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St. Louis inmates riot again; the first days of Chauvin's trial; Illinois guards refuse the covid vaccine; survivors guilt on federal death row; Black Panther seeks parole - your weekly justice news
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set it on fire: Incarcerated people at the St. Louis jail, broke windows and set fires for the second time this year to protest inhumane conditions and extended incarceration due to delayed court dates. CBS (April 5, 2021)
harder than ever: Youth locked up during the pandemic have faced isolation, lack of contact with family and reduced services as well as COVID-19. NPR (Mar. 29, 2021)
‘no thank you’: Only 27% of Illinois’s prison staff have chosen to be vaccinated despite the facilities being the site of COVID-19 hot spots. WBEZ Chicago (Mar. 26, 2021)
give it out: A judge ruled that New York must immediately offer vaccines to all incarcerated people in the state after arbitrarily excluding them. New York Times (Mar. 29, 2021)
on trial: The first witnesses' called in Derek Chauvin’s trial describe the police officer shifting his knee to apply more pressure on George Floyd’s neck. Star Tribune (Mar. 29, 2021)
OPINION: Right wing dark money is coming after the Biden administrations civil right nominees with attack ads and smear campaigns, and it’s having an impact. The Daily Beast (Mar. 22, 2021)
still getting in: Visitors, long blamed for bringing drugs into prisons, stopped visiting prisons when the pandemic started, but the drugs still got in through guards. Texas Tribune (Mar. 29, 2021)
still locked up: After 50 years in prison, a Black Panther is seeking parole. 84-year-old Sundiata Acoli has been eligible for parole for almost three decades and despite low risk of reoffending, pandemic releases haven’t reached him. The Intercept (Mar. 28, 2021)
keep it: The pandemic plummeted Colorado’s jail population by 46% between April and September 2020. Some of the changes such as reduction in charges that led to booking and use of cash bonds may now become permeant changes in law. Colorado Newsline (Mar. 29, 2021)
a new leader for the student movement to end the war on drugs | life inside: survivors guilt on death row
COVID-19 resources: State policy changes. News. Bureau of Prisons updates. State court changes. Prison holistic self care and protection.
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