ACLU: The Supreme Court Considers a Cheerleader’s Off Campus Free Speech Rights

The Supreme Court Considers a Cheerleader’s Off Campus Free Speech Rights

This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that has huge implications for the free speech rights of students. The case involves then 14-year-old Brandi Levy, a cheerleader at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania, and her post on the social media platform Snapchat. One of her cheerleading coaches saw the post, which used an expletive, and suspended her from the team for a year — even though Brandi had posted on a weekend, while off of school property.

Brandi and her family sued the school for violating her First Amendment rights. Brandi prevailed in two lower federal court rulings but now, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to uphold the win or rule for the school. On Wednesday, ACLU Legal Director David Cole argued before the court on Brandi’s behalf.

“[The case] really has the potential to be a landmark case for student speech rights,” Vera Eidelman, staff attorney at the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project told us on At Liberty. Eidelman is working on Brandi’s case with the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

In addition to Eidelman, Brandi and her father, Larry joined us on this week’s episode to share their story.

https://soundcloud.com/aclu/supreme-court-considers-a-cheerleaders-free-speech

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Published April 30, 2021 at 06:51PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2S8vXLc

ACLU: The Supreme Court Considers a Cheerleader’s Off Campus Free Speech Rights

The Supreme Court Considers a Cheerleader’s Off Campus Free Speech Rights

This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that has huge implications for the free speech rights of students. The case involves then 14-year-old Brandi Levy, a cheerleader at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania, and her post on the social media platform Snapchat. One of her cheerleading coaches saw the post, which used an expletive, and suspended her from the team for a year — even though Brandi had posted on a weekend, while off of school property.

Brandi and her family sued the school for violating her First Amendment rights. Brandi prevailed in two lower federal court rulings but now, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to uphold the win or rule for the school. On Wednesday, ACLU Legal Director David Cole argued before the court on Brandi’s behalf.

“[The case] really has the potential to be a landmark case for student speech rights,” Vera Eidelman, staff attorney at the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project told us on At Liberty. Eidelman is working on Brandi’s case with the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

In addition to Eidelman, Brandi and her father, Larry joined us on this week’s episode to share their story.

https://soundcloud.com/aclu/supreme-court-considers-a-cheerleaders-free-speech

Stay informed about our work

Sign up

Published April 30, 2021 at 11:21PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2S8vXLc

ACLU: Biden Must Be Bolder on Immigration. The Lives of Millions Depend on It.

Biden Must Be Bolder on Immigration. The Lives of Millions Depend on It.

One hundred days ago, President Joe Biden took the helm of a decimated immigration system, which candidate Biden had promised to restore. The lives and safety of millions of people, and the lawfulness and moral standing of our country, depend on the president’s ability to deliver on that promise. But 100 days later, his record is decidedly mixed.

The Trump administration exploited and abused executive powers in our immigration laws to an unprecedented degree, aiming to harm Black and Brown communities. He deliberately destroyed the United States’ ability to effectively process asylum claims and admit people with legitimate claims to protection — people who we’ve been proud to welcome as future Americans under U.S. law. The impact of his ruthless actions is still being felt along the border and in communities across the country and the globe.

In the first 100 days of his administration, President Biden has often hit the right notes and his administration has begun to unwind some of the most noxious aspects of Trump’s legacy. But on far too many issues, the Biden administration has continued or only temporarily paused Trump policies — at the risk of perpetuating a new, Trumpian normal, with devastating human costs.

This must change.

Now is the time for Biden to use his executive authority and his presidential bully pulpit to do what voters elected him to do: reverse Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, and do everything within his power to bring humanity and fairness to our immigration system.

At the 100-day mark, Biden’s to-do list is still long. Here is a status report on the progress that’s been made, the promises that have been broken, and the work still left to do on some of the most urgent immigration priorities.

REBUILDING ASYLUM AND HUMANE BORDER POLICIES

The Trump administration made it nearly impossible for anyone to receive asylum, no matter how strong their claim, even though this fundamentally important right to protection from persecution is guaranteed in federal law. President Biden committed to restoring our asylum system, and has emphasized the need to treat people humanely and with dignity. But progress has been far too slow and the asylum system remains shut down to most people who are seeking protection.

• Biden suspended Trump’s illegal “Return to Mexico” policy, but must act more quickly to permanently rescind the policy and address its harms. Trump’s so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which forcibly returned thousands of people to dangerous conditions in Mexico, rather than allowing them to pursue their asylum claims from within the U.S., was illegal, as we established in court; it was also a humanitarian disaster. MPP denied people a meaningful opportunity to obtain asylum, while forcing them to remain in places where they were — entirely foreseeably — targets of kidnapping, rape, torture, and other abuse. President Biden suspended this policy pending a formal review and began a program to bring those subjected to MPP back to the U.S. The operation has offered dignified treatment to many who have made it back, but the administration must pick up the pace and commit to full redress for all migrants harmed by this policy, many of whom remain severely traumatized by their experiences under MPP. It must also commit to permanently rescinding the policy and to not reinstituting a similar policy in the future.

• Biden has largely continued Trump’s illegal misuse of “Title 42” public health authority to expel people seeking asylum. Like Trump before him, Biden is relying on Title 42 to illegally bypass the immigration laws and expel asylum seekers and migrants without a fair process, pushing them back into perilous conditions in Northern Mexico or flying them directly into harm’s way and political turmoil — indeed, according to a recent report, the Biden administration has used Title 42 to send more migrants back to Haiti over the course of several weeks than the Trump administration did in a whole year. Biden must stop these dangerous Title 42 expulsions and rescind this policy, which was never justified on public health grounds and has always been illegal, as the ACLU and its partners have established in several lawsuits.

• Unlike Trump, Biden is not expelling children at the border, but must do more to ensure safe and humane treatment. Biden did not continue the Trump administration’s unlawful policy of expelling unaccompanied children — a crucial decision for which it deserves credit. And the Biden administration has marshaled resources across agencies to temporarily house children while their placement with sponsors is vetted. However, the Biden administration must do more to get children out of CBP custody; to rapidly expand capacity within licensed, small-scale shelters; and to safely release children to sponsors without unnecessary delay.

• Biden suspended construction of the border wall – but continues Trump’s lawsuits against landowners. As a candidate, Biden promised “not another foot of wall” during his administration. President Biden appeared to make good on that promise, announcing on day one that his administration would immediately suspend construction. But Biden has not yet issued a promised report on Trump’s illegal transfer of military funds for wall construction, and has only “paused” wall construction that the ACLU and Sierra Club successfully blocked in lower courts — a case that is now in the Supreme Court. The federal government has continued litigation initiated by the Trump administration against landowners, and in April, a federal judge awarded the Biden administration title to property owned by South Texas landowners. It is imperative that the Biden administration return the property, withdraw the eminent domain cases initiated by the Trump administration, and take steps to repurpose or terminate wall projects and to mitigate the severe harms caused by the Trump administration’s illegal and rushed construction through public lands.

• A task force is not enough: Biden must address the irreparable trauma inflicted by Trump’s family separation policy. On February 2, Biden issued an executive order creating the Family Reunification Task Force with a broad mandate and a commitment to reuniting families in the U.S. However, the Biden administration has yet to reunite a single family in the U.S., and thousands more families continue to suffer from the trauma this policy inflicted. Every family torn apart by this policy must be reunited in the U.S. without delay, and be given the citizenship, care, and resources they deserve.

ENDING ICE ABUSES

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has targeted immigrant communities and engaged in repeated and systemic civil rights violations. Biden must act swiftly to end these abuses once and for all, and fully break from the racist and unfair policies of the past.

• ICE has continued to deport thousands. President Biden issued a 100-day deportation moratorium on day one, but the moratorium only covered certain deportations and, as it turned out, it was blocked by a federal court in response to a lawsuit from the Attorney General of Texas (the ACLU intervened in the case). And throughout the last three months, ICE has continued to deport thousands of people, in many cases flying them directly into harm’s way. The Biden administration has the authority to immediately halt these expulsions, which disproportionately impact Black and Brown immigrants, and it must do so.

• ICE arrests have fallen dramatically overall, but Black and Brown immigrants continue to be disproportionately targeted. ICE arrests have dramatically fallen in the first months of the Biden administration. However, the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement guidelines have continued to import the racial bias of the criminal legal system, leading to the disproportionate deportations of Black and Brown immigrants. We are urging the Biden administration to change its policies to prioritize keeping families together and giving people a fair chance to pursue legal relief.

• Biden has yet to end programs that co-opt local law enforcement as “force multipliers” for ICE. During his campaign, then-candidate Biden voiced his concern about ICE programs that rely on state and local law enforcement to conduct federal immigration enforcement, including ICE detainers and the 287(g) program, which is notorious for encouraging racial profiling and undercutting trust between local law enforcement departments and immigrant communities. The Biden administration must end these programs, which were a key enabler of the Trump administration’s turbocharged deportation agenda.

• Immigrants are still languishing in detention for no good reason. Although ICE set up a new case review process that purports to provide new avenues for people to challenge their unjust detention, immigrants are still languishing in ICE detention, including in facilities with horrific records of abuse and detention centers located in remote areas with poor access to legal counsel and medical services. Many of these immigrants are subjected to detention without any hearing before an impartial immigration judge. Thousands of people could be safely released to live at home while navigating their cases. With lower arrest rates, the Biden administration has a historic opportunity to shutter these ICE facilities.

UNDOING HARM TO MUSLIM, ARAB, BLACK, MIDDLE EASTERN, AND SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITIES

• Biden rescinded the Muslim Ban and its expansion targeting Africans, but has failed to provide relief to many of those harmed. President Biden rescinded Trump’s Muslim ban and its expansion targeting Africans on day one of his administration. However, the Biden administration has failed to make whole those who have been impacted by this ban for four years. Thousands of diversity visa lottery winners were stripped of their precious opportunity to come to the U.S. solely because of the ban, but the administration has not done anything to remedy their situation. Additionally, most people denied other visas under the Trump administration will have to reapply, pay new fees, and go through another excruciating wait, rather than reopening their applications. These decisions threaten to forever prevent thousands of Black and Brown immigrants who meet all of the legal requirements to immigrate to the U.S. from doing so, perpetuating the effects of the discriminatory bans.

• Biden’s flip-flopping on refugee admissions continues to harm people around the globe. Candidate Biden promised to prioritize refugee admissions and return the country to its global leadership position as a haven for those fleeing persecution. Unfortunately, he quickly betrayed that promise when the administration announced it would keep refugee admissions for Fiscal Year 2021 at Trump’s historic low. Following public and congressional outrage, the White House claims that a “final, increased refugee cap” for this fiscal year will be determined by May 15. Whether Biden will follow through on this new promise remains to be seen.

PASSING CITIZENSHIP LEGISLATION

The American people soundly rejected the hateful and divisive anti-immigrant policies pursued by the Trump administration. Now it’s imperative for Biden and Congress to seize on this momentum to finally get citizenship legislation done.

• Biden has proposed landmark citizenship legislation, but must press harder on Congress to act. On day one of his tenure, President Biden proposed immigration legislation creating pathways to citizenship and legal residency for millions of undocumented Americans. Biden’s immigration legislation — and the long-debated Dream Act — are now waiting for action by Congress, even as the country braces for a decision in litigation concerning the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. A negative decision will jeopardize the livelihoods of more than 800,000 people who have long called this country home. It is long past time for Dreamers to be out of limbo and on a path to citizenship. The Biden administration must work with Congress to pass citizenship measures, including through the reconciliation process.

From economic relief to infrastructure, the Biden administration has been praised for its boldness in doing the right thing, and for refusing to temper its aspirations or retreat from its values for the sake of mollifying extremists on the opposing side.

That same bold leadership and moral clarity is needed now on the issue of immigration. Far-right politicians are mimicking Trump’s extremist and racist rhetoric in a cynical appeal to their base. Biden should ignore them. Biden has the power to make good on his promises to fix this broken system and build a future where all are welcome and all are free. He must use it.

What you can do:

Reunite Separated Families and Provide Relief Now

Add your name

Published April 30, 2021 at 12:51AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2QK0ejh

ACLU: Biden Must Be Bolder on Immigration. The Lives of Millions Depend on It.

Biden Must Be Bolder on Immigration. The Lives of Millions Depend on It.

One hundred days ago, President Joe Biden took the helm of a decimated immigration system, which candidate Biden had promised to restore. The lives and safety of millions of people, and the lawfulness and moral standing of our country, depend on the president’s ability to deliver on that promise. But 100 days later, his record is decidedly mixed.

The Trump administration exploited and abused executive powers in our immigration laws to an unprecedented degree, aiming to harm Black and Brown communities. He deliberately destroyed the United States’ ability to effectively process asylum claims and admit people with legitimate claims to protection — people who we’ve been proud to welcome as future Americans under U.S. law. The impact of his ruthless actions is still being felt along the border and in communities across the country and the globe.

In the first 100 days of his administration, President Biden has often hit the right notes and his administration has begun to unwind some of the most noxious aspects of Trump’s legacy. But on far too many issues, the Biden administration has continued or only temporarily paused Trump policies — at the risk of perpetuating a new, Trumpian normal, with devastating human costs.

This must change.

Now is the time for Biden to use his executive authority and his presidential bully pulpit to do what voters elected him to do: reverse Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, and do everything within his power to bring humanity and fairness to our immigration system.

At the 100-day mark, Biden’s to-do list is still long. Here is a status report on the progress that’s been made, the promises that have been broken, and the work still left to do on some of the most urgent immigration priorities.

REBUILDING ASYLUM AND HUMANE BORDER POLICIES

The Trump administration made it nearly impossible for anyone to receive asylum, no matter how strong their claim, even though this fundamentally important right to protection from persecution is guaranteed in federal law. President Biden committed to restoring our asylum system, and has emphasized the need to treat people humanely and with dignity. But progress has been far too slow and the asylum system remains shut down to most people who are seeking protection.

• Biden suspended Trump’s illegal “Return to Mexico” policy, but must act more quickly to permanently rescind the policy and address its harms. Trump’s so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which forcibly returned thousands of people to dangerous conditions in Mexico, rather than allowing them to pursue their asylum claims from within the U.S., was illegal, as we established in court; it was also a humanitarian disaster. MPP denied people a meaningful opportunity to obtain asylum, while forcing them to remain in places where they were — entirely foreseeably — targets of kidnapping, rape, torture, and other abuse. President Biden suspended this policy pending a formal review and began a program to bring those subjected to MPP back to the U.S. The operation has offered dignified treatment to many who have made it back, but the administration must pick up the pace and commit to full redress for all migrants harmed by this policy, many of whom remain severely traumatized by their experiences under MPP. It must also commit to permanently rescinding the policy and to not reinstituting a similar policy in the future.

• Biden has largely continued Trump’s illegal misuse of “Title 42” public health authority to expel people seeking asylum. Like Trump before him, Biden is relying on Title 42 to illegally bypass the immigration laws and expel asylum seekers and migrants without a fair process, pushing them back into perilous conditions in Northern Mexico or flying them directly into harm’s way and political turmoil — indeed, according to a recent report, the Biden administration has used Title 42 to send more migrants back to Haiti over the course of several weeks than the Trump administration did in a whole year. Biden must stop these dangerous Title 42 expulsions and rescind this policy, which was never justified on public health grounds and has always been illegal, as the ACLU and its partners have established in several lawsuits.

• Unlike Trump, Biden is not expelling children at the border, but must do more to ensure safe and humane treatment. Biden did not continue the Trump administration’s unlawful policy of expelling unaccompanied children — a crucial decision for which it deserves credit. And the Biden administration has marshaled resources across agencies to temporarily house children while their placement with sponsors is vetted. However, the Biden administration must do more to get children out of CBP custody; to rapidly expand capacity within licensed, small-scale shelters; and to safely release children to sponsors without unnecessary delay.

• Biden suspended construction of the border wall – but continues Trump’s lawsuits against landowners. As a candidate, Biden promised “not another foot of wall” during his administration. President Biden appeared to make good on that promise, announcing on day one that his administration would immediately suspend construction. But Biden has not yet issued a promised report on Trump’s illegal transfer of military funds for wall construction, and has only “paused” wall construction that the ACLU and Sierra Club successfully blocked in lower courts — a case that is now in the Supreme Court. The federal government has continued litigation initiated by the Trump administration against landowners, and in April, a federal judge awarded the Biden administration title to property owned by South Texas landowners. It is imperative that the Biden administration return the property, withdraw the eminent domain cases initiated by the Trump administration, and take steps to repurpose or terminate wall projects and to mitigate the severe harms caused by the Trump administration’s illegal and rushed construction through public lands.

• A task force is not enough: Biden must address the irreparable trauma inflicted by Trump’s family separation policy. On February 2, Biden issued an executive order creating the Family Reunification Task Force with a broad mandate and a commitment to reuniting families in the U.S. However, the Biden administration has yet to reunite a single family in the U.S., and thousands more families continue to suffer from the trauma this policy inflicted. Every family torn apart by this policy must be reunited in the U.S. without delay, and be given the citizenship, care, and resources they deserve.

ENDING ICE ABUSES

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has targeted immigrant communities and engaged in repeated and systemic civil rights violations. Biden must act swiftly to end these abuses once and for all, and fully break from the racist and unfair policies of the past.

• ICE has continued to deport thousands. President Biden issued a 100-day deportation moratorium on day one, but the moratorium only covered certain deportations and, as it turned out, it was blocked by a federal court in response to a lawsuit from the Attorney General of Texas (the ACLU intervened in the case). And throughout the last three months, ICE has continued to deport thousands of people, in many cases flying them directly into harm’s way. The Biden administration has the authority to immediately halt these expulsions, which disproportionately impact Black and Brown immigrants, and it must do so.

• ICE arrests have fallen dramatically overall, but Black and Brown immigrants continue to be disproportionately targeted. ICE arrests have dramatically fallen in the first months of the Biden administration. However, the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement guidelines have continued to import the racial bias of the criminal legal system, leading to the disproportionate deportations of Black and Brown immigrants. We are urging the Biden administration to change its policies to prioritize keeping families together and giving people a fair chance to pursue legal relief.

• Biden has yet to end programs that co-opt local law enforcement as “force multipliers” for ICE. During his campaign, then-candidate Biden voiced his concern about ICE programs that rely on state and local law enforcement to conduct federal immigration enforcement, including ICE detainers and the 287(g) program, which is notorious for encouraging racial profiling and undercutting trust between local law enforcement departments and immigrant communities. The Biden administration must end these programs, which were a key enabler of the Trump administration’s turbocharged deportation agenda.

• Immigrants are still languishing in detention for no good reason. Although ICE set up a new case review process that purports to provide new avenues for people to challenge their unjust detention, immigrants are still languishing in ICE detention, including in facilities with horrific records of abuse and detention centers located in remote areas with poor access to legal counsel and medical services. Many of these immigrants are subjected to detention without any hearing before an impartial immigration judge. Thousands of people could be safely released to live at home while navigating their cases. With lower arrest rates, the Biden administration has a historic opportunity to shutter these ICE facilities.

UNDOING HARM TO MUSLIM, ARAB, BLACK, MIDDLE EASTERN, AND SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITIES

• Biden rescinded the Muslim Ban and its expansion targeting Africans, but has failed to provide relief to many of those harmed. President Biden rescinded Trump’s Muslim ban and its expansion targeting Africans on day one of his administration. However, the Biden administration has failed to make whole those who have been impacted by this ban for four years. Thousands of diversity visa lottery winners were stripped of their precious opportunity to come to the U.S. solely because of the ban, but the administration has not done anything to remedy their situation. Additionally, most people denied other visas under the Trump administration will have to reapply, pay new fees, and go through another excruciating wait, rather than reopening their applications. These decisions threaten to forever prevent thousands of Black and Brown immigrants who meet all of the legal requirements to immigrate to the U.S. from doing so, perpetuating the effects of the discriminatory bans.

• Biden’s flip-flopping on refugee admissions continues to harm people around the globe. Candidate Biden promised to prioritize refugee admissions and return the country to its global leadership position as a haven for those fleeing persecution. Unfortunately, he quickly betrayed that promise when the administration announced it would keep refugee admissions for Fiscal Year 2021 at Trump’s historic low. Following public and congressional outrage, the White House claims that a “final, increased refugee cap” for this fiscal year will be determined by May 15. Whether Biden will follow through on this new promise remains to be seen.

PASSING CITIZENSHIP LEGISLATION

The American people soundly rejected the hateful and divisive anti-immigrant policies pursued by the Trump administration. Now it’s imperative for Biden and Congress to seize on this momentum to finally get citizenship legislation done.

• Biden has proposed landmark citizenship legislation, but must press harder on Congress to act. On day one of his tenure, President Biden proposed immigration legislation creating pathways to citizenship and legal residency for millions of undocumented Americans. Biden’s immigration legislation — and the long-debated Dream Act — are now waiting for action by Congress, even as the country braces for a decision in litigation concerning the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. A negative decision will jeopardize the livelihoods of more than 800,000 people who have long called this country home. It is long past time for Dreamers to be out of limbo and on a path to citizenship. The Biden administration must work with Congress to pass citizenship measures, including through the reconciliation process.

From economic relief to infrastructure, the Biden administration has been praised for its boldness in doing the right thing, and for refusing to temper its aspirations or retreat from its values for the sake of mollifying extremists on the opposing side.

That same bold leadership and moral clarity is needed now on the issue of immigration. Far-right politicians are mimicking Trump’s extremist and racist rhetoric in a cynical appeal to their base. Biden should ignore them. Biden has the power to make good on his promises to fix this broken system and build a future where all are welcome and all are free. He must use it.

What you can do:

Reunite Separated Families and Provide Relief Now

Add your name

Published April 29, 2021 at 08:21PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/2QK0ejh

ACLU: Biden Must Make the Current Enhanced Child Tax Credit Permanent

Biden Must Make the Current Enhanced Child Tax Credit Permanent

*This op-ed was originally published in Newsweek

Two children could be born on the same day in Anytown, USA.

Both born to loving families, healthy and at an average weight of seven pounds. However, one child is born into poverty and the other is not. The child born into poverty is more likely to experience toxic stress, suffer from environmental exposure to lead, develop diseases like asthma and experience trauma.

Growing up, the child is more likely to live in a school district with low-quality education, and as an adult, more likely to encounter barriers to employment and become entangled with the criminal legal system.

By the time both children are 30, the child born into poverty, on the same day as the other child, is more likely to remain poor—no matter how hard they’ve studied or worked.

This is what poverty in America looks like for the 1,541 babies born into poverty every day.

Our collective decades advocating for children leads us to an inescapable conclusion: Child well-being is not only the responsibility of parents and neighbors, but also of government—especially a government that speaks and acts in the name of children without their consent and has the ability to help address the significant obstacles poor children in Anytown face. We both believe that to fulfill the government’s responsibility to the nation’s children, we must enact a permanent child tax credit.

To join our Systemic Equality agenda to take action on racial justice, click here.

The Biden administration made an admirable down payment on that responsibility. In March, President Biden and Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan. The Rescue Plan expanded the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) for one year and increased the maximum credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child under six and $3,000 for children aged six to 17. The plan also ensured that families with little to no income receive it, a crucial change from the previous credit’s design. The credit will likely be distributed in monthly installments, rather than one lump sum (like a tax return), starting in July.

The impact of the child tax credit expansion cannot be overstated. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, children were the poorest age group in America, with children of color and young children suffering the highest poverty rates.

Nearly one in seven children—more than 10.5 million—were living in poverty in 2019. America’s child poverty crisis is unmatched among countries. And the disproportionate impact on children of color isn’t an accident: It tracks with decades of disinvestment from communities of color and systemic racism, leading to large racial wealth and income divides. The median white family has roughly eight times more accumulated wealth than the average Black family.

After its successful implementation, the CTC expansion will lift 4 million children out of poverty and expand eligibility to the 23 million children—mostly Black and Latinx children—who were previously excluded from the benefit. For Black, Latinx and Indigenous children, poverty will be cut by 52 percent, 45 percent and 61 percent respectively. Moreover, while the cash benefit will have an obvious, near-immediate impact for the many families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic, its benefits will extend far beyond the current economic crisis. Additional income has long-term benefits for children, improving outcomes in a child’s education, employment and health.

Child poverty is a national tragedy with profound moral and practical costs. Over the years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought many cases against state and county agencies all over the country on behalf of children who were neglected, provided inferior services and discriminated against in institutions and foster care systems.

Across the country, Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) advocates and organizes with the vision of a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being and communities wield their power to ensure they thrive. We know just how crucial income support from the government can be for so many children, and how reforms like those in the stimulus package can advance racial equity, narrow the racial wealth gap, reduce child poverty and provide a brighter future for all children.

The obligation to our children is past due and leaders must shift their policy frameworks to child-centered priorities that advance equity and justice. This should start with making the enhanced Child Tax Credit permanent to finally end child poverty for all the nation’s children.

What you can do:

Take the pledge: Systemic Equality Agenda

Sign up

Published April 29, 2021 at 05:57PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eL9dsB

ACLU: Biden Must Make the Current Enhanced Child Tax Credit Permanent

Biden Must Make the Current Enhanced Child Tax Credit Permanent

*This op-ed was originally published in Newsweek

Two children could be born on the same day in Anytown, USA.

Both born to loving families, healthy and at an average weight of seven pounds. However, one child is born into poverty and the other is not. The child born into poverty is more likely to experience toxic stress, suffer from environmental exposure to lead, develop diseases like asthma and experience trauma.

Growing up, the child is more likely to live in a school district with low-quality education, and as an adult, more likely to encounter barriers to employment and become entangled with the criminal legal system.

By the time both children are 30, the child born into poverty, on the same day as the other child, is more likely to remain poor—no matter how hard they’ve studied or worked.

This is what poverty in America looks like for the 1,541 babies born into poverty every day.

Our collective decades advocating for children leads us to an inescapable conclusion: Child well-being is not only the responsibility of parents and neighbors, but also of government—especially a government that speaks and acts in the name of children without their consent and has the ability to help address the significant obstacles poor children in Anytown face. We both believe that to fulfill the government’s responsibility to the nation’s children, we must enact a permanent child tax credit.

To join our Systemic Equality agenda to take action on racial justice, click here.

The Biden administration made an admirable down payment on that responsibility. In March, President Biden and Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan. The Rescue Plan expanded the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) for one year and increased the maximum credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child under six and $3,000 for children aged six to 17. The plan also ensured that families with little to no income receive it, a crucial change from the previous credit’s design. The credit will likely be distributed in monthly installments, rather than one lump sum (like a tax return), starting in July.

The impact of the child tax credit expansion cannot be overstated. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, children were the poorest age group in America, with children of color and young children suffering the highest poverty rates.

Nearly one in seven children—more than 10.5 million—were living in poverty in 2019. America’s child poverty crisis is unmatched among countries. And the disproportionate impact on children of color isn’t an accident: It tracks with decades of disinvestment from communities of color and systemic racism, leading to large racial wealth and income divides. The median white family has roughly eight times more accumulated wealth than the average Black family.

After its successful implementation, the CTC expansion will lift 4 million children out of poverty and expand eligibility to the 23 million children—mostly Black and Latinx children—who were previously excluded from the benefit. For Black, Latinx and Indigenous children, poverty will be cut by 52 percent, 45 percent and 61 percent respectively. Moreover, while the cash benefit will have an obvious, near-immediate impact for the many families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic, its benefits will extend far beyond the current economic crisis. Additional income has long-term benefits for children, improving outcomes in a child’s education, employment and health.

Child poverty is a national tragedy with profound moral and practical costs. Over the years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought many cases against state and county agencies all over the country on behalf of children who were neglected, provided inferior services and discriminated against in institutions and foster care systems.

Across the country, Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) advocates and organizes with the vision of a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being and communities wield their power to ensure they thrive. We know just how crucial income support from the government can be for so many children, and how reforms like those in the stimulus package can advance racial equity, narrow the racial wealth gap, reduce child poverty and provide a brighter future for all children.

The obligation to our children is past due and leaders must shift their policy frameworks to child-centered priorities that advance equity and justice. This should start with making the enhanced Child Tax Credit permanent to finally end child poverty for all the nation’s children.

What you can do:

Take the pledge: Systemic Equality Agenda

Sign up

Published April 29, 2021 at 10:27PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eL9dsB

ACLU: What President Biden Needs to Do Beyond the First 100 Days

What President Biden Needs to Do Beyond the First 100 Days

One hundred days have passed since the Biden-Harris administration assumed office. From the start, the administration faced the monumental task of undoing the vast harms of the Trump presidency while addressing an ongoing pandemic. Concurrently, a nationwide reckoning with systemic racism, particularly in the policing and criminal legal systems, serves as a reminder that many of this country’s systems were broken long before Trump. Now is our chance, as we pick up the pieces, to reform and rebuild our institutions based on the painful truths that have been further highlighted over the past four years.

Trump policies such as family separation shocked the nation and the world, yet beyond reuniting the families we separated, further action must be taken to build an immigration system that is truly humane, inclusive, and makes all communities feel safe. The disastrous government response to the COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on major disparities in access to key needs — such as housing and broadband — that have harmed communities of color for generations. And as we begin to hold police accountable for killing Black and Brown people, we must also continue the broader fight to end mass incarceration and reform the racist criminal legal system. These systems are in urgent need of change — and while Biden has made progress in his first 100 days, it will take more to build institutions that truly herald justice, fairness, and equality for all.

Immigrants’ Rights

The Trump administration was the worst in modern history for civil rights and liberties across the board, but from day one, attacking immigrants and eviscerating our already dysfunctional immigration system was its cornerstone. One of Trump’s first executive actions in office was signing the Muslim ban, and not long after, his administration abandoned Dreamers and enacted a cruel policy of separating families at the border. We commend the Biden administration for its swift response in rescinding the Muslim ban and renewing DACA, among other important actions impacting immigrants’ rights. But the work isn’t yet done, and on far too many issues, the Biden administration has continued or only temporarily paused Trump policies.

Family separation remains a lasting stain on this country’s history. Years later, the parents of roughly 400 children have not yet been located. Thousands more continue to suffer trauma and continued separation. Even families that were reunited have been irreparably traumatized. The Biden administration has an obligation to find and reunite every single one of these families in the U.S. and work with Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship. These families also deserve resources, care, and a commitment that family separation will never happen again.

The asylum system is also in need of reform. Current policies are causing families to split in Mexico and send their kids unaccompanied to the U.S. in hopes of a better life. The Biden administration should help build a humane asylum and immigration system that does not break up families and force people to risk their lives out of desperation, and help dismantle the deportation and detention machine that has disproportionately harmed Black and Brown immigrants.

Fair Housing and Homelessness

The eviction crisis that accompanied the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing inequities in housing access, particularly when it comes to race and gender. On average, Black renters are nearly twice as likely to be evicted as white renters, and Black women are evicted at an even higher rate. And because landlords frequently discriminate against prospective tenants with a prior eviction record, it can be difficult or nearly impossible to secure housing in the future. Housing instability hinders the physical and emotional wellbeing of families, particularly children.

In response to housing instability caused by the pandemic, the Biden administration has taken action by extending the federal moratorium on evictions, relieving the burden of paying for housing for people who may continue to face unemployment, medical concerns, and other financial obstacles related to the public health crisis. The administration has also begun to address discriminatory practices and policies that prevent too many families from accessing their right to fair housing. Looking ahead, we need more and more committed action related to combating exclusionary zoning and segregation.

Broadband

In today’s world, broadband is not a luxury, it’s a basic necessity like water, gas, and electricity. Still, millions of people in America are living without access to broadband, and they are disproportionately people of color, rural, and low-income. Because broadband is linked to opportunities in employment, education, and other important means of connection, broadband access is not only a platform for speech, but also a key driver of systemic equality.

President Biden has signaled commitment on this issue by including $100 billion in funding for broadband access in the American Jobs Plan, which would help deploy reliable, high-speed internet to every household in the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission have also taken important steps by implementing and extending the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) as part of the latest stimulus package. The EBB will provide families with a $50 ($75 on Tribal lands) subsidy for internet access for the duration of the pandemic. But internet access will remain just as necessary after the pandemic, and the government must act accordingly by ensuring that every person in America has access to a free, open, and affordable internet.

Criminal Legal System Reform

The American criminal legal system has been a key driver of racial inequality since the country’s founding. The over-policing of Black and Brown communities and unjust sentencing practices have made America the largest incarcerator in the world. Many people sitting in jails have not even been charged, because our bail system criminalizes poverty and puts a price tag on freedom for those awaiting trial. Many more are serving outrageously long sentences due to war on drugs policies that disproportionately impact people of color.

By directing the Justice Department not to renew contracts with federal, privately-operated prisons, the Biden administration has just scratched the surface. To truly fight mass incarceration and meaningfully improve our criminal legal system, the administration must end the war on drugs, better leverage clemency powers, end the federal death penalty, and reduce the role of police in communities, including by embracing a strict use of force standard for all police departments so we reduce the tragically high levels of police violence.

Racial Justice

The injustices of the criminal legal system are examples of the systemic racism that permeates all of our institutions. To build a more equitable country for all, the Biden administration must make racial justice a priority across the board. In voting rights, that means expanding access to the ballot, including for people who are incarcerated. In education, that means, among other measures, forgiving $50K in student loan debt per eligible borrower — a debt which disproportionately harms people of color. The economy can be made more equitable by making the enhanced child tax credit permanent. It will take a comprehensive approach to seriously address America’s legacy of racism and systemic discrimination.

Beyond the 100 Days

One hundred days into the Biden-Harris administration, many needed reforms remain more urgent than ever. Each day that passes is another day too long for people sitting in jail without charge, whose lives have been swallowed by the mass incarceration and policing systems. Each day that passes is another day too long for families living without a roof over their heads, for people who cannot take part in modern society because they can’t afford broadband, and for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color contending with systemic racism instead of systemic equality.

What you can do:

Further Racial Justice: Attend a Systemic Equality Event

RSVP

Published April 29, 2021 at 06:52PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/332YpjK

ACLU: What President Biden Needs to Do Beyond the First 100 Days

What President Biden Needs to Do Beyond the First 100 Days

One hundred days have passed since the Biden-Harris administration assumed office. From the start, the administration faced the monumental task of undoing the vast harms of the Trump presidency while addressing an ongoing pandemic. Concurrently, a nationwide reckoning with systemic racism, particularly in the policing and criminal legal systems, serves as a reminder that many of this country’s systems were broken long before Trump. Now is our chance, as we pick up the pieces, to reform and rebuild our institutions based on the painful truths that have been further highlighted over the past four years.

Trump policies such as family separation shocked the nation and the world, yet beyond reuniting the families we separated, further action must be taken to build an immigration system that is truly humane, inclusive, and makes all communities feel safe. The disastrous government response to the COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on major disparities in access to key needs — such as housing and broadband — that have harmed communities of color for generations. And as we begin to hold police accountable for killing Black and Brown people, we must also continue the broader fight to end mass incarceration and reform the racist criminal legal system. These systems are in urgent need of change — and while Biden has made progress in his first 100 days, it will take more to build institutions that truly herald justice, fairness, and equality for all.

Immigrants’ Rights

The Trump administration was the worst in modern history for civil rights and liberties across the board, but from day one, attacking immigrants and eviscerating our already dysfunctional immigration system was its cornerstone. One of Trump’s first executive actions in office was signing the Muslim ban, and not long after, his administration abandoned Dreamers and enacted a cruel policy of separating families at the border. We commend the Biden administration for its swift response in rescinding the Muslim ban and renewing DACA, among other important actions impacting immigrants’ rights. But the work isn’t yet done, and on far too many issues, the Biden administration has continued or only temporarily paused Trump policies.

Family separation remains a lasting stain on this country’s history. Years later, the parents of roughly 400 children have not yet been located. Thousands more continue to suffer trauma and continued separation. Even families that were reunited have been irreparably traumatized. The Biden administration has an obligation to find and reunite every single one of these families in the U.S. and work with Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship. These families also deserve resources, care, and a commitment that family separation will never happen again.

The asylum system is also in need of reform. Current policies are causing families to split in Mexico and send their kids unaccompanied to the U.S. in hopes of a better life. The Biden administration should help build a humane asylum and immigration system that does not break up families and force people to risk their lives out of desperation, and help dismantle the deportation and detention machine that has disproportionately harmed Black and Brown immigrants.

Fair Housing and Homelessness

The eviction crisis that accompanied the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing inequities in housing access, particularly when it comes to race and gender. On average, Black renters are nearly twice as likely to be evicted as white renters, and Black women are evicted at an even higher rate. And because landlords frequently discriminate against prospective tenants with a prior eviction record, it can be difficult or nearly impossible to secure housing in the future. Housing instability hinders the physical and emotional wellbeing of families, particularly children.

In response to housing instability caused by the pandemic, the Biden administration has taken action by extending the federal moratorium on evictions, relieving the burden of paying for housing for people who may continue to face unemployment, medical concerns, and other financial obstacles related to the public health crisis. The administration has also begun to address discriminatory practices and policies that prevent too many families from accessing their right to fair housing. Looking ahead, we need more and more committed action related to combating exclusionary zoning and segregation.

Broadband

In today’s world, broadband is not a luxury, it’s a basic necessity like water, gas, and electricity. Still, millions of people in America are living without access to broadband, and they are disproportionately people of color, rural, and low-income. Because broadband is linked to opportunities in employment, education, and other important means of connection, broadband access is not only a platform for speech, but also a key driver of systemic equality.

President Biden has signaled commitment on this issue by including $100 billion in funding for broadband access in the American Jobs Plan, which would help deploy reliable, high-speed internet to every household in the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission have also taken important steps by implementing and extending the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) as part of the latest stimulus package. The EBB will provide families with a $50 ($75 on Tribal lands) subsidy for internet access for the duration of the pandemic. But internet access will remain just as necessary after the pandemic, and the government must act accordingly by ensuring that every person in America has access to a free, open, and affordable internet.

Criminal Legal System Reform

The American criminal legal system has been a key driver of racial inequality since the country’s founding. The over-policing of Black and Brown communities and unjust sentencing practices have made America the largest incarcerator in the world. Many people sitting in jails have not even been charged, because our bail system criminalizes poverty and puts a price tag on freedom for those awaiting trial. Many more are serving outrageously long sentences due to war on drugs policies that disproportionately impact people of color.

By directing the Justice Department not to renew contracts with federal, privately-operated prisons, the Biden administration has just scratched the surface. To truly fight mass incarceration and meaningfully improve our criminal legal system, the administration must end the war on drugs, better leverage clemency powers, end the federal death penalty, and reduce the role of police in communities, including by embracing a strict use of force standard for all police departments so we reduce the tragically high levels of police violence.

Racial Justice

The injustices of the criminal legal system are examples of the systemic racism that permeates all of our institutions. To build a more equitable country for all, the Biden administration must make racial justice a priority across the board. In voting rights, that means expanding access to the ballot, including for people who are incarcerated. In education, that means, among other measures, forgiving $50K in student loan debt per eligible borrower — a debt which disproportionately harms people of color. The economy can be made more equitable by making the enhanced child tax credit permanent. It will take a comprehensive approach to seriously address America’s legacy of racism and systemic discrimination.

Beyond the 100 Days

One hundred days into the Biden-Harris administration, many needed reforms remain more urgent than ever. Each day that passes is another day too long for people sitting in jail without charge, whose lives have been swallowed by the mass incarceration and policing systems. Each day that passes is another day too long for families living without a roof over their heads, for people who cannot take part in modern society because they can’t afford broadband, and for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color contending with systemic racism instead of systemic equality.

What you can do:

Further Racial Justice: Attend a Systemic Equality Event

RSVP

Published April 29, 2021 at 02:22PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/332YpjK

ACLU: How Broadband Access Advances Systemic Equality

How Broadband Access Advances Systemic Equality

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably not one of the millions of people living without broadband access in America. People living without broadband access — who are disproportionately non-white people, low income, or rural — do not have access to equal opportunities in education, employment, banking, and other important components of connection and social mobility. That was the case before the pandemic, and it’s even worse now.

The digital divide is what separates those without broadband from those with it, and it encompasses all the broader social inequalities associated with an increasingly digitized world. Along with discrimination in housing, banking, employment, and other areas of life, it is both a result of and contributes to systemic inequalities faced by people who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other underserved groups.

To join our Systemic Equality agenda to take action on racial justice, click here.

What is broadband and why do we need it?

Broadband is the term used to describe high-speed, reliable internet — the kind of internet that allows us to stream movies, take part in Zoom calls, and connect with our social networks. Since 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has defined broadband as a minimum of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload. But while internet upload and download speeds have changed significantly over the years, the FCC has not updated its definition. That makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of how many people are living without access to the internet that’s usable given today’s higher technology demands.

Over the past year, schools, workplaces, health care providers, and many other basic services and functions have moved online, allowing for life to continue during lockdown. The numbers reflect this societal shift: Data use on home networks was 47 percent greater in March 2020 than the year before. But as broadband has become even more integral to our everyday lives, not all communities have had equal access. For communities living without broadband, the pandemic has only exposed and exacerbated the digital divide.

How does broadband contribute to systemic equality?

The deepest rift in the digital divide is when it comes to race: Black and Latinx adults are almost twice as likely as white adults to lack broadband access. Due to systemic inequities in education and employment, people who are Black or Latinx have lower average incomes than white people, and for many of these households, a broadband subscription — at an average rate of $68 per month — may simply be unaffordable.

Check out the chart below for a rough monthly expense estimate for a family of four (two adults and two minors) living in Washington, D.C, a historically majority-Black city. At about $6,515 per month, the estimated monthly expenses amount to over $2,000 more than the median individual monthly income, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2019. Even in a household with two income earners, there is almost no room for any unexpected expenses.

https://infogram.com/1p7l5jjnvz2601cz96q7rzjxvpu11p26pp?live

Adults living without broadband face significant barriers in accessing employment, education, and other necessities — but children are also impacted. Access at home is an important factor in a student’s success, and is associated with higher grades and homework completion. This need was amplified by the pandemic. Many of the millions of Black and Latinx children who live in households without broadband access have not been able to attend virtual classes, potentially falling behind their classmates by an entire school year or more.

Children without broadband also miss out on developing digital skills that are necessary in today’s job market. As a result of the digital divide, more than half of Black and Latinx people could be under-prepared for 86 percent of jobs by 2045, according to Deutsche Bank. These digital skills are also crucial to innovation and entrepreneurship. Black-owned businesses have increased 37 percent from 2007 to 2012. The 2019 American Express State of Women-Owned Businesses Report shows that Black women-owned businesses are the fastest growing at 21 percent of all women-owned businesses but only have an average annual earning of $24,000. Limited broadband access compounds the numerous systemic inequity barriers to Black-owned and Black-women owned business growth.

Access to home broadband by race

Source: Free Press analysis of July 2015 Current Population Survey Computer and Internet Use Supplement

The systemic inequity posed by limited broadband dovetails with a science policy concept called “public value failure.” Public value failures describe the failure of a society to provide a public value, such as rights, benefits, or privileges of citizens provided by governments and policies. There are nine public value failure categories, which cover the political, economic and social aspects of this theory: mechanism for values articulation and aggregation; legitimate monopolies; imperfect public information; distribution of benefits; provider availability; time horizon; sustainability vs. conservation; and ensuring subsistence, human dignity, and progressive opportunity.

Focusing on all of these public failures simultaneously won’t lead to substantive and sustainable change. So, we tackle what we can. Broadband access falls most fully into the distribution of benefits and provider availability categories, with arguably a large dose of the progressive opportunity category as well. All of our classrooms — regardless of a person’s socio-economic status, urban/rural location, or in-person/remote delivery — require broadband access to hear an instructor’s lecture, see a helpful tutorial, and practice the new skill. Identifying and improving in these areas hinges on building better equity in education, particularly in data skills attainment.

How do we bridge the digital divide?

There are steps the government can and must take to expand broadband access to Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other underserved communities. In Congress, new legislation introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, would help sustain equitable broadband access by providing an additional $6 billion in funds for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, an FCC program created to help households struggling to afford broadband during the pandemic. The legislation would also improve data collection and transparency on broadband access, expand digital inclusion and equity efforts, preempt state laws that prevent municipalities from expanding broadband access, and prioritize infrastructure deployment to unserved areas, such as Tribal lands.

At the executive level, President Biden has already taken important steps by including broadband in his American Jobs Plan, but he can do more. Biden must also nominate a new FCC commissioner who supports broadband access and will restore net neutrality protections, and work with Congress to enact sustainable solutions to close the digital divide.

What you can do:

Take the pledge: Systemic Equality Agenda

Sign up

Published April 28, 2021 at 07:30PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eGFsJ8

ACLU: How Broadband Access Advances Systemic Equality

How Broadband Access Advances Systemic Equality

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably not one of the millions of people living without broadband access in America. People living without broadband access — who are disproportionately non-white people, low income, or rural — do not have access to equal opportunities in education, employment, banking, and other important components of connection and social mobility. That was the case before the pandemic, and it’s even worse now.

The digital divide is what separates those without broadband from those with it, and it encompasses all the broader social inequalities associated with an increasingly digitized world. Along with discrimination in housing, banking, employment, and other areas of life, it is both a result of and contributes to systemic inequalities faced by people who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other underserved groups.

To join our Systemic Equality agenda to take action on racial justice, click here.

What is broadband and why do we need it?

Broadband is the term used to describe high-speed, reliable internet — the kind of internet that allows us to stream movies, take part in Zoom calls, and connect with our social networks. Since 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has defined broadband as a minimum of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload. But while internet upload and download speeds have changed significantly over the years, the FCC has not updated its definition. That makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of how many people are living without access to the internet that’s usable given today’s higher technology demands.

Over the past year, schools, workplaces, health care providers, and many other basic services and functions have moved online, allowing for life to continue during lockdown. The numbers reflect this societal shift: Data use on home networks was 47 percent greater in March 2020 than the year before. But as broadband has become even more integral to our everyday lives, not all communities have had equal access. For communities living without broadband, the pandemic has only exposed and exacerbated the digital divide.

How does broadband contribute to systemic equality?

The deepest rift in the digital divide is when it comes to race: Black and Latinx adults are almost twice as likely as white adults to lack broadband access. Due to systemic inequities in education and employment, people who are Black or Latinx have lower average incomes than white people, and for many of these households, a broadband subscription — at an average rate of $68 per month — may simply be unaffordable.

Check out the chart below for a rough monthly expense estimate for a family of four (two adults and two minors) living in Washington, D.C, a historically majority-Black city. At about $6,515 per month, the estimated monthly expenses amount to over $2,000 more than the median individual monthly income, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2019. Even in a household with two income earners, there is almost no room for any unexpected expenses.

https://infogram.com/1p7l5jjnvz2601cz96q7rzjxvpu11p26pp?live

Adults living without broadband face significant barriers in accessing employment, education, and other necessities — but children are also impacted. Access at home is an important factor in a student’s success, and is associated with higher grades and homework completion. This need was amplified by the pandemic. Many of the millions of Black and Latinx children who live in households without broadband access have not been able to attend virtual classes, potentially falling behind their classmates by an entire school year or more.

Children without broadband also miss out on developing digital skills that are necessary in today’s job market. As a result of the digital divide, more than half of Black and Latinx people could be under-prepared for 86 percent of jobs by 2045, according to Deutsche Bank. These digital skills are also crucial to innovation and entrepreneurship. Black-owned businesses have increased 37 percent from 2007 to 2012. The 2019 American Express State of Women-Owned Businesses Report shows that Black women-owned businesses are the fastest growing at 21 percent of all women-owned businesses but only have an average annual earning of $24,000. Limited broadband access compounds the numerous systemic inequity barriers to Black-owned and Black-women owned business growth.

Access to home broadband by race

Source: Free Press analysis of July 2015 Current Population Survey Computer and Internet Use Supplement

The systemic inequity posed by limited broadband dovetails with a science policy concept called “public value failure.” Public value failures describe the failure of a society to provide a public value, such as rights, benefits, or privileges of citizens provided by governments and policies. There are nine public value failure categories, which cover the political, economic and social aspects of this theory: mechanism for values articulation and aggregation; legitimate monopolies; imperfect public information; distribution of benefits; provider availability; time horizon; sustainability vs. conservation; and ensuring subsistence, human dignity, and progressive opportunity.

Focusing on all of these public failures simultaneously won’t lead to substantive and sustainable change. So, we tackle what we can. Broadband access falls most fully into the distribution of benefits and provider availability categories, with arguably a large dose of the progressive opportunity category as well. All of our classrooms — regardless of a person’s socio-economic status, urban/rural location, or in-person/remote delivery — require broadband access to hear an instructor’s lecture, see a helpful tutorial, and practice the new skill. Identifying and improving in these areas hinges on building better equity in education, particularly in data skills attainment.

How do we bridge the digital divide?

There are steps the government can and must take to expand broadband access to Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other underserved communities. In Congress, new legislation introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, would help sustain equitable broadband access by providing an additional $6 billion in funds for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, an FCC program created to help households struggling to afford broadband during the pandemic. The legislation would also improve data collection and transparency on broadband access, expand digital inclusion and equity efforts, preempt state laws that prevent municipalities from expanding broadband access, and prioritize infrastructure deployment to unserved areas, such as Tribal lands.

At the executive level, President Biden has already taken important steps by including broadband in his American Jobs Plan, but he can do more. Biden must also nominate a new FCC commissioner who supports broadband access and will restore net neutrality protections, and work with Congress to enact sustainable solutions to close the digital divide.

What you can do:

Take the pledge: Systemic Equality Agenda

Sign up

Published April 28, 2021 at 03:00PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eGFsJ8

ACLU: The Unhappy 25th Birthday of Two Tough-on-Crime Era Laws That Have Deadly Consequences for Incarcerated People

The Unhappy 25th Birthday of Two Tough-on-Crime Era Laws That Have Deadly Consequences for Incarcerated People

This week, 25 years ago, Congress enacted a pair of laws that severely restricted the ability of incarcerated people to raise constitutional challenges against egregious conditions of their confinement, as well as unjust and wrongful convictions. In doing so, it furthered its ongoing project of reducing incarcerated people to second-class citizens. Over the last 25 years, this cruel pair of laws — the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) — have all but closed the federal courthouse doors to life and death lawsuits.

Let’s start with the PLRA. You or I can freely file a lawsuit against a neighbor who assaults us or a doctor who fails to detect or treat a cancer diagnosis, but the PLRA denies incarcerated people this right for similar violations. It builds a maze of procedural hurdles that effectively render an incarcerated person unable to challenge dangerous conditions of confinement. The PLRA is classic discrimination: It singles out one disfavored group of people and categorically denies them equal access to the courts.

One of the biggest obstacles under the PLRA is the requirement that, before they can go to federal court, an incarcerated person must first ask the prison or jail system — almost always the perpetrators of their problem — to fix it. They are required make this request using the precise words, phrases, and timing mandated by the system, and they must try every possible remedy provided by their jailer before they can file a lawsuit.

This is blandly called “exhaustion,” but in practice, a prisoners’ failure to dot every “i” and cross every “t” the jailer requires means their suit will be tossed. Exhaustion creates a perverse incentive for jails and prisons to create a Byzantine grievance process — one that becomes an unsurpassable barrier to justice. This is especially true for people who have learning, cognitive, or developmental disabilities, have mental illness, are not fluent in English, are segregated in solitary confinement, or for incarcerated children.

The result is antithetical to justice. In one instance, a 15-year old boy who was repeatedly raped and assaulted at a facility had his lawsuit dismissed for failure to exhaust the grievance process, despite his repeated complaints to staff while abuse was ongoing, and his mother’s repeated pleas to prison and court officials for protection for her child. The court held that the child needed to file his formal complaints within 48 hours of being assaulted and raped in order to have his case heard on the merits.

In addition to the exhaustion requirement, the PLRA requires that an incarcerated person be “physically” injured by the unlawful behavior. No matter how sadistic the mental or emotional injuries, the law bars any compensation absent physical injury. Applying this rule, federal courts have tossed lawsuits of incarcerated persons alleging abuse by staff, including when one group of people was “sexually battered … by sodomy,” and in another instance where a person alleged that a staff member reached between his legs and rubbed his genitals. The courts found that these claims failed because the persons had “only” suffered emotional injury and not physical injury.

The PLRA’s nefarious twin, AEDPA, passed in supposed response to the deadly, racist Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, has caused equally absurd and unjust outcomes. For example, Quintin Alonzo was 21 when he was arrested in Texas in 2001 for a murder he didn’t commit. Ten years later, the federal courts cited AEDPA in denying his claim that law enforcement hid evidence of his innocence at his trial. He then fought eight more years before a prosecutor in 2019 admitted that constitutional error infected his trial and that he was innocent, leaving Texas with no option but to release him.

Warren Hill wasn’t so fortunate. After the federal courts, citing AEDPA, turned away his constitutional claim that he could not be executed because every expert to have ever examined him believed he was intellectually disabled, the State of Georgia executed him. To explain how AEDPA facilitated these injustices, we need to explain the legal system before AEDPA’s birth.

For much of our nation’s history, people in state prisons whose convictions and sentences were tainted by violations of their federal constitutional rights could look to the federal courts and two pillars of the American justice system for redress. One pillar is the basic principle that federal courts have the authority — and the responsibility — to say what federal law is and when it has been violated. In other words, when it comes to federal law, federal judges call the balls and strikes. The second is the right to federal habeas corpus — lawyer speak for the right of an incarcerated person to go to federal court and demand release (or reprieve from a death sentence) if a federal judge determines that a state court conviction or sentence is unconstitutional.

For people in state prisons, federal habeas review is crucial. Appointed federal judges with lifetime tenures are much better positioned to police federal constitutional violations than state judges who must stand for election and have frequently done so on tough-on-crime platforms.

Then came AEDPA, which takes away the authority of federal judges to do these basic parts of their jobs. The law creates a maze of Kafkaesque procedures that create the danger of an incarcerated person’s petition being thrown out at every turn for a failure to follow even the most minute rule — regardless of whether their claims have merit. In those rare cases in which federal judges reach the constitutional claim, AEDPA says it doesn’t matter whether the judge believes federal law was violated. Rather, under AEDPA, relief may only be granted if the prisoner first made their claim in the state courts and, in turn, the state courts not only erred by failing to uphold the federal constitution, but also badly botched their review of a prisoner’s federal claim for relief.

Quintin Alonzo lost eight years of his life because he could not find his way through this statutory maze. Warren Hill lost his life altogether, because the Georgia courts were not wrong enough in denying his constitutional claim. That both of these men are Black should not surprise anyone — the racism inherent in the criminal legal system is part and parcel of its design and origin.

One of the original justifications provided on both sides of the political aisle for these laws was the need to stem the flood of allegedly frivolous lawsuits brought by incarcerated people to federal courts. The reality is that most cases filed by incarcerated people both before and after the PLRA and AEDPA raise serious issues, and courts are equipped to handle frivolous cases whether they are filed by incarcerated people or people in the community. Further, the barriers posed by these laws don’t just make it harder to file meritless lawsuits: They make it nearly impossible for any incarcerated person to meaningfully seek relief in federal court, no matter the validity of their claims.

As former Justice Anthony Kennedy famously observed: “Prisoners retain the essence of human dignity inherent in all persons.” Repealing and/or amending these deeply flawed laws is the least we can do to acknowledge the humanity of the people confined in jails and prisons across the land, and ensure they have access to justice.

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Published April 28, 2021 at 02:06AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eBCaqH

ACLU: The Unhappy 25th Birthday of Two Tough-on-Crime Era Laws That Have Deadly Consequences for Incarcerated People

The Unhappy 25th Birthday of Two Tough-on-Crime Era Laws That Have Deadly Consequences for Incarcerated People

This week, 25 years ago, Congress enacted a pair of laws that severely restricted the ability of incarcerated people to raise constitutional challenges against egregious conditions of their confinement, as well as unjust and wrongful convictions. In doing so, it furthered its ongoing project of reducing incarcerated people to second-class citizens. Over the last 25 years, this cruel pair of laws — the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) — have all but closed the federal courthouse doors to life and death lawsuits.

Let’s start with the PLRA. You or I can freely file a lawsuit against a neighbor who assaults us or a doctor who fails to detect or treat a cancer diagnosis, but the PLRA denies incarcerated people this right for similar violations. It builds a maze of procedural hurdles that effectively render an incarcerated person unable to challenge dangerous conditions of confinement. The PLRA is classic discrimination: It singles out one disfavored group of people and categorically denies them equal access to the courts.

One of the biggest obstacles under the PLRA is the requirement that, before they can go to federal court, an incarcerated person must first ask the prison or jail system — almost always the perpetrators of their problem — to fix it. They are required make this request using the precise words, phrases, and timing mandated by the system, and they must try every possible remedy provided by their jailer before they can file a lawsuit.

This is blandly called “exhaustion,” but in practice, a prisoners’ failure to dot every “i” and cross every “t” the jailer requires means their suit will be tossed. Exhaustion creates a perverse incentive for jails and prisons to create a Byzantine grievance process — one that becomes an unsurpassable barrier to justice. This is especially true for people who have learning, cognitive, or developmental disabilities, have mental illness, are not fluent in English, are segregated in solitary confinement, or for incarcerated children.

The result is antithetical to justice. In one instance, a 15-year old boy who was repeatedly raped and assaulted at a facility had his lawsuit dismissed for failure to exhaust the grievance process, despite his repeated complaints to staff while abuse was ongoing, and his mother’s repeated pleas to prison and court officials for protection for her child. The court held that the child needed to file his formal complaints within 48 hours of being assaulted and raped in order to have his case heard on the merits.

In addition to the exhaustion requirement, the PLRA requires that an incarcerated person be “physically” injured by the unlawful behavior. No matter how sadistic the mental or emotional injuries, the law bars any compensation absent physical injury. Applying this rule, federal courts have tossed lawsuits of incarcerated persons alleging abuse by staff, including when one group of people was “sexually battered … by sodomy,” and in another instance where a person alleged that a staff member reached between his legs and rubbed his genitals. The courts found that these claims failed because the persons had “only” suffered emotional injury and not physical injury.

The PLRA’s nefarious twin, AEDPA, passed in supposed response to the deadly, racist Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, has caused equally absurd and unjust outcomes. For example, Quintin Alonzo was 21 when he was arrested in Texas in 2001 for a murder he didn’t commit. Ten years later, the federal courts cited AEDPA in denying his claim that law enforcement hid evidence of his innocence at his trial. He then fought eight more years before a prosecutor in 2019 admitted that constitutional error infected his trial and that he was innocent, leaving Texas with no option but to release him.

Warren Hill wasn’t so fortunate. After the federal courts, citing AEDPA, turned away his constitutional claim that he could not be executed because every expert to have ever examined him believed he was intellectually disabled, the State of Georgia executed him. To explain how AEDPA facilitated these injustices, we need to explain the legal system before AEDPA’s birth.

For much of our nation’s history, people in state prisons whose convictions and sentences were tainted by violations of their federal constitutional rights could look to the federal courts and two pillars of the American justice system for redress. One pillar is the basic principle that federal courts have the authority — and the responsibility — to say what federal law is and when it has been violated. In other words, when it comes to federal law, federal judges call the balls and strikes. The second is the right to federal habeas corpus — lawyer speak for the right of an incarcerated person to go to federal court and demand release (or reprieve from a death sentence) if a federal judge determines that a state court conviction or sentence is unconstitutional.

For people in state prisons, federal habeas review is crucial. Appointed federal judges with lifetime tenures are much better positioned to police federal constitutional violations than state judges who must stand for election and have frequently done so on tough-on-crime platforms.

Then came AEDPA, which takes away the authority of federal judges to do these basic parts of their jobs. The law creates a maze of Kafkaesque procedures that create the danger of an incarcerated person’s petition being thrown out at every turn for a failure to follow even the most minute rule — regardless of whether their claims have merit. In those rare cases in which federal judges reach the constitutional claim, AEDPA says it doesn’t matter whether the judge believes federal law was violated. Rather, under AEDPA, relief may only be granted if the prisoner first made their claim in the state courts and, in turn, the state courts not only erred by failing to uphold the federal constitution, but also badly botched their review of a prisoner’s federal claim for relief.

Quintin Alonzo lost eight years of his life because he could not find his way through this statutory maze. Warren Hill lost his life altogether, because the Georgia courts were not wrong enough in denying his constitutional claim. That both of these men are Black should not surprise anyone — the racism inherent in the criminal legal system is part and parcel of its design and origin.

One of the original justifications provided on both sides of the political aisle for these laws was the need to stem the flood of allegedly frivolous lawsuits brought by incarcerated people to federal courts. The reality is that most cases filed by incarcerated people both before and after the PLRA and AEDPA raise serious issues, and courts are equipped to handle frivolous cases whether they are filed by incarcerated people or people in the community. Further, the barriers posed by these laws don’t just make it harder to file meritless lawsuits: They make it nearly impossible for any incarcerated person to meaningfully seek relief in federal court, no matter the validity of their claims.

As former Justice Anthony Kennedy famously observed: “Prisoners retain the essence of human dignity inherent in all persons.” Repealing and/or amending these deeply flawed laws is the least we can do to acknowledge the humanity of the people confined in jails and prisons across the land, and ensure they have access to justice.

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Published April 27, 2021 at 09:36PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/3eBCaqH