Items

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  2022-06-06

  Arkansas Prisoners and COVID Relief Payments

  This article details a court ruling that requires the Arkansas Department of Corrections to pay out over $2.5 million dollars in withheld COVID relief money from the federal government. When COVID stimulus relief checks were rolled out, any money going to those incarcerated in Arkansas was immediately confiscated by the Arkansas Department of Corrections and placed within the state prison budget. Several inmates then sued the Department of Corrections demanding the payment of their stimulus. While the Department of Corrections alleged that they were entitled to the money due to the inmates being under their jurisdiction, this ruling requires the immediate repayment of all stimulus money. This story demonstrates not only a conflict within the Arkansas prison system, but also the tremendous legal questions the pandemic opened as well as the questionable conduct spurred by government officials in response.
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  2020-08-08

  Time to sue

  A comic strip about Covid-19.
• 
  07/30/2020

  Christopher Viveiros Oral History, 2020/07/30

  Northeastern University student Alex Bice interviewed the Director of Communications at Fenway Health Christopher Viveiros. In this interview, they discuss what Fenway Health does for its community and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their interactions with the community. Fenway Health has been able to create signage, update its website, send out emails, and resort to telehealth appointments to help the people in the community that doesn’t to be seen in person. Viveiros is concerned that the voices of many minority communities are not being heard, but is glad that some health officials have been able to speak the truth.
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  2020-10-20

  "Bennett Walsh resigns as Holyoke Soldiers' Home superintendent; suit over firing dropped"

  This MassLive article reports on Holyoke Soldiers' Home superintendent Bennett Walsh's decision to drop a law suit after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker had him fired in light of the facility's poor response to the pandemic.
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  2021-04-06

  News Article: Gov. Ducey signs COVID-19 liability shield

  By Associated Press Originally Published: April 6, 2021 10:11 a.m. PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday signed legislation giving businesses, nursing homes and others a broad shield from lawsuits related to COVID-19, making Arizona the latest state to limit liability after the pandemic. Republican lawmakers approved the legislation in party-line votes in the House and Senate last week, saying businesses struggled during the pandemic and shouldn’t have to worry about frivolous lawsuits. The measure was opposed by consumer advocates, who say it will reward bad actors who flouted health guidance and endangered their workers or the public. They say there’s been no deluge of COVID-19 lawsuits. Business and medical groups have pushed hard for a liability shield since the start of the pandemic. The Arizona bill is one of dozens introduced across the country and in Congress. Ducey called for the measure in his State of the State address in January. The bill raises the bar for winning a pandemic-related lawsuits against businesses, health care providers, nursing homes, nonprofits, governments, churches and schools. Instead of proving negligence by a preponderance of the evidence, plaintiffs would have to prove “gross negligence” or “willful misconduct” by clear and convincing evidence.
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  2020-07-20

  ⁣Photos from Justice for Womxn Lost To State Violence protest

  "Most rape and assault is never reported to law enforcement in the first place. Of the cases that are, less than 1 percent are referred to prosecutors, and even fewer result in convictions. There are currently hundreds of ongoing lawsuits against police departments across the country, alleging a culture of institutionalized negligence, antipathy, and outright hostility toward survivors. Beyond the structural violence endemic to policing, police themselves are four times more likely than the average person to be domestic abusers.⁣ ⁣ These things are often framed as proof that policing is “broken,” but that again accepts the premise of the police on their own terms. Gender-based violence enabled by and within the criminal legal system is by design, and it is inseparable from the way that “crime” itself is construed: racialized, atomized, and alienated from broader social problems.⁣ ⁣ Far from being protected, it’s under the guise of “fighting crime” that Black women, trans women, indigenous, undocumented, and poor women have been subjected to a system of violent policing that continually exposes them to gender-based harm at the same time as it hems them into the margins of society. This system is self-protecting—it conspires to conceal the means through which it reproduces and justifies itself, making it difficult to imagine an alternative." - Isabel Cristo, The New Republic⁣ ⁣Photos from Justice for Womxn Lost To State Violence protest, July 18, 2020
• 
  2021-03-13

  University of Minnesota students rallied to demand community control of the UMPD

  From the Instagram post: The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit with George Floyd's family just weeks before opening statements were scheduled to begin for the former officer charged with his death. This payment marked the second multi-million-dollar payout for police actions in the past two years. According to MPR News, the settlement in Floyd’s death raises the total amount the city has paid to settle police officer misconduct cases to $71 million over the past two decades. Yesterday, University of Minnesota students rallied to demand community control of the UMPD, call out racism on campus, and stand in solidarity with the family of George Floyd.
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  2020-08-24

  ACLU of New Mexico Files Class-Action Lawsuit Against the State of New Mexico

  The ACLU of New Mexico joined forces with both local and international law firms to file a class-action lawsuit against the state of New Mexico. The lawsuit states that the state of New Mexico has failed to protect the lives and constitutional rights of people held in the correctional system. HST580, ASU, New Mexico Narratives, New Mexico, lawsuit, constitutional right, correctional system, ACLU, incarceration, loss, death, safe practice
• 
  2020-06-05

  Appeals court tosses order that required face masks, hand sanitizer for inmates at geriatric Texas prison

  Two inmates filed suit in late March asking for better practices to protect them from covid. The judge sided with the inmates but by that time the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had already enacted similar protocols across the state, though many argue they are not followed. Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is also quoted in this article saying, he "felons deserve personal protective equipment over frontline warriors." This is the same man that was quoted on new across the nation as saying that older people should be willing to die from Covid to keep the economy open for the benefit of their grandchildren.
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  2020-07-16

  Mask Requirements

  Science is usually something that I felt comfortable understanding at face value, in certain situations. Epidemiology, virology, and the like are areas where I would like the smartest person in the room to have the loudest microphone. It seems that this is not always the case in politics, especially with science that is less than flattering. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #florida. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it shows the disjointed response between the federal and state governments, not to mention local municipalities, over the pandemic. Link to the Washington Post article: (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/16/coronavirus-live-updates-us/?p9w22b2p=b2p22p9w00098&no_nav=true)
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  2020-07-06

  Homeless advocates relaunch lawsuit over COVID-19 safety at Toronto shelters, say city hasn’t complied with settlement

  "Toronto’s homeless advocates have relaunched a lawsuit against the city over unsafe shelter conditions. "In a notice of motion filed Friday, a coalition of public-interest groups alleges that the city has failed to follow a settlement agreement meant to ensure physical distancing standards within the shelter system. "The lawsuit, first launched earlier this year, alleges the city put people’s lives at risk amid the pandemic by not following public health distancing recommendations."
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  2020-06-11

  New York City EMS Workers Allege Retaliation After Speaking About Pandemic

  Excerpt for article: A group of New York City emergency medical service workers who gave interviews to the news media, including NPR, are suing the city for allegedly retaliating against them after speaking about their experiences responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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  2020-05-27

  Push Back in Rural America

  Podcast about the push-back by rural Americans against restrictions.
• 2020-05-05

  Schools sued for tuition refunds

  Students from many different colleges have filed lawsuits asking for refunds for tuition because of the switch to remote learning.
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  2020-04-15

  Lawsuit accuses Beshear, others of violating religious freedoms in COVID-19 orders

  This article explains how three Kentucky citizens are accusing Governor Andy Beshear and other government officials of violating their religious freedom. The three plaintiffs attended Easter church and were issued quarantine notices on their cars that instructed them to quarantine themselves at home for at least 14 days. They claim that because they practiced social distancing at the church, they have no need to quarantine themselves and are refusing to do so. They are filing a class action lawsuit to fight this order and to ensure their religious freedom in the future.
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  2020-04-12

  Some Churches Fight to Open on Easter Despite Coronavirus Shutdowns

  The article is about how because some states have excluded churches from social distancing rules and others haven't, lawsuits are being filed as Church leaders are being charged for holding services violating states rules. Others are fighting for their right to congregate, regardless of the potential harm that could come from such gatherings. It goes on to discuss the disparity between some Govenors views and their legislatures; stating Kansas as an example where the State Supreme Court had to get involved.
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  04/15/2020

  Religious freedom violated in COVID-19 orders, 3 Kentuckians say in federal suit