Dear friends,
Apparently, 2020 is going to 2020 until the bitter end. The ninny-in-chief refused to sign a bill negotiated by his own Treasury Secretary because he didn’t like the terms, including some stipulated in the White House’s own budget proposal. Then, after a delay that caused tremendous uncertainty for tens of millions of people depending on aid and eviction protections, he finally signed the bill on Sunday evening. The tantrum has delayed the $600 payments that many Americans desperately need, and has jeopardized weekly payments to some workers who rely on the pandemic unemployment assistance program that expired on Saturday. I’m still not inured to this casual cruelty, which I suppose is a good thing.
And, of course, the Senate races and the certification of the electoral vote threaten to 2020 the first week of the next year, too. Let’s see if we can work to flatten the 2020 insanity curve just a little.
It has been beyond infuriating to watch the president use his pardon power in ways that have nothing to do with justice. This week, Governor Cuomo has the opportunity (as he does every week) to offer clemency to people incarcerated in NYS. On Christmas Eve, he granted clemency to 7 people “who have demonstrated substantial evidence of remorse, rehabilitation and a commitment to the community.” By reducing their sentences to time served, clemency allows people to leave prison; it doesn’t eliminate their criminal records. Since taking office, Cuomo has granted clemency to just 31 people; he has received roughly 6500 applications since 2015. During the pandemic, he has also released 3,000 people who were nearing their release date; most were non-violent offenders and about 800 had recent parole violations. Meanwhile tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the state have tested positive for Covid-19.
Call on Governor Cuomo to use his power to grant clemency to people who are ready to be returning citizens. Here’s a ready-made action that you can copy.
All too often, injustice is a matter of life and death. Dr. Susan Moore, a Black doctor, tested positive for the coronavirus in late November and was admitted to a hospital run by Indiana University Health System. There, she found that she could not get adequate treatment for pain, and was discharged on December 7, in spite of her poor condition.
“I put forth and maintain, if I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that,” she says in a 4 December video, her voice often cracking. “This is how Black people get killed, when you send them home, and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”
Dr. Moore, 52, was admitted to another hospital less than a day after her discharge, where she felt she got better care, but she died on December 20. The Indiana hospital system has now promised a “full external review” of her case. There is, of course, a long history of medical neglect and exploitation of Black and brown communities, which is the broader context for the tragic death of Dr. Susan Moore.
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Have a good day!
with love,
L