04-09). I'm Queer and I've Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn't Experiencing What I Did. aclu.org 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 — this is like being in jail, is what it is," she said. "It's mostly because I've be…
(2020-04-09). What COVID-19 Reveals About Incarceration and How We Can Transform the Prison System. commondreams.org If cities, states, and the federal government can choose to release prisoners due to COVID-19, what does that tell us about the purpose and meaning of imprisonment? (Photo: Robyn Beck / AFP – Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2018-08-24_at_4.40.40_pm_0.png …
(2020-04-08). "They Don't Care if You Die": Immigrants in ICE Detention Fear the Spread of COVID-19. aclu.org 
Mario Rodas, Sr. first found out there was a deadly virus spreading through the country while he was watching television at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts. In early March, Rodas had been pulled over and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while driving to the supermarket with his wife, a legal resident and the mother of his three U.S. citizen children. Since then, he'd been in the custody of ICE, mostly at Plymouth. | The more Rodas heard about the disease, the more fearful the 59-year-old became. | "I was scared for my health," he told the ACLU. "I was worr…
(2020-04-08). Albert Woodfox: COVID-19 Offers Public a "Small Window" into What Prisoners Face in Solitary Confinement. democracynow.org 
As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solit…
(2020-04-08). "A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths. democracynow.org 
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States [mdas…
(2020-04-08). Chicago: Over 200 cars join protest demanding mass release from jails, detention centers. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people took their cars to Chicago's jails and detention centers on Tuesday morning, April 7, to demand a mass release of incarcerated people in the city. Isolated from each other in their cars, they were united in their message: Jails, prisons and detention centers must be depopulated before the spread of COVID-19 turns them into death camps. | Nearly 300 protesters in 200 cars targeted three locations: ICE headquarters, the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Cook County Jail. Cars carried banners with slogans such as "Free them all" and "Mass release now." Organizers also gave spee…
(2020-04-08). Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat. splcenter.org 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.
(2020-04-08). If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates? aclu.org COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the
(2020-04-08). Headlines for April 8, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Daily Death Toll Nears 2,000 as Hundreds of COVID-19 Deaths Go Uncounted, Trump Threatens to Withhold U.S. Funding for World Health Organization, New WH Press Secretary Said Recently, "We Will Not See Diseases Like the Coronavirus Come Here", Trump Fires Inspector General Tasked with Overseeing $2 Trillion Stimulus, China Lifts Lockdown in Wuhan, Where Coronavirus Pandemic Began, EU Coronavirus Stimulus Talks Fail as Deaths Surge in Spain and France, Libyan Rebels Attack Hospital for COVID-19 Patients; Chadian Ex-Dictator Released from Prison, International Labour Organization: Pandemic Could Wipe Out 195 Mi…
(2020-04-08). 3 Palestinians Detained by Israeli Forces, Including 2 Former Prisoners. imemc.org Israeli forces on Wednesday, detained two Palestinians after invading the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, according to Days of Palestine. Israeli soldiers reportedly invaded the town and ransacked the homes of the 2 unidentified Palestinian men, before abducting them. The two men are former prisoners, one serving fifteen …
(2020-04-07). Calls for urgent action to protect prison staff and inmates from coronavirus. thecanary.co 
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…
(2020-04-07). Louisiana's Suspension of Due Process Could Be a COVID-19 Catastrophe in Jails and Prisons. aclu.org , Louisiana has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot, with
(2020-04-07). Police are Enforcing Public Health Orders, but that Doesn't Make them Public Health Experts. aclu.org , 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…
(2020-04-06). "Leaving Us in Here to Die": Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infections. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-04-06). Everyone Must be Counted in the 2020 Census. aclu.org 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…
(2020-04-06). Cook County Jail is a death trap. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL — Hundreds of prisoners at the Cook County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 6. Frank Chapman, the interim Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, "Right now, the Cook County Jail is a death trap for the prisoners because it is overcrowded, and the prisoners can't practice social distancing. This jail must be depopulated at once to save lives." | Chapman continued, "All low-level charges must be dismissed by the States Attorney Kim Foxx, all prisoners who are locked up because they can't make bail must be freed, all…
(2020-04-06). Prison shelling in Yemen kills five women and a child: UN rights chief condemns possible war crime. news.un.org 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.
(2020-04-03). Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-04-03). Inmates at Privately-Run ICE Camp Go on Hunger Strike Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, Deteriorating Conditions. mintpressnews.com 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.
(2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org 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 — people in immigrant detention centers.
(2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were
(2020-04-02). Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk. splcenter.org 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.
(2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org 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 — mo…
(2020-04-01). [Correspondence] Racism and discrimination in COVID-19 responses. thelancet.com Outbreaks create fear, and fear is a key ingredient for racism and xenophobia to thrive. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered social and political fractures within communities, with racialised and discriminatory responses to fear, disproportionately affecting marginalised groups.
(2020-03-31). Brazil's ex-President Lula on Venezuela: Maduro is democratic, Guaidó should be in prison, US blockade kills civilians. thegrayzone.com In comments ignored by English-language media, Lula da Silva slammed the US coup attempt against Venezuela, calling Nicolás Maduro a…
(2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org 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.
(2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org …
(2020-03-24). 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.
(2020-02-28). 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?>