csmonitor--2020-07-16--Next up for national dialogue: Environmental justice

With Americans taking a fresh look at justice for minorities , they can now add some urgency to a related issue : the need for fresh air and water in low-income neighborhoods .
On Wednesday , President Donald Trump weakened a law requiring public input for federal infrastructure projects , such as power plants and roads .
The impact of his action on Black Americans , who constitute a high percentage of residents in U.S. cities with a host of environmental hazards ranging from climate-driven “ heat islands ” to polluted drinking water , could be high .
Mr. Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bound to run into stiff resistance from young people .
That demographic group is concerned about environment issues “ unlike any that I ’ ve seen on this earth in over 70 years , ” says Robert Bullard , a professor at Texas Southern University who ’ s been called “ The Father of Environmental Justice.
” Also , cities are more serious than ever about solving local environmental problems .
In Philadelphia , home to nearly 700,000 Black residents , the city has pledged to increase the tree canopy cover to at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only reduces temperatures , but also provides places for people to meet , increasing the sense of community .
A recent study has suggested the move could save 400 lives each year .
In the Edison-Eastlake neighborhood of Phoenix , America ’ s hottest big city , a plan there would repave sidewalks using materials that reflect sunlight and would erect shading structures over public places , such as bus stops .
Issues of environmental justice are hardly new .
The hazardous water quality in Flint , Michigan , where 56 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considerable attention in recent years .
But lesser known are the brownfield contaminants in the largely African American Rubbertown district of Louisville , Kentucky , and the noxious air pollution near Baton Rouge and New Orleans caused by Louisiana ’ s petrochemical plants .
The U.S. needs a holistic approach to discussing and ending environmental injustice , says Dr. Bullard .
As the national dialogue on race keeps widening beyond police reform , it will naturally challenge the disproportionate impact of pollution on the poorest people .
Justice demands all communities be clean @ @ @

With Americans taking a fresh look at justice for minorities, they can now add some urgency to a related issue: the need for fresh air and water in low-income neighborhoods. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump weakened a law requiring public input for federal infrastructure projects, such as power plants and roads. The impact of his action on Black Americans, who constitute a high percentage of residents in U.S. cities with a host of environmental hazards ranging from climate-driven “heat islands” to polluted drinking water, could be high.
Mr. Trump’s action, however, is bound to run into stiff resistance from young people. That demographic group is concerned about environment issues “unlike any that I’ve seen on this earth in over 70 years,” says Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University who’s been called “The Father of Environmental Justice.”
Also, cities are more serious than ever about solving local environmental problems. In Philadelphia, home to nearly 700,000 Black residents, the city has pledged to increase the tree canopy cover to at least 30%. Tree cover not only reduces temperatures, but also provides places for people to meet, increasing the sense of community. A recent study has suggested the move could save 400 lives each year. In the Edison-Eastlake neighborhood of Phoenix, America’s hottest big city, a plan there would repave sidewalks using materials that reflect sunlight and would erect shading structures over public places, such as bus stops.
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Issues of environmental justice are hardly new. The hazardous water quality in Flint, Michigan, where 56% of the residents are African Americans has received considerable attention in recent years. But lesser known are the brownfield contaminants in the largely African American Rubbertown district of Louisville, Kentucky, and the noxious air pollution near Baton Rouge and New Orleans caused by Louisiana’s petrochemical plants.
The U.S. needs a holistic approach to discussing and ending environmental injustice, says Dr. Bullard. As the national dialogue on race keeps widening beyond police reform, it will naturally challenge the disproportionate impact of pollution on the poorest people. Justice demands all communities be clean and green.


csmonitor--2020-07-16--Stars and canines collide in ‘dog days’

Stars and canines collide in ‘dog days’

We ’ re in the dog days of summer , at least where I live in Massachusetts .
It ’ s over 90 degrees and humid – plants and joggers are wilting , cats are stretched out as far as they can go , and dogs are sprawled on porches , panting in the heat .
This is what the phrase evokes , and I had always assumed , where it originated .
It turns out that the dog days do get their name from a canine , just not the kind I ’ d thought .
The dog days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere , ” according to Merriam-Webster , or , more broadly , any “ period of stagnation or inactivity.
” The term comes from a celestial dog , not a porch-napping one – Sirius , the Dog Star , the brightest star in the night sky .
Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major , the Greater Dog , near Orion ’ s belt .
According to Greek and Roman mythology , Canis Major represents one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chasing after Lepus , the rabbit , nearby .
Sirius is visible in the night sky from December to March in the Northern Hemisphere .
In July and August , however , it appears to rise with the sun , shining so brightly that on rare occasions it can even be seen during the day .
This extra “ sun ” was thought to be responsible for the scorching heat of mid- to late summer .
Ancient Greeks referred to the oppressive period as hemerai kynades , literally “ dog days ” ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because Sirius was also called Canicula , “ the small dog.
” In English they were first known as canicular days after the Latin , but by the 16th century had assumed their present form .
To the ancients , Sirius was thought to bring not just heat , but trouble .
Droughts and sudden thunderstorms could damage crops , dogs were more likely to become rabid , and it was inauspicious to begin a journey or other large undertaking .
The Greek poet Homer brings out this menacing sense in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vengeful Achilles to the Dog Star ( in A.S. Kline ’ s translation ) : “ racing over the plain , his bronze breastplate gleaming like Sirius , the star of harvest , brightest of stars in the dark of night .
Orion ’ s Dog , men call it , glittering brightly yet boding ill , bringing fever to wretched mortals.
” As you probably know , things don ’ t work out well for Troy .
Dog days had similarly ominous connotations in English until the Protestant Reformation .
Eventually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Now the term is simply evocative of lazy , soporific summer days , when it seems too hot to move except to drink a cold glass of lemonade – when the Dog Star is high in the day-lit sky , and smaller dogs are panting on the porch .

We’re in the dog days of summer, at least where I live in Massachusetts. It’s over 90 degrees and humid – plants and joggers are wilting, cats are stretched out as far as they can go, and dogs are sprawled on porches, panting in the heat. This is what the phrase evokes, and I had always assumed, where it originated.
It turns out that the dog days do get their name from a canine, just not the kind I’d thought.
The dog days are “the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere,” according to Merriam-Webster, or, more broadly, any “period of stagnation or inactivity.” The term comes from a celestial dog, not a porch-napping one – Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.
Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog, near Orion’s belt. According to Greek and Roman mythology, Canis Major represents one of Orion’s hunting dogs, eternally chasing after Lepus, the rabbit, nearby. Sirius is visible in the night sky from December to March in the Northern Hemisphere. In July and August, however, it appears to rise with the sun, shining so brightly that on rare occasions it can even be seen during the day. This extra “sun” was thought to be responsible for the scorching heat of mid- to late summer.
Ancient Greeks referred to the oppressive period as hemerai kynades, literally “dog days”; in Latin they were the dies caniculares, because Sirius was also called Canicula, “the small dog.” In English they were first known as canicular days after the Latin, but by the 16th century had assumed their present form.
To the ancients, Sirius was thought to bring not just heat, but trouble. Droughts and sudden thunderstorms could damage crops, dogs were more likely to become rabid, and it was inauspicious to begin a journey or other large undertaking. The Greek poet Homer brings out this menacing sense in the “Iliad,” when he likens the vengeful Achilles to the Dog Star (in A.S. Kline’s translation): “racing over the plain, his bronze breastplate gleaming like Sirius, the star of harvest, brightest of stars in the dark of night. Orion’s Dog, men call it, glittering brightly yet boding ill, bringing fever to wretched mortals.” As you probably know, things don’t work out well for Troy.
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Dog days had similarly ominous connotations in English until the Protestant Reformation. Eventually they lost their association with ill fortune.
Now the term is simply evocative of lazy, soporific summer days, when it seems too hot to move except to drink a cold glass of lemonade – when the Dog Star is high in the day-lit sky, and smaller dogs are panting on the porch.


csmonitor--2020-07-15--How COVID-19 changed the climate conversation

“ We have a choice , ” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said last week .
“ We can go back to where we were , or we can invest in a better , more sustainable future.
” Now comes the crunch .
Will policymakers set out in a new , climate-friendly direction ?
Or will they fall back on the old , familiar ways ?
For the time being , only a few national governments are taking the opportunity to invest heavily in green technologies so as to reduce carbon emissions and thus global warming .
That could be because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spent on immediate needs – to save businesses and jobs .
The global pandemic has done so much economic damage , and governments are putting so much money into recovery plans , that a new opportunity has arisen to change the shape of the world economy .
No longer is it assumed that carbon policy can only shift slowly and incrementally .
For years , pleas by climate change activists for policies to slow global warming have generally fallen flat .
But COVID-19 might change that .
The theoretical has suddenly become real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dramatic cuts in carbon emissions are now in front of hard-nosed policymakers , as governments worldwide perform a hard reboot of their pandemic-frozen economies .
It ’ s a moment without precedent .
The world economy hasn ’ t just slowed , as it did after the 2008 financial crash .
It has come close to closing down , and governments are budgeting trillions of dollars for recovery .
The key question now is priorities : where the money will go .
Will it go green ?
The answer , so far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions out of work as a result of the pandemic , some governments seem to be prioritizing getting their old economies back on track as soon as possible , rather than changing direction so as to favor cleaner energy .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .
But one thing has changed : The question of priorities is at least being asked in pretty much every country now plotting its path toward a post-coronavirus economic recovery .
Even before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially among younger people , many inspired by the teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg .
Scientists and climate-policy experts had been intensifying calls for action amid signs that the effects of global warming were getting worse even more quickly than they had feared .
Private investors had also begun to think differently .
As alternative energy becomes cheaper to exploit and deliver , returns on traditional high-carbon investments have actually been getting less attractive .
Last year , BlackRock , the world ’ s leading asset-management firm , announced that its actively managed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earned more than a quarter of their revenue from thermal coal .
The COVID-19 economic shutdowns , meanwhile , dramatized the impact of human activity on climate change , as cities around the globe suddenly became cleaner , their skies clearer .
And the coronavirus itself was a reminder of how the forces of nature can , if not properly understood and stewarded , upend the most comfortable of everyday lives .
Yet the key factor that has put climate policy front and center on national government agendas is the sheer scale of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the extraordinarily large sums of money being devoted to recovery .
The pre-pandemic political assumption that policy shifts on carbon emissions would almost always be limited and incremental is no longer operative .
The International Energy Agency caught the altered tone at a ministerial meeting last week .
Declaring that the world was at a “ key moment , ” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol urged that “ rather than letting the COVID-19 crisis undermine our clean energy transitions , we need to take advantage of the massive economic recovery plans to achieve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put the world on a path to sustainable recovery.
” Some national recovery plans unveiled so far have made the transition to clean energy , and thus less global warming , a priority .
In Europe , the continent ’ s largest economy , Germany , and Denmark have said they will make clean energy an explicit building block of their revived economies .
The 27-nation European Union , of which both are members , has unveiled a recovery plan devoting 25 % of an $ 850 billion overall package to a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carbon emissions .
In Asia , the picture is mixed .
South Korea has announced a green new deal of its own , pledging to support renewable energy and phase out dependence on coal .
Critics , however , have dismissed the government ’ s plans to invest only $ 11 billion over two years in this project as insufficiently ambitious .
Similar doubts have been raised about the scale of clean climate investment in Japan .
And other Asian countries , including India and Indonesia , have so far shown no sign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of their recovery plans .
The key state is China – the world ’ s second-largest economy and its largest carbon emitter .
There , the jury is still out .
The government has pledged that one major focus of its $ 500 billion recovery fund will be on new infrastructure , such as ultra-high-voltage electricity transmission .
It ’ s also reportedly considering increasing the number of charging stations for electric vehicles .
More broadly , it is moving aggressively on research and development of the kind of new technologies likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ networks .
Still , in the first half of this year , China also stepped up the pace at which it opened new coal-fired power plants – a traditional remedy when the government is chasing quick and easy economic growth .
And with the immediate priority likely to be shortening the coronavirus-related downturn , clean energy projects could take a back seat .
In other major economies , there are also signs of at least a short-term drive to protect existing energy companies in order to spur a return to growth .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and even South Korea , government support for fossil fuel businesses so far has been outweighing investments in clean energy .
That ’ s also true of the world ’ s largest economy , and second-largest emitter : the United States .
President Donald Trump has yet to set out the kind of recovery program that other countries are launching .
So far , most of the federal government money earmarked to cope with COVID-19 ’ s ravages has been aimed at saving businesses and jobs .
Mr. Trump has in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the effects of global warming .
His rival in the upcoming presidential election , former Vice President Joe Biden , this week announced a $ 2 trillion economic investment plan focused on reducing carbon emissions .
But the election is still four months away , and the Trump administration faces a more immediate challenge , with COVID-19 cases still on the rise in a number of states .
Amid the mixed signals , and relatively few dramatic new examples so far of clean energy commitment , there is concern among climate activists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be lost .
At last week ’ s IEA meeting , United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to national governments to recognize that their recovery plans represented a crossroads .
“ We have a choice , ” he said .
“ We can go back to where we were , or we can invest in a better , more sustainable future.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

“We have a choice,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said last week. “We can go back to where we were, or we can invest in a better, more sustainable future.”
Now comes the crunch. Will policymakers set out in a new, climate-friendly direction? Or will they fall back on the old, familiar ways?
For the time being, only a few national governments are taking the opportunity to invest heavily in green technologies so as to reduce carbon emissions and thus global warming. That could be because, so far, money has been spent on immediate needs – to save businesses and jobs.
Out of chaos comes opportunity, at least that's what advocates of climate action are urging governments. The post-pandemic reset could be a chance for nations to put money behind climate commitments.
The global pandemic has done so much economic damage, and governments are putting so much money into recovery plans, that a new opportunity has arisen to change the shape of the world economy. No longer is it assumed that carbon policy can only shift slowly and incrementally.
For years, pleas by climate change activists for policies to slow global warming have generally fallen flat. But COVID-19 might change that.
The theoretical has suddenly become real. Climate activists’ hopeful pleas for dramatic cuts in carbon emissions are now in front of hard-nosed policymakers, as governments worldwide perform a hard reboot of their pandemic-frozen economies.
It’s a moment without precedent. The world economy hasn’t just slowed, as it did after the 2008 financial crash. It has come close to closing down, and governments are budgeting trillions of dollars for recovery. The key question now is priorities: where the money will go.
Will it go green?
Why We Wrote This Out of chaos comes opportunity, at least that's what advocates of climate action are urging governments. The post-pandemic reset could be a chance for nations to put money behind climate commitments.
The answer, so far, is decidedly mixed. With tens of millions out of work as a result of the pandemic, some governments seem to be prioritizing getting their old economies back on track as soon as possible, rather than changing direction so as to favor cleaner energy.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
But one thing has changed: The question of priorities is at least being asked in pretty much every country now plotting its path toward a post-coronavirus economic recovery.
Even before the pandemic climate awareness had been building, especially among younger people, many inspired by the teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Scientists and climate-policy experts had been intensifying calls for action amid signs that the effects of global warming were getting worse even more quickly than they had feared.
Private investors had also begun to think differently. As alternative energy becomes cheaper to exploit and deliver, returns on traditional high-carbon investments have actually been getting less attractive. Last year, BlackRock, the world’s leading asset-management firm, announced that its actively managed funds would stop investing in companies that earned more than a quarter of their revenue from thermal coal.
Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters View caption Hide caption Activists protest in front of Social Democratic Party headquarters for immediate phaseout of hard coal-powered plants in Berlin, July 1, 2020.
The COVID-19 economic shutdowns, meanwhile, dramatized the impact of human activity on climate change, as cities around the globe suddenly became cleaner, their skies clearer. And the coronavirus itself was a reminder of how the forces of nature can, if not properly understood and stewarded, upend the most comfortable of everyday lives.
Yet the key factor that has put climate policy front and center on national government agendas is the sheer scale of the pandemic’s economic damage and the extraordinarily large sums of money being devoted to recovery. The pre-pandemic political assumption that policy shifts on carbon emissions would almost always be limited and incremental is no longer operative.
The International Energy Agency caught the altered tone at a ministerial meeting last week. Declaring that the world was at a “key moment,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol urged that “rather than letting the COVID-19 crisis undermine our clean energy transitions, we need to take advantage of the massive economic recovery plans to achieve a definitive peak in carbon emissions and put the world on a path to sustainable recovery.”
Some national recovery plans unveiled so far have made the transition to clean energy, and thus less global warming, a priority. In Europe, the continent’s largest economy, Germany, and Denmark have said they will make clean energy an explicit building block of their revived economies. The 27-nation European Union, of which both are members, has unveiled a recovery plan devoting 25% of an $850 billion overall package to a “green new deal” that would cut carbon emissions.
In Asia, the picture is mixed. South Korea has announced a green new deal of its own, pledging to support renewable energy and phase out dependence on coal. Critics, however, have dismissed the government’s plans to invest only $11 billion over two years in this project as insufficiently ambitious.
Similar doubts have been raised about the scale of clean climate investment in Japan. And other Asian countries, including India and Indonesia, have so far shown no sign of significant focus on climate change as part of their recovery plans.
The key state is China – the world’s second-largest economy and its largest carbon emitter. There, the jury is still out. The government has pledged that one major focus of its $500 billion recovery fund will be on new infrastructure, such as ultra-high-voltage electricity transmission. It’s also reportedly considering increasing the number of charging stations for electric vehicles. More broadly, it is moving aggressively on research and development of the kind of new technologies likely to be key in future clean energy networks.
Still, in the first half of this year, China also stepped up the pace at which it opened new coal-fired power plants – a traditional remedy when the government is chasing quick and easy economic growth. And with the immediate priority likely to be shortening the coronavirus-related downturn, clean energy projects could take a back seat.
In other major economies, there are also signs of at least a short-term drive to protect existing energy companies in order to spur a return to growth. In Russia, Australia, Canada, France, and even South Korea, government support for fossil fuel businesses so far has been outweighing investments in clean energy.
That’s also true of the world’s largest economy, and second-largest emitter: the United States.
Leah Millis/Reuters View caption Hide caption U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference with House Democrats to unveil a plan to cut nearly 90% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, June 30, 2020, in Washington.
President Donald Trump has yet to set out the kind of recovery program that other countries are launching. So far, most of the federal government money earmarked to cope with COVID-19’s ravages has been aimed at saving businesses and jobs.
Mr. Trump has in the past been dismissive of scientists' warnings about the effects of global warming. His rival in the upcoming presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden, this week announced a $2 trillion economic investment plan focused on reducing carbon emissions. But the election is still four months away, and the Trump administration faces a more immediate challenge, with COVID-19 cases still on the rise in a number of states.
Amid the mixed signals, and relatively few dramatic new examples so far of clean energy commitment, there is concern among climate activists that the post-pandemic investment “moment” could be lost.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
At last week’s IEA meeting, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to national governments to recognize that their recovery plans represented a crossroads. “We have a choice,” he said. “We can go back to where we were, or we can invest in a better, more sustainable future.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-07-15--How Pompeo’s focus on religion could recast US rights policy

“ Religion is a fundamental freedom , one I think has been promoted by recent administrations , ” says David Kramer , who served as an assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush .
“ But my worry is that Pompeo ’ s focus on it – as we ’ re seeing in this commission – will mean that other rights , like women ’ s rights and LGBTQ rights , will be subordinated to it.
” Some say they worry this will constitute a narrowing of the U.S. vision of human rights to a focus on Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian .
Among their biggest concerns is that his challenging of the vision promoted by Western powers over recent decades could prove to be a boon to autocratic regimes determined to halt the expansion of rights , including democratic governance and gender equality .
A year ago , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched his Commission on Unalienable Rights , which he tasked with determining what is a basic human right and what is not .
On Thursday he will unveil the results of the commission ’ s work , which he previewed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States thinks about human rights ... and our role ... in preserving those rights for all people who are made in the image of God.
” Since becoming secretary of state in April 2018 , Mike Pompeo has sought to distinguish his vision of human rights from that of preceding administrations and set a new course for the promotion of human rights globally .
The conservative Republican and evangelical Christian has pushed to shift the United States away from what he sees as an overemphasis on women ’ s reproductive rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – which he likes to note is the first right America ’ s Founding Fathers listed in the Bill of Rights .
Moving the U.S. away from participation in international and United Nations-affiliated human rights bodies such as the Geneva-based Human Rights Council has also been a priority .
The U.S. has a “ unique ” vision of human rights , he says – what he prefers to call “ unalienable ” rights – and should be leading in promoting that perspective rather than compromising with other visions in international forums .
Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his vision beyond rhetoric this week when he unveils the results of his Commission on Unalienable Rights in a speech in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon .
Given what the secretary of state has said about the yearlong work of his commission , it appears he intends to use the results to recast the State Department ’ s vision of human rights and how the U.S. goes about promoting them .
The commission ’ s report “ is an important restatement of how the United States thinks about human rights and our unalienable rights and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preserving those rights for all people who are made in the image of God , ” Mr. Pompeo told reporters last week in previewing his speech .
“ These unalienable rights are important , ” he added .
“ They extend across the world.
” But others in the human rights community , including many who have served in past administrations , say they worry that the recasting constitutes a narrowing of the U.S. vision of human rights to a focus on Mr. Pompeo ’ s priorities as a conservative Christian .
Among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s challenging of the vision promoted by Western powers over recent decades could prove to be a boon to autocratic regimes determined to halt the expansion of rights , including democratic governance and gender equality .
“ One of my biggest concerns about this commission is that it ’ s really just questioning the international human rights system that we have – and at the same time that a lot of authoritarian states are putting that system under intense pressure , ” says Amy Lehr , director of the Human Rights Initiative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Studies ( CSIS ) in Washington .
“ There ’ s a real risk , ” she adds , that “ it opens the door to the leaders of those regimes pointing to the U.S. and saying , ‘ You don ’ t like this system [ of international human rights ] and we don ’ t like it , either.
’ ” It is not as though Mr. Pompeo is turning his back on human rights issues , some State Department officials say .
They point out that he has recently been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur population and its clampdown on democratic rights in Hong Kong .
The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved in implementing those rights abuses .
But the recent focus on China has some experts wondering if that is more a reflection of the Trump administration ’ s demonization of China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic ( and in the run-up to the November election ) than evidence of a prioritizing of human rights .
“ There ’ s growing concern that human rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governments we have problems with , ” says Ms. Lehr .
“ We should be criticizing a country for its human rights record and practices and not because that country is a geopolitical rival , ” she adds .
“ That is why our human rights policies need to be based on principles.
” One of those principles that has driven U.S. rights policy is the freedom from oppressive discrimination , especially of minority or underprivileged populations .
But some experts say they see in Mr. Pompeo ’ s focus on religious freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exclude groups that have made recent gains in recognition .
“ Religion is a fundamental freedom , one I think has been promoted by recent administrations .
But my worry is that Pompeo ’ s focus on it – as we ’ re seeing in this commission – will mean that other rights , like women ’ s rights and LGBTQ rights , will be subordinated to it , ” says David Kramer , who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy , human rights , and labor under President George W. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Indeed , in launching the Commission on Unalienable Rights in July 2019 , Mr. Pompeo questioned what he said had been a “ proliferation ” of rights over recent years – and he tasked the commission with determining what is a basic human right and what is not .
“ Is it true , and therefore ought to be honored ?
” Mr. Pompeo offered as a basic question for the commission .
The 10-member body , made up largely of conservative religious scholars , should also “ point the way toward that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s founding principles , ” he said .
The commission and Mr. Pompeo ’ s characterization of its work have set off alarm bells in the human rights community , with more than 160 organizations and prominent advocates voicing concerns that the commission could backtrack on the “ universality of human rights ” that they say has been built and strengthened – often with U.S. leadership – over the last 70 years .
The Bill of Rights is a fine foundation for human rights policy , Mr. Kramer says , but he worries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in promoting any of the rights beyond freedom of religion .
“ What about freedom of the press , freedom of assembly , freedom of association ?
” says Mr. Kramer , now a professor of human rights and foreign policy at Florida International University in Miami .
Another problem he sees for Mr. Pompeo is that he serves a president who has shown little interest in the promotion of human rights , as he has demonstrated an affinity for many of the world ’ s worst dictators and most despotic regimes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his work on human rights , but at the same time how do you push others on freedom of the press when you work for a president who calls the press the ‘ enemy of the people ’ ?
” he says .
“ It undermines you and sets a horrible example for despots and tyrants out there who are predisposed in that direction.
” The former assistant secretary is also troubled that the State Department bureau he once ran has been “ marginalized ” by Mr. Pompeo and denied any involvement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State Department observers say the way Mr. Pompeo left the human rights bureau out in the cold on his project underscores his estrangement from much of the department ’ s operations and career officials and his distrust of the federal government ’ s “ deep state.
” Still , it ’ s the narrowing of the conception of human rights implicit in Mr. Pompeo ’ s Commission on Unalienable Rights that Ms. Lehr of CSIS finds most worrisome .
An expert in business and human rights and the intersection of technology and human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the global conception of human rights has expanded to include new populations and sectors over recent decades .
“ As we move into a less state-centric world , it ’ s important that more actors ” like corporations , business communities , and nongovernmental organizations “ are engaged and participating in recognizing and promoting those rights , ” she says .
On the other hand , “ if we go back to the beginning of our country ” for our vision of human rights , “ we have to remember that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had full access to many of those basic rights , ” Ms. Lehr says .
“ Not to mention people of color , who certainly did not enjoy what was promised ” in the Bill of Rights .

For many, U.S. human rights policy is akin to a national statement of principles. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, is reporting on his commission’s work to define what an “unalienable right” is.
“Religion is a fundamental freedom, one I think has been promoted by recent administrations,” says David Kramer, who served as an assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush. “But my worry is that Pompeo’s focus on it – as we’re seeing in this commission – will mean that other rights, like women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, will be subordinated to it.”
Some say they worry this will constitute a narrowing of the U.S. vision of human rights to a focus on Mr. Pompeo’s priorities as a conservative Christian. Among their biggest concerns is that his challenging of the vision promoted by Western powers over recent decades could prove to be a boon to autocratic regimes determined to halt the expansion of rights, including democratic governance and gender equality.
A year ago, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched his Commission on Unalienable Rights, which he tasked with determining what is a basic human right and what is not. On Thursday he will unveil the results of the commission’s work, which he previewed as “an important restatement of how the United States thinks about human rights ... and our role ... in preserving those rights for all people who are made in the image of God.”
Since becoming secretary of state in April 2018, Mike Pompeo has sought to distinguish his vision of human rights from that of preceding administrations and set a new course for the promotion of human rights globally.
The conservative Republican and evangelical Christian has pushed to shift the United States away from what he sees as an overemphasis on women’s reproductive rights and LGBTQ issues and toward religious freedom – which he likes to note is the first right America’s Founding Fathers listed in the Bill of Rights.
Moving the U.S. away from participation in international and United Nations-affiliated human rights bodies such as the Geneva-based Human Rights Council has also been a priority. The U.S. has a “unique” vision of human rights, he says – what he prefers to call “unalienable” rights – and should be leading in promoting that perspective rather than compromising with other visions in international forums.
Why We Wrote This For many, U.S. human rights policy is akin to a national statement of principles. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, is reporting on his commission’s work to define what an “unalienable right” is.
Mr. Pompeo will have an opportunity to take his vision beyond rhetoric this week when he unveils the results of his Commission on Unalienable Rights in a speech in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon.
Given what the secretary of state has said about the yearlong work of his commission, it appears he intends to use the results to recast the State Department’s vision of human rights and how the U.S. goes about promoting them.
The commission’s report “is an important restatement of how the United States thinks about human rights and our unalienable rights and our role ... in the world in preserving those rights for all people who are made in the image of God,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters last week in previewing his speech. “These unalienable rights are important,” he added. “They extend across the world.”
But others in the human rights community, including many who have served in past administrations, say they worry that the recasting constitutes a narrowing of the U.S. vision of human rights to a focus on Mr. Pompeo’s priorities as a conservative Christian.
Boon to autocrats?
Among their biggest concerns is that Mr. Pompeo’s challenging of the vision promoted by Western powers over recent decades could prove to be a boon to autocratic regimes determined to halt the expansion of rights, including democratic governance and gender equality.
“One of my biggest concerns about this commission is that it’s really just questioning the international human rights system that we have – and at the same time that a lot of authoritarian states are putting that system under intense pressure,” says Amy Lehr, director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
“There’s a real risk,” she adds, that “it opens the door to the leaders of those regimes pointing to the U.S. and saying, ‘You don’t like this system [of international human rights] and we don’t like it, either.’”
It is not as though Mr. Pompeo is turning his back on human rights issues, some State Department officials say. They point out that he has recently been very vocal about the Chinese government’s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur population and its clampdown on democratic rights in Hong Kong. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved in implementing those rights abuses.
But the recent focus on China has some experts wondering if that is more a reflection of the Trump administration’s demonization of China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic (and in the run-up to the November election) than evidence of a prioritizing of human rights.
“There’s growing concern that human rights are being instrumentalized to go after certain governments we have problems with,” says Ms. Lehr. “We should be criticizing a country for its human rights record and practices and not because that country is a geopolitical rival,” she adds. “That is why our human rights policies need to be based on principles.”
One of those principles that has driven U.S. rights policy is the freedom from oppressive discrimination, especially of minority or underprivileged populations. But some experts say they see in Mr. Pompeo’s focus on religious freedom a narrowing of the U.S. vision to exclude groups that have made recent gains in recognition.
“Religion is a fundamental freedom, one I think has been promoted by recent administrations. But my worry is that Pompeo’s focus on it – as we’re seeing in this commission – will mean that other rights, like women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, will be subordinated to it,” says David Kramer, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor under President George W. Bush.
Defining what is a right
Indeed, in launching the Commission on Unalienable Rights in July 2019, Mr. Pompeo questioned what he said had been a “proliferation” of rights over recent years – and he tasked the commission with determining what is a basic human right and what is not.
“Is it true, and therefore ought to be honored?” Mr. Pompeo offered as a basic question for the commission. The 10-member body, made up largely of conservative religious scholars, should also “point the way toward that more perfect fidelity to our nation’s founding principles,” he said.
The commission and Mr. Pompeo’s characterization of its work have set off alarm bells in the human rights community, with more than 160 organizations and prominent advocates voicing concerns that the commission could backtrack on the “universality of human rights” that they say has been built and strengthened – often with U.S. leadership – over the last 70 years.
The Bill of Rights is a fine foundation for human rights policy, Mr. Kramer says, but he worries that Mr. Pompeo has shown little interest in promoting any of the rights beyond freedom of religion.
“What about freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association?” says Mr. Kramer, now a professor of human rights and foreign policy at Florida International University in Miami.
Another problem he sees for Mr. Pompeo is that he serves a president who has shown little interest in the promotion of human rights, as he has demonstrated an affinity for many of the world’s worst dictators and most despotic regimes.
“I give Pompeo credit for some of his work on human rights, but at the same time how do you push others on freedom of the press when you work for a president who calls the press the ‘enemy of the people’?” he says. “It undermines you and sets a horrible example for despots and tyrants out there who are predisposed in that direction.”
Left out of conversation
The former assistant secretary is also troubled that the State Department bureau he once ran has been “marginalized” by Mr. Pompeo and denied any involvement with the commission. Indeed, some State Department observers say the way Mr. Pompeo left the human rights bureau out in the cold on his project underscores his estrangement from much of the department’s operations and career officials and his distrust of the federal government’s “deep state.”
Still, it’s the narrowing of the conception of human rights implicit in Mr. Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights that Ms. Lehr of CSIS finds most worrisome.
An expert in business and human rights and the intersection of technology and human rights, she counts it as progress that the global conception of human rights has expanded to include new populations and sectors over recent decades.
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“As we move into a less state-centric world, it’s important that more actors” like corporations, business communities, and nongovernmental organizations “are engaged and participating in recognizing and promoting those rights,” she says.
On the other hand, “if we go back to the beginning of our country” for our vision of human rights, “we have to remember that I as a woman wouldn’t have had full access to many of those basic rights,” Ms. Lehr says. “Not to mention people of color, who certainly did not enjoy what was promised” in the Bill of Rights.


csmonitor--2020-07-15--How marginalized states refine national identity

Two of the world ’ s most marginalized states , Taiwan and Somaliland , signed a pact this month .
On the face of it , the agreement is not a big deal .
It calls for an exchange of representatives as well as cooperation across a range of areas from fisheries to technology .
Yet for each , it is also a cry for global recognition and a mutual effort to reimagine their national identities .
Their attempt to bolster each other is an example of humanity still learning how nation-states can bind a community by the way they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s bid to be a free and democratic state has been frustrated for decades by mainland China , which claims the island as its own .
All but 15 small countries recognize Taiwan .
Somaliland began to reclaim its identity after breaking from Somalia in 1991 , when the latter collapsed .
Since then , while Mogadishu has seen a continuous succession of weak governments , Somaliland has been a comparative model of stability .
Yet despite holding repeated elections and printing its own currency , it has not been recognized by even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it did open a trade corridor for Ethiopia , which allows that landlocked neighbor to use the port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden . )
In the three decades since the end of the Cold War , the map of countries has had to be altered 34 times as nation-states broke apart or reunified .
Taiwan and Somaliland , each struggling for assured independence from a threatening neighbor , may soon force another upgrade in world atlases .
Most of those new states emerged after the collapse of the Soviet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some countries , like Germany and Yemen , erased fault lines dividing them .
Others , like Czechoslovakia , separated amicably .
But a key question is by no means resolved : Is it possible to move beyond historical and exclusionary factors such as boundaries and ethnicity as the defining characteristics of state formation ?
Are there other ways to connect people with an inclusive identity ?
In the United States , this is the premise underlying the aspirations of the racial justice movement as well as the creative opportunity in Mississippi as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the world , the pursuit of nationhood remains defined or cleaved by ethnicity and restrained by external interference .
That is the case for Kurdish and Palestinian aspirations .
But nowhere presents a more concentrated laboratory for reimagining how nations are constituted than the Horn of Africa .
The two most recent states in the region to gain recognition and independence , Eritrea and South Sudan , were forged by prolonged wars .
Ethiopia , a federation of nine states defined by ethnicity , is increasingly fragile .
Is it possible for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toward recognition as a state ?
By looking toward each other , Taiwan and Somaliland are each making a claim to national legitimacy based less on ethnicity and historical experience than on democratic practice and economic development .
A wider embrace of their aspirations could bring welcome stability to their respective neighborhoods .

Two of the world’s most marginalized states, Taiwan and Somaliland, signed a pact this month. On the face of it, the agreement is not a big deal. It calls for an exchange of representatives as well as cooperation across a range of areas from fisheries to technology. Yet for each, it is also a cry for global recognition and a mutual effort to reimagine their national identities. Their attempt to bolster each other is an example of humanity still learning how nation-states can bind a community by the way they define the common good.
Taiwan’s bid to be a free and democratic state has been frustrated for decades by mainland China, which claims the island as its own. Only15 small countries recognize Taiwan. Somaliland began to reclaim its identity after breaking from Somalia in 1991, when the latter collapsed. Since then, while Mogadishu has seen a continuous succession of weak governments, Somaliland has been a comparative model of stability. Yet despite holding repeated elections and printing its own currency, it has not been recognized by even a single country. (In June, it did open a trade corridor for Ethiopia, which allows that landlocked neighbor to use the port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden.)
In the three decades since the end of the Cold War, the map of countries has had to be altered 34 times as nation-states broke apart or reunified. Taiwan and Somaliland, each struggling for assured independence from a threatening neighbor, may soon force another upgrade in world atlases.
Most of those new states emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Some countries, like Germany and Yemen, erased fault lines dividing them. Others, like Czechoslovakia, separated amicably. But a key question is by no means resolved: Is it possible to move beyond historical and exclusionary factors such as boundaries and ethnicity as the defining characteristics of state formation? Are there other ways to connect people with an inclusive identity? In the United States, this is the premise underlying the aspirations of the racial justice movement as well as the creative opportunity in Mississippi as it sheds its Confederate symbols.
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Elsewhere in the world, the pursuit of nationhood remains defined or cleaved by ethnicity and restrained by external interference. That is the case for Kurdish and Palestinian aspirations. But nowhere presents a more concentrated laboratory for reimagining how nations are constituted than the Horn of Africa. The two most recent states in the region to gain recognition and independence, Eritrea and South Sudan, were forged by prolonged wars. Ethiopia, a federation of nine states defined by ethnicity, is increasingly fragile.
Is it possible for a people to seek a peaceful path toward recognition as a state? By looking toward each other, Taiwan and Somaliland are each making a claim to national legitimacy based less on ethnicity and historical experience than on democratic practice and economic development. A wider embrace of their aspirations could bring welcome stability to their respective neighborhoods.


csmonitor--2020-07-15--Sessions lost Trump's support, then Alabama's Senate primary

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lost the Republican nomination for his old Senate seat in Alabama to former college football coach Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday , likely ending a long political career with a bitter defeat egged on by President Donald Trump .
Mr. Tuberville beat Mr .
Sessions in Tuesday 's Republican runoff as Mr .
Sessions fell short in his attempted comeback for a seat he held for two decades before resigning to become Mr. Trump 's attorney general in 2017 .
Familiar to Alabamians from his decade as Auburn University 's head football coach , Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote , according to unofficial returns , and is now positioned for a robust challenge against Democratic United States Sen. Doug Jones .
With Alabama 's strong GOP tilt , the seat is likely Republicans ' best chance for a pickup as they try to maintain their thin Senate majority amid Mr. Trump 's lagging popularity nationally .
Mr .
Sessions was wounded by Mr. Trump 's criticisms after he recused himself in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign .
The first U.S. senator to endorse Mr. Trump during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sessions insisted throughout his attempted comeback and again in defeat that he was required by law to recuse because he was a potential subject and witness given his campaign ties to the president .
`` Let me say this about the president and our relationship : I leave with no regrets , '' Mr .
Session said on a small stage at a Mobile , Alabama , hotel , with his many grandsons looking on .
`` I was honored to serve the people of Alabama and I was extraordinarily proud of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Mr .
Sessions repeated that he was right to step away from the investigation .
`` I did the right thing and I saved the president 's bacon in the process .
Any other action to try to squelch an investigation in that environment would not have worked , '' he said , adding that it ultimately led to Mr. Trump 's exoneration .
`` I leave elected office with my integrity intact . ''
Mr .
Sessions was gracious to Mr. Tuberville , as well , pledging he 'd work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He is our Republican nominee , '' Mr .
Sessions said .
`` We must stand behind him in November . ''
Yet Mr .
Sessions ' statements of loyalty to Mr. Trump and the party have never been enough for the president , who endorsed Mr. Tuberville after Alabama 's March primary .
Mr. Trump declared at the time that Mr .
Sessions had `` let our Country down '' and that Mr. Tuberville would be his `` true supporter . ''
Mr. Trump continued the broadsides throughout the primary campaign , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shortly after The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Tuberville .
`` Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions , '' Mr. Trump wrote .
`` Will be a GREAT Senator for the incredible people of Alabama . ''
Mr. Tuberville willingly embraced the dynamics , casting himself as an outsider and calling the former attorney general `` weak '' and `` a disaster . ''
Those digs aside , Mr. Tuberville ran a risk-averse campaign , declining media interviews and Mr .
Sessions ' challenges to debate .
In brief remarks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looked to November with a message of cultural conservatism that mixed praise for Mr. Trump with accusations that Mr. Jones wants liberal `` New York values '' in Alabama .
Without specifics , Mr. Tuberville said he 'd fight for `` the same God-given principles that my father and others members of the Greatest Generation fought for so many years ago . ''
Mr. Jones , an Alabama native and former U.S. attorney known for winning convictions of Ku Klux Klansmen who bombed a Birmingham church and killed four Black girls in 1963 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down easily .
Mr. Jones won a 2017 special Senate election aided considerably by Republicans ' decision to nominate Roy Moore .
The former Alabama chief justice was twice removed from the bench for violating judicial canons and then accused during the Senate campaign of sexually molesting or harassing multiple teenage girls decades earlier .
But Mr. Jones argued that he 's made the most of his opportunity , pointing to , among other matters , his work securing aid for disaster-ravaged farmers and the families of fallen U.S. troops .
`` Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along partisan lines and nothing much seems to get done , '' Mr. Jones said in a statement , noting that Mr. Trump had signed some of his bills .
Mr. Tuberville 's runoff playbook was enough to attract voters like Montgomery County cattle farmer Bruce Alford , who said picking Mr. Tuberville was a tough decision .
`` I kind of want the new blood in , a little bit of change , '' said Mr. Alford .
Mr .
Sessions tried to remind voters of his early decision to back Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective in advancing Mr. Trump 's agenda .
When he was n't defending his loyalty to the president , Mr .
Sessions focused on his long history in office and questions about Mr. Tuberville 's background .
`` You know me , '' Mr .
Sessions told voters days before the runoff .
That was enough to keep retired state employee Jodi McDade in Mr .
Sessions ' camp .
She said it was possible to support both Mr .
Sessions and the president who detests him .
`` As much a fan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he has a falling out with a lot of people that he just disagrees with , '' he said .
`` He may be endorsing Tommy Tuberville today , but then they can have a falling out . ''
Mr .
Sessions , once Alabama attorney general and a U.S. attorney under President Ronald Reagan , was elected to the Senate in 1996 .
That first win was hotly contested .
But Mr .
Sessions would n't be seriously challenged again in three subsequent reelection campaigns before Mr. Trump picked him as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ballot box , Mr .
Sessions was never a heavyweight in the Senate , overshadowed there and back home in Alabama by Sen. Richard Shelby , the state 's senior senator who was elected as a Democrat in 1986 and switched parties in 1994 after Democrats lost their majorities on Capitol Hill .
While Mr. Shelby relished in bringing as much money back to Alabama as possible , Mr .
Sessions was a budget hawk who often eschewed the back-slapping , deal-cutting ways of Washington .
For years , that made him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then he found a presidential candidate who said many of the same things he 'd argued for years about immigration , trade , and the ways of Washington .
That reality television star turned commander in chief helped raise Mr .
Sessions to the pinnacle of his public life and , on Tuesday , helped bring it to an almost certain end .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage @ @ @ @ @ @

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lost the Republican nomination for his old Senate seat in Alabama to former college football coach Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday, likely ending a long political career with a bitter defeat egged on by President Donald Trump.
Mr. Tuberville beat Mr. Sessions in Tuesday's Republican runoff as Mr. Sessions fell short in his attempted comeback for a seat he held for two decades before resigning to become Mr. Trump's attorney general in 2017.
Familiar to Alabamians from his decade as Auburn University's head football coach, Mr. Tuberville won about 60% of the vote, according to unofficial returns, and is now positioned for a robust challenge against Democratic United States Sen. Doug Jones. With Alabama's strong GOP tilt, the seat is likely Republicans' best chance for a pickup as they try to maintain their thin Senate majority amid Mr. Trump's lagging popularity nationally.
Mr. Sessions was wounded by Mr. Trump's criticisms after he recused himself in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. The first U.S. senator to endorse Mr. Trump during the GOP presidential primary campaign, Mr. Sessions insisted throughout his attempted comeback and again in defeat that he was required by law to recuse because he was a potential subject and witness given his campaign ties to the president.
"Let me say this about the president and our relationship: I leave with no regrets," Mr. Session said on a small stage at a Mobile, Alabama, hotel, with his many grandsons looking on. "I was honored to serve the people of Alabama and I was extraordinarily proud of the accomplishments we had as attorney general." Mr. Sessions repeated that he was right to step away from the investigation. "I did the right thing and I saved the president's bacon in the process. Any other action to try to squelch an investigation in that environment would not have worked," he said, adding that it ultimately led to Mr. Trump's exoneration. "I leave elected office with my integrity intact."
Mr. Sessions was gracious to Mr. Tuberville, as well, pledging he'd work to help defeat Mr. Jones. "He is our Republican nominee," Mr. Sessions said. "We must stand behind him in November."
Yet Mr. Sessions' statements of loyalty to Mr. Trump and the party have never been enough for the president, who endorsed Mr. Tuberville after Alabama's March primary. Mr. Trump declared at the time that Mr. Sessions had "let our Country down" and that Mr. Tuberville would be his "true supporter." Mr. Trump continued the broadsides throughout the primary campaign, and he crowed Tuesday evening on Twitter shortly after The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Tuberville.
"Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions," Mr. Trump wrote. "Will be a GREAT Senator for the incredible people of Alabama."
Mr. Tuberville willingly embraced the dynamics, casting himself as an outsider and calling the former attorney general "weak" and "a disaster." Those digs aside, Mr. Tuberville ran a risk-averse campaign, declining media interviews and Mr. Sessions' challenges to debate.
In brief remarks to supporters Tuesday night, Mr. Tuberville looked to November with a message of cultural conservatism that mixed praise for Mr. Trump with accusations that Mr. Jones wants liberal "New York values" in Alabama. Without specifics, Mr. Tuberville said he'd fight for "the same God-given principles that my father and others members of the Greatest Generation fought for so many years ago."
Mr. Jones, an Alabama native and former U.S. attorney known for winning convictions of Ku Klux Klansmen who bombed a Birmingham church and killed four Black girls in 1963, signaled that he won't go down easily. Mr. Jones won a 2017 special Senate election aided considerably by Republicans' decision to nominate Roy Moore. The former Alabama chief justice was twice removed from the bench for violating judicial canons and then accused during the Senate campaign of sexually molesting or harassing multiple teenage girls decades earlier.
But Mr. Jones argued that he's made the most of his opportunity, pointing to, among other matters, his work securing aid for disaster-ravaged farmers and the families of fallen U.S. troops. "Washington already has plenty of people who fight along partisan lines and nothing much seems to get done," Mr. Jones said in a statement, noting that Mr. Trump had signed some of his bills. Mr. Tuberville's runoff playbook was enough to attract voters like Montgomery County cattle farmer Bruce Alford, who said picking Mr. Tuberville was a tough decision.
"I kind of want the new blood in, a little bit of change," said Mr. Alford.
Mr. Sessions tried to remind voters of his early decision to back Mr. Trump and argued he'd be most effective in advancing Mr. Trump's agenda. When he wasn't defending his loyalty to the president, Mr. Sessions focused on his long history in office and questions about Mr. Tuberville's background. "You know me," Mr. Sessions told voters days before the runoff.
That was enough to keep retired state employee Jodi McDade in Mr. Sessions' camp. She said it was possible to support both Mr. Sessions and the president who detests him.
"As much a fan of Donald Trump's as I am, he has a falling out with a lot of people that he just disagrees with," he said. "He may be endorsing Tommy Tuberville today, but then they can have a falling out."
Mr. Sessions, once Alabama attorney general and a U.S. attorney under President Ronald Reagan, was elected to the Senate in 1996. That first win was hotly contested. But Mr. Sessions wouldn't be seriously challenged again in three subsequent reelection campaigns before Mr. Trump picked him as attorney general.
Despite his strength at the ballot box, Mr. Sessions was never a heavyweight in the Senate, overshadowed there and back home in Alabama by Sen. Richard Shelby, the state's senior senator who was elected as a Democrat in 1986 and switched parties in 1994 after Democrats lost their majorities on Capitol Hill.
While Mr. Shelby relished in bringing as much money back to Alabama as possible, Mr. Sessions was a budget hawk who often eschewed the back-slapping, deal-cutting ways of Washington. For years, that made him a relative outlier on Capitol Hill. Then he found a presidential candidate who said many of the same things he'd argued for years about immigration, trade, and the ways of Washington. That reality television star turned commander in chief helped raise Mr. Sessions to the pinnacle of his public life and, on Tuesday, helped bring it to an almost certain end.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-07-16--Why libertarians are joining BLM calls to defund police

Libertarians trace their wariness of unchecked police powers back to Enlightenment Age thinkers .
Clark Neily of the libertarian Cato Institute says , “ In America , I would say the most basic right we have is to be free from state interference , and certainly state violence , absent a legally sufficient reason.
” Still , he says Black Americans , from their less privileged position in U.S. society , put more emphasis on the idea “ that some system of government needs to remain in place for the protection of people , but in an equal and respectful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do have this strange alliance , or at least a potential alliance between libertarians – ‘ classical liberals , ’ who do tend to be mostly white men – and a movement like Black Lives Matter , ” says Tyler Parry , an African American studies professor at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas .
It may sound surprising that Republican Carla Gericke , in seeking a state Senate seat in New Hampshire , is campaigning for reduced police budgets .
The current “ defund the police ” movement in America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1980s by left-wing scholar activists , notably women of color such as Angela Davis .
Sometimes , people have a hard time trying to peg the protest politics of Carla Gericke .
As a Republican candidate for the New Hampshire Senate and a “ hardcore libertarian , ” she has been an outspoken activist against the stay-at-home orders handed down by Gov .
Chris Sununu during the COVID-19 pandemic .
That ’ s a position many people may equate with Trump-style conservatism .
At the same time , however , Ms. Gericke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what she sees as the troubling militarization of American police forces , and she ’ s been mostly supportive of Black Lives Matter efforts to defund the police .
“ I am all for taking part of the budget and moving it away from escalating policing , and maybe move it more toward mental health , community development , and that kind of stuff , ” says Ms. Gericke , who has run against the powerful Democratic incumbent in her district for the past three election cycles .
“ That wouldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the budget and wouldn ’ t really be shrinking the government , so for me , that isn ’ t the ideal solution .
But I ’ m willing to say I think that would be a step towards a healthier , more peaceful society.
” She ’ s gotten hate mail for her efforts from both sides of the political spectrum .
But like most libertarians , Ms. Gericke ’ s principled opposition to what she sees as ever-expanding and far-reaching state powers – especially the lethal power given to police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from legal accountability – has been a core plank of her political philosophy from the start .
The Republican candidate joined other community activists on the left in 2013 to help lead efforts to keep the city of Concord from purchasing a new Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck , or BEARCAT , which city officials said was necessary because of “ frequent demonstrations by officially organized groups which have the potential of becoming volatile.
” It is the kind of language she finds chilling .
“ Concord at the time had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decade , ” she says .
“ But of course they ended up getting their BEARCAT anyway.
” After what prosecutors have called the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May , the decades-old movement to defund or even abolish municipal police gained public momentum that few had ever seen before .
Rooted primarily in the work of left-wing scholar activists since the 1970s and 1980s , especially women of color such as Angela Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore , who helped formulate the concept of the “ prison industrial complex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the movement began to describe how the U.S. criminal justice system incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world by far .
It argued that , with its massive array of tax-funded prisons and jails , overwhelmingly filled with Black and Latino men , the United States had become one of the world ’ s most violent police states .
“ There are a lot of parallels ” with libertarian views , says Edward Stringham , president of the American Institute for Economic Research , a libertarian think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the police are assigned to do things that they don ’ t have training or capacity to do , even while being trained in a more violent style when dealing with any kind of conflict.
” “ At least for me , I don ’ t see any justification for this heavily armed group of people , financed by the taxpayers , to be dealing with situations that are , at most , a $ 20 problem for a convenience store , ” says Mr. Stringham , alluding to the complaint that ended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the police murder of Mr. Floyd .
But there are a lot of differences , too , says Tyler Parry , professor of African American and African diaspora studies at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas .
“ On the one hand , you do have this strange alliance , or at least a potential alliance between libertarians – ‘ classical liberals , ’ who do tend to be mostly white men – and a movement like Black Lives Matter , which also calls for the defunding of the heavy hand of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 70 % of self-identified libertarians are white and 63 % percent are male , according to the Cato Institute , a Washington-based libertarian think tank .
By contrast , only 5 % of libertarians identify as Black and 14 % as Latino , the institute found in a 2015 survey with the London-based public opinion data agency YouGov .
“ [ Although ] libertarians and progressives do share a lot , a lot of libertarians are much more willing to be more extreme , and take government defunding to its logical conclusion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particularly looking at taxation as a form of theft , as well as [ being against ] the notion that the government can send in armed police forces or military units to essentially force its citizens to comply with its laws and regulations.
” Libertarians often identify with the limited-government philosophies that animate many wings of the Republican Party .
They point out that the European traditions of liberal democracy had their early roots in efforts to limit the crown 's enormous power to use lethal force in the name of law and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” many libertarians point out that early thinkers developing ideas of human rights in the 16th and 17th centuries first fought against the criminal justice system .
Locating their intellectual roots in the Enlightenment , they often see the first “ activists ” questioning the scope of government authority , especially the crown ’ s use of torture to exact confessions , its declarations of martial law during peacetime , and rejections of the right to habeas corpus .
“ In America , I would say the most basic right we have is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and certainly state violence , absent a legally sufficient reason , ” says Clark Neily , vice president for criminal justice at the Cato Institute .
“ When you clothe state actors , particularly police officers , with the incredible power and discretion to choose which laws to enforce and then the power to take somebody ’ s liberty and even their life , and then give them the equipment with which to do that , it matters tremendously what forms of accountability are available to citizens , ” says Mr. Neily , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives Matter protests , titling it “ America ’ s Criminal Justice System Is Rotten to the Core.
” But for scholars of color like Professor Parry , a consistent libertarian position is often rooted in privilege .
Those promoting laissez-faire economics , light-touch government regulations , and a bare minimal police state tend to already have their built-in competitive advantages and see almost all rungs of society in terms of robust competition .
“ My own assumption in terms of where libertarians may go wrong is that I think many people see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ males , and that they already have many of the privileges within society , so they have an assumption that the government is not necessary in directing their lives , ” he says .
“ Whereas I think Black people or people of color who are protesting against governmental police forces , they do still recognize that some system of government needs to remain in place for the protection of people , but in an equal and respectful fashion.
” In fact , as many scholars have pointed out , Black voters as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pragmatic and moderate than white liberals , and make up a small part of the progressive wing of the Democratic party .
Black voters overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton in 2016 primaries , and then overwhelmingly backed former Vice President Joe Biden at a moment when his candidacy was teetering on collapse .
“ The protest movements of the civil rights era were largely in response to what they conceived of as unjust governmental structures , ” Professor Parry says .
“ So I think maybe the distinction here is that , on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ libertarians and even Marxist activists in some form of agreement that police forces can reflect the tyranny of an unlawful government .
But at the same time , the agenda and the goals of what ultimately replaces that government might be very different.
” Still , amid the current Black Lives Matter protests , a number of progressives , libertarians , and even some religious conservatives have joined forces to oppose the “ qualified immunity ” that courts , including the Supreme Court , have granted police officers .
In the decades since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rulings , shielding officers from being held personally liable for violating certain constitutional rights or using excessive force , qualified immunity has drawn fire from groups across the political spectrum .
In a legal campaign to take on qualified immunity over two years ago , the Cato Institute worked to build a “ cross ideological bridge ” to combat the legally entrenched doctrine , says Mr. Neily .
And one of his proudest accomplishments , he says , was to put together an amicus brief for the Supreme Court that included a diverse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and American Civil Liberties Union on the left to the Alliance Defending Freedom and Americans for Prosperity Foundation on the right .
“ A rash of high-profile , sanction free incidents of police misconduct has sent Americans to the streets in protest , ” these groups contend together .
“ [ Qualified ] immunity shields a wide range of official misconduct .
The diversity of the signatories reflects how qualified immunity abets and exacerbates the violation of constitutional rights of every sort.
” Libertarian thinkers don ’ t often use the term “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counterparts do , however .
And Mr. Stringham at the American Institute for Economic Research is part of an ideological subsection of libertarians who argue that much of the work of police departments today would be better served by localized private security .
“ If you look around the country in various jurisdictions , you can see plenty of alternatives to government police , ” says Mr. Stringham , noting a topic he explores in his book “ Private Governance.
” “ Universities like Harvard , Duke , and MIT each have fully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in general , I would say that ’ s going to create incentives for those police to be acting on the behalf of the students , ” he says .
“ Whereas , if you have government police , there ’ s that disconnect where they can pursue an agenda which is independent of the well-being of the population.
” Like many libertarians across the country , he sees powerful police unions as an obstacle to fiscal and structural reforms that could unburden taxpayers and incentivize police to make “ serve and protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yet others , like Mr. Neily , worry about outsourcing police work to private entities .
“ I ’ m very uncomfortable with the idea of trying to privatize the core function of the police , which is to act as an agent of the state to ensure that necessary laws really are obeyed , ” he says .
“ That would necessarily entail at least the potential use of violence , as well as the exercise of substantial discretion.
” “ You still have to have some understanding of the legitimate functions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government entities , ” Mr. Neily continues .
“ And that is , to prevent and when necessary punish conduct that threatens the very fabric of civil society.
” As a libertarian activist and president emeritus of the Free State Project in New Hampshire , Ms. Gericke , too , has long fought for transparency and accountability in municipal police forces .
“ I do think there is definitely a lot of overlap with these more liberal groups , ” says Ms. Gericke , who grew up under the apartheid regime in South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power .
“ And one of the problems all of us see , in part , is this notion of ‘ law and order.
’ ...
It is the fearmongering from the war on drugs .
And it is , I believe , partly the institutionalized racism inherent in the prison system – the whole school-to-prison pipeline we can so easily see.
” More recently , Ms. Gericke joined with the ACLU and New Hampshire news organizations to demand the public release of the names of police officers who have been accused of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ List.
” New Hampshire law exempts this list from the state ’ s existing freedom-of-information laws .
Last year a state judge ordered the release of the list , which includes the names of some 260 cops , but Republican Governor Sununu and law enforcement officials appealed the ruling at the time .
In the past month , however , each appears to be rethinking this opposition , and the governor announced the formation of a commission to recommend reforms “ to enhance transparency , accountability , and community relations in law enforcement.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ her district – her campaign slogan is “ Protecting the smallest minority , the individual ... YOU !
” – she has been heartened to see police accountability finally become a national issue supported by an array of political perspectives .
“ As a libertarian and as someone who ’ s worked against the expanding police state for such a long time , it ’ s sort of a ‘ let ’ s see if it happens ’ kind of thing , ” she says .
“ But at least it feels like @ @ @

Libertarians trace their wariness of unchecked police powers back to Enlightenment Age thinkers. Clark Neily of the libertarian Cato Institute says, “In America, I would say the most basic right we have is to be free from state interference, and certainly state violence, absent a legally sufficient reason.”
Still, he says Black Americans, from their less privileged position in U.S. society, put more emphasis on the idea “that some system of government needs to remain in place for the protection of people, but in an equal and respectful fashion.”
In New Hampshire, Carla Gericke is a Republican running for state Senate. Her views on policing trace back to the origins of “classical liberalism” – efforts to curb the arbitrary powers of the crown over criminal justice.
But now, “you do have this strange alliance, or at least a potential alliance between libertarians – ‘classical liberals,’ who do tend to be mostly white men – and a movement like Black Lives Matter,” says Tyler Parry, an African American studies professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
It may sound surprising that Republican Carla Gericke, in seeking a state Senate seat in New Hampshire, is campaigning for reduced police budgets. The current “defund the police” movement in America, after all, has been kindled since the 1980s by left-wing scholar activists, notably women of color such as Angela Davis.
Sometimes, people have a hard time trying to peg the protest politics of Carla Gericke.
As a Republican candidate for the New Hampshire Senate and a “hardcore libertarian,” she has been an outspoken activist against the stay-at-home orders handed down by Gov. Chris Sununu during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a position many people may equate with Trump-style conservatism.
At the same time, however, Ms. Gericke has also been a longtime activist against what she sees as the troubling militarization of American police forces, and she’s been mostly supportive of Black Lives Matter efforts to defund the police.
Why We Wrote This In New Hampshire, Carla Gericke is a Republican running for state Senate. Her views on policing trace back to the origins of “classical liberalism” – efforts to curb the arbitrary powers of the crown over criminal justice.
“I am all for taking part of the budget and moving it away from escalating policing, and maybe move it more toward mental health, community development, and that kind of stuff,” says Ms. Gericke, who has run against the powerful Democratic incumbent in her district for the past three election cycles. “That wouldn’t really reduce a line item in terms of the budget and wouldn’t really be shrinking the government, so for me, that isn’t the ideal solution. But I’m willing to say I think that would be a step towards a healthier, more peaceful society.”
She’s gotten hate mail for her efforts from both sides of the political spectrum. But like most libertarians, Ms. Gericke’s principled opposition to what she sees as ever-expanding and far-reaching state powers – especially the lethal power given to police along with their “qualified immunities” from legal accountability – has been a core plank of her political philosophy from the start.
The Republican candidate joined other community activists on the left in 2013 to help lead efforts to keep the city of Concord from purchasing a new Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck, or BEARCAT, which city officials said was necessary because of “frequent demonstrations by officially organized groups which have the potential of becoming volatile.”
It is the kind of language she finds chilling. “Concord at the time had had like, two murders in a decade,” she says. “But of course they ended up getting their BEARCAT anyway.”
After what prosecutors have called the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, the decades-old movement to defund or even abolish municipal police gained public momentum that few had ever seen before. Rooted primarily in the work of left-wing scholar activists since the 1970s and 1980s, especially women of color such as Angela Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore, who helped formulate the concept of the “prison industrial complex” through the grassroots coalition Critical Resistance, the movement began to describe how the U.S. criminal justice system incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world by far. It argued that, with its massive array of tax-funded prisons and jails, overwhelmingly filled with Black and Latino men, the United States had become one of the world’s most violent police states.
Shared concern about rights
“There are a lot of parallels” with libertarian views, says Edward Stringham, president of the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank. “In many cases, the police are assigned to do things that they don’t have training or capacity to do, even while being trained in a more violent style when dealing with any kind of conflict.”
“At least for me, I don’t see any justification for this heavily armed group of people, financed by the taxpayers, to be dealing with situations that are, at most, a $20 problem for a convenience store,” says Mr. Stringham, alluding to the complaint that ended in what he, too, calls the police murder of Mr. Floyd.
But there are a lot of differences, too, says Tyler Parry, professor of African American and African diaspora studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“On the one hand, you do have this strange alliance, or at least a potential alliance between libertarians – ‘classical liberals,’ who do tend to be mostly white men – and a movement like Black Lives Matter, which also calls for the defunding of the heavy hand of militarized police forces.”
Indeed, over 70% of self-identified libertarians are white and 63% percent are male, according to the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank. By contrast, only 5% of libertarians identify as Black and 14% as Latino, the institute found in a 2015 survey with the London-based public opinion data agency YouGov.
“[Although] libertarians and progressives do share a lot, a lot of libertarians are much more willing to be more extreme, and take government defunding to its logical conclusion, rejecting any type of governmental structure, particularly looking at taxation as a form of theft, as well as [being against] the notion that the government can send in armed police forces or military units to essentially force its citizens to comply with its laws and regulations.”
Libertarians often identify with the limited-government philosophies that animate many wings of the Republican Party. They point out that the European traditions of liberal democracy had their early roots in efforts to limit the crown's enormous power to use lethal force in the name of law and order.
As “classical liberals,” many libertarians point out that early thinkers developing ideas of human rights in the 16th and 17th centuries first fought against the criminal justice system. Locating their intellectual roots in the Enlightenment, they often see the first “activists” questioning the scope of government authority, especially the crown’s use of torture to exact confessions, its declarations of martial law during peacetime, and rejections of the right to habeas corpus.
“In America, I would say the most basic right we have is to be free from state interference, and certainly state violence, absent a legally sufficient reason,” says Clark Neily, vice president for criminal justice at the Cato Institute.
“When you clothe state actors, particularly police officers, with the incredible power and discretion to choose which laws to enforce and then the power to take somebody’s liberty and even their life, and then give them the equipment with which to do that, it matters tremendously what forms of accountability are available to citizens,” says Mr. Neily, who wrote a recent essay assessing Black Lives Matter protests, titling it “America’s Criminal Justice System Is Rotten to the Core.”
Doug Brown/AP View caption Hide caption Agents from different components of the Department of Homeland Security are deployed to protect a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 5, 2020. Protesters also faced off against city police in Portland.
Where the groups differ
But for scholars like Professor Parry, a consistent libertarian position is often rooted in privilege. Those promoting laissez-faire economics, light-touch government regulations, and a bare minimal police state tend to already have their built-in competitive advantages and see almost all rungs of society in terms of robust competition.
“My own assumption in terms of where libertarians may go wrong is that I think many people see it as a movement of predominantly white males, and that they already have many of the privileges within society, so they have an assumption that the government is not necessary in directing their lives,” he says. “Whereas I think Black people or people of color who are protesting against governmental police forces, they do still recognize that some system of government needs to remain in place for the protection of people, but in an equal and respectful fashion.”
In fact, as many scholars have pointed out, Black voters as a whole tend to be far more pragmatic and moderate than white liberals, and make up a small part of the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Black voters overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton in 2016 primaries, and then overwhelmingly backed former Vice President Joe Biden at a moment when his candidacy was teetering on collapse.
“The protest movements of the civil rights era were largely in response to what they conceived of as unjust governmental structures,” Professor Parry says. “So I think maybe the distinction here is that, on the one hand, you will probably find libertarians and even Marxist activists in some form of agreement that police forces can reflect the tyranny of an unlawful government. But at the same time, the agenda and the goals of what ultimately replaces that government might be very different.”
Still, amid the current Black Lives Matter protests, a number of progressives, libertarians, and even some religious conservatives have joined forces to oppose the “qualified immunity” that courts, including the Supreme Court, have granted police officers. In the decades since judges introduced this legal doctrine through their rulings, shielding officers from being held personally liable for violating certain constitutional rights or using excessive force, qualified immunity has drawn fire from groups across the political spectrum.
In a legal campaign to take on qualified immunity over two years ago, the Cato Institute worked to build a “cross ideological bridge” to combat the legally entrenched doctrine, says Mr. Neily. And one of his proudest accomplishments, he says, was to put together an amicus brief for the Supreme Court that included a diverse array of groups, from the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union on the left to the Alliance Defending Freedom and Americans for Prosperity Foundation on the right.
“A rash of high-profile, sanction free incidents of police misconduct has sent Americans to the streets in protest,” these groups contend together. “[Qualified] immunity shields a wide range of official misconduct. The diversity of the signatories reflects how qualified immunity abets and exacerbates the violation of constitutional rights of every sort.”
Private security forces?
Libertarian thinkers don’t often use the term “defund the police” like their left-leaning counterparts do, however. And Mr. Stringham at the American Institute for Economic Research is part of an ideological subsection of libertarians who argue that much of the work of police departments today would be better served by localized private security.
“If you look around the country in various jurisdictions, you can see plenty of alternatives to government police,” says Mr. Stringham, noting a topic he explores in his book “Private Governance.” “Universities like Harvard, Duke, and MIT each have fully deputized private police forces.”
“And in general, I would say that’s going to create incentives for those police to be acting on the behalf of the students,” he says. “Whereas, if you have government police, there’s that disconnect where they can pursue an agenda which is independent of the well-being of the population.”
Like many libertarians across the country, he sees powerful police unions as an obstacle to fiscal and structural reforms that could unburden taxpayers and incentivize police to make “serve and protect” more than a clichéd slogan.
Yet others, like Mr. Neily, worry about outsourcing police work to private entities.
“I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of trying to privatize the core function of the police, which is to act as an agent of the state to ensure that necessary laws really are obeyed,” he says. “That would necessarily entail at least the potential use of violence, as well as the exercise of substantial discretion.”
“You still have to have some understanding of the legitimate functions of a criminal justice system run by government entities,” Mr. Neily continues. “And that is, to prevent and when necessary punish conduct that threatens the very fabric of civil society.”
“It feels like progress”
As a libertarian activist and president emeritus of the Free State Project in New Hampshire, Ms. Gericke, too, has long fought for transparency and accountability in municipal police forces.
“I do think there is definitely a lot of overlap with these more liberal groups,” says Ms. Gericke, who grew up under the apartheid regime in South Africa and thus remains suspicious of government power. “And one of the problems all of us see, in part, is this notion of ‘law and order.’ ... It is the fearmongering from the war on drugs. And it is, I believe, partly the institutionalized racism inherent in the prison system – the whole school-to-prison pipeline we can so easily see.”
More recently, Ms. Gericke joined with the ACLU and New Hampshire news organizations to demand the public release of the names of police officers who have been accused of misconduct, known as the “Laurie List.” New Hampshire law exempts this list from the state’s existing freedom-of-information laws.
Last year a state judge ordered the release of the list, which includes the names of some 260 cops, but Republican Governor Sununu and law enforcement officials appealed the ruling at the time. In the past month, however, each appears to be rethinking this opposition, and the governor announced the formation of a commission to recommend reforms “to enhance transparency, accountability, and community relations in law enforcement.”
As Ms. Gericke woos voters in her district – her campaign slogan is “Protecting the smallest minority, the individual ... YOU!” – she has been heartened to see police accountability finally become a national issue supported by an array of political perspectives.
“As a libertarian and as someone who’s worked against the expanding police state for such a long time, it’s sort of a ‘let’s see if it happens’ kind of thing,” she says. “But at least it feels like progress.”