December 2020 Archive
Judges Are Locking Up Children for Noncriminal Offenses Like Repeatedly Disobeying Their Parents and Skipping School
Michigan’s juvenile justice system is archaic. Counties act with little oversight, and the state keeps such poor data it doesn’t know how many juveniles it has in custody or what happens to them once they’re in the system.
How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men
They were pillars of their communities and families, and they are not replaceable. To understand why COVID-19 killed so many young Black men, you need to know the legend of John Henry.
Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans. This Theory Helps Explain Why.
The unrelenting stress of fighting systemic racism can alter a body’s normal functioning until it starts to wear down. The theory, known as John Henryism, helps explain racial health disparities.
Rio Grande Hospital Workers Turned Down the Vaccine. A Senator and a Sheriff’s Deputy Lined Up Instead.
So many workers at a hospital in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley declined the new COVID-19 vaccine that the facility offered doses to other medical workers in the region. It turns out, the vaccine ended up going to non-medical personnel as well.
Who Biden Is Putting in Power
Here’s ProPublica’s running list of Joe Biden’s picks to run the federal government.
How the History of Waterloo, Iowa, Explains How Meatpacking Plants Became Hotbeds of COVID-19
Waterloo was the site of a historic battle for labor rights and racial justice. But as the meatpacking industry changed, the workforce lost its power and was primed for an outbreak. This is how we got here.
As COVID-19 Ravaged This Iowa City, Officials Discovered Meatpacking Executives Were the Ones in Charge
Meatpacking was once a path to the middle class in Waterloo, where workers led the fight for civil rights. But by the time the pandemic hit, a transformed industry had assembled a workforce from the most vulnerable parts of the world. The stage had been set.
Restrictions on the South Texas Border Were Meant to Protect People From COVID-19. Then the Handcuffs Came Out.
Governments along the Texas-Mexico border took a hard line to limit COVID-19’s spread. Police were key to the public health response, resulting in hundreds jailed and nearly 2,000 people ticketed.
The Government Promised to Return Ancestral Hawaiian Land, Then Never Finished the Job
Native Hawaiians are still waiting for state and federal officials to fulfill the promises of land legislation that was signed into law 25 years ago. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” said one former governor.
Leaked Documents Show How China’s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus
As the coronavirus spread in China, the government stage-managed what appeared on the domestic internet to make the virus look less severe and the authorities more capable, according to thousands of leaked directives and other files.
Only Seven of Stanford’s First 5,000 Vaccines Were Designated for Medical Residents
Stanford Medicine officials relied on a faulty algorithm to determine who should get vaccinated first, and it prioritized some high-ranking doctors over patient-facing medical residents.
John Kerry, Biden’s Climate Czar, Talks About Saving the Planet
In the months before the election, Joe Biden’s most influential voice on the issue of our age shared his views on climate migration, open borders, the threat of nationalism, and the challenge posed by China.
Vaccinating Black Americans Is Essential. Key States Aren’t Doing the Work to Combat Hesitancy
States and the federal government also don’t reliably collect data so we won’t have a good idea of whether the vaccine is reaching these critical populations.
The Family Court Judge Who Threatened a Mother With Contempt of Court for Getting Her Child a COVID-19 Test
Ohio juvenile court Judge Timothy Grendell thought coronavirus precautions were overblown, and made sure people knew it. In one case he forbade a mother from getting her children tested for COVID-19. Then, one of them had to go to the emergency room.
How a Chicago Political Hangout Went From Bustling to Boarded-Up — Even After the City Promised Help
Wallace’s Catfish Corner, a fish and soul food restaurant on Chicago’s West Side, was a neighborhood staple. Now the building is boarded-up and unused. Its messy history shows the challenges of rebuilding an area devastated by disinvestment.
New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings
A dozen city and state officials also called for the disbandment of vice, the primary division that polices the sex trade; some want investigations into misconduct allegations against the unit, including withholding of evidence.
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance for Liberian Immigrants Has Been “Hamstrung” by COVID — and Trump’s Dysfunctional Immigration Bureaucracy
Last year, Congress quietly passed a bill allowing thousands of Liberian immigrants to apply for green cards. But the Trump administration hardly made it easy, and now the application window is closing.
The Big Thaw: How Russia Could Dominate a Warming World
Climate change is propelling enormous human migrations as it transforms global agriculture and remakes the world order — and no country stands to gain more than Russia.
For Years, JaMarcus Crews Tried to Get a New Kidney, but Corporate Healthcare Stood in the Way
He needed dialysis to stay alive. He couldn't miss a session, not even during a pandemic.
