From Primary Vote-By-Mail to Pipeline Prevention

In April, from an unsigned opinion believed to come from Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 to allow Wisconsin to disqualify ballots cast after the election day—even though thousands of voters didn’t get their ballots until after that day.

On FAIR’s radio show “CounterSpin,” host Jannie Jackson speaks with 2017 PCIM Izzy Award winner Ari Berman, whose writing tackles voter suppression.

Berman notes that data shows Democrats and Republicans use vote-by-mail equally. He discusses the present-day presence of white supremacy in how the Republican Party and Supreme Court’s conservative majority make voting more difficult for people of color.

The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated existing global inequalities, as people with wealth and resources coast and those without suffer.

In response, over 60 writers, academics, activists and others from over 20 countries came together to draft the COVID-19 Global Security Manifesto, covers The Progressive. The manifesto aims to offer guideposts for a people-centered alternative response to the pandemic, addressing decades of crippling economic policy.

The document’s structure resembles the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but it goes further, calling for a fundamental redistribution of economic wealth to address mounting inequalities.

While Donald Trump wants to wish away the coronavirus pandemic and health experts warn of its ongoing severity, the CDC is “splitting the difference.”

The Center for Public Integrity reports that epidemiologists find the agency’s model of coronavirus deaths unrealistically low. Compared to its estimations in mid-April, the CDC projects millions fewer hospitalized patients and roughly 100,000 fewer deaths over the course of the pandemic without social distancing measures.

The CDC also made a “rookie mistake” in calculating data in April. Some health experts wonder if this mistake and the optimistic tally in this latest model represent a political agenda.

Black Americans are dying from the coronavirus 2.6 times more than whites, according to the APM Research Lab. Blacks, who make up only 13% of the population, have suffered 27% of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States.

Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh calculate the proportionate Black death toll considerably higher, with Blacks 3.5 times more likely to die than whites.

Black Agenda Report demands to hold the ruling class accountable for the systemic failure of racial capitalism. “To limit the indictment to Donald Trump and his administration would be an insult to today’s dead and dying.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing criticism following news that a state directive led to over 4,300 still recovering coronavirus patients being sent to New York’s vulnerable nursing homes.

Common Dreams reports the directive barred nursing homes from requiring patients deemed “medically stable” from being tested for COVID-19 prior to admission. Thousands of infected patients likely contributed to the virus’ spread and to the deaths of 5% of New York’s total nursing home residents.

Cuomo deflected blame to “President Trump’s CDC guidelines.” Journalists argue—despite heaped praise for him—that the governor’s slow response, delays in imposing social distancing measures, and Medicaid cuts both before and after the start of the pandemic absolutely affected New York’s tragic death toll.

Two writers for the Guardian say “This is the problem: for too long, Democrats have measured their politicians by whether they are better than Republicans. This sets the bar very low indeed.”

Activist groups rallying around the motto “#FreeThemAll” are campaigning for the release of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention.

As the pandemic spread and some prisons and jails released prisoners to prevent outbreaks, ICE resisted release of detainees of immigration detention centers, reports Truthout.

Following hunger strikes, activist protests, and the warnings of hundreds of public health experts, ICE has released over 700 medically vulnerable people. Attorneys have freed hundreds of others as the agency continues to resist releases.

Last week, New York environmental regulators denied for the third time the water quality permit for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline that would deliver fracked natural gas 37 miles from the shale fields of Pennsylvania to New York City and Long Island.

InsideClimate News reports The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation found the Williams Pipeline in opposition to New York’s recently enacted climate law requiring the state’s power sector to reach net-zero emissions by 2040. The department also argued against the damage it would inflict on state waters.

This decision could have national legal implications, especially as the Trump administration supports rapidly expanding fossil fuel infrastructure.