Where do we go from here?

By Evan Mintz, Communications Manager

People who sue police departments for violating their rights usually expect two things: that the police will pay them a monetary compensation to set things right, and that their lawsuit will help prevent civil rights violations in the future. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. A new paper by Joanna Schwartz, a professor of law at the UCLA School of Law, examines how litigation against law enforcement often fails to accomplish its dual goal. 

 

Why It Matters: As state legislatures and the federal government continue to debate policing reform, civil litigation stands out as a way lawmakers can shape incentives for law enforcement agencies. Financial sanctions can be a powerful motivator for municipalities, individual departments, and even the officers themselves. 

 

Bottom Line: “Local governments should be learning what they can from these lawsuits when they're brought, and the resolutions in these cases,” said Schwartz. “I'm especially hopeful that those kinds of changes might be made.”

Read the Q&A >

By Evan Mintz, Communications Manager

 

When Leonard Burnett was incarcerated at a state prison in Pennsylvania, he looked forward to visits from his family, who traveled using a bus service from the Pennsylvania Prison Society. But when the pandemic hit, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections suspended visitations as a precaution. Now free Zoom calls let him see not only his family, but their life at home, too. 

 

Why It Matters: As jails and prisons struggle to keep people safe from the coronavirus, they have relied on further isolating people behind bars to slow the spread of the virus. These strategies risk violating the rights of incarcerated people and inflicting unnecessary harms. Research from groups like National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice have recommended shrinking jail and prison populations, providing proper protective equipment, and allowing people in facilities to use technology to stay in touch with the outside world. 

 

Bottom Line: Human connection is a lifeline for those in prison. “While COVID safety measures will invariably mean certain restrictions are necessary, it is critical for officials to consider ways to mitigate the harm from these restrictions, especially when it comes to family contact,” says Michele Deitch at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs and law school. 

Read the story >

... to move the needle on major U.S. social problems. We know that surprisingly few social programs and practices (“interventions”) produce the hoped-for impact on people’s lives in areas such as education, poverty reduction, crime, and substance abuse prevention — yet they still get funded. However, there is a small but growing body of social interventions that have been shown to produce sizable, sustained effects on important life outcomes, like increased graduation rates, improved earnings, and faster reemployment. Our Evidence-Based Policy team offers ways the Biden administration can incorporate rigorous evaluations into U.S. social spending and positively impact critical problems like education and poverty, while also adding incentives and support for states and localities to put them into widespread use. Read the story >

 

...to support America’s economic recovery in 2021. The pandemic has disrupted lives, businesses, and markets, creating a global economic slowdown. The U.S. has witnessed the steepest drop in GDP since the Great Depression, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since 1948, and state and local government budgets have felt the impact of higher demands for public assistance. If the fiscal response to the Great Recession taught us anything, it’s that while the federal interventions were helpful, they were too little and ended too soon. Our Public Finance team offers five actions the Biden administration can take to chart a different course — one that accelerates the recovery and builds a more sustainable future. Read the story >

Out today: The new IFC documentary “MLK/FBI,” about the FBI’s relentless campaign to bring down Martin Luther King Jr. Director Sam Pollard uses newly declassified FBI files, archival footage, and audio interviews with historians to illustrate how J. Edgar Hoover “used the full force of his federal law enforcement agency to attack a progressive, nonviolent cause.” “We must use every resource at our disposal to destroy him,” wrote William C. Sullivan, the head of FBI domestic intelligence, in a memo two days after the March on Washington. That effort to “contain a movement” included surveillance, informants, and blackmail. “There are lessons for 2021, for sure,” The Associated Press writes. “Having Communist leanings in the ’50s and ’60s was as smeared as the socialism of today. ‘I Am a Man’ placards at protests echo the ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs of today. White America’s anxieties around Black empowerment have not changed much.” Watch Pollard talk about the film, the legacies of our heroes and villains, and its implications for today here. “MLK/FBI” is now available in theaters and video on demand.


 

Also: If you are interested in the rise of the alt-right and white supremacy in our democracy — and how the election of Donald Trump in 2016 empowered them — watch The Atlantic’s 2020 documentary “White Noise.” Warning: Prepare to be disturbed and enraged at the amount of lies, ego, and grift on display. The film’s subjects, whose names deserve no airtime in this space, are self-admittedly driven by power, clicks, and followers — selling hate for their own personal benefit — and are unconcerned with taking responsibility for how their words have contributed to our current climate and to acts of violence. (“People have to understand, there’s a lot of show business in politics” and “I measure things in how many bodies can you bring in… I’m an author and I live off what I sell.”) What happens when their money and followers are gone and they’re worn down by the hate they’ve been peddling? Sell health supplements and lifestyle seminars, move in with your mother, and continue casting yourself as the victim. 

This Uninvisible podcast episode featuring guest David Mitchell, who lives with the incurable blood cancer multiple myeloma. He takes us through his medical diagnosis and journey and the extreme costs of his prescription drugs: more than $875,000 per year. Mitchell founded Patients for Affordable Drugs, which leverages the power of patient stories in its fight against big pharma. 

 

Related: Our Co-Founder Laura Arnold spoke with Mitchell about our broken drug pricing system for her debut Deep Dive podcast, where he dispelled myths perpetuated by pharmaceutical companies in a segment called “Pharma Would Say.” Listen here.

 

Also: The TradesOffs podcast returns for a new season to break down the health care issues of 2021. The first episode explores how to improve vaccine uptake in nursing homes. 

• One of my favorite events to cover in my days working in public school communications was the Martin Luther King, Jr., Oratory Competition, a tradition in Houston and other cities around the country where elementary school students give spirited speeches on issues of the day in the style of MLK. You can watch Houston’s finalists compete live today from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. as they answer the question: “How do you think Dr. King’s teachings can help us today?” And check out last year’s winning speech here.
   
• The incredible heroism of Eugene Goodman, a Black officer who alone faced down a mostly white mob at the Capitol, luring them away from Senate chambers and sheltering lawmakers. 
   
• Female scientists are enlisting a powerful force in their educational campaign on climate change: Moms. (I mean, we are pretty powerful.)
   
• Six unconventional productivity tips for a calm and focused 2021.

Grant Proposals Webinar: On Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. ET, Arnold Ventures’ Evidence-Based Policy initiative will host a 60-minute webinar on preparing a successful grant proposal to conduct a randomized controlled trial of a U.S. social program through our RCT Opportunity request for proposals. The webinar aims to expand and diversify the pool of applicants, including those from groups historically underrepresented in the research and policy communities, and to clearly convey to applicants what our reviewers look for in RCT grant proposals. Register here.

Our Complex Care team is funding research into how to improve the systems that deliver care to a population of more than 12 million people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. They are seeking to fund researchers who are guided by the following principles: policy relevance, rigor and independence, and alignment with our strategy. Learn more here.

The Criminal Justice and Evidence-Based Policy teams at Arnold Ventures are teaming up to learn more about what works in criminal justice reform in an ongoing request for proposals for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that will test programs and practices. There is no deadline for submissions.

The Evidence-Based Policy team invites grant applications to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of social programs in any area of U.S. policy. Details are here.

View all of our RFPs here.

Also: The National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research has issued a new request for proposals (RFP) for rigorous research that will produce evidence to support development of fair and effective gun policies. Learn more here.