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Highlights From This Week At The Appeal
By Matt Ferner (@matthewferner)

The Stories From The Appeal

Coronavirus Cases Soar For The Navajo Nation As Federal Funding Shortfalls Strain Efforts To Respond. ‘This is by far, by far, the biggest impact on our people since our return from the Long Walk in 1868,’ a Navajo Nation leader said. [Daniel Moritz-Rabson]

Lawsuit Seeks The Release Of ‘Medically Vulnerable’ People Held At Oakland County Jail In Michigan. A district court judge who issued a temporary restraining order in the case said jail officials had not ‘imposed even the most basic safety measures recommended by health experts.’ [Dawn R. Wolfe]

The Case For Universal Rental Assistance. Expansion of an existing federal rental subsidy program, the Housing Choice Voucher, could stabilize housing for millions of households. [Kirk McClure, Alex F. Schwartz]

A New Federal Reserve Initiative Could Keep State And Local Governments Funded Through The Pandemic. The Fed’s new Municipal Liquidity Facility can be a necessary financial lifeline to states facing a cash crunch -- but only if they use it properly and completely. [Robert Hockett]

Brian Kemp's Sham Democracy in Georgia. The poster boy of Republican voter suppression is using loopholes in state law to cancel key Supreme Court and district attorney races in 2020. [Jay Willis

He Found Freedom After More Than Two Decades In Prison—But He Was Released Into A World Changed by COVID-19. Euka Wadlington was denied clemency by the Department of Justice under Obama. But then he mounted a legal challenge to sentencing enhancements used in his drug case; in April, a federal judge granted his release. Now he’s adjusting to freedom—and life in the coronavirus era. [Euka Wadlington]

Some Federal Prisoners Are Getting Out As COVID-19 Spreads. Others Have No Chance. Jeremy Hix is serving 70 months in federal prison for a sex offense—a conviction that disqualifies him for a Bureau of Prisons home confinement program, despite a health condition that puts him at risk of the coronavirus. [Joshua Vaughn]

Louisiana’s Longest-Serving Incarcerated Woman Returned To Prison After Being Hospitalized For COVID-19. The family of Gloria Williams, who has served 50 years in prison, is now pressing Governor John Bel Edwards to commute her sentence 10 months after a parole board recommended she be freed. [Victoria Law]

After More Than 25 Years Behind Bars, He’s At High Risk For Coronavirus. Now He’s Going Home. John Wesley Parratt Jr. was scheduled to appear before the parole board in July. After the novel coronavirus arrived in San Quentin State Prison, he feared for his health. [Juan Moreno Haines]

The Other Infectious Disease Ravaging America’s Jails And Prisons. Hepatitis C has ravaged prisons and jails, despite more effective treatments for the disease. It is a comorbidity to COVID-19, and the pandemic threatens to cut already weak state funding for prisons to treat those with the disease. [Samuel Weiss]

Mississippi Has Tested Fewer Than 1% of State Prisoners and Staff For COVID-19. Governor Tate Reeves has touted the state’s testing efforts as ‘aggressive,’ but testing rates in the state’s prisons, where the coronavirus has already claimed at least one life, remain low. [Ko Bragg]

Advocates Push New York Governor for More Releases From Jails and Prisons. The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say. [Bryce Covert]

For Striking NYC Tenants With Notorious Landlords, the Problem Is Not Just COVID-19. Some are striking because they can’t afford to pay the rent. Others are striking in protest against what they say is inhumane treatment. [Abigail Savitch-Lew]

New Mexico DAs United to Torpedo Reforms. The 2020 Elections Could Breach That Unanimity. Said one lawmaker, “It’s only a matter of time before DAs start winning on criminal justice reform campaigns.” Plus sweeping interviews with New Mexico DA candidates here and here [Daniel Nichanian]

Cleaning Supplies Are So Scarce At This Arizona Prison, Detainees Are Using Shampoo And Menstrual Pads, Lawsuit Says. The plaintiffs want an independent expert to assess whether the facility has implemented social distancing measures, testing procedures, and hygiene practices adequate enough to reasonably protect detainees from contracting COVID-19 while in custody. [Meg O'Connor]

Jails and Prisons Must Reduce Their Populations Now. We did it in San Francisco. If we are smart about how we respond to COVID-19 in the criminal legal system, then we can simultaneously tackle two crises. [Cristine Soto DeBerry]

South Dakota Governor Doubles Down On Her Anti-Native Reputation By Targeting Tribes’ COVID-19 Checkpoints. Governor Kristi Noem’s threat to sue two South Dakota tribes shows the callousness of her coronavirus plan, which seems to encourage exposure and prioritize the economy over the lives of at-risk Natives. [Ruth Hopkins]

Pregnant Woman in Pennsylvania Jail Denied Release. An Erie County judge said the pregnant 20-year-old would be ‘safer’ in jail from the COVID-19 outbreak. [Victoria Law]

A Woman’s Fight to Get Her Terminally Ill Sister Out of Prison During the Pandemic. California Governor Gavin Newsom said he’s releasing thousands of prisoners. But that doesn’t necessarily include some of the state’s sickest patients.

The Coronavirus Response: Spotlight on Local and State Governments. This interactive tool tracks developments of the coronavirus response in local and state governments, with a focus on what is being done — and what’s not done — to protect vulnerable populations. [Daniel Nichanian, Jay Willis, Chris Gelardi]

The Briefing

Streaming daily on The Appeal FacebookTwitter, and YouTube:

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Calls For DOJ Investigation In Ahmaud Arbery Case. Ahmaud Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones joins Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and S. Lee Merritt to discuss the fight for justice for Ahmaud. 

Coronavirus Crisis In Native Lands. Rep. Deb Haaland discusses funding state, local, and tribal governments during the crisis.

Chicago’s Jail Is A Coronavirus “Death Trap”. Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx and Illinois state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth discuss this rapidly-unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Virtual Prosecutor Forum. Virtual district attorney candidate forum for Multnomah County, OR (Portland), with candidate Mike Schmidt, hosted by Emily Bazelon.

$3 Trillion COVID Stimulus Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough. Rep. Rashida Tlaib discusses what’s in the bill, what isn’t, and what comes next.

Documentary, In Partnership With NowThis

Jailed Without Trial: "There’s so many people here that are forgotten about." 

The Daily Appeal

Navajo Nation, hit hardest by the coronavirus, waited over a month for promised federal aid. [Vaidya Gullapalli]

A homeless New Yorker proposes a solution for safe housing during the pandemic. [Vaidya Gullapalli]

Federal prosecutors sought waivers of compassionate release. [Vaidya Gullapalli]

A California sheriff says his jail is safe. Detainees say otherwise. [Jessica Pishko]

Inequality of care leads to coronavirus disparities in Oregon. [Jessica Pishko]

Breaking News and Analysis via Jay Willis

New polling shows that two-thirds of voters support amending the state constitution to make housing a human right.

New polling shows that nearly 60 percent of voters support funding smartphones, phone plans, and even housing costs for people released during the pandemic. 

America’s mass incarceration crisis isn’t new, but the preventable COVID-19 deaths of incarcerated people highlight the urgent need to end it.

In New Jersey, prison health workers say they aren’t getting enough PPE, which increases the risk of COVID-19 for incarcerated people. 

A fifth person incarcerated at California Institution for Men has died of COVID-19. Overall, more than 300 people at the facility have tested positive for the disease.

Thanks for reading.  We'll see you next week.

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The Daily Appeal is a publication of The Justice Collaborative, a project of Tides Advocacy

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