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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Daily Appeal will offer a roundup of stories about the effect on marginalized and vulnerable people, and their struggle for safety and well-being.
Inequality of care leads to coronavirus disparities in Oregon: Marion County, Oregon, has the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the state. It is also home to a large Latinx community in Woodburn, where racial inequality has created a healthcare gap. Many Woodburn residents work in agriculture, food processing plants, and grocery stories, which all continued as usual despite the pandemic. In the face of inaction by state health officials and local businesses, community groups acted quickly to spread information and protect people from coronavirus. Community leaders now face another scourge: negative stereotypes about Latinx people, blaming them for the county’s slow reaction. [Rachel Alexander, Saphara Harrell, and Jake Thomas / Salem Reporter]
Prison populations are still stagnant: U.S. prison populations only declined by 1.6 percent despite widespread coronavirus outbreaks in correctional facilities, according to new data from the Vera Institute of Justice. This is cause for concern, according to Jacob Kang-Brown, one of the lead researchers at Vera, who told the New York Times: “No state has shown that dramatic commitment to the care and concern for others that is needed in this moment. We should be doing much more than this. It is an urgent public health issue. We should be saving lives.” [Sandra E. Garcia / New York Times]
Louisiana parents sue to free their children: On Thursday, the parents of young people held in Louisiana’s youth detention facilities filed a class action lawsuit seeking the release of their children. Among the allegations are filthy living conditions, a lack of healthcare, and no information for worried parents. According to lawyers and advocates, the state could use a furlough program already in place to send these young people home. [Tyler Kingkade / NBC News]
The coronavirus police state: In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis created checkpoints to stop people from Louisiana, New York, and New Jersey from entering the state as a way to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Police are arresting people for not wearing masks and breaking up large groups. This “containment theater,” one former federal health official said, focuses on keeping “the other” out rather than implementing health measures to control the virus. As the country attempts to reopen the economy, Americans can expect more of these surveillance and containment tactics. Do they help, writer Melissa Gira Grant asks, or is the safety just an illusion? [Melissa Gira Grant / New Republic]
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations’ shaky history: Some heralded the news that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) would be investigating the Glynn County Police Department’s dismissal of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. But that confidence may be misplaced, Akela Lacy writes in The Intercept. The GBI, a state police force, has a history of mishandling important cases and covering up bad behavior by law enforcement. This includes pursuing the convictions of the wrong people and its historical collaboration with the Ku Klux Klan. [Akela Lacy / The Intercept]
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