buzzfeed--2020-06-12--Immigrants Delayed By The Coronavirus Are Suing To Be Naturalized In Time To Vote In The Presidentia

Immigrants Delayed By The Coronavirus Are Suing To Be Naturalized In Time To Vote In The Presidential Election

New citizens recite the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York City , Sept. 17 , 2019 .
Earlier this month , US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) reopened offices and began conducting smaller naturalization ceremonies .
On Friday , the agency conducted 50 ceremonies and naturalized almost 2,000 people across the US .
Before the pandemic , however , ceremonies could accommodate up to 5,000 immigrants at once .
Moving forward , the agency plans to focus its resources on conducting quick but smaller ceremonies to allow for social distancing measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negative fallout from the pandemic , including delaying the rights of citizenship to hundreds of lawful permanent residents in the Philadelphia area , every one of whom has already had their application approved , but now have been unable to complete the oath — the last step of the citizenship process , ” said Matt Adams , legal director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project , which filed the lawsuit along with other organizations .
“ Fortunately , Congress provided a tool for rare situations like this to allow the federal court to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USCIS to provide immediate administrative naturalizations.
” The lawsuit , filed this week in a federal court in Pennsylvania , says the two plaintiffs are among thousands of immigrants who had their ceremonies canceled or not scheduled as the coronavirus spread rapidly in March .
To become a US citizen , immigrants must go through a long and at times arduous process that includes an interview with an immigration officer and a test on American civics and the English language .
The final step , however , is the easiest of them all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event that ’ s often held in American theaters , convention centers , and courthouses .
A pair of would-be US citizens have filed a lawsuit to force immigration officials to schedule the oath ceremony they need to become Americans in time to register to vote in the presidential election this fall .
USCIS officials have said that the rate of the ceremonies is increasing as they become `` more adept '' at implementing them in areas where they can host larger groups ; they have also said that ceremonies are being conducted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A key aim of this agency has been and continues to be the timely naturalization of qualified and vetted candidates for American citizenship .
Any suggestion to the contrary ignores an 11-year high in naturalizations last year and a 12 % reduction in pending naturalizations , ” a USCIS spokesperson said .
It ’ s this process , however , that has the attorneys worried that their clients won ’ t get their citizenship in time for voter registration in Philadelphia on Oct. 19 .
“ It will take several months , under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Field Office to administer the oath of allegiance to Plaintiffs and proposed class members , ” the attorneys said in the lawsuit .
The advocacy groups want a federal judge to order USCIS to institute “ expedited ” ceremonies for hundreds of immigrants in the region that could include oaths done by judges and others over the phone or video , among other options to ensure that the would-be citizens are sworn in three weeks prior to the voter registration deadline .
Officials have said that virtual ceremonies are not possible because they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ logistical issues , and would rely on third-party software that would not be secure enough .
USCIS also conducts verifications of identity and records prior to the oath that need to be done in person , agency officials said .
“ In-person ceremonies allow USCIS to check official identification materials against the list of eligible candidates and ensure that the applicant is within the United States and within the area over which the particular field office has jurisdiction , ” an agency spokesperson said .
Experts have warned that the delayed naturalizations could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eligible voters in November , as many states require registration by October .
As of September 2019 , there were already more than 600,000 naturalization applications pending .
Under normal conditions , USCIS is able to naturalize 66,000 immigrants on average every month , according to Sarah Pierce , an analyst at Migration Policy Institute .
The agency generally relies on in-person oaths at its office or in larger ceremonies outside of its own facilities .
The naturalization oath has been a long-held American tradition , spanning back to the late 1700s .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the country administered the oath in various ways , and it wasn ’ t until 1929 that a standardized oath was created .
Later , the Immigration Act of 1950 added language to the oath that made immigrants promise to bear arms for the US and perform “ noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law .
”

USCIS officials have said that the rate of the ceremonies is increasing as they become "more adept" at implementing them in areas where they can host larger groups; they have also said that ceremonies are being conducted and scheduled across the country.
“A key aim of this agency has been and continues to be the timely naturalization of qualified and vetted candidates for American citizenship. Any suggestion to the contrary ignores an 11-year high in naturalizations last year and a 12% reduction in pending naturalizations,” a USCIS spokesperson said.
It’s this process, however, that has the attorneys worried that their clients won’t get their citizenship in time for voter registration in Philadelphia on Oct. 19.
“It will take several months, under current measures, for the USCIS Philadelphia Field Office to administer the oath of allegiance to Plaintiffs and proposed class members,” the attorneys said in the lawsuit.
The advocacy groups want a federal judge to order USCIS to institute “expedited” ceremonies for hundreds of immigrants in the region that could include oaths done by judges and others over the phone or video, among other options to ensure that the would-be citizens are sworn in three weeks prior to the voter registration deadline.
Officials have said that virtual ceremonies are not possible because they need to be public, would cause logistical issues, and would rely on third-party software that would not be secure enough. USCIS also conducts verifications of identity and records prior to the oath that need to be done in person, agency officials said.
“In-person ceremonies allow USCIS to check official identification materials against the list of eligible candidates and ensure that the applicant is within the United States and within the area over which the particular field office has jurisdiction,” an agency spokesperson said.
Experts have warned that the delayed naturalizations could have an impact on the number of eligible voters in November, as many states require registration by October. As of September 2019, there were already more than 600,000 naturalization applications pending.
Under normal conditions, USCIS is able to naturalize 66,000 immigrants on average every month, according to Sarah Pierce, an analyst at Migration Policy Institute. The agency generally relies on in-person oaths at its office or in larger ceremonies outside of its own facilities.
The naturalization oath has been a long-held American tradition, spanning back to the late 1700s. Before the early 1900s, courts from across the country administered the oath in various ways, and it wasn’t until 1929 that a standardized oath was created. Later, the Immigration Act of 1950 added language to the oath that made immigrants promise to bear arms for the US and perform “noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law.”


buzzfeed--2020-06-12--The Coronavirus Is Shattering A Generation Of Kids

Interviews with more than 40 children across the country reveal American childhood in the midst of COVID-19 — and how race and class help define which children will emerge unscathed .
If you ’ re a kid right now , and you ’ re doing OK , the biggest question you have about the virus might be something like : How did it start ?
How does it spread ?
Or maybe : Why is there no medicine ?
But if you ’ re a kid and you ’ re not OK — and a lot of kids aren ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the luxury of curiosity .
Instead , you have only one question about the virus that has upended your entire life .
Banner Gusler , who is 10 , takes a deep breath before he says it .
He screws up his face .
Loudly , slowly , enunciating each word , he belts out : “ WHEN .
WILL .
THIS .
END ?
” The coronavirus generation has sometimes been described as a whole , vast constellation of American children , linked by the virus and the unprecedented force it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some ways , that is real .
Every child in America stopped attending school .
Every child in America stopped playing sports , doing theater , going down the slide at the park .
And summer brings with it only more uncertainty , even as some kids and families begin to cautiously leave their homes .
But the reality of the coronavirus generation is not connection — it ’ s the opposite .
This spring , I spoke to more than 40 children across the country , as well as dozens of parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations .
Many children are adapting .
They ’ re resilient .
You can tell because if you ask them what they ’ re worried about , they say nothing , really : They feel safe , they think their parents are too .
They know where their next meal is coming from .
They miss their friends , they stay away from the news , they dream about a summer that might not come .
But there are many kids who are not OK.
It ’ s not possible to make hard-and-fast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even under one roof , different children have had entirely separate experiences with the pandemic .
For some kids , the collapse of routines has been debilitating .
Social isolation has been achingly hard — even with two parents at home , with routine and school and food and shelter , they have had mood swings , anxiety .
Others have struggled to cope with losses — of milestones , of opportunities , of family .
One thing is clear , though : What has not changed about childhood in the midst of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and economic inequality .
If anything , coronavirus has lengthened those tentacles , at a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans are in the streets protesting racist social structures and police brutality .
Teachers and psychologists have no doubt , they say , that most of the children who were already at an advantage will emerge from this pandemic — from their small constricted worlds , from their bubbles — with an even greater lead .
And the children who did not have those advantages , who were already struggling , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While the virus takes its toll unevenly , mostly affecting low-income people and people of color , all of society ’ s equalizers — school , health care , sports , even public parks and playgrounds — have been at least partially stripped away .
So too have external support networks , the friends and organizations and adults holding many children upright .
Children ’ s entire lives are in their homes .
And their homes are vastly , vastly different .
So it ’ s a bit like a game of chance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a child living through this — whether you ’ re OK or not , what this whole thing has been like for you .
Except it has the most American twist : For some children , the cards are stacked heavily against them .
Banner , who has high-functioning autism , liked school because he liked his teacher , and he was in a class that worked on mindfulness and yoga techniques .
His mom says he was “ finally comfortable ” at his school this year , finally settling into a routine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s what Banner calls it — happened .
Trying to do school online has been “ traumatic for everyone involved , ” his mom says .
This is where WWE comes in .
Lately , WWE has become Banner ’ s whole life .
That was how Jennifer , Banner ’ s mom , knew he was having a hard time .
“ When he gets really uncomfortable or stressed out , wrestling is his go-to , ” Jennifer says .
“ By the end of March , he really started obsessing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how we knew , okay , we ’ re struggling.
” Jennifer has to work four days a week .
She scrambles to put together childcare .
Banner ’ s autism makes him more reliant on routines , and that makes it hard for him when the routines simply disappear .
Banner ’ s structured day has been replaced , mostly , by WWE .
When the pandemic first started , he built himself a space he calls his cubby : the nook under his lofted bed where he has set up a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action figures to fight each other in , and a screen to play WWE video games and watch WWE on YouTube .
There ’ s a sensory light under there that admits rays of watery blue and makes soft , calming ocean sounds .
This is Banner ’ s absolute favorite place .
Banner has been having trouble sleeping since the outbreak started , so his mom orchestrated The Renovation , which meant she moved her bed into Banner ’ s room , and Brother ’ s stuff into her old bedroom .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ mornings in his bed surrounded by more than 100 stuffies , his mom ’ s bed is usually already empty .
She has to leave early for work .
So Banner wakes Brother up , and then he goes to his cubby .
He comes out for breakfast , then back into the cubby .
He will come out again only for a few things : a weekly Zoom call with his school on Wednesdays , which he likes ; or there ’ s occupational therapy with a disability nonprofit called Easterseals ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brother watches , which is sort of like gym class ; or pizza rolls .
“ You and Brother don ’ t have much of a routine , ” Jennifer says , sighing .
That sudden absence of routine has also upended life for Khalil Hardy , who is 8 .
( His first name has been changed for this story . )
Khalil is usually a happy kid , the kind who likes school .
“ The virus has destroyed his world , ” his mom , Clarissa , says .
Khalil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t understand why his routine has imploded .
He doesn ’ t understand why he has to go to school online , why he has to sit in front of a computer for 45 minutes at a time .
Every morning he wants to know : Is today the day I get to go see my school ?
See my classmates ?
Sometimes , Clarissa says , he reaches out and tries to touch his teachers through the screen .
Like many kids with disabilities , especially those in school districts that were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Khalil , who lives in Washington , DC , hasn ’ t been getting nearly enough of the services he ’ s entitled to , like speech and occupational therapy .
His mom had already been working with a nonprofit legal group , the Children 's Law Center , to fight for the services he needed .
Now technology , too , has become a huge barrier , along with the district ’ s already strapped resources .
With Khalil struggling , Clarissa did the only thing she could think of for her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ placed a bulk order , and then she cleared out her dining room and made it into a classroom .
A place Khalil recognized — where he could feel safe .
There ’ s an ABC rug and a giant calendar and a desk .
Khalil likes to show it off : `` This is my classroom . ''
Like Clarissa , many parents have done what they can to replicate their children ’ s routines : taking walks around the block before the start of the school day , having strict schedules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But for those , like Banner , whose parents are essential workers — or who are out of work and overwhelmed by just trying to make ends meet — routines are not possible .
Not very long ago , Banner and his mom were lying down together , just talking , and Banner admitted that he was worried about her getting the Rona .
He ’ d never said that to her before .
His mom , who spends all day in a hospital .
As soon as she gets home , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then she strips and goes straight into the shower .
All Banner wants to do when she walks in the door is give her a hug , Jennifer says .
But he can ’ t .
Does he miss his mom when she ’ s gone ?
“ I wish you could see his face , ” Jennifer says .
“ He ’ s looking at me and he ’ s got this smirk.
” He just wants to know when all of this will end .
“ I do n't want my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Luke Smith ’ s young patients , in the flat farmland of rural North Carolina , had things easy before the pandemic .
Smith is a psychiatrist and the executive director of El Futuro , a bilingual mental health clinic .
He works with the children of immigrants , migrant farmworkers and meat industry workers — most struggling with mental health issues like anxiety and depression .
In the pandemic , Smith says , there ’ s no rule about which of his kids are doing well and which are struggling .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them the first chance they ’ ve had in years to feel safe .
They used to be afraid of their parents being deported , that every knock on the door was ICE — but now , there ’ s no more visitors .
Now they ’ re “ cocooned ” with their family , he says , safe .
Smith has had a chance to look into his patients ’ homes over video chat , and sometimes , he ’ s seen glimpses that give him hope and relief : a little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was at the dinner table together , eating Burger King — Smith had been worried they weren ’ t getting enough to eat .
Some kids who struggled in school because of racism or cultural barriers are doing better academically .
But other kids are much worse off : “ reclused in their rooms , ” he says , sleep-wake cycles reversed , their parents gone all day because they ’ re essential workers .
Some kids worry constantly about what they will eat next .
Others watch anxiously while their father leaves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowded in the back of a truck with other men .
Smith talks regularly to a boy who used to be doing well in school , used to turn in all his assignments .
Now he doesn ’ t .
He doesn ’ t have reliable Internet access in the mobile home park where he lives .
He spends all day alone in his room , blinds drawn , parents at work , where he worries about them .
Before the pandemic , he ’ d been reticent to talk to Smith .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , telling his doctor that he often wakes up in the middle of the night , crying .
“ Since they ’ re gone , his parents don ’ t realize their kid is becoming more and more depressed , ” Smith said .
Evan Yerena and his mom , Claudia , work with Smith at El Futuro .
Claudia and her three children are together most of the day in one room , their living room , while Claudia works as a go-between with needy families in Orange County — helping them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with families who the pandemic has trapped in ever-worsening domestic violence situations .
Claudia ’ s 12-year-old son has been fine ; her 4-year-old daughter is maybe doing better , home all day with her mom .
But Evan , 10 , is having a difficult time .
School is hard , he says , and he misses soccer , which he loves so much — he plays goalie , and also forward .
Mostly , though , Claudia has noticed that he is torn up with anxiety about his father , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must leave the house every day for work .
“ I ’ m scared , ” Evan says .
“ Because of my dad.
” He talks to his mom about his father .
He says to her , “ I don ’ t want my dad to die.
” He thinks about it a lot .
It ’ s the thing that worries him most of all , he says .
He just wants his dad to be able to stay at home .
When Evan talks about the virus , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very soft , and you almost can ’ t hear him as he speaks .
He has a mop of thick black hair and rectangular glasses that make him look older than he actually is .
He only wants to know this : “ When is the cure ?
” School is hard because it feels like they aren ’ t even learning anything — just doing things like multiplication problems .
No one ever explains why things happen , you ’ re just supposed to do the work .
And Nora doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Because it ’ s hard to get motivated .
Because when she wakes up , all she wants to do is lie in bed .
Nora has been having a lot of bad dreams lately .
She wakes up in the middle of the night and she just can ’ t go back to sleep .
“ I had a bad dream yesterday , ” Dottie interjects .
“ It was about someone coming out of the walls and pulling your hair.
” Yeah , but Nora has been having them every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to sleep , she sleeps in .
Sometimes she does a little bit of her schoolwork .
“ Then I just — I lie around all day , ” she says .
“ I don ’ t know.
” One of the biggest divides parents have noticed within their families is between the introverts and the extroverts .
Many kids who are happy being alone have been coping better .
Then there are those for whom losing their social life , their friends , has been acutely devastating .
Two of Kathryn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak — better than ever , maybe .
But Anna , who is 6 — Anna is just angry .
Anna is far more extroverted than her siblings .
She misses her grandma and her church youth group and her teachers and friends .
And missing them makes her mad .
There ’ s such an intensity to her rage , Meeker says : multiple tantrums in a day over little stuff , like putting the wrong kind of sugar in her oatmeal ; pushing and screaming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when she wants a turn .
Meeker tries to help her understand her rage , but that ’ s hard , because it ’ s such an amorphous thing , the virus .
The kids were used to visiting their grandma at least weekly , if not more .
They ’ ve walked over so that they can see her from across the street , because Zoom calls , at least for Anna , are such a poor substitute that they make her hysterical , furious : “ I don ’ t want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” she says , “ I want to see her in person.
” Kathryn asked Anna if she wanted to talk to me about what it was like for her , but she would only yell back in Russian : Nyet , nyet .
For Nora , the thought of losing her friends without being able to say goodbye has been consuming .
It ’ s the first thing she wants to do when this is all over : drive back to Napa and hug them .
If they had one question about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ How did it start ?
Because I heard it was because of a bat.
” Nora wants to know : “ How long before I can see my friends ?
” Class is over , and there ’ s only a few more days until school ’ s out for the summer .
But no one wants to leave .
As their teachers say goodbye , the fourth-graders linger on the call .
“ This is so sad , ” one girl says .
“ Well , ” another chimes in , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school year we ’ ll never forget.
” “ It ’ s like sometimes , when you have a birthday , and you think , ‘ Wait a minute , I don ’ t remember that part.
’ But now you ’ re like , ‘ Oh yeah , you remember this , ’ because it ’ s like , you ’ re stuck at home.
” “ I survived COVID-19 , ” someone pipes in , to laughter .
Ms. Sullivan and her co-teacher start , again , to say goodbye , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students respond with memes : Stewie Griffin shouting “ NOOOOOO , ” a man with his arms crossed and a comical frown on his face , declaring , “ I DON ’ T WANT TO GO.
” As the rest of them say “ Bye , ” another writes into the chat window : “ I don ’ t wan na die.
” This is how it has been for the past 10 weeks in Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Phoenix ’ s class at Watkins Elementary School , in Southeast Washington , DC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students get to talk to their friends , to see their faces , and they miss each other so much .
Finally , the fourth-graders start to log off , one by one , until it ’ s only Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Phoenix , and Ms. Sullivan ’ s 6-year-old daughter , who has spent the morning class sitting on her mom ’ s lap .
Some students talked a lot , asking detailed questions while they sat in their beds or at their kitchen tables .
But with some students , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glimpses : one girl ’ s blurry chin , a single syllable of a boy ’ s voice as he tried to explain that he couldn ’ t turn his mute off .
A single chat sent : “ Good morning.
” And then there are the kids that didn ’ t log on : Many days , at least 20 students don ’ t call in .
Ms. Sullivan ’ s mind is occupied with all of them , but the students she doesn ’ t see — those are the ones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there were students that she could not get in contact with at all .
For one girl , it took nearly two months .
Ms. Sullivan had been close with the girl ’ s mom before the pandemic .
When she finally was able to speak to her , she found out the family had been thrown into chaos : The mom was single with two kids , out of work and trying to string together gig jobs .
Her days were spent working for Instacart , stretching to find child care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Ms. Sullivan ’ s class , she says , when it comes to who is learning .
“ Some of them are going to be fine , ” she says .
“ Some aren ’ t .
And of course , a lot of it falls along stereotypical race and class lines.
” There ’ s one boy in her class , white , upper-middle class — his parents split the day up in two , one of them constantly managing his schoolwork while the other works from home .
“ He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ms. Sullivan says .
He was already ahead .
The girl who went MIA for seven weeks , who is black , whose family is low-income — she was already behind .
When Ms. Sullivan finally talks to parents whose children have been absent , they feel awful — they know their kids are missing something , and they ’ re torn up about it .
But they ’ re drowning .
Some kids go to work with their parents .
Some are shuttling between three , four different houses .
Some are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were all in the classroom together , the classroom was this leveling field , and that ’ s gone , ” Ms. Sullivan says .
“ All the discrepancies that there were before , that gap — now it ’ s a chasm.
” The thought of that widening chasm beats down daily on teachers , social workers , and school counselors in places where large numbers of kids are low-income .
They know the research on what happens to kids during the summers , when they ’ re out of school : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pronounced for low-income children .
But this is worse .
It ’ s not just that the time that children will be out of school is many months longer than during the summer .
It ’ s worse because students and their families are suffering more acutely than they ever have .
For many teachers , academics have simply fallen by the wayside in favor of far more pressing questions : Is this kid safe ?
Is she hungry ?
Does she own a book ?
“ Most teachers in public school , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : ‘ When ’ s the last time I talked to that girl ?
’ ” Ms. Sullivan says .
“ And then as soon as I get off the phone : ‘ Oh , there ’ s this kid I haven ’ t heard from in more than a week.
’ ” The pandemic has given Ms. Sullivan the kind of chance to look at her students ’ home lives that she ’ d never had before .
There were some kids , she says , whom she didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but for whom a glimpse into their kitchens has left her worried .
She ’ s watched parents being aggressive toward children , berating them while she sits there on camera .
Sometimes a student will pause the call and return trying to fight back tears .
“ You don ’ t see that at school , but now that you ’ re sitting in your kitchen , you get to see a lot more of it.
” But there is even more , now , that might be hidden from teachers ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abuse and neglect have become far more pressing worries for those who work with children .
The vast majority of calls to child abuse hotlines come from schools ; many states saw a steep drop-off after the virus closed classrooms .
Now , many children are not just cut off from social services — they ’ re stuck at home with their abusers .
In Ms. Sullivan ’ s class , though , there have been bright sides , too .
She ’ s working more closely than ever with parents .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beauty ” for families in her class : chances to spend more time with each other , opportunities for parents to see their kids ’ brilliance and creativity up close .
Technology , though , can get in the way .
So much of Ms. Sullivan ’ s job now is tech support : walking fourth-graders through things like submitting documents or clicking in and out of windows .
Are you muted ?
Can you click mute so that we can hear you ?
Parents have struggled with figuring out how to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confusing and cumbersome .
A few kids had no computers in their homes , and it took the city four or five weeks to issue them laptops .
So for some of her students , Ms. Sullivan had to throw tech out the window .
There ’ s one mom in her class who has been bringing her two kids with her to and from work , every day , and she was overwhelmed by the prospect of installing and navigating the school ’ s software .
But when they talked , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her son read for 45 minutes every day and write in his reading journal .
The way Ms. Sullivan saw it , the mom was “ being expected to do something impossible.
” And she was doing a really good job of it .
It has startled many parents of young children , the way the virus has trickled down to toddlers and kindergartners .
Some children have regressed : started wetting their beds , throwing tantrums , calling names , hitting siblings .
Others , like Joe , have become obsessed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell their toddlers about what ’ s going on , trying to keep them cocooned in a bubble of safety .
They ’ ve reasoned that the disruptions to routine — canceled daycare , absent friends and relatives — can be explained away without trauma .
But even then , the virus has crept in .
Kids , parents say , can tell that something is wrong .
“ At first , I was so not prepared for this to affect either of them , ” says Betsy Portillo , whose 3-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to her staying at home with her newborn on maternity leave .
But a week or two into quarantine , Diego started wetting himself , even though he ’ d been potty-trained for more than a year .
Diego is a social kid , and she can tell he misses his friends .
He was never physical with his little brother , but now he is , violent outbursts that seem like so much energy building up in his little body and then releasing itself .
He talks all the time about “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his parents took to calling the virus — they had to keep him from touching the fire hydrants and mailboxes on their daily walks , to explain the yellow caution tape they passed around the playground where they used to be able to go .
Nancy ’ s older son , Francis , is almost 5 , and she can see his behavior change too : temper tantrums and mood swings , uncontrollable sobbing for no apparent reason .
“ It ’ s almost like he lost his kindness bone for a while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , now , that her sons ’ struggles are partly a reflection of how she and her husband have been coping : the worries about money , the news on TV , the things they said to try to keep the boys from touching everything on their walks .
But that wasn ’ t clear to them at first , how much the kids would absorb what they heard and saw and felt .
Things have gotten better for the boys lately , as Nancy and her husband have become more aware of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this affect their children .
But still , sometimes , when the boys see crowds on their movies and TV shows , they worry .
“ Is the Sickness not there ?
” they want to know .
“ Was that before the Sickness ? ''
Who will be left with the stamp of coronavirus , and who will not ?
We don ’ t know , but we can guess .
As I called kid after kid , I could see the stark lines of race and class appearing from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about how the kids who appeared on my screen would be doing , but sometimes I was wrong .
Talking to kids who were struggling was different than talking to adults .
It was harder .
They never , ever mentioned what the grown-ups had done to them — the politics , the missteps , the miscalculations — but you could see forces of all of it working in their lives anyway .
Which is always true , of course , but so much sharper now , like everything had been put under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to think , frequently , how unfair it all was for them .
There was another part of why I could not stop talking to kids : I was lonely , and my own life was hard sometimes , and the children I spoke with were smart and funny and joyful .
They were better than the adults .
To say that is not to minimize their suffering , which was acute : It ’ s just true .
They showed me toys who wore masks and bandannas to go outside .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — the games , the endlessly boring walks .
They were isolated , but they tried to explain the worlds where they saw their friends now : where you could find the llamas in Fortnite , their Animal Crossing island , their favorite Roblox game .
They showed me their art , the fanfiction they were writing to fill the time , so much time .
Larkin Hinkley , who is 6 , showed me the most incredible drawing she made .
She ’ s autistic , and her mind makes a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t , so when she learned about the virus ’ s shape and name , she drew it as a tentacled , leering green king .
It ’ s shaped almost exactly like the scientific models of the real virus .
“ King Coronavirus , ” she calls him .
I ’ m still thinking of all of them .
On my own Zoom hangouts , I ’ ve told my grown-up friends about the funny things they ’ ve said — the 6-year-old boy who , asked what he most wanted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , “ I want to make sure the video games keep happening.
” His parents hadn ’ t let him play before .
Mostly I am worrying about them , still , and it feels familiar , because I know it ’ s a tiny sliver of what their parents and teachers and counselors are feeling all the time now .
I ’ m worrying about how long it will be before Nora gets to hug her friends , about whether Ms. Sullivan will be able to get in touch with her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sleep at night .
I ’ m worrying about Diego , about the moment where he saw me on his mother ’ s computer screen and his eyes went wide with fear .
He asked : “ Does she have the germies ?
” I have thought about that moment a lot .
But I try to think about the next moment , too , when he asked his mom if he could go out onto their front deck and play with the bubbles .
I also think about Valentina and her mom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigrant outside San Francisco who works as a house cleaner , which means a lot of people have stopped paying her altogether during the outbreak , when she can ’ t go into work .
Valentina ’ s dad ’ s job has dried up too .
It ’ s been so hard that Valentina , who is only 9 years old , can feel it .
While her mom explains how they have n't been able to get stimulus checks because they ’ re undocumented , Valentina pops up in the background @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
” Valentina gets scared when she hears about the virus , that ’ s true .
Sometimes she feels like she ’ s going crazy so she runs around and hits herself and jumps up and down .
But the other thing about the virus is : It means she and her mom get to spend time together .
“ I love my mom , ” Valentina says , and she presses herself up against Francisca ’ s side , very close , grinning .
“ She used to always go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Right away when I was sleeping she would leave , so I never got to see her.
” Now , after her schoolwork is done , Valentina and her mom watch game shows , and they draw , and they go for long walks all the way to the mountain , and it ’ s enough .
●

If you’re a kid right now, and you’re doing OK, the biggest question you have about the virus might be something like: How did it start? How does it spread? Or maybe: Why is there no medicine?
But if you’re a kid and you’re not OK — and a lot of kids aren’t — you don’t have the luxury of curiosity. Instead, you have only one question about the virus that has upended your entire life. Banner Gusler, who is 10, takes a deep breath before he says it. He screws up his face. Loudly, slowly, enunciating each word, he belts out: “WHEN. WILL. THIS. END?”
The coronavirus generation has sometimes been described as a whole, vast constellation of American children, linked by the virus and the unprecedented force it is exerting on their young lives. In some ways, that is real. Every child in America stopped attending school. Every child in America stopped playing sports, doing theater, going down the slide at the park. And summer brings with it only more uncertainty, even as some kids and families begin to cautiously leave their homes.
But the reality of the coronavirus generation is not connection — it’s the opposite.
This spring, I spoke to more than 40 children across the country, as well as dozens of parents, teachers, child psychologists and nonprofit organizations.
Many children are adapting. They’re resilient. You can tell because if you ask them what they’re worried about, they say nothing, really: They feel safe, they think their parents are too. They know where their next meal is coming from. They miss their friends, they stay away from the news, they dream about a summer that might not come.
But there are many kids who are not OK.
It’s not possible to make hard-and-fast rules about who, or why. Even under one roof, different children have had entirely separate experiences with the pandemic. For some kids, the collapse of routines has been debilitating. Social isolation has been achingly hard — even with two parents at home, with routine and school and food and shelter, they have had mood swings, anxiety. Others have struggled to cope with losses — of milestones, of opportunities, of family.
One thing is clear, though: What has not changed about childhood in the midst of coronavirus is the vast reach of racial and economic inequality.
If anything, coronavirus has lengthened those tentacles, at a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans are in the streets protesting racist social structures and police brutality. Teachers and psychologists have no doubt, they say, that most of the children who were already at an advantage will emerge from this pandemic — from their small constricted worlds, from their bubbles — with an even greater lead.
And the children who did not have those advantages, who were already struggling, will almost certainly emerge even farther behind.
While the virus takes its toll unevenly, mostly affecting low-income people and people of color, all of society’s equalizers — school, health care, sports, even public parks and playgrounds — have been at least partially stripped away. So too have external support networks, the friends and organizations and adults holding many children upright. Children’s entire lives are in their homes. And their homes are vastly, vastly different.
So it’s a bit like a game of chance, really, if you’re a child living through this — whether you’re OK or not, what this whole thing has been like for you. Except it has the most American twist: For some children, the cards are stacked heavily against them.


buzzfeed--2020-06-12--I’m Skeptical Of All These White People Resigning

From Bon Appétit to CrossFit , top editors and executives are being called out for racism .
But the Black Lives Matter movement is about much more than white-collar accountability .
Credit for what has happened in the past week goes first and foremost to the organizers of the sprawling , decentralized protest movement .
It is abundantly clear that these protests have yielded concrete results and changed public opinion .
But it is hard , as a Black person and a journalist , not to be deeply , deeply skeptical of these recent mea culpas from powerful people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enact any meaningful change .
Already , I ’ m wondering who will actually do the hard work of revamping these companies .
To quote another skeptic : “ all the horrible white women [ and men ] stepping down from their horrible companies so they don ’ t have to responsible for the anti-racist overhaul and they can go on being rich and rely on the networks they already had ... boring !
” The Black Lives Matter movement has always been holistic .
Early on , as Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor writes in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Liberation , organizers of the movement recognized that they could not just be advocating for the end of police brutality — that the ailments plaguing Black life in the US are much more varied and must be toppled systematically .
Hence their focus on initiatives like the fight for increasing minimum wage .
But already the changes that this later iteration of Black Lives Matter have been advocating for have become obscured .
The emphasis on the systemic nature of racism has inadvertently fostered a lot of navel-gazing quasi confession and fixation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workspaces that are already wildly inequitable for a whole host of reasons .
The vigor of the first two weeks of riots and protests ( still ongoing ) , as the writer Tobi Haslett noted , has been overshadowed by people in their hermetically sealed white-collar jobs railing about racism in their workplaces .
This is not to say that the racism shouldn ’ t be railed against .
It ’ s a reckoning that ’ s long overdue .
But we have been here before .
There have been discussions — countless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in book publishing , in the corporate world , in film and TV for literal decades .
As the writer Kaitlyn Greenidge pointed out in her recent review of Raven Leilani ’ s forthcoming novel Luster , the publishing industry has sporadic love affairs with Black authors before forgetting all about them , usually when there ’ s an economic downturn .
The Cooperative Children ’ s Book Center has been tracking the diversity of the publishing industry since 1984 and the number of Black authors publishing children ’ s books is still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which started in 2015 , got a lot of steam and press coverage , but only one nonwhite person , Cynthia Erivo , was nominated in an acting category at the 2020 Academy Awards .
Each time corporate leadership , middle management , and the heads of power offer the same refrain : an all right , we ’ ll do better that results in temporary change before a return back to stasis .
But there is also danger in suggesting — as many of these conversations around racism in the workplace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ black faces in high places ” and paying them handsomely for it is a panacea to the all-consuming perniciousness of white supremacy .
As my colleague Shannon Keating notes , there is the substantial risk that these acts amount to hollow gestures : a few token hires who are placed into the same system , forced to do all the hard work of undoing years of systemic harm , and eventually burn out and leave the industry altogether , thoroughly disillusioned .
Already we are seeing the cracks in these companies ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is banning police use of its facial recognition technology for exactly one year .
( Will racism be over by then ?
And how about giving their employees working through the pandemic hazard pay ? )
Starbucks recently declared that Black lives matter , but won ’ t even let its employees wear any paraphernalia displaying this fact .
What about a justice that is more radical , more forward-looking , one that does not perpetuate existing power structures with a slightly browner tinge ?
There ’ s a conversation happening in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this upending could look like .
The Poetry Foundation , the most well-funded organization solely devoted to poetry , was recently called out by a group of more than 1,000 poets for its weak statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement .
“ For years , your constituents have been calling on the Foundation to redistribute more of its enormous resources to marginalized artists , to make concrete commitments to and change-making efforts in your local community and beyond , ” they wrote in an open letter .
“ We find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bare minimum.
” A number of those poets were recipients of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship , which gives out $ 28,000 grants , a life-changing amount of money in a low-paying field .
These fellows include some well-known contemporary writers like Danez Smith , Franny Choi , José Olivarez , and Justin Phillip Reed .
Many of these poets know each other and are part of a broader community of critically acclaimed , racially diverse , social media–savvy poets , some of whom emerged from the spoken word scene .
In their letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the foundation to resign and for the organization to direct more of its endowment toward anti-racist efforts in Chicago , the city where it ’ s based .
But one former Ruth Lilly fellow , poet Phillip B. Williams , did not sign this letter .
Instead he wrote an open letter of his own : “ For years white writers had been getting away with giving each other prizes or having someone in power bestow their entire cohort with grant after prize after fellowship , ” he writes .
“ Hardly anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not allow for writers once left out of this patronage to for once be included ?
Were n't we just as talented ?
But the problem lies in the desire to replicate or at least the unwillingness to stop said replication of divisive and intrinsically anti-Black-queer-POC practice of pretending entitlement is reparations and that our hoarding power and resources is the same as power being given to all.
” Pretending entitlement is reparations .
And that our hoarding power and resources is the same as power being given to all .
Such damning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rhetoric around “ diversity and inclusion , ” yet another phrase that has become bleached of all meaning , just replicates existing power structures — structures that contribute to a scarcity model of value , that suggest that people ’ s worth is tied to arbitrary numbers .
Some people in media have been tweeting their salaries in the interest of transparency , and the lucky few people of color who have been compensated handsomely declare they ’ re worth every dollar .
I want to cheer for them , but I also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth that amount ?
Why should a grocery store clerk or certified nursing assistant earn so much less than someone who writes or edits articles for a living ?
Williams ’ letter made ripples across the poetry community .
Danez Smith responded beautifully in turn on Twitter : “ I ’ m walking , sitting , and listening these days .
My city is getting rid of the police , we are rebuilding from the fires .
My other city , the city of poetry , is in need some of rebuilding and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ learning , and walking with you all .
I love you .
I ’ m ready.
” In some ways , it feels fitting that the poetry community is already doing this work .
Poetry is a genre that lends itself to ideas that seem intangible .
There ’ s so much about our current society that remains rooted in a limited understanding of where we can go from here , a paucity of imagination .
So many people still can ’ t conceive of literally defunding the police or of a society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitalism .
These past two weeks have prompted me to do my own reckoning in terms of my relation to power structures .
The “ plug in a few more Blacks ” model yields limited results , as Obama ’ s presidency , under which the Black Lives Matter movement emerged , showed us .
The ideal result from this reckoning is one that imagines radically new futures , new models , new hope .
That ’ s the only way forward .
●

Heads are rolling, quite literally. Brass bodies are being dragged through the streets and dumped into the ocean; meanwhile, many of their real-life counterparts have been demoted from their treasured places atop of mastheads, fashion companies, and Bravo reality TV shows.
We are in the midst of a great racial reckoning.
The past week alone has seen a dizzying number of high-profile white people in positions of power resign or be fired. On Sunday, June 7, New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet, who oversaw the paper’s Opinion section, announced his resignation after signing off on an op-ed written by Sen. Tom Cotton, which called for the military to be dispatched to forcefully suppress protests against racism and police brutality across the country and which Bennet has since admitted to not having read before it was published.
Monday night, Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport announced his resignation after food writer Tammie Teclemariam tweeted a 2013 photo of him evincing Puerto Rican stereotypes. Condé Nast Entertainment vice president Matt Duckor, who oversaw video for Bon Appétit and other lifestyle brands, has now followed him out the door. A damning Business Insider report on how Bon Appétit has treated its few nonwhite employees prompted a public apology posted to the magazine’s website on Wednesday. On Tuesday, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman resigned, after audio leaked of him telling employees on a private Zoom call that he didn’t think George Floyd was worth mourning for, in addition to perpetuating other conspiracy theories about Floyd’s death. (And after he tweeted in response to a public health organization’s tweet that racism was a public health matter: “It’s FLOYD-19.”)
The editors of Variety, Refinery29, and Man Repeller have also stepped down for reasons relating to lack of diversity at their publications and toxic racist behavior toward their employees. The founder of the “sustainable” fashion company Reformation issued an apology for being racist. Audrey Gelman, the founder of the women’s working space The Wing, announced that she would be stepping down. Bravo fired two stars of Vanderpump Rules for calling the police on a Black coworker for no reason and two new cast members for recently surfaced racist tweets.
Across the country, cities previously hostile to taking down Confederate statues are considering passing resolutions to do so. Authors have been revealing what they got paid for their book deals, highlighting the disparities between the amounts Black authors received and what was given to their non-Black counterparts. Cops (cops!) and Live PD have been canceled, while HBO Max announced that it would be temporarily pulling Gone With the Wind from its streaming services while it prepared a note with additional context about the film’s white supremacist roots.
And my own employer, along with tech companies Twitter and Square, just announced that Juneteenth is going to be an official company holiday for the first time.
What to make of all of this? As Lauren Michele Jackson put it, “Race is happening” — and the speed with which this racial reckoning is bringing about visible changes across a wide spectrum of industries and organizations, after so many years of stubborn inaction, is almost disorienting. This moment has echoes of those first heady days of the #MeToo movement, back in 2017, when it seemed as if every week news of a high-profile man who had allegedly sexually harassed or assaulted someone was coming to light, and occasionally forcing resignations and even criminal charges. Those weeks felt oddly giddy with the exhilaration and naive hope that maybe, finally (finally!) justice was being meted out to longtime abusers of power.


buzzfeed--2020-06-11--Amazon Is Suspending Police Use Of Its Facial Recognition Tech For One Year

Amazon said in a blog post on Wednesday that it would be implementing a one-year suspension on law enforcement use of Rekognition , the company ’ s facial recognition technology .
The move comes during a national moment of protests against police brutality , which have swept the country after police killed two unarmed Black people , George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville , Kentucky .
When reached for comment , an Amazon spokesperson said , `` We ’ re not answering any further questions at this time . ''
Although activists have for years demanded that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police , only this week have companies started to act : Two days ago , IBM CEO Arvind Krishna announced that his company would no longer sell or provide facial recognition to law enforcement and would halt research on the technology .
Amazon ’ s Rekognition gained notoriety in 2018 after it falsely matched 28 members of Congress with mugshots , disproportionately matching politicians of color with criminal suspects .
Rekognition is not the only facial recognition technology that Amazon owns .
The company also owns Ring , which has been developing its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and once had a `` head of facial recognition research . ''
More than 1,300 police departments have signed contracts with the home surveillance company to let them request footage from camera owners without warrants .
Amazon said in the blog post that the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children , as well as technology companies Thorn and Marinus Analytics , would still have access to Rekognition for human trafficking cases .
It ’ s unclear how Amazon will enforce the moratorium for police departments that already have access to Rekognition .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups , including Mijente , which tweeted , `` Let 's hold off celebrating just yet . ''

Amazon said in a blog post on Wednesday that it would be implementing a one-year suspension on law enforcement use of Rekognition, the company’s facial recognition technology.
The move comes during a national moment of protests against police brutality, which have swept the country after police killed two unarmed Black people, George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
When reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson said, "We’re not answering any further questions at this time."
Although activists have for years demanded that tech companies stop selling facial recognition to police, only this week have companies started to act: Two days ago, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna announced that his company would no longer sell or provide facial recognition to law enforcement and would halt research on the technology.
Amazon’s Rekognition gained notoriety in 2018 after it falsely matched 28 members of Congress with mugshots, disproportionately matching politicians of color with criminal suspects.
Rekognition is not the only facial recognition technology that Amazon owns. The company also owns Ring, which has been developing its own proprietary facial recognition technology since 2016 and once had a "head of facial recognition research." More than 1,300 police departments have signed contracts with the home surveillance company to let them request footage from camera owners without warrants.
Amazon said in the blog post that the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, as well as technology companies Thorn and Marinus Analytics, would still have access to Rekognition for human trafficking cases.
It’s unclear how Amazon will enforce the moratorium for police departments that already have access to Rekognition.
The announcement drew skepticism from some activist groups, including Mijente, which tweeted, "Let's hold off celebrating just yet."


buzzfeed--2020-06-11--The Performative Political BS Has To Stop

On Tuesday night , hundreds of protesters swarmed Seattle City Hall to demand the resignation of Jenny Durkan , Seattle ’ s first woman mayor in nearly100 years and its second consecutive openly LGBTQ mayor , who recently instituted a 30-day ban on police using tear gas on protesters — only for cops to ignore it a day later .
The mayor of Washington , DC , Muriel Bowser — only the second woman to hold the position — recently proposed to increase the police department ’ s budget by $ 45 million , and was just sued by Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a citywide curfew .
The group wasn ’ t placated by her decision last Friday to paint its motto in huge bright yellow letters on a street just outside the White House , according to its statement : “ Mayor Muriel Bowser must be held accountable for the lip service she pays in making such a statement while she continues to intentionally underfund and cut services and programs that meet the basic survival needs of Black people in DC.
” The group called the gesture “ a performative distraction from real policy changes.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters added their own message , and their own demand , right next to Bowser ’ s mural : “ Defund the police.
” It ’ s heartening , though perhaps a bit premature , to watch a growing , collective unwillingness to accept lip service in lieu of action from authority figures .
Police officers can ’ t expect to be applauded for their performative gestures of hugging and kneeling with protesters when video evidence reveals they ’ re teargassing and arresting them minutes after the fact .
Neither can lawmakers who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about why they ’ re protesting expect their presence alone to be enough , especially when they ’ re caught on hot mics admitting that “ if I didn ’ t have a primary , I wouldn ’ t care , ” as was the case recently with New York Rep. Eliot Engel .
De Blasio just announced that New York City will paint “ Black Lives Matter ” on streets in all five boroughs , inspired by DC — but this seems unlikely to resuscitate his increasingly poor reputation among his disillusioned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our countries look like if we keep demanding more than this ?
Already , protesters who ’ ve demanded more than murals have seen significant wins , from the repeal of a New York law that ’ s long shielded police records from public view to Minneapolis lawmakers pledging to dismantle the city ’ s police department .
Identity representation politics and gestures of symbolic support for Black lives ( and queer lives , and poor lives ) aren ’ t going to cut it ; they never did to begin with .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ their battle against Trump by playing his games .
The kente cloth debacle isn ’ t so different , after all , from the president ’ s Bible-wielding photo op in front of a DC church — though to their credit , Pelosi and co. didn ’ t teargas a bunch of peaceful protesters to make it happen .
“ We have a reliance in this country on asymmetrical displays that allow us to dwell in , and never penetrate beyond , the level of the cultural , ” St. Félix wrote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ white pantsuit , and of the hot-pink knitted pussyhat .
I am thinking of the canonization of certain moments of pacification : Obama singing ‘ Amazing Grace ’ at the funeral of Clementa Pinckney , who was murdered by Dylann Roof ; Bill Clinton , while leading an Administration that codified mass incarceration , being sanctified for knowing how to play the saxophone so well.
” For too long , so many of us have been soothed by the symbolic , the poignant , all these “ nice ” moments .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the beginning of June , Hillary Clinton tweeted a couple of photos , side by side , to mark the beginning of Pride Month while simultaneously taking a swipe at Trump .
They were two images of the White House — one from 2015 , after the Supreme Court vote on marriage equality , when it was decked out in rainbow lights , and one from this year , when , amid the George Floyd protests , 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue went dark , as if to unconvincingly signal to disappointed trick-or-treaters that nobody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Elections matter , ” with a Vote.org link .
The tweet is a perfect encapsulation of the neoliberal obsession with symbolism over substance — and of the political establishment ’ s delusions about its own influence .
Marriage for same-sex couples was legalized during Obama ’ s presidency ; that much is true .
But it was really decades ’ worth of organizing by activists — who have called for queer justice far beyond marriage equality and still haven ’ t seen crucial wins realized , like universal healthcare or prison abolition — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) victory .
The Democrats , including Obama , only got on board with marriage equality after it was politically palatable .
During the turmoil of the Trump presidency , Obama and other Democratic leaders have kept encouraging Americans to vote our problems away , saying that “ real change ” on racial inequity starts in the voting booth .
That sentiment is perhaps the biggest empty gesture of all : a promise that if people are able to overcome layers upon layers of voter suppression , and are able to actually cast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic , then they ’ ll finally see the changes they seek .
Wesley Lowery , the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who ’ s been documenting the Black Lives Matter movement for the past decade , notes in his latest story for the Atlantic that “ Obama did as much as , if not more than , any other American president to push for policing reform , ” but “ not even he can claim absolute moral credibility on these matters.
” Now , he writes , “ to suggest that Obama could silence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fundamentally misunderstand the origins of the protests of recent years : They were , in part , a direct response to the perception among young Black activists that his administration had failed to address persistent racial inequalities with adequate urgency.
” He quotes a Ferguson activist : “ I voted for Barack Obama twice and still got teargassed.
” In the months and years between opportunities to vote , activists and organizers are hard at work demanding more from our elected officials and other authority figures right here , right now .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ streets ; they are signing petitions and calling into local budget meetings ; they are distributing their wealth via mutual aid funds and directly supporting people in their communities .
They are refusing to accept performative allyship in lieu of solidarity , accountability , and — finally — justice .
●

Sometimes — a lot of the time, really — these performances work. For most (white) Americans, or at least those who aren’t activists or organizers or obsessive politicos, it’s often enough for leaders to at least look like they’re doing or saying the right things. Democrats and Republicans alike who find themselves longing for the guidance of presidents past — who still think there’s a world in which we could conceivably “go back to normal” — aren’t so much hungering for better policies, but for better optics. Trump, though he’s finally lost the support of some Republican leaders who say they won’t back his reelection, has nonetheless faithfully (if oafishly) executed much of the Republican agenda, from rollbacks of LGBTQ rights and environmental protections to flooding the courts with conservatives. Meanwhile, the liberals who wish Obama were still in power are banking on the symbolic promise of our first Black president, even though, as Cornel West put it to Anderson Cooper in a recent viral CNN clip, “the Black Lives Matter movement emerged under a Black president and a Black attorney general … and they still couldn’t deliver.”
So why all this nostalgia? Why are people like Katie Couric longing for Obama and George W. Bush to jointly address the nation as if the problems we’re facing today — born from systemic racism and unchecked corporate greed — didn’t flourish under both of their tenures? Why has Biden been able to run a successful campaign practically fueled by Obama-era reminiscence? It’s nostalgia not for policy so much as performance — for men who were more “presidential” and respectable than Trump, with his openly racist clownery, and for leaders who knew better than to say the quiet parts out loud.
But even though that nostalgia persists, it also seems as though more and more Americans, at least lately, are unwilling to be lulled into a sense of complacency by a strong, soothing leader. For many, it is no longer enough for those in power — from politicians and corporations to celebrities and influencers — to make mere gestures of solidarity with Black people without also doing the work. Now that evidence of police brutality and other racist evils is finally encouraging more white people to care, thanks in large part to the tireless work of activists and citizen journalists, performative allyship like the kente cloth disaster in Congress looks all the more absurd and all the more infuriatingly meager. As the protests keep unfolding, and as anti-racist activists continue making their voices heard — yielding extraordinary early results — it’s becoming much harder to ignore the gulf between a well-meaning but ultimately worthless tactical gesture and real, radical, substantive change.


buzzfeed--2020-06-13--Trump Is Taking Away Transgender Healthcare Protections Created Under Obamacare

The Trump administration further stripped away protections for the LGBTQ community Friday by allowing health providers to deny service to transgender people .
The Department of Health and Human Services ’ final rule would narrow the scope of the ACA ’ s Section 1557 , which bans discrimination based on race , color , national origin , sex , age , and disability in health programs that receive federal funding .
In 2016 the Obama administration tried to extend protection to trans people by changing the definition of discrimination by sex to include “ one ’ s internal sense of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in the courts .
The Trump administration ’ s new rule removes gender identity as a form of sex discrimination .
This means HHS will not punish healthcare providers or insurance companies that discriminate against patients simply for being transgender — nor will the agency have any regulation saying that sort of discrimination is illegal .
The regulation , first proposed as a draft rule in May 2019 , limits the way discrimination “ on the basis of sex ” is defined in healthcare settings .
The new rule also provides a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs .
Under the 2016 rule , such exemptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis where religious beliefs were weighed against other factors .
An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that this change means people in need of abortion services could be denied , delayed , or discouraged from seeking necessary care , placing them at risk of serious or life-threatening harm in emergency cases where a person has limited access to healthcare providers .
NARAL Pro-Choice America released a statement calling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move to strip LGBTQ people of protection from healthcare discrimination .
“ This rule will hurt Americans and fall hardest on people who already face barriers to accessing healthcare , ” the group said .
“ The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.
” Although the new regulation reflects the administration 's opinion about the scope of antidiscrimination law , specifically concerning sex , it does not prevent a victim from suing in court .
Transgender plaintiffs have prevailed in numerous recent sex discrimination lawsuits involving education and workplaces .
When the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to challenge the final rule in federal court — so lawsuits now appear likely .
Since Trump ’ s first months in office , his administration has taken dozens of regulatory steps and court actions to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people and limit reproductive rights — including arguing that stores can turn away customers for being gay even when state laws prohibit it .
Often , the administration has invoked the notion of “ religious freedom ” to advance these aims , contending moral objections trump federal nondiscrimination protections and allow people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its latest regulation , HHS is asserting that bans on sex discrimination should be interpreted narrowly , which the Justice Department is also arguing in cases about employment currently before the Supreme Court .
When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 , lawmakers included Section 1557 to establish nondiscrimination protections in healthcare services and insurance by referring to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other civil rights laws — but it left the specifics up to future rule-making .
HHS under then-president Barack Obama fleshed out those details @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IX ’ s ban on sex discrimination included discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy .
The rule essentially prevented medical workers , insurers , or organizations from discriminating against transgender patients for any services — including transition-related care — and against women who have had or are seeking abortions in some circumstances .
A federal judge had blocked the Obama-era regulation at the end of 2016 , and shortly after Trump took office , his administration announced plans to rewrite it .
Pertaining to abortion care , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health insurer or organization provided the same types of procedures for both abortions and nonabortion services .
For example , a procedure called “ dilation and evacuation ” is used both in miscarriage care and abortion care .
If a Catholic hospital provided this service for miscarriages , for example , it would also have to provide it for abortions .
The rule affected the vast majority of healthcare workers because it applied to any hospitals , doctors , or clinics that accept federal reimbursement or remunerations , like Medicare or Medicaid payments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participate in the health insurance market .
A group of states led by Texas , joined by several organizations , sued the Obama administration in a remote Texas district with only one presiding judge , who blocked the rule , so it never took effect .
After Trump took office , HHS indicated that it would reverse the regulation in order to make the lawsuit moot .
The dispute is at the heart of a much larger national debate over what “ sex ” means : sex as identified by birth , gender @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservatives have insisted that if lawmakers intended for sex discrimination laws to address transgender people , they would have written such language explicitly into the bills , as they did in the Violence Against Women Act .
“ When Congress prohibited sex discrimination , it did so according to the plain meaning of the term , and we are making our regulations conform , ” Roger Severino , director of HHS 's Office for Civil Rights , said in a statement in May 2019 about the draft rule .
HHS added in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ returning to the government ’ s longstanding interpretation of ‘ sex ’ under the ordinary meaning of the word Congress used.
” But several courts have found that federal bans on “ discrimination because of sex ” cover bias over sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of illegal sex discrimination .
For instance , several federal courts have ruled that trans people endured bias because their gender identities differed from their sex at birth , or they didn ’ t conform to gender stereotypes for someone of their birth sex .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definition of “ biological sex ” in March 2019 when the Defense Department released a policy banning most transgender people from the military .
The policy defined “ biological sex ” as a “ person 's biological status as male or based on chromosomes , gonads , hormones , and genitals . ''

The Trump administration further stripped away protections for the LGBTQ community Friday by allowing health providers to deny service to transgender people.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ final rule would narrow the scope of the ACA’s Section 1557, which bans discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in health programs that receive federal funding.
In 2016 the Obama administration tried to extend protection to trans people by changing the definition of discrimination by sex to include “one’s internal sense of gender.” That rule has been tied up in the courts.
The Trump administration’s new rule removes gender identity as a form of sex discrimination. This means HHS will not punish healthcare providers or insurance companies that discriminate against patients simply for being transgender — nor will the agency have any regulation saying that sort of discrimination is illegal.
The regulation, first proposed as a draft rule in May 2019, limits the way discrimination “on the basis of sex” is defined in healthcare settings.
The new rule also provides a blanket exemption to health providers who refuse to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs.
Under the 2016 rule, such exemptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis where religious beliefs were weighed against other factors. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that this change means people in need of abortion services could be denied, delayed, or discouraged from seeking necessary care, placing them at risk of serious or life-threatening harm in emergency cases where a person has limited access to healthcare providers.
NARAL Pro-Choice America released a statement calling the rule change an “unconscionable” move to strip LGBTQ people of protection from healthcare discrimination.
“This rule will hurt Americans and fall hardest on people who already face barriers to accessing healthcare,” the group said. “The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.”
Although the new regulation reflects the administration's opinion about the scope of antidiscrimination law, specifically concerning sex, it does not prevent a victim from suing in court. Transgender plaintiffs have prevailed in numerous recent sex discrimination lawsuits involving education and workplaces.
When the draft rule was released, critics vowed to challenge the final rule in federal court — so lawsuits now appear likely.
Since Trump’s first months in office, his administration has taken dozens of regulatory steps and court actions to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people and limit reproductive rights — including arguing that stores can turn away customers for being gay even when state laws prohibit it. Often, the administration has invoked the notion of “religious freedom” to advance these aims, contending moral objections trump federal nondiscrimination protections and allow people to circumvent state civil rights laws.
In its latest regulation, HHS is asserting that bans on sex discrimination should be interpreted narrowly, which the Justice Department is also arguing in cases about employment currently before the Supreme Court.
When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, lawmakers included Section 1557 to establish nondiscrimination protections in healthcare services and insurance by referring to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other civil rights laws — but it left the specifics up to future rule-making. HHS under then-president Barack Obama fleshed out those details in a 2016 regulation that asserted Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination included discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy.
The rule essentially prevented medical workers, insurers, or organizations from discriminating against transgender patients for any services — including transition-related care — and against women who have had or are seeking abortions in some circumstances.
A federal judge had blocked the Obama-era regulation at the end of 2016, and shortly after Trump took office, his administration announced plans to rewrite it.
Pertaining to abortion care, the 2016 nondiscrimination clause applied only when a health insurer or organization provided the same types of procedures for both abortions and nonabortion services. For example, a procedure called “dilation and evacuation” is used both in miscarriage care and abortion care. If a Catholic hospital provided this service for miscarriages, for example, it would also have to provide it for abortions.
The rule affected the vast majority of healthcare workers because it applied to any hospitals, doctors, or clinics that accept federal reimbursement or remunerations, like Medicare or Medicaid payments. It also affected insurance companies that participate in the health insurance market.
A group of states led by Texas, joined by several organizations, sued the Obama administration in a remote Texas district with only one presiding judge, who blocked the rule, so it never took effect. After Trump took office, HHS indicated that it would reverse the regulation in order to make the lawsuit moot.
The dispute is at the heart of a much larger national debate over what “sex” means: sex as identified by birth, gender identity, or other factors.
Many conservatives have insisted that if lawmakers intended for sex discrimination laws to address transgender people, they would have written such language explicitly into the bills, as they did in the Violence Against Women Act.
“When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform,” Roger Severino, director of HHS's Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement in May 2019 about the draft rule. HHS added in a fact sheet that the rule is “returning to the government’s longstanding interpretation of ‘sex’ under the ordinary meaning of the word Congress used.”
But several courts have found that federal bans on “discrimination because of sex” cover bias over sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of illegal sex discrimination. For instance, several federal courts have ruled that trans people endured bias because their gender identities differed from their sex at birth, or they didn’t conform to gender stereotypes for someone of their birth sex.
The Trump administration, however, narrowed its definition of “biological sex” in March 2019 when the Defense Department released a policy banning most transgender people from the military. The policy defined “biological sex” as a “person's biological status as male or based on chromosomes, gonads, hormones, and genitals."
Additional reporting by Ema O’Connor.


buzzfeed--2020-06-12--Michael Flynn And The Government Want To Stop A Judge From Probing The Decision To Drop His Case. Th

Michael Flynn And The Government Want To Stop A Judge From Probing The Decision To Drop His Case. The DC Circuit Wasn’t Impressed.

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court appeared unimpressed on Friday by arguments from President Donald Trump ’ s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Justice Department that a judge had little power to probe the government ’ s decision to drop the criminal case against Flynn .
Flynn and DOJ raced to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to stop an inquiry by US District Judge Emmet Sullivan into the government ’ s stunning about-face last month in Flynn ’ s case .
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and prosecutors had pursued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DOJ announced last month that it had changed course under orders from Attorney General Bill Barr .
With Flynn and the Justice Department now on the same side , Sullivan appointed John Gleeson , a former federal judge , to present arguments against dismissal and scheduled a hearing in his court for July 16 .
President Donald Trump has made clear that he supports Flynn ’ s attacks on the prosecution , which came out of special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s investigation , and the Justice Department ’ s decision to drop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pardon , Flynn and the Justice Department need an order from Sullivan to actually end the case .
Whether Sullivan grants the government ’ s request to dismiss it on his own , or is forced to by a higher court , is what ’ s at stake before the DC Circuit .
It ’ s a highly unusual situation that pits a sitting federal judge against senior officials at the Justice Department .
Federal appeals courts by design review decisions by district judges , but it is rare for the judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday , all three judges on the DC Circuit panel questioned why Flynn and the Justice Department shouldn ’ t let Sullivan ’ s process play out before bringing the case to the circuit .
Appeals courts generally are hesitant to consider cases before there ’ s a ruling from a lower court .
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said it wasn ’ t as though Flynn ’ s case was “ languishing ” — Sullivan had set a fast schedule , she noted , and the US Supreme Court had already held that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rubber stamp ” in these types of situations .
“ You also know that the courts have said he ’ s not merely a rubber stamp , ” Henderson told Flynn ’ s lawyer Sidney Powell .
“ There ’ s nothing wrong with him holding a hearing , as far as I know .
I don ’ t know of any authority that says he can ’ t hold a hearing before he takes action.
” The DC Circuit panel includes one of Trump ’ s appointees , Judge Neomi Rao ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judges a priority and touted them as a political success for him and Republicans .
Rao expressed some concern about Sullivan ’ s decision to appoint an outside lawyer to argue against dismissal , questioning whose interest Gleeson represented , but she also noted in questions she posed to Powell that the Supreme Court had said judges could appoint lawyers to prosecute contempt-of-court cases , for instance .
Henderson and the third judge on the panel , Judge Robert Wilkins , both served as district court judges before they were confirmed to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on arguments pressed by Powell and Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall that judges lacked authority to do any kind of in-depth , independent review in these types of situations .
Under federal court rules , the government can ’ t just drop a criminal case on its own once it ’ s in court .
They have to file a motion and ask for “ leave of court ” to dismiss it .
Sullivan ’ s position is that the “ leave of court ” rule means judges have authority to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside lawyer to present alternative views .
Flynn and the Justice Department disagree .
Wilkins repeatedly said he didn ’ t understand how Flynn and the Justice Department ’ s position squared with a 1977 decision by the US Supreme Court , Rinaldi v. United States , that said judges had at least some discretion when the government asked to dismiss a criminal case .
Wilkins said dismissing Flynn ’ s case after he had pleaded guilty also implicated decisions made by the court , because two judges — another judge presided before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s evidence against Flynn when they accepted Flynn ’ s plea .
Wilkins expressed concern about a hypothetical situation where the government wanted to drop a criminal case against a white law enforcement officer accused of excessive force against a Black victim , where prosecutors didn ’ t think a jury would believe the victim because of his race .
Wilkins questioned what discretion a judge would have if the government had made a racist decision .
Wall said that it was different from Flynn ’ s case because a prosecutorial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he argued broadly that a court didn ’ t have the power to force the government to take a case to trial — or , in Flynn ’ s case , to go through with sentencing .
Wilkins noted that even if a judge couldn ’ t force the government to continue to prosecute a case , the judge could leave a case in limbo and the government would then have to contend with public perception and any political pressures .
Henderson pointed out that it was still possible Sullivan could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arguments .
Sullivan was an “ old hand ” and an “ excellent ” trial judge , she said , and just because he ’ d asked Gleeson to present the other side didn ’ t mean he had to accept those arguments .
“ I don ’ t see why we don ’ t observe regular order and allow him to rule , ” she said .
Sullivan is the longest-serving active judge on the DC federal bench .
He was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed in 1994 .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecutions , and has a reputation for strictly policing the government ’ s conduct in criminal cases .
He presided over the Justice Department ’ s botched public corruption case against the late Alaska senator Ted Stevens , which DOJ ended up dropping because of prosecutorial misconduct accusations .
The action before the DC Circuit hasn ’ t halted the proceedings before Sullivan .
Earlier this week , Gleeson filed his brief .
Gleeson not only defended Sullivan ’ s authority to explore the Justice Department ’ s decision , but he also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its power to benefit a Trump ally .
“ The Department of Justice has a solemn responsibility to prosecute this case — like every other case — without fear or favor and , to quote the Department ’ s motto , solely ‘ on behalf of justice.
’ It has abdicated that responsibility through a gross abuse of prosecutorial power , attempting to provide special treatment to a favored friend and political ally of the President of the United States , ” Gleeson wrote .
“ It has treated the case like no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ undermined the public ’ s confidence in the rule of law.
” Flynn testified under oath in court that he lied to the FBI during an interview in January 2017 shortly after Trump took office .
The FBI had transcripts of calls in December 2016 between Flynn and Sergey Kislyak , the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time , where the two men discussed Russia ’ s response to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration as well as an upcoming United Nations vote on Israeli settlements .
Flynn told the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take any action on those issues , but according to his plea deal , that was a lie .
Last month , the US intelligence community declassified the transcripts of Flynn ’ s calls with Kislyak .
During a Dec. 29 , 2016 , call when the two men discussed the Obama administration ’ s decision to sanction Russia after the US intelligence community concluded it had meddled in the election , Flynn asked Kislyak to relay a message to Russian officials because he didn ’ t want the Obama administration “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it reciprocal , ” Flynn told Kislyak , referring to Russia ’ s response to the sanctions .
“ Do n't - do n't make it - do n't go any further than you have to .
Because I do n't want us to get into something that has to escalate , on a , you know , on a tit for tat .
You follow me , Ambassador ?
” Flynn agreed to cooperate with the government as part of his plea agreement in December 2017 , but he later changed course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and challenged the legitimacy of the entire prosecution .
His new , adversarial stance tracked Trump ’ s own attacks on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election .
His sentencing date was repeatedly delayed .
On May 7 , the Justice Department announced it was dropping the criminal case against Flynn .
Although Barr had appointed a US attorney in Missouri to review Flynn ’ s case — a sign that senior leadership at DOJ might intervene — the federal prosecutors in Washington involved in the case continued to defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawyers in court .
The motion to dismiss the case was signed only by Timothy Shea , who was serving at the time as the interim US attorney in DC ; none of the prosecutors were on it .
Shea ’ s motion cited evidence that Jeffrey Jensen , the US attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri , uncovered during his probe into the Flynn case .
Shea wrote that the Justice Department was no longer convinced that , by the time FBI officials interviewed Flynn in January 2017 about his contacts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conducted with a legitimate investigative basis.
” Shea also wrote that he wasn ’ t convinced prosecutors could prove “ beyond a reasonable doubt ” that Flynn lied , saying his answers to the FBI in 2017 were “ vague ” and not material to the broader counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the election .
As for Sullivan ’ s authority , Shea wrote that the federal rules for criminal cases dictated that the government only could dismiss a prosecution “ with leave of court , ” but he argued the judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point was “ narrow ” and “ circumscribed .
”

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court appeared unimpressed on Friday by arguments from President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Justice Department that a judge had little power to probe the government’s decision to drop the criminal case against Flynn.
Flynn and DOJ raced to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to stop an inquiry by US District Judge Emmet Sullivan into the government’s stunning about-face last month in Flynn’s case.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and prosecutors had pursued the case for two years when the DOJ announced last month that it had changed course under orders from Attorney General Bill Barr. With Flynn and the Justice Department now on the same side, Sullivan appointed John Gleeson, a former federal judge, to present arguments against dismissal and scheduled a hearing in his court for July 16.
President Donald Trump has made clear that he supports Flynn’s attacks on the prosecution, which came out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, and the Justice Department’s decision to drop it.
But unless the president issues a pardon, Flynn and the Justice Department need an order from Sullivan to actually end the case. Whether Sullivan grants the government’s request to dismiss it on his own, or is forced to by a higher court, is what’s at stake before the DC Circuit.
It’s a highly unusual situation that pits a sitting federal judge against senior officials at the Justice Department. Federal appeals courts by design review decisions by district judges, but it is rare for the judge to be an active participant.
On Friday, all three judges on the DC Circuit panel questioned why Flynn and the Justice Department shouldn’t let Sullivan’s process play out before bringing the case to the circuit. Appeals courts generally are hesitant to consider cases before there’s a ruling from a lower court.
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said it wasn’t as though Flynn’s case was “languishing” — Sullivan had set a fast schedule, she noted, and the US Supreme Court had already held that a judge wasn’t a “rubber stamp” in these types of situations.
“You also know that the courts have said he’s not merely a rubber stamp,” Henderson told Flynn’s lawyer Sidney Powell. “There’s nothing wrong with him holding a hearing, as far as I know. I don’t know of any authority that says he can’t hold a hearing before he takes action.”
The DC Circuit panel includes one of Trump’s appointees, Judge Neomi Rao; Trump has made the confirmation of conservative judges a priority and touted them as a political success for him and Republicans.
Rao expressed some concern about Sullivan’s decision to appoint an outside lawyer to argue against dismissal, questioning whose interest Gleeson represented, but she also noted in questions she posed to Powell that the Supreme Court had said judges could appoint lawyers to prosecute contempt-of-court cases, for instance.
Henderson and the third judge on the panel, Judge Robert Wilkins, both served as district court judges before they were confirmed to the DC Circuit, and they pushed back on arguments pressed by Powell and Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall that judges lacked authority to do any kind of in-depth, independent review in these types of situations.
Under federal court rules, the government can’t just drop a criminal case on its own once it’s in court. They have to file a motion and ask for “leave of court” to dismiss it. Sullivan’s position is that the “leave of court” rule means judges have authority to do their own review, including appointing an outside lawyer to present alternative views. Flynn and the Justice Department disagree.
Wilkins repeatedly said he didn’t understand how Flynn and the Justice Department’s position squared with a 1977 decision by the US Supreme Court, Rinaldi v. United States, that said judges had at least some discretion when the government asked to dismiss a criminal case. Wilkins said dismissing Flynn’s case after he had pleaded guilty also implicated decisions made by the court, because two judges — another judge presided before Sullivan — made factual findings about the government’s evidence against Flynn when they accepted Flynn’s plea.
Wilkins expressed concern about a hypothetical situation where the government wanted to drop a criminal case against a white law enforcement officer accused of excessive force against a Black victim, where prosecutors didn’t think a jury would believe the victim because of his race. Wilkins questioned what discretion a judge would have if the government had made a racist decision.
Wall said that it was different from Flynn’s case because a prosecutorial decision rooted in racial discrimination was unconstitutional, but he argued broadly that a court didn’t have the power to force the government to take a case to trial — or, in Flynn’s case, to go through with sentencing.
Wilkins noted that even if a judge couldn’t force the government to continue to prosecute a case, the judge could leave a case in limbo and the government would then have to contend with public perception and any political pressures.
Henderson pointed out that it was still possible Sullivan could decide to dismiss the case after hearing arguments. Sullivan was an “old hand” and an “excellent” trial judge, she said, and just because he’d asked Gleeson to present the other side didn’t mean he had to accept those arguments.
“I don’t see why we don’t observe regular order and allow him to rule,” she said.
Sullivan is the longest-serving active judge on the DC federal bench. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed in 1994. He’s no stranger to politically explosive prosecutions, and has a reputation for strictly policing the government’s conduct in criminal cases. He presided over the Justice Department’s botched public corruption case against the late Alaska senator Ted Stevens, which DOJ ended up dropping because of prosecutorial misconduct accusations.
The action before the DC Circuit hasn’t halted the proceedings before Sullivan. Earlier this week, Gleeson filed his brief. Gleeson not only defended Sullivan’s authority to explore the Justice Department’s decision, but he also accused the department under Barr of abusing its power to benefit a Trump ally.
“The Department of Justice has a solemn responsibility to prosecute this case — like every other case — without fear or favor and, to quote the Department’s motto, solely ‘on behalf of justice.’ It has abdicated that responsibility through a gross abuse of prosecutorial power, attempting to provide special treatment to a favored friend and political ally of the President of the United States,” Gleeson wrote. “It has treated the case like no other, and in doing so has undermined the public’s confidence in the rule of law.”
Flynn testified under oath in court that he lied to the FBI during an interview in January 2017 shortly after Trump took office. The FBI had transcripts of calls in December 2016 between Flynn and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time, where the two men discussed Russia’s response to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration as well as an upcoming United Nations vote on Israeli settlements. Flynn told the FBI he hadn’t asked Kislyak to take any action on those issues, but according to his plea deal, that was a lie.
Last month, the US intelligence community declassified the transcripts of Flynn’s calls with Kislyak. During a Dec. 29, 2016, call when the two men discussed the Obama administration’s decision to sanction Russia after the US intelligence community concluded it had meddled in the election, Flynn asked Kislyak to relay a message to Russian officials because he didn’t want the Obama administration “to box us in.”
“Make it reciprocal,” Flynn told Kislyak, referring to Russia’s response to the sanctions. “Don't - don't make it - don't go any further than you have to. Because I don't want us to get into something that has to escalate, on a, you know, on a tit for tat. You follow me, Ambassador?”
Flynn agreed to cooperate with the government as part of his plea agreement in December 2017, but he later changed course, fought to withdraw his guilty plea and challenged the legitimacy of the entire prosecution. His new, adversarial stance tracked Trump’s own attacks on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His sentencing date was repeatedly delayed.
On May 7, the Justice Department announced it was dropping the criminal case against Flynn. Although Barr had appointed a US attorney in Missouri to review Flynn’s case — a sign that senior leadership at DOJ might intervene — the federal prosecutors in Washington involved in the case continued to defend it against attacks from Flynn and his lawyers in court. The motion to dismiss the case was signed only by Timothy Shea, who was serving at the time as the interim US attorney in DC; none of the prosecutors were on it.
Shea’s motion cited evidence that Jeffrey Jensen, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, uncovered during his probe into the Flynn case. Shea wrote that the Justice Department was no longer convinced that, by the time FBI officials interviewed Flynn in January 2017 about his contacts with Russians, the investigation “was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis.”
Shea also wrote that he wasn’t convinced prosecutors could prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Flynn lied, saying his answers to the FBI in 2017 were “vague” and not material to the broader counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the election. As for Sullivan’s authority, Shea wrote that the federal rules for criminal cases dictated that the government only could dismiss a prosecution “with leave of court,” but he argued the judge’s power to interfere at that point was “narrow” and “circumscribed.”