|
The Abstract
|
> By Stephanie DiCapua Getman, Arnold Ventures
|
Continuing with the theme of silver linings, I was happy to see a reader roundup in the New York Times called “One Bright Thing,” where readers shared their moments of small joy amid the pandemic, from cherry blossoms to bike-riding to badminton. (Mine have included spending more time helping my son learn to read and write — and making these short ribs.) I am inspired to ask you, dear reader, to share your own bright spots, whether personal or in the work you see being done everyday to maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. Send them to communications@arnoldventures.org and we’ll share them in this space.
|
|
|
|
|
As parts of the country start opening back up and (some) people venture out of quarantine, it might be easy to forget that the coronavirus is still ravaging parts of this country, specifically prisons and jails. It’s astounding the volume of stories coming out each day about incarcerated people who are fearing for their lives, writing goodbyes to loved ones, and contradicting officials’ claims about the health and safety of their confinement. Two tragedies stand out:
-
Andrea Circle Bear was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she was sent to a crowded federal women’s prison in Fort Worth on a two-year sentence related to a minor, nonviolent drug charge. Inmates and staff there had already warned that coronavirus was spreading, and the 30-year-old soon tested positive. She gave birth while on a ventilator, and just weeks later, Andrea died of COVID-19. Holly Harris of Justice Action Network wrote a powerful New York Times op-ed that holds the Justice Department to account, saying it could have saved Andrea’s life but "instead sent her to the deadliest place on earth right now: an American prison." (In 2015, Andrea’s sister, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, died in custody while pregnant.)
-
And there is Susan Farrell, the first woman to die from the coronavirus in a Michigan prison. The 74-year-old had served more than 30 years in the death of her husband, who she said physically and sexually abused her, resulting in various health issues. There have been more deaths in Michigan prisons since.
The bottom line: Andrea Circle Bear and Susan Farrell are the direct result of policy failures by the leaders we charge with protecting health and safety, and they are only the tip of the iceberg — corrections facilities are exploding with cases. They are why we have argued for compassionately releasing as many people as possible.
Call to action: Policymakers can’t ignore jails and prisons in their COVID-19 response, write my colleague Kelli Rhee, President and CEO, and Marc Levin of Right on Crime. The health of those behind bars — inmates and staff — is “intertwined with the health of our communities.”
Who's taking action: The Prison Policy Institute is tracking which state and local governments are taking meaningful steps to reduce incarcerated populations, and the Fines and Fees Justice Center has compiled a state-by-state, real-time look at what reforms are happening right now to keep people out of prisons and jails and relieve some burdens for those who are there.
|
|
|
|
Children and the COVID Crisis
|
|
|
By Evan Mintz, Criminal Justice Communications Manager
Juvenile justice reform is gaining new attention as COVID-19 forces the nation to assess the conditions within criminal justice and corrections systems. Children held in detention are isolated from their families, at risk of contracting the coronavirus, and forced to live in lockdown conditions that border on solitary isolation. That’s why the Columbia Justice Lab, an Arnold Ventures grantee, called for juvenile systems to release children from detention at the beginning of the crisis.
-
Pew drew attention to the role juvenile facilities play in spreading the virus and encouraged elected and appointed leaders to reduce the number of young people behind bars. Program administrators in some states, such as Michigan and California, are already working to transition young people from detention facilities to residential placement within their communities.
-
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board called for vast reforms within Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, including expanded testing, transparent data, and a plan to release youths currently in the system. The editorial critically points out that juvenile justice is specifically designed not to be punitive. However, the social distancing necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 makes the actual goals of supervision, treatment, and rehabilitation nearly impossible within juvenile facilities.
-
Local governments continue to collect court debt, jeopardizing families’ already precarious financial stability during the economic downturn. Last month, Arnold Ventures signed onto a call for a national moratorium on juvenile fines and fees during the duration of the health and economic crisis.
-
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that coronavirus lockdown measures at juvenile facilities across the country are leading to riots, escape attempts, and an atmosphere of fear for children and their families.
While children rights’ groups and criminal justice experts are calling for large-scale releases, massive action is difficult because often individuals have control over juvenile cases. Governors or county executives don’t have the power to let children go. Any release likely has to happen on a case-by-case basis.
Related: We were thrilled to see a victory for #debtfreejustice yesterday. A Maryland bill to eliminate fees and fines for youth in the justice system will become law. Bonus: It’s retroactive so will eliminate previous debt.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lawmakers will be returning to Washington to consider the next round of federal aid for the COVID pandemic, and it’s important they consider lessons learned from the last recession when distributing funds:
-
Higher education has seen immediate fallout from the pandemic, and the CARES Act gave colleges and students much-needed support to deal with it, including $15 billion in funding to institutions and the suspension of most student loans. Any new funding should come with guardrails to ensure accountability and “mitigate the potential harms we see coming,” writes my colleague Kelly McManus, Director of Higher Education. She cites three ways it can do that.
- In the case of aid to state budgets, the foremost question is whether the federal government should provide any at all. My colleague Patrick Murphy, Vice President of Public Finance, says that answer is yes. State and local governments represent more than 10 percent of the U.S. GDP. “From that perspective, it becomes difficult to understand why the job held by the person who processes unemployment claims in a state agency is more or less valuable than the airline ticket agent.” As far as strings attached? He looks to the fiscal stimulus passed during the Great Recession as a starting point.
|
|
|
|
'Ground Zero' for Coronavirus
|
|
|
|
Nursing homes have become an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, as illustrated by the devastating news last month that 70 people were found dead of coronavirus in a New Jersey nursing home. There are many reasons for this outcome, but such facilities have been incentivized historically to provide bare minimum services for complex care patients, write my colleagues Arielle Mir, Vice President of Health Care, and Amy Abdnor, Health Care Manager.
What can be done: They argue that integrating Medicare and Medicaid services for the dual-eligible population “is one of the best ways to eliminate perverse incentive structures that cost the system more money and lead to worse outcomes for people.” And while integrating two behemoth systems sounds difficult, there is precedent for the concept.
Read the story >
|
|
|
|
|
|
• |
An exhaustive look at how probation and parole has become misaligned with conservative values, from R Street Institute’s Arthur L. Rizer III, Nila Bala, and Emily Mooney, via National Affairs.
|
|
• |
This NPR story noting that Gilead "spent more on lobbying Congress and the administration in the first quarter of 2020 than it ever has before."
|
|
|
• |
How states handled higher education after the Great Recession should have students, families and professors in many states worried today, The New York Times writes.
|
|
• |
A thoughtful piece from Politico on California's experience with on top two open primaries. "California now regularly sees battles between Democrats who differ on issues that otherwise would split along party lines.”
Related: Tune in to a discussion on how the adoption of top two open primaries is disrupting politics as usual in California in a May 13 Zoom conference hosted by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and Open Primaries. Details are here.
|
|
• |
Another Hill op-ed arguing that second chances for those with a criminal record be built into the next coronavirus relief package.
|
|
• |
Oklahoma Supreme Court tossing notary requirements for absentee ballots. “This is a victory for every Oklahoma voter who wants to exercise the right to vote but not risk their lives to do so," said cancer survivor and plaintiff Peggy Winton, via Tulsa World.
|
|
• |
The U.S. is now battling two public health crises at once: Amid social distancing, authorities nationwide are reporting a surge in fatal opioid overdoses.
Related: Watch the story of David Zee, who is thriving after finding success with outpatient recovery for opioid use disorder. “I’m able to function again.”
|
|
• |
The Trace writing about the pandemic’s impact on racial inequity and violence in vulnerable communities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Tutwiler,” an emotional new documentary from The Marshall Project and Frontline about the trauma of childbirth and motherhood while incarcerated in the notorious Julia Tutwiler Prison in Alabama, the only one for women in the state. (Most are there for drug-related offenses.) It follows the women through pregnancy and the devastating experience of separating from their newborns 24 hours after giving birth — and sometimes not knowing where their babies end up. “It makes the strongest person break,” one mother says.
But it’s also the story of a unique program that provides the mothers with doulas to guide them through their births, as well as mothering and childbirth classes, healthy meals, and community. The First Step Act took women out of shackles during childbirth, and while the situation at Tutwiler is still not ideal, the program brings the women closer to a humane experience. I shed a lot of tears watching this.
Update: Last week I recommended the Netflix documentary “Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story.” What I didn’t know at the time was that some people are boycotting the film after Cyntoia Brown-Long said in a statement it was unauthorized and she was not contacted about its production. Brown-Long said she is “currently in the process of sharing my story, in the right way, in full detail, and in a way that depicts and respects the woman I am today.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lastly, some links to take your mind off the world right now:
- This adorable 2-year-old cook who is winning fans on social media. Meet Chef Kobe. His mother’s patience must be infinite.
- Any zoo that is giving animal lovers a live-stream right now. Watch giant pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, soothing videos of jellyfish from a California aquarium, and even sloths. (My love of sloths can be exceeded only by my son’s, whose most prized possession is a picture of him and a sloth friend, and by Kristen Bell. Her sloth meltdown is legendary.) If you’re more of a dog person, tune into an elderly canine sanctuary in Tennessee.
- This year's Pulitzer Prize winners will give you plenty of new reading material if you missed their work the first time around.
- If you can’t get out of the house, you can still see spring unfold with virtual walks through the New York Botanical Garden.
- You might also feel less isolated after watching a day in the life of a lighthouse keeper, via National Geographic.
- The start of baseball season is upon us, at least in Korea and Taiwan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Have an evidence-based week,
- Stephanie
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stephanie DiCapua Getman develops and executes Arnold Ventures' digital communications strategy with a focus on multimedia storytelling and audience engagement and oversees daily editorial operations and design.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the AV Newsletter.
|
|
You received this message because you signed up for Arnold Ventures' newsletter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|