npr--2020-09-18--How The Pandemic Is Widening The Racial Wealth Gap

How The Pandemic Is Widening The Racial Wealth Gap Joeller Stanton used to be an assistant teacher at a private school in Baltimore and made about $ 30,000 a year .
In mid-March , when the pandemic was just starting , her school closed for what was supposed to be two weeks .
`` Up to that point , we were under the impression that it was n't that serious , that everything was going to be OK , '' Stanton recalls .
But as schools in Maryland switched to virtual learning indefinitely , Stanton was let go from her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in March .
`` I had about $ 300 savings that was basically gone by the end of March , '' she says .
She says she applied for unemployment but was denied initially .
And by April , she had no money to pay for rent and utilities , and was struggling to put food on the table for her two children .
Stanton , who is Black , is caught up in a huge wave of economic stress hitting Americans , especially people of color .
Sixty percent of Black households @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic began , according to a national poll released this week by NPR , the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H .
Chan School of Public Health .
That includes 41 % who say they 've used up most or all their savings , while an additional 10 % had no savings before the outbreak .
Latinos and Native Americans are also disproportionately affected by the pandemic 's economic impact .
Seventy-two percent of Latino and 55 % of Native American respondents say their households are facing serious financial problems , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` The thing that immediately struck me was how large the gap was by race for the people who said they were facing serious problems , '' says Valerie Wilson , director of the Program on Race , Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute .
The pandemic 's disproportionate financial impact on communities of color reflects — and is worsening — existing racial disparities in wealth , she adds .
`` The three groups that are being just ravaged by this epidemic are reporting unbelievable problems of just trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Robert Blendon , professor emeritus of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard T.H .
Chan School of Public Health , who oversaw the poll .
Thirty-two percent of Latino and 28 % of Black respondents say they 're having problems paying rent or mortgages .
About a third of respondents in both groups were struggling to pay credit cards or other loans .
And 26 % of Latino and Native American respondents say they struggle to afford food , while 22 % of Black respondents do .
Among households that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even more of a challenge .
For Black respondents , 40 % say they 're struggling to pay rent or mortgage , and 43 % say they 're having trouble paying utilities .
For Latino households that lost income , 46 % say they 're struggling to pay mortgage or rent .
About a third of both Black and Latino respondents who lost household income said they 're struggling to pay for food .
The fact that many minority groups are also experiencing higher rates of coronavirus infections makes it even harder for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` You have people who do n't have savings , they ca n't pay bills , '' he says .
`` And then you 're going to tell them , 'Well , somebody in the household tested positive , nobody can go work . '
How are they going to keep their lives going ? ''
Stanton 's sister , who works for the city government , got COVID-19 earlier this year and had to isolate in her basement .
`` She had a cough , and she could n't eat because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Stanton says .
`` I would cook meals , and I would take it to the basement , put it down on the floor for her . ''
Luckily , she says , no one else in the family — including her 82-year-old mother and her 7-year-old son , who has asthma — got infected .
But Stanton says she has lost a sister-in-law to the disease and had a friend in coma for six weeks on a ventilator .
She knows of many others in her community who have died .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are out of work .
Even during the economic recovery of recent years , minority groups were lagging behind , says Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute .
`` There were significant racial disparities in wages , significant racial disparities in unemployment , significant racial disparities in the kinds of jobs people held . ''
Black , Latino and Native American workers were more likely to have jobs that were lost during the pandemic , Wilson says .
A Harvard University analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau 's Pulse Survey , released in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latino and 53 % of Black households experienced loss in earnings early in the pandemic .
Wilson 's own research has shown that Latino workers have been particularly affected by job losses during the pandemic .
Wilson adds that people in these groups are also more likely to have jobs that did n't allow them to work from the safety of their homes , therefore putting them more at risk of getting infected .
And they 're also less likely to have substantial savings .
As a result , it makes it harder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downturn , she says .
Wilson says she worries that the pandemic is worsening racial disparities .
`` We 're going to see coming out of this pandemic an expansion of the racial wealth gap , '' she says .
`` We saw the same kind of thing in the Great Recession in 2007-2008 — in particular then with the extensive foreclosures in communities of color and the loss of housing wealth . ''
The pandemic forced Stanton to give up her rental home back in April .
But she says she was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thanks to her sister .
`` My sister helped me get a storage unit , '' Stanton says .
`` I moved my furniture into a storage unit .
And I moved in with my sister , me and my two kids — my 11-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old son . ''
She is grateful to have a roof over her head , but money , she says , is still tight .
She now gets $ 280 a week from the state of Maryland as unemployment , but it does n't go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buy is any personal hygiene items me or my kids need , '' she says .
She buys food , above what food stamps get her ; she pays her phone bill and covers her sister 's utility bills .
`` That 's my only way of telling her , 'Thank you , ' to show her that I appreciate what she 's doing . ''
What little she has left , she buys a treat or two for her children , who have mostly been stuck indoors since the pandemic began : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' she says .
But she 's far from happy herself .
She has n't been able to find a new job because of the nature of remote learning .
`` They do n't need an assistant right now because the kids are not physically in the building , '' she says .
And even if she did find a job , she worries she 'd have to use pay to cover child care .
Her kids are now also learning virtually from home and need constant supervision .
Stanton says the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggles is through faith .
`` A lot of prayer and a lot of patience , '' she says .
`` I try not to let things bother me because I do n't want to become depressed .
So , you know , you just pray .
I hope this is all over soon . ''

How The Pandemic Is Widening The Racial Wealth Gap
Enlarge this image Nicole Xu for NPR Nicole Xu for NPR
Joeller Stanton used to be an assistant teacher at a private school in Baltimore and made about $30,000 a year. In mid-March, when the pandemic was just starting, her school closed for what was supposed to be two weeks. "Up to that point, we were under the impression that it wasn't that serious, that everything was going to be OK," Stanton recalls.
But as schools in Maryland switched to virtual learning indefinitely, Stanton was let go from her job. She received her last paycheck in March. "I had about $300 savings that was basically gone by the end of March," she says.
She says she applied for unemployment but was denied initially. And by April, she had no money to pay for rent and utilities, and was struggling to put food on the table for her two children.
Stanton, who is Black, is caught up in a huge wave of economic stress hitting Americans, especially people of color.
Sixty percent of Black households are facing serious financial problems since the pandemic began, according to a national poll released this week by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. That includes 41% who say they've used up most or all their savings, while an additional 10% had no savings before the outbreak.
Latinos and Native Americans are also disproportionately affected by the pandemic's economic impact. Seventy-two percent of Latino and 55% of Native American respondents say their households are facing serious financial problems, compared with 36% of whites.
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"The thing that immediately struck me was how large the gap was by race for the people who said they were facing serious problems," says Valerie Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute.
The pandemic's disproportionate financial impact on communities of color reflects — and is worsening — existing racial disparities in wealth, she adds.
Struggles with income, housing, food
"The three groups that are being just ravaged by this epidemic are reporting unbelievable problems of just trying to cope with their day-to-day lives," says Robert Blendon, professor emeritus of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who oversaw the poll.
Thirty-two percent of Latino and 28% of Black respondents say they're having problems paying rent or mortgages. About a third of respondents in both groups were struggling to pay credit cards or other loans. And 26% of Latino and Native American respondents say they struggle to afford food, while 22% of Black respondents do.
Loading...
Among households that reported they lost income, survival is even more of a challenge. For Black respondents, 40% say they're struggling to pay rent or mortgage, and 43% say they're having trouble paying utilities. For Latino households that lost income, 46% say they're struggling to pay mortgage or rent. About a third of both Black and Latino respondents who lost household income said they're struggling to pay for food.
The fact that many minority groups are also experiencing higher rates of coronavirus infections makes it even harder for them to cope financially, Blendon adds.
"You have people who don't have savings, they can't pay bills," he says. "And then you're going to tell them, 'Well, somebody in the household tested positive, nobody can go work.' How are they going to keep their lives going?"
Stanton's sister, who works for the city government, got COVID-19 earlier this year and had to isolate in her basement. "She had a cough, and she couldn't eat because her taste buds were completely gone," Stanton says. "I would cook meals, and I would take it to the basement, put it down on the floor for her."
Luckily, she says, no one else in the family — including her 82-year-old mother and her 7-year-old son, who has asthma — got infected.
But Stanton says she has lost a sister-in-law to the disease and had a friend in coma for six weeks on a ventilator. She knows of many others in her community who have died.
And most of her co-workers and friends are out of work.
Worsening existing disparities
Even during the economic recovery of recent years, minority groups were lagging behind, says Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute. "There were significant racial disparities in wages, significant racial disparities in unemployment, significant racial disparities in the kinds of jobs people held."
Black, Latino and Native American workers were more likely to have jobs that were lost during the pandemic, Wilson says. A Harvard University analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's Pulse Survey, released in July, found that 58% of Latino and 53% of Black households experienced loss in earnings early in the pandemic. Wilson's own research has shown that Latino workers have been particularly affected by job losses during the pandemic.
Wilson adds that people in these groups are also more likely to have jobs that didn't allow them to work from the safety of their homes, therefore putting them more at risk of getting infected. And they're also less likely to have substantial savings. As a result, it makes it harder for them to weather times of economic downturn, she says.
Wilson says she worries that the pandemic is worsening racial disparities.
"We're going to see coming out of this pandemic an expansion of the racial wealth gap," she says. "We saw the same kind of thing in the Great Recession in 2007-2008 — in particular then with the extensive foreclosures in communities of color and the loss of housing wealth."
"You just pray"
The pandemic forced Stanton to give up her rental home back in April. But she says she was fortunate not to end up homeless, thanks to her sister.
"My sister helped me get a storage unit," Stanton says. "I moved my furniture into a storage unit. And I moved in with my sister, me and my two kids — my 11-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old son."
She is grateful to have a roof over her head, but money, she says, is still tight.
She now gets $280 a week from the state of Maryland as unemployment, but it doesn't go far.
"The first thing I buy is any personal hygiene items me or my kids need," she says. She buys food, above what food stamps get her; she pays her phone bill and covers her sister's utility bills. "That's my only way of telling her, 'Thank you,' to show her that I appreciate what she's doing."
What little she has left, she buys a treat or two for her children, who have mostly been stuck indoors since the pandemic began: "Just trying to keep them happy," she says.
But she's far from happy herself. She hasn't been able to find a new job because of the nature of remote learning. "They don't need an assistant right now because the kids are not physically in the building," she says.
And even if she did find a job, she worries she'd have to use pay to cover child care. Her kids are now also learning virtually from home and need constant supervision.
Stanton says the only way she copes with her daily struggles is through faith. "A lot of prayer and a lot of patience," she says. "I try not to let things bother me because I don't want to become depressed. So, you know, you just pray. I hope this is all over soon."


npr--2020-09-18--Biden And Trump Visit Minnesota As The State Begins Early Voting

Biden And Trump Visit Minnesota As The State Begins Early Voting President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden both travel to northern Minnesota on Friday , as the contested state begins its early voting period .
Trump plans to hold a rally at an airport in the city of Bemidji on Friday evening .
Meanwhile , the former vice president will visit a union training center in Duluth .
The Trump campaign has its eyes on flipping the state , which Hillary Clinton won in 2016 by just under 45,000 votes .
Recent polls , however , show Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latest Electoral College analysis lists Minnesota as Lean Democrat .
Minnesota Democratic Gov .
Tim Walz has asked both campaigns to follow the state 's public health guidelines , including guidance on wearing masks indoors , to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Trump held an indoor rally Sunday in Nevada that violated that state 's rules on gatherings during the pandemic .
Minnesota 's opening of early voting underscores the extent to which Election Day has really become election season .
A poll out this week from The Washington Post and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Minnesotans plan to vote ahead of Election Day .
Nationally , millions of voters typically cast their ballots early .
And because of the coronavirus , many states have altered their voting rules , making it easier for voters to cast ballots ahead of time by mail .
Many election analysts believe that a majority of the electorate will vote by mail or early in person .
Two weeks ago North Carolina became the first state to start mailing out absentee ballots .
States are seeing a surge in demand for these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 800,000 requests as of Sept. 2 , as opposed to the 55,000 they received at that point in 2016 .
Nine states and the District of Columbia will send ballots directly to all voters for November 's elections , and many more will send absentee ballot applications .
The timing and option of early voting varies from state to state .
Early voting will open this month in several states .

Biden And Trump Visit Minnesota As The State Begins Early Voting
Enlarge this image toggle caption Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden both travel to northern Minnesota on Friday, as the contested state begins its early voting period.
Trump plans to hold a rally at an airport in the city of Bemidji on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the former vice president will visit a union training center in Duluth.
The Trump campaign has its eyes on flipping the state, which Hillary Clinton won in 2016 by just under 45,000 votes. Recent polls, however, show Biden with a clear lead. NPR's latest Electoral College analysis lists Minnesota as Lean Democrat.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has asked both campaigns to follow the state's public health guidelines, including guidance on wearing masks indoors, to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump held an indoor rally Sunday in Nevada that violated that state's rules on gatherings during the pandemic.
Election season
Minnesota's opening of early voting underscores the extent to which Election Day has really become election season.
A poll out this week from The Washington Post and ABC News found that nearly 40% of Minnesotans plan to vote ahead of Election Day.
Nationally, millions of voters typically cast their ballots early. And because of the coronavirus, many states have altered their voting rules, making it easier for voters to cast ballots ahead of time by mail.
Many election analysts believe that a majority of the electorate will vote by mail or early in person.
Two weeks ago North Carolina became the first state to start mailing out absentee ballots. States are seeing a surge in demand for these ballots, with Georgia officials reporting over 800,000 requests as of Sept. 2, as opposed to the 55,000 they received at that point in 2016.
Nine states and the District of Columbia will send ballots directly to all voters for November's elections, and many more will send absentee ballot applications.
The timing and option of early voting varies from state to state. Early voting will open this month in several states.


npr--2020-09-18--Mental Health And Police Violence: How Crisis Intervention Teams Are Failing

Mental Health And Police Violence : How Crisis Intervention Teams Are Failing Nationwide protests over police accountability and racial justice have reenergized longstanding efforts to fundamentally change how police departments respond to someone in a mental health emergency .
Many are calling for removing or dramatically reducing law enforcement 's role in responding to those crisis calls unless absolutely necessary .
People suffering a mental illness make up nearly a quarter of all killed by police officers in America .
Injuries , too , are common although they are less carefully tracked .
One of many examples : the recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an autism spectrum disorder by Salt Lake City police after his mother called officers to report that her son was having `` a mental breakdown . ''
The teenager is recovering from serious wounds .
But many departments appear reluctant to abandon a widely-used program for handling mental health and substance abuse crisis calls , called Crisis Intervention Teams or CITS , even though the programs have proved largely ineffective .
Even some proponents and trainers of CITs now say the model has been misread and poorly implemented by many departments .
Vivid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , New York created one of New York State 's first Crisis Intervention Teams .
And the March asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude there during a police confrontation , which has badly shaken the city and its police and political structure , offers a vivid example of the shortcomings and misreading of CITs .
Around 3 a.m. in that city this past March 23 Daniel Prude was unraveling .
A light snow was falling when police confronted him .
The 41-year-old Black man was wandering the street , naked and babbling .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug abuse .
Officers handcuffed Prude and put a hood over his head , apparently to stop him from spitting at them .
It was the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in the state .
Three officers pinned Prude to the ground as he became increasingly agitated .
They pressed his face into the pavement for two minutes , one officer pushing heavily on Prude 's head , according to body-cam video of the encounter .
Prude stopped breathing .
He was taken off life support at a local hospital a week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call for my brother to get help , not for my brother to get lynched , '' said Joseph Prude who called police that night telling officers his brother , Daniel , was having a mental breakdown and was on drugs .
Daniel , who had recently arrived at his brother 's from Chicago , had already been seen by a local hospital for erratic behavior and suicidal thoughts the previous day .
A lawsuit by the Prude family says Daniel was undergoing an `` acute manic , psychotic episode . ''
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a homicide , citing asphyxia due to physical restraint by police and acute intoxication from the drug PCP as causes of death .
`` We know what happened that night for Mr. Daniel Prude , and we do n't want to see any more names , '' says Krystal Schulik a drug and alcohol counselor in Rochester .
No , to handcuffs , hoods .
Yes , to calm talk , deescalation Schulik and many others in the mental health field in the city are trying to change how the police respond to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No , to handcuffs and hoods .
Yes , to calm talk and careful deescalation .
`` Change your tone of voice , your body language , hell , you might have to get on the ground with him !
Give him eye contact .
All of that is so important when deescalating such a scale of an event , '' she says of the Prude case .
`` He was not well . ''
Some Rochester police , in theory , were trained to do just that – to recognize and deescalate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meltdown ; someone just like Daniel Prude .
Rochester created its Crisis Intervention Team in 2004 after a case similar to Prude 's .
These teams and their trainings grew out of Memphis , Tennessee in 1987 after police fatally shot Joseph DeWayne Robinson , 27-year-old who was in a mental crisis and cutting himself with a butcher knife .
CIT programs and trainings soon spread from Memphis to thousands of departments across the country .
Yet despite the proliferation and popularity of what came to be called the `` Memphis Model '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program say it 's often been misapplied and misconstrued by law enforcement .
'They 're not doing anything about what a CIT really is' '' All we have to do is give them little training , and send them out there to handle crisis situations .
That 's the kind of mentality , the thought process , that we have utilized for way , way too long , '' says Ron Bruno , who had a 25-year career as a police officer and is now executive director of Crisis Intervention Team International .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ change the dynamic between law enforcement and people in a mental health crisis .
Bruno says a handful of departments have done it right .
But others , too often , see CIT training as merely as a check-the-box , 40-hour exercise .
`` They 're not doing anything about what a CIT really is , '' he says .
The biggest breakdown , Bruno and others say , is that cities and counties too often fail to carefully integrate the program into the wider behavioral mental health care system and route calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep throwing money at training officers , and that 's all you do , and not address the system around mental health care , you 'll continue to have nothing but problems . ''
To critics , the way these crisis teams have been built and proliferated is yet another example of police tinkering with reforms that look nice for police chiefs and mayors but fail actually to make substantive change .
Woefully inadequate mental health services across the country means police are usually the first to respond to someone in a mental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It 's estimated that those situations make up at least 20 % of police calls for service When done right , advocates say , mental health crisis teams remove police from responding , unless absolutely necessary .
`` We need to build community resources that can respond and take care of a crisis without having law enforcement involved , '' Bruno says .
`` If we build the crisis response system , that is non-law enforcement , we will get more people connecting before it hits that level of danger . ''
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more cities to create specially trained , mobile crisis response teams made up of mental health clinicians , medical professionals and , perhaps , peer support specialists who 've been through mental health or drug and alcohol challenges .
People who can lend an empathetic ear , deescalate , and help channel the person to services , not jail .
`` All I 'm talking about is a non-law enforcement crisis response team .
Whatever disciplines you want to make up that team , it works , '' Bruno says .
Only a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of system , including a pioneering program in Eugene , Ore .
There a three-decade old program named Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets or CAHOOTS created by White Bird Clinic runs mobile crisis intervention response teams that are tied directly to the area 's 911 system .
Timothy Black , White Bird 's consulting director , is leading efforts to help other communities replicate the CAHOOTS-style program .
One of the biggest obstacles in scaling this kind of program , Black says , is overcoming the widely held perception that people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dangerous .
`` It 's our experience that folks in crisis just are n't dangerous , '' Black tells NPR .
`` If we can shift away from really applying morality to these situations we start to recognize that , you know , these crises of all emerge because a need has gone unmet .
And the response is really about meeting people where they 're at and identifying those needs and supporting somebody . ''
Experience there shows the responses , except in very rare cases of violence , he says , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professionals .
`` It 's really , really a misnomer to say that the only response [ to ] people in crisis can be a response that involves the tools of force , like a badge , a gun , and handcuffs . ''
Still , police Crisis Intervention Teams remain the dominant model .
They 've now been around for more than 30 years and have spread to more than 2,700 departments .
Yet few of them carefully track the program 's outcomes or have clear benchmarks to measure success .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missing from the conversation until quite recently is that it 's still no replacement for an adequate mental health care system in a community , '' says Prof. Christy Lopez who directs the Innovative Policing Program at Georgetown Law .
She says these police crisis teams have proved useful and important , but only to a point .
`` It 's often using police officers to address a problem when they 're not needed and might even make things worse .
I would n't say it 's window dressing , but I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us think that 's all we need to do , '' Lopez says .
A study last year in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law concluded that police Crisis Intervention Teams have only modestly helped reduce arrests of people with a mental illness and kept them out of the criminal justice system .
`` The ( CIT ) programs have been effective in that way , that there are more people who are brought to psychiatric emergency rooms or to behavioral health clinics than down to the Hall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Binder , who directs the Psychiatry and Law Program at the University of California , San Francisco and was one the authors of the crisis team study .
`` Because people who have psychiatric issues do n't belong in jail and practically everybody agrees with that . ''
But Binder says the study also concluded that CITs have failed in a fundamental goal : to deescalate and reduce violence to citizens and police alike .
`` It has n't shown any consistent reduction in the risk of mortality or death during emergency police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So it has not significantly decreased the number of individuals who are killed or injured . ''
Rochester 's Mayor Lovely Warren has apologized for what she called multiple , systemic failures that led to Prude 's death , including longstanding racial inequities in the city .
`` Daniel Prude was failed by our police department , our mental health care system , our society .
And he was failed by me , '' Warren told a press conference .
Warren , who is African American , called for facing racism head on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` We can not continue to fail Black lives this way .
We ca n't improve our city or improve our nation until we face the reality , the undeniable truth : racism is alive and well in every system in America .
And the buck stops here today with me at City Hall , '' Warren said .
Rochester police would not respond to detailed questions about its Crisis Intervention Team or whether any of the officers in the Daniel Prude case had any of that training .
Last fall , five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Steve Boily who was then the commander of Rochester 's CIT said in an interview with local TV station WHAM that the program was effective and working well .
But Sgt .
Boily also conceded that additional crisis training was unlikely to be enough .
`` Some people are too ill , too angry , too violent that no matter what training , some bad things are gon na happen , '' he told the station .
`` Some bad things are gon na happen '' now echoes eerily prescient in Rochester @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , street protests continue , and where Prude 's family is demanding answers , changes and justice .

Mental Health And Police Violence: How Crisis Intervention Teams Are Failing
Enlarge this image toggle caption Adrian Kraus/AP Adrian Kraus/AP
Nationwide protests over police accountability and racial justice have reenergized longstanding efforts to fundamentally change how police departments respond to someone in a mental health emergency. Many are calling for removing or dramatically reducing law enforcement's role in responding to those crisis calls unless absolutely necessary.
Since 2015, nearly a quarter of all people killed by police officers in America have had a known mental illness. Injuries, too, are common although they are less carefully tracked. There's anecdotal evidence that botched encounters between police and people in a mental crisis are up during the pandemic.
One of the many examples: the recent shooting of a distraught 13-year-old boy with an autism spectrum disorder by Salt Lake City police after his mother called officers to report that her son was having "a mental breakdown." The teenager is recovering from serious wounds. Then there's the recent police shooting of a homeless man in crisis in Buffalo, N.Y.
Still, many departments appear reluctant to abandon a widely-used program for handling mental health and substance abuse crisis calls, called crisis intervention teams or CITs, even though the programs have proved largely ineffective. Even some proponents and trainers of CITs now say the model has been misread and poorly implemented by many departments.
Vivid example of the shortcomings of CITs
Rochester had created one of New York state's first crisis intervention teams. And the March asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude there during a police confrontation, which has badly shaken the city and its police and political structure, offers a vivid example of the shortcomings and misreading of CITs.
Around 3 a.m. on March 23, Daniel Prude was unraveling. A light snow was falling when police confronted him. The 41-year-old Black man was wandering the street, naked and babbling. He was suffering a mental breakdown exacerbated by drug abuse.
Officers handcuffed Prude and put a hood over his head, apparently to stop him from spitting at them. It was the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in the state. Three officers pinned Prude to the ground as he became increasingly agitated. They pressed his face into the pavement for two minutes, one officer pushing heavily on Prude's head, according to bodycam video of the encounter. Prude stopped breathing. He was taken off life support at a local hospital a week later.
"I placed the phone call for my brother to get help, not for my brother to get lynched," said Joseph Prude, who told police that his brother, Daniel, was having a mental breakdown and was on drugs.
Daniel, who had recently arrived at his brother's from Chicago, had already been seen by a local hospital for erratic behavior and suicidal thoughts the previous day.
A lawsuit by the Prude family says Prude was undergoing an "acute manic, psychotic episode." The Monroe County medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, citing asphyxia due to physical restraint by police and acute intoxication from the drug PCP as causes of death.
"We know what happened that night for Mr. Daniel Prude, and we don't want to see any more names," says Krystal Schulik a drug and alcohol counselor in Rochester.
No to handcuffs, hoods. Yes to calm talk, deescalation
Schulik and many others in the mental health field in the city are trying to change how the police respond to these kinds of crisis calls. No to handcuffs and hoods. Yes to calm talk and careful deescalation.
"Change your tone of voice, your body language, hell, you might have to get on the ground with him! Give him eye contact. All of that is so important when deescalating such a scale of an event," she says of the Prude case. "He was not well."
Some Rochester police, in theory, were trained to do just that – to recognize and deescalate confrontations with someone in a mental health meltdown; someone just like Daniel Prude. Rochester created its Crisis Intervention Team in 2004 after a case similar to Prude's.
These teams and their trainings grew out of Memphis, Tenn., in 1987 after police fatally shot Joseph DeWayne Robinson, 27-year-old who was in a mental crisis and cutting himself with a butcher knife.
CIT programs and trainings soon spread from Memphis to thousands of departments across the country. Yet despite the proliferation and popularity of what came to be called the "Memphis Model" some key people who advocate for the program say it has often been misapplied and misconstrued by law enforcement.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Adrian Kraus/AP Adrian Kraus/AP
'They're not doing anything about what a CIT really is'
" 'All we have to do is give them little training, and send them out there to handle crisis situations.' That's the kind of mentality, the thought process, that we have utilized for way, way too long," says Ron Bruno, who had a 25-year career as a police officer and is now executive director of Crisis Intervention Team International. The group runs trainings and works to change the dynamic between law enforcement and people in a mental health crisis.
Bruno says a handful of departments have done it right. But others, too often, see CIT training as merely as a check-the-box, 40-hour exercise. "They're not doing anything about what a CIT really is," he says.
The biggest breakdown, Bruno and others say, is that cities and counties too often fail to carefully integrate the program into the wider behavioral mental health care system and route calls away from police. "If you keep throwing money at training officers, and that's all you do, and not address the system around mental health care, you'll continue to have nothing but problems."
To critics, the way these crisis teams have been built and proliferated is yet another example of police tinkering with reforms that look nice for police chiefs and mayors but fail actually to make substantive change.
A non-law-enforcement crisis response team
Woefully inadequate mental health services across the country means police are usually the first to respond to someone in a mental health and/or substance abuse crisis. It's estimated that those situations make up at least 20% of police calls for service When done right, advocates say, mental health crisis teams remove police from responding, unless absolutely necessary.
"We need to build community resources that can respond and take care of a crisis without having law enforcement involved," Bruno says. "If we build the crisis response system, that is non-law enforcement, we will get more people connecting before it hits that level of danger."
He says the moment is now ripe for more cities to create specially trained, mobile crisis response teams made up of mental health clinicians, medical professionals and, perhaps, peer support specialists who've been through mental health or drug and alcohol challenges. People who can lend an empathetic ear, deescalate, and help channel the person to services, not jail.
"All I'm talking about is a non-law enforcement crisis response team. Whatever disciplines you want to make up that team, it works," Bruno says.
But that's rarely happening.
Only a very few cities have created that kind of system. But there is a pioneering program in Eugene, Ore. There, a three-decade-old program named Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets or CAHOOTS created by White Bird Clinic runs mobile crisis intervention response teams that are tied directly to the area's 911 system.
Timothy Black, White Bird's consulting director, is leading efforts to help other communities replicate the CAHOOTS-style program. One of the biggest obstacles in scaling this kind of program, Black says, is overcoming the widely held perception that people in a mental health crisis are inherently dangerous. "It's our experience that folks in crisis just aren't dangerous," Black tells NPR.
"If we can shift away from really applying morality to these situations we start to recognize that, you know, these crises of all emerge because a need has gone unmet. And the response is really about meeting people where they're at and identifying those needs and supporting somebody."
Experience there shows the responses, except in very rare cases of violence, he says, are best handled by clinicians and medical professionals. "It's really, really a misnomer to say that the only response [to] people in crisis can be a response that involves the tools of force, like a badge, a gun, and handcuffs."
No replacement for adequate mental health care system
Still, police crisis intervention teams remain the dominant model. They've been around for more than 30 years and have spread to more than 2,700 departments.
Yet few of them carefully track the program's outcomes or have clear benchmarks to measure success.
"One of the things that has been missing from the conversation until quite recently is that it's still no replacement for an adequate mental health care system in a community," says professor Christy Lopez who directs the Innovative Policing Program at Georgetown Law.
She says these police crisis teams have proved useful and important, but only to a point. "It's often using police officers to address a problem when they're not needed and might even make things worse. I wouldn't say it's window dressing, but I think it can be problematic if it makes us think that's all we need to do," Lopez says.
A study last year in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law concluded that police crisis intervention teams have only modestly helped reduce arrests of people with a mental illness and kept them out of the criminal justice system.
"The (CIT) programs have been effective in that way, that there are more people who are brought to psychiatric emergency rooms or to behavioral health clinics than down to the Hall of Justice," says Dr. Reneé Binder, who directs the Psychiatry and Law Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and was one the authors of the crisis team study. "Because people who have psychiatric issues don't belong in jail and practically everybody agrees with that."
But Binder says the study also concluded that CITs have failed in a fundamental goal: to deescalate and reduce violence to citizens and police alike. "It hasn't shown any consistent reduction in the risk of mortality or death during emergency police interactions," she says. "So it has not significantly decreased the number of individuals who are killed or injured."
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has apologized for what she called multiple, systemic failures that led to Prude's death, including longstanding racial inequities in the city. "Daniel Prude was failed by our police department, our mental health care system, our society. And he was failed by me," Warren told a press conference. Warren, who is African American, called for facing racism head on and vowed to do more herself.
"We cannot continue to fail Black lives this way. We can't improve our city or improve our nation until we face the reality, the undeniable truth: Racism is alive and well in every system in America. And the buck stops here today with me at City Hall," Warren said.
Rochester police would not respond to detailed questions about its crisis intervention team or whether any of the officers in the Daniel Prude case had any of that training.
Last fall, five months before Prude's death, Sgt. Steve Boily, who was then the commander of Rochester's CIT, said in an interview with local TV station WHAM that the program was effective and working well.
But Boily also conceded that additional crisis training was unlikely to be enough. "Some people are too ill, too angry, too violent that no matter what training, some bad things are gonna happen," he told the station.
"Some bad things are gonna happen" now echoes eerily prescient in Rochester where the police chief has been fired, street protests continue and Prude's family is demanding answers, changes and justice.
NPR's Liz Baker contributed to this story.


npr--2020-09-18--'We're Rolling With It': Election Workers Scramble To Adjust To Changing Voting Rules

'We 're Rolling With It ' : Election Workers Scramble To Adjust To Changing Voting Rules Election workers around the country are preparing for what could be one of the most chaotic elections in history .
There 's not only a pandemic , but dozens of ongoing legal fights over voting rules .
That 's left a lot of things up in the air only weeks before Election Day .
In election offices such as the one in Lehigh County , Pa. , workers are trying to deal with the uncertainty .
Phones in this office , staffed by nine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been ringing nonstop , as voters try to check the status of their registrations and absentee ballot requests .
Maureen Linkhorst says many callers are looking for reassurance in an election already turned upside down by the threat of disease and political controversy .
`` We anticipate receiving the ballots by the end of September , beginning of October , but that 's not definite , '' Linkhorst tells one voter over the phone .
She explains that things were delayed because state Democrats were in court trying to keep Green Party candidates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there 's a lot of confusion out there and then they just want to be certain that their applications are in , so they can vote no matter how they want to vote , '' she says .
It 's no wonder voters are confused .
Pennsylvania 's Democratic governor and Republican state legislature — as well as the national political parties and campaigns — have been at odds over when mail-in ballots have to be received , how they can be delivered and even when they 'll be counted .
The state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues Thursday , but not all , and it 's not clear what changes might still be made .
That has election workers everywhere doing what they can to adjust .
In Lehigh , election worker Andrea Lerner sits in front of a large bin of absentee and mail-in ballot envelopes .
`` These are stickers , '' she explains , `` I 'm taking the back off and cutting them in half and putting each one on . ''
Lerner is replacing out-dated language on the backs of the envelopes , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a law allowing people to vote in person , as long as they bring their absentee ballots to the polling site to be voided .
Before , they could only vote a provisional ballot .
`` So we 're putting new language on there so that the voters understand exactly what it is they 're supposed to be doing , '' says Lerner .
Still , Election Director Timothy Benyo admits the wording could change again before Election Day , depending on what happens to a voting bill now working its way through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ silly , '' he says .
This is the least of his worries .
Like most election officials , Benyo has to basically run two elections this November — one in person and another by mail .
That means finding and staffing the usual number of polling sites while dealing with an unprecedented number of mail-in votes .
Benyo says pollworker recruitment is going pretty well .
The county needs about 1,200-1,500 volunteers overall to staff 159 polling sites .
But some of the usual locations , like churches and schools , have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so he still has to find replacements .
`` It 's hard to train the pollworkers too because we do n't know exactly what the rules are and if they 're going to change , '' he says .
Then Benyo laughs , `` We 're rolling with it .
Making it up as we go along . ''
He notes that about 100,000 county voters — more than half — are also expected to vote by mail this year .
That means not only printing and sending out all those ballots , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counted .
A court ruled Thursday that the county can provide drop boxes where voters can deposit their ballots .
Republicans had been trying to block their use .
But it 's not clear there 's enough time to order them before Election Day .
For now , the county has extended office hours in October so voters can return their ballots in person if they do n't want to rely on the postal service .
Counting those ballots is another concern .
Benyo has purchased two high-speed envelope openers to speed up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three days to count ballots in the primary , when the volume was much lighter .
Right now , the county ca n't start processing mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day , although that too could change .
Benyo knows it will be a challenge because his office has already been flooded with absentee and mail-in ballot requests .
In fact , four full bins of mail arrive early Monday morning .
Worker Ira Lerner dumps them out and spreads the envelopes across two long tables , so he can spray @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe .
All the workers here wear facemasks and gloves as they sort the mail into piles to be processed .
`` It could be voter registration .
It could be a mail-in ballot .
It could be a correction to a registration .
A request for an absentee ballot , '' says Ira Lerner .
Many of the ballot requests come through third-party groups that are encouraging Pennsylvanians to vote by mail .
Most are from a Democratic-leaning nonprofit called the Center for Voter Information .
But there are also some from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outspoken opposition to mail-in voting and unfounded allegations that it leads to widespread fraud .
Several of the envelopes bear a picture of a stern-looking Trump , next to the words — `` President Trump wants YOU to return this form ! ''
The problem for election workers is that voters have been sending in two , even three ballot requests because they 're so confused .
Clerks have to check the files to weed out the duplicates .
`` If they requested a ballot , they would write dupe on top , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' says Lerner , pointing to a separate bin .
Good record-keeping here is paramount .
Other workers are constantly checking state records and even newspaper obituaries to make sure they do n't send ballots to someone who has moved or died .
This day 's mail also includes a pleasant surprise .
Andrea Lerner picks up an envelope with three big stars drawn on the outside .
Inside is a voter 's message , written in bright green marker and signed with a heart .
`` ' I will only be voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my fellow Americans at the polls on November 3rd , ' '' reads Lerner , adding , `` That 's so much nicer than the usual angry diatribes that we get ! ''
There have been a few of those , both in the mail and over the phone , and there could be more in the weeks ahead .
Everyone here hopes things will go well in November , but they know these are confusing and unprecedented times .

'We're Rolling With It': Election Workers Scramble To Adjust To Changing Voting Rules
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Election workers around the country are preparing for what could be one of the most chaotic elections in history. There's not only a pandemic, but dozens of ongoing legal fights over voting rules. That's left a lot of things up in the air only weeks before Election Day.
In election offices such as the one in Lehigh County, Pa., workers are trying to deal with the uncertainty.
Phones in this office, staffed by nine full-time employees and some part-timers, have been ringing nonstop, as voters try to check the status of their registrations and absentee ballot requests. Maureen Linkhorst says many callers are looking for reassurance in an election already turned upside down by the threat of disease and political controversy.
"We anticipate receiving the ballots by the end of September, beginning of October, but that's not definite," Linkhorst tells one voter over the phone. She explains that things were delayed because state Democrats were in court trying to keep Green Party candidates off the ballot.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
"I think there's a lot of confusion out there and then they just want to be certain that their applications are in, so they can vote no matter how they want to vote," she says.
It's no wonder voters are confused. Pennsylvania's Democratic governor and Republican state legislature — as well as the national political parties and campaigns — have been at odds over when mail-in ballots have to be received, how they can be delivered and even when they'll be counted. The state Supreme Court ruled on some of the issues Thursday, but not all, and it's not clear what changes might still be made.
That has election workers everywhere doing what they can to adjust.
In Lehigh, election worker Andrea Lerner sits in front of a large bin of absentee and mail-in ballot envelopes. "These are stickers," she explains, "I'm taking the back off and cutting them in half and putting each one on."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Lerner is replacing outdated language on the backs of the envelopes, which were printed before the state legislature approved a law allowing people to vote in person, as long as they bring their absentee ballots to the polling site to be voided. Before, they could only vote a provisional ballot.
"So we're putting new language on there so that the voters understand exactly what it is they're supposed to be doing," says Lerner.
Still, Election Director Timothy Benyo admits the wording could change again before Election Day, depending on what happens to a voting bill now working its way through the legislature.
"It's pretty silly," he says.
This is the least of his worries. Like most election officials, Benyo has to basically run two elections this November — one in person and another by mail. That means finding and staffing the usual number of polling sites while dealing with an unprecedented number of mail-in votes.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Benyo says pollworker recruitment is going pretty well. The county needs about 1,200-1,500 volunteers overall to staff 159 polling sites. But some of the usual locations, like churches and schools, have pulled out because of the coronavirus, so he still has to find replacements.
"It's hard to train the pollworkers too because we don't know exactly what the rules are and if they're going to change," he says. Then Benyo laughs, "We're rolling with it. Making it up as we go along."
He notes that about 100,000 county voters — more than half — are also expected to vote by mail this year. That means not only printing and sending out all those ballots, but getting them returned, processed and counted.
A court ruled Thursday that the county can provide drop boxes where voters can deposit their ballots. Republicans had been trying to block their use. But it's not clear there's enough time to order them before Election Day. For now, the county has extended office hours in October so voters can return their ballots in person if they don't want to rely on the postal service.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Counting those ballots is another concern. Benyo has purchased two high-speed envelope openers to speed up the process. It took the county three days to count ballots in the primary, when the volume was much lighter. Right now, the county can't start processing mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day, although that too could change.
Benyo knows it will be a challenge because his office has already been flooded with absentee and mail-in ballot requests.
In fact, four full bins of mail arrive early Monday morning. Worker Ira Lerner dumps them out and spreads the envelopes across two long tables, so he can spray them with disinfectant, just to be safe. All the workers here wear facemasks and gloves as they sort the mail into piles to be processed.
"It could be voter registration. It could be a mail-in ballot. It could be a correction to a registration. A request for an absentee ballot," says Ira Lerner.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pam Fessler/NPR Pam Fessler/NPR
Many of the ballot requests come through third-party groups that are encouraging Pennsylvanians to vote by mail. Most are from a Democratic-leaning nonprofit called the Center for Voter Information. But there are also some from Republican groups — despite President Trump's outspoken opposition to mail-in voting and unfounded allegations that it leads to widespread fraud. Several of the envelopes bear a picture of a stern-looking Trump, next to the words — "President Trump wants YOU to return this form!"
The problem for election workers is that voters have been sending in two, even three ballot requests because they're so confused. Clerks have to check the files to weed out the duplicates.
"If they requested a ballot, they would write dupe on top, D-U-P. The dupes go here," says Lerner, pointing to a separate bin.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
Good record-keeping here is paramount. Other workers are constantly checking state records and even newspaper obituaries to make sure they don't send ballots to someone who has moved or died.
This day's mail also includes a pleasant surprise. Andrea Lerner picks up an envelope with three big stars drawn on the outside. Inside is a voter's message, written in bright green marker and signed with a heart.
"'I will only be voting in person. Looking forward to meeting my fellow Americans at the polls on November 3rd,'" reads Lerner, adding, "That's so much nicer than the usual angry diatribes that we get!"
There have been a few of those, both in the mail and over the phone, and there could be more in the weeks ahead. Everyone here hopes things will go well in November, but they know these are confusing and unprecedented times.


npr--2020-09-18--Justice Ginsburg's Death Sets Up Political Battle In The Senate

Justice Ginsburg 's Death Sets Up Political Battle In The Senate The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , who died Friday at the age of 87 , will inevitably set in motion what promises to be a nasty political battle over who will succeed her at the Supreme Court .
Just days before her death , as her strength waned , Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera : `` My most fervent wish is that i I will not be replaced until a new president is installed . ''
She knew what was to come .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the court and the country .
Inside the court , not only is the leader of the liberal wing gone , but with the court about to open a new term , Chief Justice John Roberts no longer holds the controlling vote in closely contested cases .
Though he has a consistently conservative record in most cases , he has split from fellow conservatives in a few important cases , casting his vote with liberals for instance , to at least temporarily protect the so-called dreamers from deportation by the Trump Administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and to uphold bans on large church gatherings during the pandemic .
But with Ginsburg gone , there is no clear court majority for those outcomes .
Indeed , a week after the upcoming presidential election , the court is for the third time scheduled to hear a challenge brought by Republicans to the Affordable Care Act , known as Obamacare .
In 2012 the High Court upheld the law by a 5-to-4 vote , with Chief Justice Roberts casting the deciding vote and writing the opinion for the majority .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ different .
That 's because Ginsburg 's death gives Republicans the chance to tighten their grip on the court with another Trump appointment that would give conservatives a 6-to-3 majority .
And that would mean that even a defection on the right would leave conservatives with enough votes to prevail in the Obamacare case and many others .
At the center of this battle will be Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell .
In 2016 he took the unprecedented step of refusing for nearly a year to allow any consideration of President Obama 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a widely respected centrist liberal who had previously been praised by Republicans as the kind of nominee they would like from a Democratic president .
Back then , McConnell 's justification was the upcoming presidential election , which he said would allow voters a chance to weigh in on what kind of Supreme Court justice they wanted .
But now , with the tables turned , McConnell has made clear he will not follow the same course .
In a statement Friday , McConnell said President Trump 's nominee to fill the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receive a vote on the Senate floor .
`` In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia 's death in 2016 , Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president 's second term .
We kept our promise .
Since the 1880s , no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president 's Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year , '' McConnell said in a written statement .
`` By contrast , Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with President Trump and support his agenda , particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary .
Once again , we will keep our promise . ''
It 's unclear of the timing of the vote , and the traditional nomination process takes longer than the amount of days left before the November election .
McConnell 's tactics have worked well for the GOP in the past , firing up the Republican base , and proving a major factor in Trump 's 2016 election .
With a Republican in the White House , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book just about every procedural rule that allowed the minority party to slow down controversial nominees .
So what happens in the coming months will be bare-knuckles politics , writ large , on the stage of a presidential election .
For some Republicans facing re-election , Ginsburg 's death puts them between the proverbial rock and a hard place .
A vote to confirm another Trump nominee could , for instance , doom the re-election prospects of Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado .
But a vote against confirmation could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depressing both campaign contributions and turnout for them .
But even if both were to vote against confirmation , a huge assumption since neither has never voted against a Republican Supreme Court nominee , the Democrats would still need two more Republican votes .
They might get Alaska 's Lisa Murkowski , but would still be one vote shy because of Vice President Pence 's tie-breaking vote .
It 's hard to see where that extra vote would come from .
Tennessee 's Lamar Alexander is the most moderate of the retiring Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closest friend in the U.S. Senate .
It will be a fight Ginsburg had hoped to avoid , telling Justice John Paul Stevens shortly before his death that she hoped to serve as long as he did -- until age 90 .
`` My dream , '' she said in an interview , `` is that I will stay on the court as long as he did . ''

Justice Ginsburg's Death Sets Up Political Battle In The Senate
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jacquelyn Martin/AP Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday at age 87 will inevitably set in motion what promises to be a nasty political battle over who will succeed her at the Supreme Court.
Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
She knew what was to come. Ginsburg's death will have profound consequences for the court and the country. Inside the court, not only is the leader of the liberal wing gone, but with the court about to open a new term, Chief Justice John Roberts no longer holds the controlling vote in closely contested cases.
Though he has a consistently conservative record in most cases, he has split from fellow conservatives in a few important ones, casting his vote with liberals for instance, to protect at least temporarily the so-called DREAMers from deportation by the Trump administration, to uphold a major abortion precedent and to uphold bans on large church gatherings during the pandemic. But with Ginsburg gone, there is no clear court majority for those outcomes.
Indeed, a week after the upcoming presidential election, the court is for the third time scheduled to hear a challenge brought by Republicans to the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. In 2012, the high court upheld the law by a 5-4 ruling, with Roberts casting the deciding vote and writing the opinion for the majority. But this time the outcome may well be different.
That's because Ginsburg's death gives Republicans the chance to tighten their grip on the court with another appointment by President Trump, allowing conservatives to have a 6-3 majority. And that would mean that even a defection on the right would leave conservatives with enough votes to prevail in the Obamacare case and many others.
At the center of this battle will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In 2016, he took the unprecedented step of refusing for nearly a year to allow any consideration of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a widely respected centrist liberal whom Republicans had previously praised as the kind of nominee they would like from a Democratic president.
Back then, McConnell's justification was the upcoming presidential election, which he said would allow voters a chance to weigh in on what kind of Supreme Court justice they wanted.
But now, with the tables turned, McConnell has made clear he will not follow the same course. In a statement Friday, McConnell said Trump's nominee to fill the vacancy left by Ginsburg's death would receive a vote on the Senate floor.
"In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia's death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president's second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president's Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year," McConnell said in a written statement.
"By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise."
It's unclear of the timing of the vote, and the traditional nomination process takes longer than the amount of days left before the November election.
McConnell's tactics have worked well for the GOP in the past, firing up the Republican base, and proving a major factor in Trump's 2016 election. With a Republican in the White House, McConnell then stripped from the Senate rule book just about every procedural rule that allowed the minority party to slow down controversial nominees.
So what happens in the coming months will be bare-knuckles politics, writ large, on the stage of a presidential election.
For some Republicans facing reelection, Ginsburg's death puts them between the proverbial rock and a hard place. A vote to confirm another Trump nominee could, for instance, doom the reelection prospects of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado. But a vote against confirmation could infuriate conservative Republicans in their states, depressing both campaign contributions and turnout for them.
But even if both were to vote against confirmation, a huge assumption since they have never voted against a Republican Supreme Court nominee, the Democrats would still need two more Republican votes. They might get Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but they would still be one vote shy because of Vice President Pence's tie-breaking vote. It's hard to see where that extra vote would come from. Tennessee's Lamar Alexander is the most moderate of the retiring Republican senators, but he is McConnell's closest friend in the U.S. Senate.
It will be a fight Ginsburg had hoped to avoid, telling Justice John Paul Stevens shortly before his death that she hoped to serve as long as he did — until age 90.
"My dream," she said in an interview, "is that I will stay on the court as long as he did."


npr--2020-09-18--Women's Soccer World Cup Could Be Held Every Two Years, FIFA President Says

Women 's Soccer World Cup Could Be Held Every Two Years , FIFA President Says After a record-breaking year in 2019 for women 's soccer , FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested Friday that the FIFA Women 's World Cup could be held every two years instead of every four .
Infantino addressed the annual FIFA Congress virtually and emphasized the need to build on the momentum of success that the FIFA Women 's World Cup saw last year .
`` We do n't want to copy what the men are doing .
We want something specific for women and for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , commenting that out-of-the-box thinking is crucial for the continued growth of women 's soccer .
`` We need to get those creative juices flowing . ''
FIFA already had promised to invest $ 1 billion in women 's soccer over the next few years , and he said these plans are unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic .
The 2019 Women 's World Cup in France attracted 1.12 billion TV viewers worldwide and more than 260 million spectators , he said .
`` This was a lot more than the Super Bowl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
The next FIFA Women 's World Cup is scheduled for 2023 and will include 32 teams , eight more than in 2019 .

Women's Soccer World Cup Could Be Held Every Two Years, FIFA President Says
Enlarge this image toggle caption Francois Mori/AP Francois Mori/AP
After a record-breaking year in 2019 for women's soccer, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested Friday that the FIFA Women's World Cup could be held every two years instead of every four.
Infantino addressed the annual FIFA Congress virtually and emphasized the need to build on the momentum of success that the FIFA Women's World Cup saw last year.
"We don't want to copy what the men are doing. We want something specific for women and for the women's game," Infantino said, commenting that out-of-the-box thinking is crucial for the continued growth of women's soccer. "We need to get those creative juices flowing."
FIFA already had promised to invest $1 billion in women's soccer over the next few years, and he said these plans are unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019 Women's World Cup in France attracted 1.12 billion TV viewers worldwide and more than 260 million spectators, he said.
"This was a lot more than the Super Bowl franchise, for example," he said.
The next FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled for 2023 and will include 32 teams, eight more than in 2019.


npr--2020-09-18--How Trump Officials Cut The 2020 Census Short Amid The Pandemic

How Trump Officials Cut The 2020 Census Short Amid The Pandemic President Trump said it was a `` situation that has to be . ''
A month after he declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency , Trump explained from behind the podium of the White House press briefing room on April 13 that the 2020 census had to be given more time .
The public health crisis had overshadowed the once-a-decade head count of every person living in the U.S. After the census officially kicked off in January in a remote fishing village in Alaska , its nationwide rollout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic — was upended as growing outbreaks and stay-at-home orders made promoting the census in person and preparing to deploy door knockers and other workers to neighborhoods around the country virtually impossible .
Instead , the Census Bureau postponed many of its long-developed plans for tallying a highly influential set of numbers used to determine each state 's share of political representation and an estimated $ 1.5 trillion a year in federal funding for the next 10 years .
`` So the census , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delay , a major delay , '' Trump said during his then-daily press conference from the White House .
Hours earlier the same day , Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross , who was appointed by Trump to oversee the bureau , made that ask to Congress .
Ross told lawmakers during a last-minute conference call that the administration needed an extraordinary change — a 120-day extension to the legal deadlines for reporting the results of the constitutionally mandated count .
`` They have to give it , '' Trump said with a shoulder shrug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think 120 days is n't nearly enough . ''
Congress has yet to give any deadline extension .
For more than three months , however , the bureau moved ahead with a longer census schedule assuming that support from Capitol Hill would come — until the administration made a mysterious about-face in July .
Here are the key moments leading up to that decision to cut the census short — a change that increases the risk for serious errors , landed the administration in two ongoing legal fights and pushed what could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chaos : April 13 : The Census Bureau announces an extended census schedule that pushes back the end of counting from July 31 to Oct. 31 .
Ross and the bureau 's director , Steven Dillingham , say in a joint statement that to `` ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 Census , '' the agency is asking Congress for 120-day extensions to legal reporting deadlines , including Dec. 31 for the latest state population counts used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives among the states .
After Ross @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump publicly supports the plan during a White House press conference .
May 15 : The Democrat-controlled House passes extensions for census reporting deadlines in a coronavirus relief bill .
May 26 : `` We have passed the point where we could even meet the current legislative requirement of Dec. 31 .
We ca n't do that anymore , '' Tim Olson , the bureau 's associate director for field operations , says during a webinar organized by the National Congress of American Indians .
`` We 've passed that for quite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopeful Congress will take action . ''
May 27 : Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York leads a group of fellow Democrats in introducing a House bill that grants deadline extensions .
June 23 : A companion bill in the Senate is introduced by a group of Democrats led by Sen. Kamala Harris of California .
On the same day , the bureau announces the Trump administration is adding two new political appointees to the agency — Deputy Director for Policy Nathaniel Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski , a senior advisor to Cogley — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country 's largest professional association of statisticians .
July 8 : Asked by NPR about what the bureau would do if Congress does not extend the deadlines , Al Fontenot , the bureau 's associate director for the 2020 census , confirms at a news briefing : `` We are past the window of being able to get those counts by those dates at this point . ''
July 9 : Fontenot says that based on conversations with House and Senate members across party lines , there is `` pretty much universal understanding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us the extensions that we 've requested . ''
`` It 's not as though some portion of one party is adamantly against that , '' Fontenot says during a webinar organized by the Population Association of America .
`` It seems they just have to get it in the right bill with the right constraints attached to it and get it passed . ''
July 14 : The bureau decides to expand early door-knocking efforts among all local census offices that `` could meet the safety , health , and staffing requirements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide rollout as bureau officials ' `` concerns grew over lack of action '' from Congress on deadline extensions , according a sworn statement by Fontenot filed later for a lawsuit .
July 17 : The Politico Playbook newsletter reports the Trump administration is `` likely to issue an executive order today seeking to ban undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census . ''
July 21 : Despite the 14th Amendment 's requirement to include the `` whole number of persons in each state , '' Trump issues a memorandum calling for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ census numbers that are used to reallocate House seats among the states and are currently due to the president by Dec. 31 .
The New York Times reports the White House asked Congress last weekend for $ 1 billion in the latest coronavirus relief package to conduct a `` timely census , '' which an administration official later tells NPR means that it 's delivered within the statutory timeline .
July 27 : As part of the Republican proposal for coronavirus relief , Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama introduces a bill that provides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no deadline extensions .
July 29 : Census Bureau Deputy Director Ron Jarmin informs Fontenot that Ross has directed the bureau to come up with a plan by Aug. 3 to `` accelerate '' census operations in order to meet the Dec. 31 reporting deadline , according to Fontenot 's sworn statement for a lawsuit .
July 30 : NPR confirms the bureau is cutting door-knocking efforts short to end a month early on Sept. 30 .
On the same day , Fontenot instructs the bureau 's senior career managers working on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to meet the Dec. 31 deadline .
Fontenot and Ali Ahmad , a Trump appointee who is the agency 's associate director of communications , direct the extended census schedule to be removed from the bureau 's website , according to Fontenot 's statement .
July 31 : References to `` October 31 , '' the extended end date for counting , no longer appear on the bureau 's webpage about the census schedule .
Aug. 3 : The Census Bureau announces all counting efforts are ending a month early on Sept. 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ count 's results will also be cut short .
An internal bureau analysis dated for this day warns `` serious errors discovered in the data may not be fixed — due to lack of time to research and understand the root cause . ''

How Trump Officials Cut The 2020 Census Short Amid The Pandemic
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ross D. Franklin/AP Ross D. Franklin/AP
Updated on Sept. 23 at 10:29 a.m. ET
President Trump said it was a "situation that has to be."
A month after he declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency, Trump explained from behind the podium of the White House press briefing room on April 13 that the 2020 census had to be given more time.
The public health crisis had overshadowed the once-a-decade head count of every person living in the U.S. After the census officially kicked off in January in a remote fishing village in Alaska, its nationwide rollout on March 12 — the day after the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic — was upended as growing outbreaks and stay-at-home orders made promoting the census in person and preparing to deploy door knockers and other workers to neighborhoods around the country virtually impossible.
Instead, the Census Bureau postponed many of its long-developed plans for tallying a highly influential set of numbers used to determine each state's share of political representation and an estimated $1.5 trillion a year in federal funding for the next 10 years.
"So the census, we're going to be asking for a delay, a major delay," Trump said during his then-daily press conference from the White House.
Hours earlier the same day, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was appointed by Trump to oversee the bureau, made that ask to Congress. Ross told lawmakers during a last-minute conference call that the administration needed an extraordinary change — a 120-day extension to the legal deadlines for reporting the results of the constitutionally mandated count.
"They have to give it," Trump said with a shoulder shrug during the news conference. "I think 120 days isn't nearly enough."
Congress has yet to give any deadline extension. For more than three months, however, the bureau moved ahead with a longer census schedule assuming that support from Capitol Hill would come — until the administration made a mysterious about-face in July.
Here are the key moments leading up to that decision to cut the census short — a change that increases the risk for serious errors, landed the administration in two ongoing legal fights and pushed what could be the final days of counting deeper into chaos:
April 13: The Census Bureau announces an extended census schedule that pushes back the end of counting from July 31 to Oct. 31. Ross and the bureau's director, Steven Dillingham, say in a joint statement that to "ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 Census," the agency is asking Congress for 120-day extensions to legal reporting deadlines, including Dec. 31 for the latest state population counts used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives among the states. After Ross informs lawmakers by phone about this request, Trump publicly supports the plan during a White House press conference.
April 27: The bureau prepares a draft set of talking points for a call with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) that says the proposal to delay delivering the apportionment count until after Dec. 31 "underwent a constitutional review" and the longer schedule will help the bureau "fulfill the constitutional requirement of a complete and accurate census."
May 8: Because of delays caused by COVID-19, the bureau "can no longer meet its statutory deadlines for delivering apportionment and redistricting data," according to a draft document Ross receives from Michael Walsh, the commerce secretary's chief of staff.
May 15: The Democrat-controlled House passes extensions for census reporting deadlines in a coronavirus relief bill.
May 26: "We have passed the point where we could even meet the current legislative requirement of Dec. 31. We can't do that anymore," Tim Olson, the bureau's associate director for field operations, says during a webinar organized by the National Congress of American Indians. "We've passed that for quite a while now, so we're hopeful Congress will take action."
May 27: Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York leads a group of fellow Democrats in introducing a House bill that grants deadline extensions.
June 23: A companion bill in the Senate is introduced by a group of Democrats led by Sen. Kamala Harris of California. On the same day, the bureau announces the Trump administration is adding two new political appointees to the agency — Deputy Director for Policy Nathaniel Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski, a senior advisor to Cogley — raising concerns among Democratic lawmakers and the country's largest professional association of statisticians.
July 8: Asked by NPR about what the bureau would do if Congress does not extend the deadlines, Al Fontenot, the bureau's associate director for the 2020 census, confirms at a news briefing: "We are past the window of being able to get those counts by those dates at this point."
July 9: Fontenot says that based on conversations with House and Senate members across party lines, there is "pretty much universal understanding and acceptance that they need to grant us the extensions that we've requested." "It's not as though some portion of one party is adamantly against that," Fontenot says during a webinar organized by the Population Association of America. "It seems they just have to get it in the right bill with the right constraints attached to it and get it passed."
July 14: The bureau decides to expand early door-knocking efforts among all local census offices that "could meet the safety, health, and staffing requirements" ahead of the then-planned Aug. 11 nationwide rollout as bureau officials' "concerns grew over lack of action" from Congress on deadline extensions, according to a sworn statement by Fontenot filed later for a lawsuit.
July 17: The Politico Playbook newsletter reports the Trump administration is "likely to issue an executive order today seeking to ban undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census."
July 20: In an internal email, Ben Page, the bureau's chief financial officer, asks for guidance from other top bureau officials on how to respond to leaders in Congress asking if the bureau still needs the census deadlines changes.
July 21: Despite the 14th Amendment's requirement to include the "whole number of persons in each state," Trump issues a memorandum calling for unauthorized immigrants to be excluded from the census numbers that are used to reallocate House seats among the states and are currently due to the president by Dec. 31. The New York Times reports the White House asked Congress last weekend for $1 billion in the latest coronavirus relief package to conduct a "timely census," which an administration official later tells NPR means that it's delivered within the statutory timeline. Earlier the same day, a draft document begins circulating among career officials at the bureau. It warns that curtailing the extended schedule "will result in a census that is of unacceptable quality" and risks the perception of "politically-manipulated results."
July 23: In emails to other top bureau officials, Olson expresses concern over a "push to complete" door-knocking efforts as soon as possible and suggests there's a "need to sound the alarm to realities on the ground" during an upcoming meeting with Commerce Department officials, noting that "people are afraid to work for us." Olson adds that "any thinking person who would believe we can deliver apportionment by 12/31 has either a mental deficiency or a political motivation." On the same day, the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee holds hearings on the House-passed coronavirus relief bill that includes extensions for census reporting deadlines.
July 27: As part of the Republican proposal for coronavirus relief, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama introduces a bill that provides $448 million for the census but no deadline extensions.
July 29: Census Bureau Deputy Director Ron Jarmin informs Fontenot that Ross has directed the bureau to come up with a plan by Aug. 3 to "accelerate" census operations in order to meet the Dec. 31 reporting deadline, according to Fontenot's sworn statement for a lawsuit. While testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee the same day, Dillingham dodges multiple questions about whether he supports the bureau's earlier request to extend the census deadlines. Asked if he was aware that the administration reportedly wants to wrap up counting quickly so that Trump can receive the apportionment count by the end of the year, Dillingham tells lawmakers: "I'm not aware of all the many reasons except to say that the Census Bureau and others really want us to proceed as rapidly as possible."
July 30: NPR confirms the bureau is cutting door-knocking efforts short to end a month early on Sept. 30. On the same day, Fontenot instructs the bureau's senior career managers working on the census to start to formalize a plan to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. Fontenot and Ali Ahmad, a Trump appointee who is the agency's associate director of communications, direct the extended census schedule to be removed from the bureau's website, according to Fontenot's statement.
July 31: References to "October 31," the extended end date for counting, no longer appear on the bureau's webpage about the census schedule.
Aug. 1: In an email discussion about presenting an accelerated census schedule to Ross, Christa Jones, chief of staff in the bureau's office of the director, urges including language in a slide deck to make clear that the bureau was "directed" to do that. "This is not our idea and we shouldn't have to own it," Jones writes.
Aug. 3: The bureau announces all counting efforts are ending a month early on Sept. 30, and the time for processing the count's results will also be cut short. An internal bureau analysis dated for this day warns "serious errors discovered in the data may not be fixed — due to lack of time to research and understand the root cause."