PSJD Public Interest News Digest – September 25, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Interested public. Here is some news.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Breonna Taylor
Crimes Against Humanity
- In Washington DC, “Amnesty International USA today called for a halt on the nomination of Chad Wolf to serve as Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, unless and until all information relevant to Wolf’s involvement in human rights violations—including the family separations policy—is fully and thoroughly investigated…Amnesty International takes no position on the appointment of particular individuals to government positions, unless they are reasonably suspected of crimes under international law and could use their appointment to the position in question to either prevent accountability for these crimes or to continue their perpetration. The organization calls on Senators to thoroughly and fully investigate Chad Wolf given the gravity and range of rights abuses that have taken place during his leadership at the Department of Homeland Security.”
- In The United States, “[t]op U.S. House Democrats are investigating a whistleblower’s allegations that immigrant women in a Georgia detention center endured gynecological procedures without their consent or full understanding of the treatment that was being performed…Lawmakers want documents going as far back as 2015 about gynecological or obstetrical care people at the detention center or off site received, along with all communications between staff and medical providers. The letter also requested any documents about how the facility responded to coronavirus outbreaks and what measures were taken to prevent the spread. Democrats requested those documents by Oct. 2.”
- In Mexico, “[Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said] Mexico is interviewing at least six women who may have been subject to improper medical procedures, including hysterectomies, at a U.S. immigration detention center in Georgia[.] If the improper procedures are confirmed, measures would have to be taken, Ebrard said, without giving details. He called the abuse described in a whistleblower’s complaint ‘unacceptable.’
Rule of Law & Voting Rights
- In Washington DC, The Atlantic reported that “[a]ccording to sources in the Republican Party at the state and national levels, the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline expires.”
- In Slate, Professor Richard Hasen of UC Irvine, a national authority on election law, wrote “[w]ith less than six weeks to go before Election Day, the litigation strategy of the Trump campaign and its allies has become clear: try to block the expansion of mail-in balloting whenever possible and, in a few key states, create enough chaos in the system and legal and political uncertainty in the results that the Supreme Court, Congress, or Republican legislatures can throw the election to Trump if the outcome is at all close or in doubt. It’s a Hail Mary, but in a close enough election, we cannot count the possibility out. I’ve never been more worried about American democracy than I am right now.”
- In Pennsylvania, “[e]lection experts and lawyers are bewildered by a press release from the Department of Justice, in which the department said it had begun an inquiry into a handful of military ballots in a northeastern Pennsylvania county. Most unusually, the release revealed that the voters had cast their ballots for President Donald Trump…’It is hard to express how illegitimate the press release is. That’s the problem,’ Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, said in an interview, noting that it wasn’t necessarily bad that the department was investigating. “It is really improper for DOJ to be putting out a press release with partial facts,” Levitt continued. ‘And it is career-endingly improper to designate the candidate for whom the votes are cast. There is no federal statute on which the identity of the preferred candidate depends.’“
- In Florida, “Attorney General Ashley Moody [] called for an investigation into an effort backed by Mike Bloomberg to help restore the voting rights of thousands of felons ahead of the November election. The former New York City mayor partnered with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help raise at least $16 million for felons to pay off outstanding legal fines and fees in order to regain the right to vote. The effort is targeting around 32,000 former prisoners who owed less than $1,500 in restitution fees and had already registered to vote.”
- In Fairfax VA, “[a] group of Trump supporters waving campaign flags disrupted the second day of early voting in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday, chanting “four more years” as voters entered a polling location and, at one point, forming a line that voters had to walk around outside the site…Election officials said that the group stayed about 100 feet from the entrance to the building and, contrary to posts on social media, were not directly blocking access to the building. But they acknowledged that some voters and polling staff members felt intimidated by what some saw as protesters.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In Washington DC, “President Trump…expanded a ban on racial sensitivity training to federal contractors. His administration had instructed federal agencies to end such training earlier this month…’Americans should be taught to take PRIDE in our Great Country, and if you don’t there’s nothing in it for you!’ he tweeted.”
- You can view the full executive order at the White House website.
Student Loans & Student Debt
- At DataForProgress.org, Senators Schumer & Warren announced that “we’re introducing a Senate resolution outlining a bold plan for how the next President of the United States can use his executive authority to deliver meaningful relief to struggling Americans and broadly cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt. Democrats will push for this action in 2021.”
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