Threat of ICE Detention Centers Turning Into Death Camps, Groups Rallying to Free Families
Eoin Higgins | indybay.org | 2020-04-01
ICE is making the pandemic more dangerous for everyone.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/01/18832002.php

Death Camps in the Making: New York's Prisons During a Time of Pandemic
Frances Madeson | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-01
Every day, says Donna Robinson, a bucket of bleachy water is delivered to a ward in Bedford Hills to be used by the sixty women housed there, her own daughter among them. That's the extent of the supplies they receive to keep their area sanitized from COVID-19. The women are in bunk beds with no…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/01/death-camps-in-the-making-new-yorks-prisons-during-a-time-of-pandemic/

Dominican Hospital's (mis)treatment of (disabled) homeless people
John Colby | indybay.org | 2020-04-01
As an advocate for (disabled) homeless people who blogs about this advocacy (thus I'm an independent journalist), I've come across numerous incidents of discrimination by Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital against (disabled) homeless people. I obtained a media statement about how Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital will (equally) serve homeless COVID-19 victims. Please report non-compliance to me.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/01/18832005.php

Former WHO Director: 8-Week Suppression Strategy Could Stop US COVID Crisis in Its Tracks
Nafeez Ahmed | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-01
"We know we can get this under control," says Dr Anthony Costello, a former Director at the World Health Organization (WHO) where he headed up maternal, child and adolescent health. "The problem is that Europe has been too slow to act compared with Asia; and America is now facing a huge crisis." Costello, who is…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/01/former-who-director-8-week-suppression-strategy-could-stop-us-covid-crisis-in-its-tracks/

'Ask the government': Former Celtics star claims NBA season could resume at classified US Air Force site Area 51
rt.com | 2020-04-01
Having held the 2019 Summer League at the University of Nevada, NBA chiefs could find a novel solution to ending the season at a less conventional base in the state

Amnesty International USA and LIRS launch "Hope Can't Be Quarantined" campaign to help immigrants and asylum-seekers held in detention during the COVID-19 crisis
commondreams.org | 2020-03-31
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/03/31/amnesty-international-usa-and-lirs-launch-hope-cant-be-quarantined-campaign-help?cd-origin=rss

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/

Taliban Delegation in Kabul for Prisoner Exchange Process
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
A three-member Taliban delegation arrived in Kabul Tuesday to begin a prisoner exchange process, which will likely kick-start intra-Afghan talks in order to end the country's 18-year war. | RELATED: | Taliban-Afghan Gov't Skype Call Revives Hopes of Peace Process | "Our three-member technical team will help the process of prisoners' release by identification of the prisoners, (and) their transportation," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters. | The Taliban had previo…
telesurenglish.net/news/Taliban-Delegation-in-Kabul-for-Prisoner-Exchange-Process-20200331-0014.html

Language Barriers Leave US Communities out of COVID-19 Info
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
Various communities across the United States (U.S.) are struggling to keep up with information concerning the spread and the dangerousness of the novel coronavirus because of language barriers, a report from Al Jazeera showed Tuesday. | RELATED: | Latin American Trans People Face Discrimination Over COVID-19 | In a city with a long history of receiving refugees like Des Moines, Iowa, not less than 100 spoken languages exist. | Around 22 percent of the students in public schools qualify…
telesurenglish.net/news/Language-Barriers-Leaves-US-Communities-out-of-COVID-19-Info–20200331-0012.html

Change Is In The Air
Michael K. Smith | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-31
Quite literally. In a single week air pollution cleared up, housing was found for the homeless, evictions were banned, the stock market ceased being the gauge of social well being, water shut-offs ended, jails were emptied, debt peonage was suspended, universal basic income was proposed by "free market" die-hards, people started caring about the elderly …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/change-is-in-the-air/

The US Decries Political Persecution of Nicaraguans But Won't Grant Them Asylum
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-31
The second time around, John Martínez-Picado knew what awaited him inside "El Chipote." It had been almost a year but the spiral-shaped prison with its overcrowded underground cells and concrete beds on the floor still haunted him. He hadn't forgotten the suffocating feeling

On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-03-31
On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…
thenation.com/article/politics/dissent-debate-massie-aoc/

Government inaction puts staff and inmates in immigration detention at risk
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-31
Refugees & migrants Niko LekaIssue 1259 Australia COVID-19 detention NewcastleMarch 31, 2020The federal government is not taking the nece…
greenleft.org.au/content/government-inaction-puts-staff-and-inmates-immigration-detention-risk

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

Israel's Shin Bet Slaps PLC Member with Administrative Detention
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, on Sunday, decided to renew the detention of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Hamas leader, Hasan Yousuf, for four months, under administrative detention. Sheikh Hasan Yousuf, 65, was scheduled for release on March 31, 2020, and just two days before his release, …
imemc.org/article/israels-shin-bet-slaps-plc-member-with-administrative-detention/

Headlines for March 30, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-30
Trump Extends Social Distancing, Says U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Could Reach 100,000 | , States Mandate Quarantines, Set Up Checkpoints to Limit Cross-State COVID-19 Infections , ER Doctor Who Blasted Lack of Worker & Patient Protections at WA Hospital Removed from Post, Coronavirus Cases Mount in Prisons and Among Law Enforcement Workers | , 9-Month-Old Is First Known Infant to Die from the Coronavirus in U.S. | , Cigna and Humana to Waive Copays for Coronavirus Treatment | , CBS News Executive and Cancer Survivor Maria Mercader Dies from Coronavirus | , | New York Scrambles to Build Hospitals, Imposes Fines fo…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/30/headlines

Prominent organizations and individuals urge Gov. Pritzker to free Gerald Reed
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-30
Chicago, IL – Two dozen prominent organizations and individuals have urged Gov. J. B. Pritzker in a letter to use "the powers of [his] office to provide long overdue justice to Gerald Reed." Reed's deteriorating health puts him at extreme risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has heart failure, and late last year while awaiting a new trial at Cook County jail he had a heart attack. | Reed was wrongfully convicted 29 years ago based on a confession extracted through torture by subordinates of Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. His conviction was vacated on December 18, 2019 by Judge Thomas V. Gainer, who ordered…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/30/prominent-organizations-and-individuals-urge-gov-pritzker-free-gerald-reed

Palestinian Prisoners Concerned, as Coronavirus Hits Israeli Prisons
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners, said on Monday, that Israeli authorities have reported three Coronavirus-positive cases among Israeli wardens in both the Ofer and Nitsan jails, where there are hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The committee added that the discovery of such positive cases signals a crisis for …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-prisoners-concerned-as-coronavirus-hits-israeli-prisons/

Release inmates in Yemen to avert nationwide coronavirus outbreak, experts urge
news.un.org | 2020-03-30
An international panel of human rights experts called today for the immediate release of political prisoners and detainees in war-ravaged Yemen to help avert a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1060642

As deaths occur and coronavirus cases start to rise in British prisons, campaigners express their concerns
Peadar O'Cearnaigh | thecanary.co | 2020-03-30
As British prisons experienced their first deaths from coronavirus (Covid-19), justice campaigners have warned this might just be the beginning. A former prison officer and justice campaigners speak exclusively to The Canary about conditions on the inside. They say prisons are in urgent need of change, especially in the midst of this pandemic. | One of these campaigners told The Canary sh…
thecanary.co/exclusive/2020/03/30/as-deaths-occur-and-coronavirus-cases-start-to-rise-in-british-prisons-campaigners-express-their-concerns/

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

Civil rights groups condemn COVID-19 authoritarianism
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-30
Democracy Jacob AndrewarthaIssue 1259 Australia civil rights COVID-19March 30, 2020Against expert health and civil rights advice, governments are opting for authoritarian measures they claim will protect u…
greenleft.org.au/content/civil-rights-groups-condemn-covid-19-authoritarianism

[Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch
Andrew Green | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30642-5/fulltext?rss=yes

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

Headlines for March 27, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
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…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/headlines

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

"Top Priority Is Release": Will Rikers Island Free More Prisoners as 60+ Test Positive for COVID-19?
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-24
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…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/24/rikers_coronavirus

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

This is No Time to Play Politics with our Democracy
Sonia Gill | aclu.org | 2020-03-23
Update 03/27/2020: Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package intended to address the broad impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic. While it included $400 million for states to expand access to the ballot for eligible voters, as outlined in this blog, more can and must be done to safeguard our democracy. , , 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.
aclu.org/news/voting-rights/this-is-no-time-to-play-politics-with-our-democracy

How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses
Andrea Flores | aclu.org | 2020-03-20
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

The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-overcoming-voter-suppression-south

We Know Prisons Need COVID-19 Plans, but our Arizona Prison Tour Suggests it's not Happening
Corene Kendrick | aclu.org | 2020-03-19
Earlier this month, the Prison Law Office and the ACLU National Prison Project filed an emergency motion in federal court in Phoenix. The motion asks the judge to order the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) to consult with a correctional health care expert to develop a plan to prevent, manage, and treat any COVID-19 outbreaks in the state's 10 prisons. You might think this is an obvious request, but we've spent the last decade observing the Arizona pri…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/we-know-prisons-need-covid-19-plans-our-arizona-prison-tour-suggests-its-not-happening

The Military Should not be Searching Cars or Checking Documents at the Border
Shaw Drake | aclu.org | 2020-03-18
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 announced that the Department of Defense would deploy 160 active-duty troops to ports of entry at the border

SPLC's Three Strikes Project helps nonviolent offenders move from prison to parole
splcenter.org | 2020-03-17
Drugs were a way of life in the economically struggling "Brickyard" neighborhood of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Nicky Patterson grew up.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/17/splcs-three-strikes-project-helps-nonviolent-offenders-move-prison-parole

[Correspondence] COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression
Puja Mehta, Daniel F McAuley, Michael Brown, Emilie Sanchez, Rachel S Tattersall, Jessica J Manson, HLH Across Speciality Collaboration, UK | thelancet.com | 2020-03-16
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…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30628-0/fulltext?rss=yes

[Research Paper] Gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among child-bearing women: ELSPAC-CZ cohort study
Irena Stepanikova, Sanjeev Acharya, Safa Abdalla, Elizabeth Baker, Jana Klanova, Gary L. Darmstadt | thelancet.com | 2020-03-04
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.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30041-9/fulltext?rss=yes

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2020-03-02
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/