ACLU: COVID-19 Will Bring Mass Evictions Unless We Act Now

COVID-19 Will Bring Mass Evictions Unless We Act Now

It’s almost the first of the month, and millions of tenants across the country are at risk of losing their homes in the middle of a global pandemic. In the seven weeks since the U.S. declared a national emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic already has resulted in widespread economic consequences. More than 30 million workers have filed for unemployment, though many have yet to receive any benefits. And last month, nearly a third of apartment tenants didn’t pay rent by the first week of April — an alarming sign that many households are struggling to make rent during this crisis.    
 
While Congress and state and city governments have issued some safeguards against eviction, an overwhelming number of tenants are not protected from being kicked out of their homes during a global health pandemic. The CARES Act’s federal ban on evictions only prohibits landlords from filing new eviction actions against tenants living in federally supported or financed housing, and will expire on July 24. Accordingly, most tenants must rely on their state or local governments, leaving many without protection. Landlords in some states, such as North Dakota, Missouri, and Arkansas, are continuing to evict tenants in the absence of any statewide eviction bans. Other states have issued temporary bans on eviction, but even those are significantly limited in scope and leave tenants vulnerable to losing their homes due to procedural hurdles or loopholes. Moreover, many of these statewide bans are time-limited and offer no long-term protections, ensuring that courts will be inundated with mass evictions as soon as these bans are lifted. Many tenants are also at risk of losing water and utility service, posing a major public health threat during a global crisis.
 
The impact of mass evictions and utility shut-offs will overwhelmingly burden tenants of color and, in particular, Black women. Earlier this year, the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Data Analytics team found that on average, Black women renters had evictions filed against them by landlords at double the rate of white renters (or higher) in 17 of 36 states. These stark race and gender disparities in eviction have been found in other studies, which reveal that eviction often exacerbates and reproduces conditions of poverty for Black women and communities of color. Black women and communities of color will likely suffer the greatest hardship due to mass evictions — worsening the existing racial disparities that have emerged in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
            The lack of statewide protections against eviction is also concerning for the housing security and safety of women, as tenants struggling to pay rent may be particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of abuse by landlords during this crisis. There has been an alarming increase in reports of landlords sexually harassing tenants who are unable to pay rent due to COVID-19. Domestic violence survivors, already endangered because their homes are unsafe, face even greater vulnerability if eviction looms. Lack of safe and stable housing is one of the primary barriers that survivors face when trying to escape an abusive relationship. Strong protections against eviction are critical to ensure that tenants do not have to choose between enduring harassment and abuse or being forced to leave their home and compromise their well-being during a pandemic.
 
The impending flood of mass evictions will undoubtedly risk further spread of COVID-19, as families are forced to double-up with other households, seek refuge in crowded shelters, or find themselves living outside. Even without a public health crisis, eviction often sets off a chain of devastating hardships, including physical and mental health issues, chronic joblessness, financial loss, and homelessness. In the face of a global pandemic and its economic fallout, the harmful impact of eviction is only magnified. Moreover, the aftermath of eviction persists for decades, as individuals with prior eviction records are indefinitely shut out of future housing opportunities due to unfair eviction screening policies that deny housing to anyone with a prior eviction filing.
 
It is critical that state and local governments work now to ensure that renters do not face a surge of evictions due to an inability to pay back-rent as soon as the bans are lifted. Permitting mass evictions to take place — whether in one month or six — will lead to huge upheavals for families and threaten community stability.
 
In response to this threat, the ACLU and 20 state affiliates across the country joined housing advocates, organizers, and other groups to demand that their state and local officials take immediate action to prevent mass evictions and utility shut-offs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials must issue comprehensive measures to stop mass evictions and utility disconnections that will:

• halt every stage of the eviction process, including the issuance of informal notices to evict;
• apply to all types of tenants and lease violations;
• prohibit the collection of late fees and retaliation against tenants who assert their rights;
• prohibit utility shut-offs and require restoration of previously disconnected services;
• and prevent evictions once bans are lifted, such as requiring landlords to negotiate reasonable payment plans and creating relief funds to cover back rent.

These protections will provide the certainty and stability that all families need to ensure that no one is at risk of losing their homes while we work to find longer-term solutions to handling the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. As millions are being told to shelter in place, access to stable housing is saving lives. We must work to guarantee that no individual or family faces the loss of their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published May 1, 2020 at 01:48AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2yi1Wiq

ACLU: How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized

How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the ACLU’s work of defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights continues, essential as ever. At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on issues arising from the government’s response — or lack thereof — to the pandemic.
 
Since the start of the outbreak, we’ve filed over 90 legal actions and have seen thousands of people released from prisons, jails, and immigration detention.

We and ACLU offices across the country are working in nearly every state to save lives, advocate for vulnerable communities, safeguard the right to vote, protect abortion rights, and guard against unjustified government overreach.

Expanding the right to vote by mail

This crisis may well still be with us in November, and we are committed to ensuring that no one has to choose between their health and their vote. We’re in court in Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Missouri, and South Carolina to ensure that every eligible voter can vote by mail, and to protect their rights when doing so.

Thousands released from jails and prisons

Most prisons, jails, and detention centers cannot ensure adherence to the social distancing guidelines the CDC urges all of us to follow. Due to the work of ACLU affiliates across the nation, at least 20,000 people have been released from jails and prisons or never brought into the criminal legal system in the first place. 

The ACLU has active campaigns in 25 states pressuring governors to adopt our model executive order, and pressuring prosecutors and sheriffs to reduce their jail and prison populations. We’ve filed multiple lawsuits against federal prisons, and at least 13 state affiliates have petitioned their state supreme courts for the release of individuals from jails and prisons. We are also running paid digital or TV ads in 13 states, and People Power campaigns in 5 states. This work has already generated 15 executive actions.

Over 30 lawsuits filed against ICE

We’ve filed over 30 lawsuits against ICE detention centers nationwide seeking the release of individuals most vulnerable to severe illness or death due to COVID-19. Detention should not be a death sentence.

More than 90 clients have been released.

Demanding states turn over demographic data

The ACLU and at least 13 ACLU state affiliates have petitioned local elected officials to collect and release race/ethnicity and other demographic data of COVID-19 testing, infections and deaths in states where that data has not been released at all, or there are huge gaps in reporting. The data released so far has shown that by and large Black people are dying at disturbingly disproportionate rates. We’re urging states and cities across the country to collect and release this data so we may better protect all communities and identify those that are in particular need of support.

Challenging efforts to block abortion access

We and our state affiliates have sued in seven states to fight back against politicians cutting off access to abortion during the crisis. After facing litigation, abortion is available in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

This is just the start. Once this emergency ends, the ACLU will be leading the fight to ensure any intrusions on liberty end with it.

Published May 1, 2020 at 01:44AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2KMEUTB

ACLU: COVID-19 Will Bring Mass Evictions Unless We Act Now

COVID-19 Will Bring Mass Evictions Unless We Act Now

It’s almost the first of the month, and millions of tenants across the country are at risk of losing their homes in the middle of a global pandemic. In the seven weeks since the U.S. declared a national emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic already has resulted in widespread economic consequences. More than 30 million workers have filed for unemployment, though many have yet to receive any benefits. And last month, nearly a third of apartment tenants didn’t pay rent by the first week of April — an alarming sign that many households are struggling to make rent during this crisis.    
 
While Congress and state and city governments have issued some safeguards against eviction, an overwhelming number of tenants are not protected from being kicked out of their homes during a global health pandemic. The CARES Act’s federal ban on evictions only prohibits landlords from filing new eviction actions against tenants living in federally supported or financed housing, and will expire on July 24. Accordingly, most tenants must rely on their state or local governments, leaving many without protection. Landlords in some states, such as North Dakota, Missouri, and Arkansas, are continuing to evict tenants in the absence of any statewide eviction bans. Other states have issued temporary bans on eviction, but even those are significantly limited in scope and leave tenants vulnerable to losing their homes due to procedural hurdles or loopholes. Moreover, many of these statewide bans are time-limited and offer no long-term protections, ensuring that courts will be inundated with mass evictions as soon as these bans are lifted. Many tenants are also at risk of losing water and utility service, posing a major public health threat during a global crisis.
 
The impact of mass evictions and utility shut-offs will overwhelmingly burden tenants of color and, in particular, Black women. Earlier this year, the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Data Analytics team found that on average, Black women renters had evictions filed against them by landlords at double the rate of white renters (or higher) in 17 of 36 states. These stark race and gender disparities in eviction have been found in other studies, which reveal that eviction often exacerbates and reproduces conditions of poverty for Black women and communities of color. Black women and communities of color will likely suffer the greatest hardship due to mass evictions — worsening the existing racial disparities that have emerged in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
            The lack of statewide protections against eviction is also concerning for the housing security and safety of women, as tenants struggling to pay rent may be particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of abuse by landlords during this crisis. There has been an alarming increase in reports of landlords sexually harassing tenants who are unable to pay rent due to COVID-19. Domestic violence survivors, already endangered because their homes are unsafe, face even greater vulnerability if eviction looms. Lack of safe and stable housing is one of the primary barriers that survivors face when trying to escape an abusive relationship. Strong protections against eviction are critical to ensure that tenants do not have to choose between enduring harassment and abuse or being forced to leave their home and compromise their well-being during a pandemic.
 
The impending flood of mass evictions will undoubtedly risk further spread of COVID-19, as families are forced to double-up with other households, seek refuge in crowded shelters, or find themselves living outside. Even without a public health crisis, eviction often sets off a chain of devastating hardships, including physical and mental health issues, chronic joblessness, financial loss, and homelessness. In the face of a global pandemic and its economic fallout, the harmful impact of eviction is only magnified. Moreover, the aftermath of eviction persists for decades, as individuals with prior eviction records are indefinitely shut out of future housing opportunities due to unfair eviction screening policies that deny housing to anyone with a prior eviction filing.
 
It is critical that state and local governments work now to ensure that renters do not face a surge of evictions due to an inability to pay back-rent as soon as the bans are lifted. Permitting mass evictions to take place — whether in one month or six — will lead to huge upheavals for families and threaten community stability.
 
In response to this threat, the ACLU and 20 state affiliates across the country joined housing advocates, organizers, and other groups to demand that their state and local officials take immediate action to prevent mass evictions and utility shut-offs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials must issue comprehensive measures to stop mass evictions and utility disconnections that will:

• halt every stage of the eviction process, including the issuance of informal notices to evict;
• apply to all types of tenants and lease violations;
• prohibit the collection of late fees and retaliation against tenants who assert their rights;
• prohibit utility shut-offs and require restoration of previously disconnected services;
• and prevent evictions once bans are lifted, such as requiring landlords to negotiate reasonable payment plans and creating relief funds to cover back rent.

These protections will provide the certainty and stability that all families need to ensure that no one is at risk of losing their homes while we work to find longer-term solutions to handling the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. As millions are being told to shelter in place, access to stable housing is saving lives. We must work to guarantee that no individual or family faces the loss of their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published April 30, 2020 at 09:18PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2yi1Wiq

ACLU: How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized

How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the ACLU’s work of defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights continues, essential as ever. At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on issues arising from the government’s response — or lack thereof — to the pandemic.
 
Since the start of the outbreak, we’ve filed over 90 legal actions and have seen thousands of people released from prisons, jails, and immigration detention.

We and ACLU offices across the country are working in nearly every state to save lives, advocate for vulnerable communities, safeguard the right to vote, protect abortion rights, and guard against unjustified government overreach.

Expanding the right to vote by mail

This crisis may well still be with us in November, and we are committed to ensuring that no one has to choose between their health and their vote. We’re in court in Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Missouri, and South Carolina to ensure that every eligible voter can vote by mail, and to protect their rights when doing so.

Thousands released from jails and prisons

Most prisons, jails, and detention centers cannot ensure adherence to the social distancing guidelines the CDC urges all of us to follow. Due to the work of ACLU affiliates across the nation, at least 20,000 people have been released from jails and prisons or never brought into the criminal legal system in the first place. 

The ACLU has active campaigns in 25 states pressuring governors to adopt our model executive order, and pressuring prosecutors and sheriffs to reduce their jail and prison populations. We’ve filed multiple lawsuits against federal prisons, and at least 13 state affiliates have petitioned their state supreme courts for the release of individuals from jails and prisons. We are also running paid digital or TV ads in 13 states, and People Power campaigns in 5 states. This work has already generated 15 executive actions.

Over 30 lawsuits filed against ICE

We’ve filed over 30 lawsuits against ICE detention centers nationwide seeking the release of individuals most vulnerable to severe illness or death due to COVID-19. Detention should not be a death sentence.

More than 90 clients have been released.

Demanding states turn over demographic data

The ACLU and at least 13 ACLU state affiliates have petitioned local elected officials to collect and release race/ethnicity and other demographic data of COVID-19 testing, infections and deaths in states where that data has not been released at all, or there are huge gaps in reporting. The data released so far has shown that by and large Black people are dying at disturbingly disproportionate rates. We’re urging states and cities across the country to collect and release this data so we may better protect all communities and identify those that are in particular need of support.

Challenging efforts to block abortion access

We and our state affiliates have sued in seven states to fight back against politicians cutting off access to abortion during the crisis. After facing litigation, abortion is available in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

This is just the start. Once this emergency ends, the ACLU will be leading the fight to ensure any intrusions on liberty end with it.

Published April 30, 2020 at 09:14PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2KMEUTB

‘Hand to hand to hand’: How Coronavirus Spread Aboard the Diamond Princess

At one point Carnival Cruise Line’s Diamond Princess would have a greater number of Coronavirus cases than anywhere in the world outside China. For GQ, Doug Bock Clark reports on how the delayed, woefully inadequate response from Carnival’s management, the Japanese government, as well as the ship’s captain and crew helped the virus to spread.

And Japanese officials eventually acknowledged the quarantine was flawed.

They had no idea about the danger. Not as they crowded around the famous champagne waterfall. Hundreds of delighted cruise passengers watched as golden bubbly, poured atop a pyramid of 300 glasses, filled the stemware below. Then the drinks were passed out. Hand to hand to hand. Guests clinked coupes and posed for photos, making the evening feel momentous. It was their fourth night aboard the Diamond Princess—a floating city of a ship that had been churning south from Yokohama, Japan—and they were all still unaware of how much their journey would transform them, and even the world.

For a week more, the Diamond Princess cruised on. The Amigos took a memorable kayak excursion in Vietnam, among the karst monoliths of Ha Long Bay. They enjoyed street food in Taiwan. But while there, panicky headlines and more temperature guns made the virus impossible to ignore. Still, they considered themselves safe, unaware that an 80-year-old passenger—a man who had coughed through the first half of the cruise before disembarking in Hong Kong—had been admitted to a hospital, where it was discovered that he was infected with the coronavirus.

For government officials and corporate leaders, the question of whether it was fair—or even safe—to quarantine the passengers but not the crew was obscured by the priority to keep the ship operational. And so the poor took care of the rich, and the citizens of less powerful nations served those from more powerful nations, and the Diamond Princess remained a miniaturized version of the global order—because what other way could things go?

Before bidding goodbye to the ship, Arma had stood alone on the glass-walled bridge. The normally stoic captain was emotional. He had been with the boat since it was built and had guided it safely through every storm, until this one. He felt like he understood what he called her “beautiful soul.”

One last time, he switched on the P.A., in order to speak to the ship itself. It wasn’t her fault, he told her. He promised that they would see each other again, and he wished her a good night, his words echoing in the vacant galleries and cabins. They had done their best, he and his ship—and like all good captains, he was the last person to leave. As he strode off the gangway in his crisp uniform, he was the very image of debonair fortitude. Except his true expression was hidden behind a protective mask.

Read the story

ACLU: Four Myths about Trans Athletes, Debunked

Four Myths about Trans Athletes, Debunked

For years state lawmakers have pushed legislation attempting to shut trans people out of public spaces. In 2020, lawmakers zeroed in on sports and introduced 20 bills seeking to ban trans people from participating in athletics. These statewide efforts have been supported through a coordinated campaign led by anti-LGBTQ groups that have long worked to attack our communities.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most state legislatures, Idaho became the first state to pass a sweeping ban on trans people’s participation in athletics from kindergarten through college. We, along with our partners, immediately sued. Advocates across the country are gearing up to continue the fight against these harmful bills in legislatures when they reconvene. In Connecticut, the ACLU is defending the rights of transgender athletes in a lawsuit brought by cisgender athletes seeking to strike down the state’s inclusive policy. 

Though we are fighting every day in the courts and in legislatures, upholding trans rights will take more than judicial and legislative action. It will require rooting out the inaccurate and harmful beliefs underlying these policies. Below, we debunk four myths about trans athletes using the expertise of doctors, academics, and sports psychologists serving as experts in our litigation in Idaho.

FACT: Including trans athletes will benefit everyone.

MYTH: The participation of trans athletes hurts cis women.

Many who oppose the inclusion of trans athletes erroneously claim that allowing trans athletes to compete will harm cisgender women. This divide and conquer tactic gets it exactly wrong. Excluding women who are trans hurts all women. It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being “too masculine” or “too good” at their sport to be a “real” woman. In Idaho, the ACLU represents two young women, one trans and one cis, both of whom are hurt by the law that was passed targeting trans athletes.

Further, this myth reinforces stereotypes that women are weak and in need of protection. Politicians have used the “protection” trope time and time again, including in 2016 when they tried banning trans people from public restrooms by creating the debunked “bathroom predator” myth. The real motive is never about protection — it’s about excluding trans people from yet another public space. The arena of sports is no different.

On the other hand, including trans athletes will promote values of non-discrimination and inclusion among all student athletes. As longtime coach and sports policy expert Helen Carroll explains, efforts to exclude subsets of girls from sports, “can undermine team unity and also encourage divisiveness by policing who is ‘really’ a girl.” Dr. Mary Fry also explains that youth derive the most benefits from athletics when they are exposed to caring environments where teammates are supported by each other and by coaches. Banning some girls from athletics because they are transgender undermines this cohesion and compromises the wide-ranging benefits that youth get from sports. 

FACT: Trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage in sports.

MYTH: Trans athletes’ physiological characteristics provide an unfair advantage over cis athletes.

Women and girls who are trans face discrimination and violence that makes it difficult to even stay in school. According to the U.S. Trans Survey, 22 percent of trans women who were perceived as trans in school were harassed so badly they had to leave school because of it. Another 10 percent were kicked out of school. The idea that women and girls have an advantage because they are trans ignores the actual conditions of their lives.  

Trans athletes vary in athletic ability just like cisgender athletes. “One high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could have perfect form, and then do better,” explains Andraya Yearwood, a student track athlete and ACLU client. “One sprinter could have parents who spend so much money on personal training for their child, which in turn, would cause that child to run faster,” she adds. In Connecticut, where cisgender girl runners have tried to block Andraya from participating in the sport she loves, the very same cis girls who have claimed that trans athletes have an “unfair” advantage have consistently performed as well as or better than transgender competitors.

“A person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance,”according to Dr. Joshua D. Safer. “For a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA standards, “there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”

FACT: Trans girls are girls.

MYTH: Sex is binary, apparent at birth, and identifiable through singular biological characteristics. 

Girls who are trans are told repeatedly that they are not “real” girls and boys who are trans are told they are not “real” boys. Non-binary people are told that their gender is not real and that they must be either boys or girls. None of these statements are true. Trans people are exactly who we say we are. 

There is no one way for women’s bodies to be. Women, including women who are transgender, intersex, or disabled, have a range of different physical characteristics.

“A person’s sex is made up of multiple biological characteristics and they may not all align as typically male or female in a given person,” says Dr. Safer. Further, many people who are not trans can have hormones levels outside of the range considered typical of a cis person of their assigned sex.

When a person does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, they must be able to transition socially — and that includes participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. According to Dr. Deanna Adkins, excluding trans athletes can be deeply harmful and disruptive to treatment. “I know from experience with my patients that it can be extremely harmful for a transgender young person to be excluded from the team consistent with their gender identity.”

FACT: Trans people belong on the same teams as other students.

MYTH: Trans students need separate teams.

Trans people have the same right to play sports as anybody else. “For the past nine years,” explains Carroll, “transgender athletes have been able to compete on teams at NCAA member collegiates and universities consistent with their gender identity like all other student-athletes with no disruption to women’s collegiate sports.” 

Excluding trans people from any space or activity is harmful, particularly for trans youth. A trans high school student, for example, may experience detrimental effects to their physical and emotional wellbeing when they are pushed out of affirming spaces and communities. As Lindsay Hecox says, “I just want to run.”

According to Dr. Adkins, “When a school or athletic organization denies transgender students the ability to participate equally in athletics because they are transgender, that condones, reinforces, and affirms the transgender students’ social status as outsiders or misfits who deserve the hostility they experience from peers.”

Believing and perpetuating myths and misconceptions about trans athletes is harmful. Denying trans people the right to participate is discrimination and it doesn’t just hurt trans people, it hurts all of us.

Published April 30, 2020 at 09:14PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3ddXoJ5

ACLU: Four Myths about Trans Athletes, Debunked

Four Myths about Trans Athletes, Debunked

For years state lawmakers have pushed legislation attempting to shut trans people out of public spaces. In 2020, lawmakers zeroed in on sports and introduced 20 bills seeking to ban trans people from participating in athletics. These statewide efforts have been supported through a coordinated campaign led by anti-LGBTQ groups that have long worked to attack our communities.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most state legislatures, Idaho became the first state to pass a sweeping ban on trans people’s participation in athletics from kindergarten through college. We, along with our partners, immediately sued. Advocates across the country are gearing up to continue the fight against these harmful bills in legislatures when they reconvene. In Connecticut, the ACLU is defending the rights of transgender athletes in a lawsuit brought by cisgender athletes seeking to strike down the state’s inclusive policy. 

Though we are fighting every day in the courts and in legislatures, upholding trans rights will take more than judicial and legislative action. It will require rooting out the inaccurate and harmful beliefs underlying these policies. Below, we debunk four myths about trans athletes using the expertise of doctors, academics, and sports psychologists serving as experts in our litigation in Idaho.

FACT: Including trans athletes will benefit everyone.

MYTH: The participation of trans athletes hurts cis women.

Many who oppose the inclusion of trans athletes erroneously claim that allowing trans athletes to compete will harm cisgender women. This divide and conquer tactic gets it exactly wrong. Excluding women who are trans hurts all women. It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being “too masculine” or “too good” at their sport to be a “real” woman. In Idaho, the ACLU represents two young women, one trans and one cis, both of whom are hurt by the law that was passed targeting trans athletes.

Further, this myth reinforces stereotypes that women are weak and in need of protection. Politicians have used the “protection” trope time and time again, including in 2016 when they tried banning trans people from public restrooms by creating the debunked “bathroom predator” myth. The real motive is never about protection — it’s about excluding trans people from yet another public space. The arena of sports is no different.

On the other hand, including trans athletes will promote values of non-discrimination and inclusion among all student athletes. As longtime coach and sports policy expert Helen Carroll explains, efforts to exclude subsets of girls from sports, “can undermine team unity and also encourage divisiveness by policing who is ‘really’ a girl.” Dr. Mary Fry also explains that youth derive the most benefits from athletics when they are exposed to caring environments where teammates are supported by each other and by coaches. Banning some girls from athletics because they are transgender undermines this cohesion and compromises the wide-ranging benefits that youth get from sports. 

FACT: Trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage in sports.

MYTH: Trans athletes’ physiological characteristics provide an unfair advantage over cis athletes.

Women and girls who are trans face discrimination and violence that makes it difficult to even stay in school. According to the U.S. Trans Survey, 22 percent of trans women who were perceived as trans in school were harassed so badly they had to leave school because of it. Another 10 percent were kicked out of school. The idea that women and girls have an advantage because they are trans ignores the actual conditions of their lives.  

Trans athletes vary in athletic ability just like cisgender athletes. “One high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could have perfect form, and then do better,” explains Andraya Yearwood, a student track athlete and ACLU client. “One sprinter could have parents who spend so much money on personal training for their child, which in turn, would cause that child to run faster,” she adds. In Connecticut, where cisgender girl runners have tried to block Andraya from participating in the sport she loves, the very same cis girls who have claimed that trans athletes have an “unfair” advantage have consistently performed as well as or better than transgender competitors.

“A person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance,”according to Dr. Joshua D. Safer. “For a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA standards, “there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”

FACT: Trans girls are girls.

MYTH: Sex is binary, apparent at birth, and identifiable through singular biological characteristics. 

Girls who are trans are told repeatedly that they are not “real” girls and boys who are trans are told they are not “real” boys. Non-binary people are told that their gender is not real and that they must be either boys or girls. None of these statements are true. Trans people are exactly who we say we are. 

There is no one way for women’s bodies to be. Women, including women who are transgender, intersex, or disabled, have a range of different physical characteristics.

“A person’s sex is made up of multiple biological characteristics and they may not all align as typically male or female in a given person,” says Dr. Safer. Further, many people who are not trans can have hormones levels outside of the range considered typical of a cis person of their assigned sex.

When a person does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, they must be able to transition socially — and that includes participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. According to Dr. Deanna Adkins, excluding trans athletes can be deeply harmful and disruptive to treatment. “I know from experience with my patients that it can be extremely harmful for a transgender young person to be excluded from the team consistent with their gender identity.”

FACT: Trans people belong on the same teams as other students.

MYTH: Trans students need separate teams.

Trans people have the same right to play sports as anybody else. “For the past nine years,” explains Carroll, “transgender athletes have been able to compete on teams at NCAA member collegiates and universities consistent with their gender identity like all other student-athletes with no disruption to women’s collegiate sports.” 

Excluding trans people from any space or activity is harmful, particularly for trans youth. A trans high school student, for example, may experience detrimental effects to their physical and emotional wellbeing when they are pushed out of affirming spaces and communities. As Lindsay Hecox says, “I just want to run.”

According to Dr. Adkins, “When a school or athletic organization denies transgender students the ability to participate equally in athletics because they are transgender, that condones, reinforces, and affirms the transgender students’ social status as outsiders or misfits who deserve the hostility they experience from peers.”

Believing and perpetuating myths and misconceptions about trans athletes is harmful. Denying trans people the right to participate is discrimination and it doesn’t just hurt trans people, it hurts all of us.

Published April 30, 2020 at 04:44PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3ddXoJ5

ACLU: Utah’s Shiny Surveillance Technology to Address COVID-19 Fails Miserably

Utah’s Shiny Surveillance Technology to Address COVID-19 Fails Miserably

How many times have you failed to get a new digital device working properly the first time? While toddlers can (amazingly) master iPhones in minutes, some tech gadgets require many troubleshooting attempts to activate. And even then, they might fizzle.
 
Last month, the state of Utah learned that simple tech lesson in a very public way.
 
As part of a series of measures to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order requiring every adult crossing the Utah border to submit an electronic State of Utah Travel Self-Declaration Form with details about their contact information and health status. To implement the order, the state set up nine virtual border checkpoints positioned across major roads and highways. When crossing one of the checkpoints, motorists were supposed to receive a text message directing them to complete a survey form with their name, address, phone number, email, and any potential symptoms or exposure to COVID-19.

Source: <a href=”https://ift.tt/3aUYpnr News/Ivy Cabello</a>

According to the state, the personal and health data collected by this survey was transferred securely from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) in the event that health investigators needed to follow-up with any respondents about self-quarantining.
 
At least, that was how the system was supposed to work.

Instead, people sitting at their kitchen tables dozens of miles from the border were receiving text messages to fill out the entry form. One resident of Myton, Utah—located 60 miles from the Colorado border—told the Deseret News she received 80 text messages from the system in one morning. Simply put, Utah’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, also called a “geofence,” had a lot of holes. In addition, alert system couldn’t distinguish between motorists entering or leaving the state, so many people received the alert while driving from Utah to Nevada or Idaho.

The Utah Department of Emergency Management was forced to cancel the entry alert system within less than 72 hours of its launch. In those hours, the government made several attempts to narrow the wireless zones, but failed to stop the wayward text messages going to people located miles from the state border.
 
“We knew that this was going to be kind of an experiment and we were trying to do something innovative,” Joe Dougherty, public information officer for the Utah Division of Emergency Management, told the Deseret News.
 
Still, Dougherty went on to note, about 35 percent of the people who received a text message completed the entry form and the state received about 10,000 responses during the 72 hours the system was operational.
 
That’s 10,000 people who provided their personal and health information—including their date of birth, cell phone number, and status as a state resident or visitor—to government agencies likely in error, or without much thought or explanation about how it could be used.
 
What’s most troubling, however, is that Utah’s experiment with virtual border checkpoints was canceled not because of concerns about state overreach that infringed privacy, but because of hundreds of complaints from Utah residents whose smartphones got jammed with surveillance spam. The problem wasn’t that Utahns were concerned about the government wanting to know personal details about thousands of people entering the state. The problem wasn’t the state’s threat that it could “take subsequent steps” if travelers entering the state did not comply with the order. Nor was the problem that many people in Utah’s immigrant community correctly feared implementation of this new surveillance system given the state’s troubled history with the secret sharing of personal data with outside law enforcement agencies, as well as data breaches of sensitive information held by the Department of Health.
 
The state of Utah’s failed experiment with this technology and short-lived plan to infringe on people’s privacy should serve as a lesson for government leaders nationwide. It should also serve as a lesson for all of us to scrutinize government actions — even in times of crisis — more closely.
 
In an effort to justify the privacy-invading system, state and local leaders resorted to hyperbole. They claimed in an FAQ, for instance, that “these are extraordinary times, and Utah is taking extraordinary measures like using this technology (which we have never used in an instance like this before). There may be some kinks here and there, but it’s absolutely essential to help us stop the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19.”
 
Extraordinary times.
Extraordinary measures.
Absolutely essential.
 
Those phrases jammed into a single, excitable paragraph are certain clues that this effort shifted the crucial balance between state authority and personal privacy too far towards the state. Besides being unworkable, the implementation of this wireless alert system was an unnecessary infringement on personal privacy. It was neither prudent nor effective. And it should not be re-implemented in the future.
 
Concern over travelers spreading the coronavirus was a significant concern during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but most experts agree that threat is significantly reduced now that 97% of the U.S. population is under orders to stay at home or shelter in place and that the virus is already widespread.
 
State and local leaders would be better served — and would better serve their constituents — if they stick to proven public health measures, not shiny new surveillance technologies that invade our privacy all while wasting precious time and resources.

Published April 30, 2020 at 07:34PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2VOA3Yk

ACLU: Utah’s Shiny Surveillance Technology to Address COVID-19 Fails Miserably

Utah’s Shiny Surveillance Technology to Address COVID-19 Fails Miserably

How many times have you failed to get a new digital device working properly the first time? While toddlers can (amazingly) master iPhones in minutes, some tech gadgets require many troubleshooting attempts to activate. And even then, they might fizzle.
 
Last month, the State of Utah learned that simple tech lesson in a very public way.
 
As part of a series of measures to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order requiring every adult crossing the Utah border to submit an electronic State of Utah Travel Self-Declaration Form with details about their contact information and health status. To implement the order, the state set up nine virtual border checkpoints positioned across major roads and highways. When crossing one of the checkpoints, motorists were supposed to receive a text message directing them to complete a survey form with their name, address, phone number, email, and any potential symptoms or exposure to COVID-19.

Source: <a href=”https://ift.tt/3aUYpnr News/Ivy Cabello</a>

According to the state, the personal and health data collected by this survey was transferred securely from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) in the event that health investigators needed to follow-up with any respondents about self-quarantining.
 
At least, that was how the system was supposed to work.

Instead, people sitting at their kitchen tables dozens of miles from the border were receiving text messages to fill out the entry form. One resident of Myton, Utah—located 60 miles from the Colorado border—told the Deseret News she received 80 text messages from the system in one morning. Simply put, Utah’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, also called a “geofence,” had a lot of holes. In addition, alert system couldn’t distinguish between motorists entering or leaving the state, so many people received the alert while driving from Utah to Nevada or Idaho.

The Utah Department of Emergency Management was forced to cancel the entry alert system within less than 72 hours of its launch. In those hours, the government made several attempts to narrow the wireless zones, but failed to stop the wayward text messages going to people located miles from the state border.
 
“We knew that this was going to be kind of an experiment and we were trying to do something innovative,” Joe Dougherty, public information officer for the Utah Division of Emergency Management, told the Deseret News.
 
Still, Dougherty went on to note, about 35 percent of the people who received a text message completed the entry form and the state received about 10,000 responses during the 72 hours the system was operational.
 
That’s 10,000 people who provided their personal and health information—including their date of birth, cell phone number, and status as a state resident or visitor—to government agencies likely in error, or without much thought or explanation about how it could be used.
 
What’s most troubling, however, is that Utah’s experiment with virtual border checkpoints was canceled not because of concerns about state overreach that infringed privacy, but because of hundreds of complaints from Utah residents whose smartphones got jammed with surveillance spam. The problem wasn’t that Utahns were concerned about the government wanting to know personal details about thousands of people entering the state. The problem wasn’t the state’s threat that it could “take subsequent steps” if travelers entering the state did not comply with the order. Nor was the problem that many people in Utah’s immigrant community correctly feared implementation of this new surveillance system given the state’s troubled history with the secret sharing of personal data with outside law enforcement agencies, as well as data breaches of sensitive information held by the Department of Health.
 
The state of Utah’s failed experiment with this technology and short-lived plan to infringe on people’s privacy should serve as a lesson for government leaders nationwide. It should also serve as a lesson for all of us to scrutinize government actions — even in times of crisis — more closely.
 
In an effort to justify the privacy-invading system, state and local leaders resorted to hyperbole. They claimed in an FAQ, for instance, that “these are extraordinary times, and Utah is taking extraordinary measures like using this technology (which we have never used in an instance like this before). There may be some kinks here and there, but it’s absolutely essential to help us stop the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19.”
 
Extraordinary times.
Extraordinary measures.
Absolutely essential.
 
Those phrases jammed into a single, excitable paragraph are certain clues that this effort shifted the crucial balance between state authority and personal privacy too far towards the state. Besides being unworkable, the implementation of this wireless alert system was an unnecessary infringement on personal privacy. It was neither prudent nor effective. And it should not be re-implemented in the future.
 
Concern over travelers spreading the coronavirus was a significant concern during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but most experts agree that threat is significantly reduced now that 97% of the U.S. population is under orders to stay at home or shelter in place and that the virus is already widespread.
 
State and local leaders would be better served — and would better serve their constituents — if they stick to proven public health measures, not shiny new surveillance technologies that invade our privacy all while wasting precious time and resources.

Published April 30, 2020 at 03:04PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2VOA3Yk

ACLU: Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it’s a Death Trap.

Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it’s a Death Trap.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people locked up in immigration detention facilities have feared for their lives. Detainees have raised concerns over their inability to practice social distancing and lack of sanitation materials — even basic soap to clean their hands and cells. Instead of addressing these concerns, detention officers have responded to detainees’ pleas for help by punishing them, placing them in in solitary confinement, and even tear-gassing detainees asking for safer conditions.

This risk is imminent: Yesterday, news broke that two officers at the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana died of COVID-19 after facility officials barred them from wearing face masks. As of today, at least 449 immigrant detainees have now tested positive for the virus; 45 percent of ICE detainees tested have come up positive for COVID-19. These numbers are likely a severe undercount and will continue to grow. Earlier this month, ICE Acting Director Matt Albence confirmed to Congress that ICE had tested less than two percent of detainees nationwide. Albence also testified that ICE did not plan to release any additional detainees to slow the spread of COVID-19 in detention facilities, as such release could give the impression that the administration is “not enforcing our immigration laws.”

The rapid spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities is a prime example of everything that has gone wrong with immigration detention. Justice Free Zones: Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration, a new report released today by the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, looks at the origins of this humanitarian crisis. The report shows how the Trump administration laid the groundwork for the current disaster of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities. It is little coincidence that a disproportionate number of detention centers that now have confirmed cases of COVID-19 came online under the Trump administration. The report explores the vast expansion of immigration detention under the Trump administration; how private prison companies have increasingly profited off this growth; and the ways in which ICE has designed the system so detained people have no clear path out.  

While researching this report, our teams conducted site visits to five detention centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arizona, all opened under the Trump administration. Three of these five detention facilities now have confirmed COVID-19 cases, including the Richwood Correctional Center, where two officers have already died from the virus. Today, 10 of the 28 ICE detention facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are facilities that have opened under the Trump administration. And unless ICE quickly releases medically vulnerable people from detention, COVID-19 outbreaks at these facilities will are set to overwhelm local hospitals and intensive care units.

Based on interviews with 150 detained people, detention facility site visits, and analysis of countless records — including some we had to sue to access — Justice Free Zones documents the inhumane growth of the immigration detention machine under the Trump presidency. Our intention is not to suggest that other administrations did not have problematic policies and practices related to detention: The trend toward increased detention and the increased role of private operators has been underway since the early 2000s and rose sharply under the Obama administration. That said, the Trump administration’s approach to immigration detention has created a situation more dire than any in recent memory.  
 
Our research of detention centers opened under the Trump administration exposed sordid conditions and inadequate medical care, abuse and retaliation against detained people who dared speak up against abuse, and the impossible odds for receiving release from detention. These conditions that have set up a tinderbox for COVID-19 to explode.

At the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, run by the private prison company LaSalle Corrections, we met a doctor who explained that that a request to see an outside specialist to set a broken bone could be booked “within a week.” We also saw the solitary confinement cell where Roylan Hernandez Diaz, an asylum seeker from Cuba, had died by suicide only weeks before our visit. During our visit, Richwood officials confirmed that there are no mental health professionals available on site at the facility. Forty-six detainees at Richwood have already tested positive for COVID-19; two guards have now died.

At the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, run by CoreCivic, Inc., we saw cruel treatment and neglect of immigrants with disabilities. Manuel Amaya Portillo, an asylum seeker with disabilities affecting his mobility who made repeated requests for a wheelchair, which staff did not address, reported that medical staff locked him in the medical unit and gave him sedatives during a facility inspection tour by government-contracted outside inspectors. Other detainees at Winn also reported being locked up in solitary confinement for over a week after talking to journalists about conditions at the facility. Three detainees at Winn have now tested positive for COVID-19.

At La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, also run by CoreCivic, Inc., a Honduran asylum seeker told us that another detainee was grabbed by the head and slammed against the wall by officers for taking papers out of his belongings on his first day of detention. People at La Palma reported water leaking into cells, gray drinking water, clogged toilets that were only a foot from the beds, and poor ventilation. Twenty-four detainees at La Palma have already tested positive for COVID-19.

At Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana, run by LaSalle, many detainees reported that they did not have soap for bathing or cleaning supplies for their cells or bathrooms — even before COVID-19. Several men at Richwood described a recent scabies outbreak, during which they were stripped and sprayed with chemicals by guards. Several people detained at Winn reported black mold growing on the walls and leaks in the roof that would soak peoples’ beds.

To date, the ACLU and its affiliates have filed over 30 cases around the country to free people from immigration detention in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The mass growth of the ICE detention machine — as well as the horrific conditions inside them and the huge profits being made off detained people — are not normal.

We will not allow these horrors in detention to be normalized. We will not stop fighting for the rights of the people who are caged. It is time for our nation’s immigration system to move away from its reliance on incarceration for management of a civil system. Instead, ICE should utilize alternatives to detention that are more humane, efficient, and cost-effective. We must ensure that Congress reduce funding to ICE for detention operations and shift to community-based alternatives to immigration detention that are not driven by profit.

Published April 30, 2020 at 07:30PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3ddB56j

ACLU: Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it’s a Death Trap.

Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it’s a Death Trap.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people locked up in immigration detention facilities have feared for their lives. Detainees have raised concerns over their inability to practice social distancing and lack of sanitation materials — even basic soap to clean their hands and cells. Instead of addressing these concerns, detention officers have responded to detainees’ pleas for help by punishing them, placing them in in solitary confinement, and even tear-gassing detainees asking for safer conditions.

This risk is imminent: Yesterday, news broke that two officers at the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana died of COVID-19 after facility officials barred them from wearing face masks. As of today, at least 449 immigrant detainees have now tested positive for the virus; 45 percent of ICE detainees tested have come up positive for COVID-19. These numbers are likely a severe undercount and will continue to grow. Earlier this month, ICE Acting Director Matt Albence confirmed to Congress that ICE had tested less than two percent of detainees nationwide. Albence also testified that ICE did not plan to release any additional detainees to slow the spread of COVID-19 in detention facilities, as such release could give the impression that the administration is “not enforcing our immigration laws.”

The rapid spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities is a prime example of everything that has gone wrong with immigration detention. Justice Free Zones: Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration, a new report released today by the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, looks at the origins of this humanitarian crisis. The report shows how the Trump administration laid the groundwork for the current disaster of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities. It is little coincidence that a disproportionate number of detention centers that now have confirmed cases of COVID-19 came online under the Trump administration. The report explores the vast expansion of immigration detention under the Trump administration; how private prison companies have increasingly profited off this growth; and the ways in which ICE has designed the system so detained people have no clear path out.  

While researching this report, our teams conducted site visits to five detention centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arizona, all opened under the Trump administration. Three of these five detention facilities now have confirmed COVID-19 cases, including the Richwood Correctional Center, where two officers have already died from the virus. Today, 10 of the 28 ICE detention facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are facilities that have opened under the Trump administration. And unless ICE quickly releases medically vulnerable people from detention, COVID-19 outbreaks at these facilities will are set to overwhelm local hospitals and intensive care units.

Based on interviews with 150 detained people, detention facility site visits, and analysis of countless records — including some we had to sue to access — Justice Free Zones documents the inhumane growth of the immigration detention machine under the Trump presidency. Our intention is not to suggest that other administrations did not have problematic policies and practices related to detention: The trend toward increased detention and the increased role of private operators has been underway since the early 2000s and rose sharply under the Obama administration. That said, the Trump administration’s approach to immigration detention has created a situation more dire than any in recent memory.  
 
Our research of detention centers opened under the Trump administration exposed sordid conditions and inadequate medical care, abuse and retaliation against detained people who dared speak up against abuse, and the impossible odds for receiving release from detention. These conditions that have set up a tinderbox for COVID-19 to explode.

At the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, run by the private prison company LaSalle Corrections, we met a doctor who explained that that a request to see an outside specialist to set a broken bone could be booked “within a week.” We also saw the solitary confinement cell where Roylan Hernandez Diaz, an asylum seeker from Cuba, had died by suicide only weeks before our visit. During our visit, Richwood officials confirmed that there are no mental health professionals available on site at the facility. Forty-six detainees at Richwood have already tested positive for COVID-19; two guards have now died.

At the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, run by CoreCivic, Inc., we saw cruel treatment and neglect of immigrants with disabilities. Manuel Amaya Portillo, an asylum seeker with disabilities affecting his mobility who made repeated requests for a wheelchair, which staff did not address, reported that medical staff locked him in the medical unit and gave him sedatives during a facility inspection tour by government-contracted outside inspectors. Other detainees at Winn also reported being locked up in solitary confinement for over a week after talking to journalists about conditions at the facility. Three detainees at Winn have now tested positive for COVID-19.

At La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, also run by CoreCivic, Inc., a Honduran asylum seeker told us that another detainee was grabbed by the head and slammed against the wall by officers for taking papers out of his belongings on his first day of detention. People at La Palma reported water leaking into cells, gray drinking water, clogged toilets that were only a foot from the beds, and poor ventilation. Twenty-four detainees at La Palma have already tested positive for COVID-19.

At Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana, run by LaSalle, many detainees reported that they did not have soap for bathing or cleaning supplies for their cells or bathrooms — even before COVID-19. Several men at Richwood described a recent scabies outbreak, during which they were stripped and sprayed with chemicals by guards. Several people detained at Winn reported black mold growing on the walls and leaks in the roof that would soak peoples’ beds.

To date, the ACLU and its affiliates have filed over 30 cases around the country to free people from immigration detention in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The mass growth of the ICE detention machine — as well as the horrific conditions inside them and the huge profits being made off detained people — are not normal.

We will not allow these horrors in detention to be normalized. We will not stop fighting for the rights of the people who are caged. It is time for our nation’s immigration system to move away from its reliance on incarceration for management of a civil system. Instead, ICE should utilize alternatives to detention that are more humane, efficient, and cost-effective. We must ensure that Congress reduce funding to ICE for detention operations and shift to community-based alternatives to immigration detention that are not driven by profit.

Published April 30, 2020 at 03:00PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3ddB56j

Islamic Republic of Mauritania : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Islamic Republic of Mauritania : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Published April 29, 2020 at 07:00AM
Read more at imf.org

Democratic Republic of São Tomé And Príncipe : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Democratic Republic of São Tomé And Príncipe

Democratic Republic of São Tomé And Príncipe : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Democratic Republic of São Tomé And Príncipe
Published April 29, 2020 at 07:00AM
Read more at imf.org

Republic of Mozambique : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Mozambique

Republic of Mozambique : Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Mozambique
Published April 29, 2020 at 07:00AM
Read more at imf.org

Nigeria : Request for Purchase under the Rapid Financing Instrument -Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Nigeria

Nigeria : Request for Purchase under the Rapid Financing Instrument -Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Nigeria
Published April 29, 2020 at 07:00AM
Read more at imf.org

ACLU: Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19

Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19

A month ago, Congress gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) increased authority to reduce the federal prison population. On March 29th, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), providing DOJ and BOP with the ability to expand home confinement eligibility. Then, Attorney General William Barr “applaud[ed] the substantial steps taken” by DOJ and BOP to “move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions” in an April 3 memo.
 
Barr’s applause came too soon. In the weeks following his memo, DOJ and BOP have done little more than issue confusing and conflicting guidance around who is eligible for release. Congress must intervene with the Emergency Community Supervision Act, which would address some of the uncertainty. The bill would provide explicit instruction to BOP on how to reduce the federal prison population in the midst of a “national emergency relating to a communicable disease.”     
 
The Emergency Community Supervision Act (S 3579 and HR 6400) was introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) last month. It requires BOP to immediately place vulnerable individuals in home confinement or other community supervision outside of prison. The bill identifies “vulnerable individuals” as those who are pregnant – like Andrea Circle Bear, who gave birth in federal custody earlier this month and then died from COVID-19 yesterday; those with underlying health issues; and those who are age 50 or older. These are the very populations that public health experts argue should have their sentences commuted by the president in response to COVID-19.
 
While Sen. Booker believes the federal government has “an obligation to do everything we can to prevent the spread of this deadly disease, and that means moving certain incarcerated people to community supervision,” DOJ and BOP are falling far short of this responsibility. Since Barr’s April 3 memo, the number of people released to home confinement increased by just half of 1 percent, according to The Marshall Project. And with BOP flip flopping twice last week on who is eligible for home confinement, it is unlikely this percentage will increase without Congress’ intervention.     
 
With 30 deaths in BOP, and a staff death that BOP is not officially reporting, as well as 1,600 incarcerated persons and staff testing positive for COVID-19, there is no time for DOJ and BOP incompetency. Congress must go beyond the authority it provided to DOJ and BOP under the CARES Act and explicitly legislate reduction of the federal prison population, as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) called for during Friday, April 24’s Congressional Black Caucus town hall on incarceration and COVID-19. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then echoed Lee’s call on MSNBC on Sunday.  
 
Congress must advance the Emergency Community Supervision Act with the next COVID-19 relief package. Congressional oversight of BOP from both sides of the aisle reveals no other choice. In addition to requiring BOP to release vulnerable populations to community supervision, the Emergency Community Supervision Act limits the use of pretrial detention and in-person supervised release. It also prohibits the use of incarceration for technical violations of supervised release. In addition to reducing the federal prison population, Congress should legislate incentives for states to reduce their jail and prison populations.  
 
Reducing jail and prison populations in the wake of COVID-19 is not a partisan issue. Groups across the ideological spectrum have asked all levels of the federal government to take action. At this moment, it appears that Congress is the only body that appreciates the life or death consequences of not decarcerating; that tens of thousands more people will die in jails, prisons, and communities without action. Congress can protect those lives by passing the Emergency Community Supervision Act when it legislates additional COVID-19 relief for the country.    
 
 
 

Published April 29, 2020 at 11:32PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2SjCKzc