motherjones--2020-05-04--New Programs Are Trying to Bolster the Emotional Well-Being of Stressed Health Workers

The meetings start with the ring of a bell , then breathing exercises .
After that , faculty , nurses , and nursing students from Columbia University ’ s nursing school exchange stories from their experiences as part of the COVID-19 response , serving in hospitals in the epicenter of the outbreak .
One nursing student describes being with another student at the bed of a man who dies in front of them—with no nurses available to begin the post-mortality procedures .
The students offered their respects , then gently removed tubes from the body .
No one spoke for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then other members of the group began to describe what they ’ d witnessed on their own shifts .
“ You hear the stories of the frustration , sadness , and anger at the senselessness , ” says Jennifer Dohrn , a professor of nursing and the assistant dean of Global Initiatives at Columbia University Irving Medical Center , “ but also see resiliency and really deepened commitment.
” Usually meetings this intimate would be held in person , but in the era of social distancing , Dohrn has created nearly a dozen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zoom .
They meet weekly and most of them have between 10 and 20 participants .
As the coronavirus spread into New York City and began to directly affect the medical personnel , Dohrn and Lorraine Frazier , the nursing school ’ s dean , saw the need for a new program for the institution ’ s nurses , faculty , and students who were working to treat the spread .
Circle of Care adds to already-existing mental health resources—Dohrn calls it “ one tool in the toolkit ” —that Columbia offers health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work begin to wear them down .
“ It ’ s not a support group , ” she says , but a space where “ there ’ s lots of silence , tears , and it ’ s a moment to just gather your feelings.
” The meetings can help participants in the short-term but also potentially over time in preventing some suffering after the crisis passes .
When days are dominated by adrenaline , trauma often becomes suppressed , she says .
“ But what happens as you have time to remember @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dohrn asks .
“ All that stuff starts to churn in you , what you witnessed .
This is a release valve.
” Across the country , various sectors of the health care industry are rolling out new programs to meet a growing health concern during the pandemic : the emotional well-being of health practitioners .
“ The crisis has accelerated the visibility of cracks in the healthcare system , ” says Dr. Dan Weberg , the head of clinical innovation at Trusted Health , a tech company that connects traveling nurses with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when there were 650,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US , Trusted Health sent out a survey to nurses they had deployed , in an attempt to take a snapshot of the mental well-being within their community of health workers .
During crisis situations , travel personnel often serve as reinforcements to bolster strained medical institutions—65 percent of Trusted ’ s 1,425 respondents were working with COVID-19 patients firsthand .
The responses concerned its developers .
“ Nurses feel really unsupported in this [ crisis ] , ” Weberg says .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they would contract the disease , and the report underscored their concerns about personal protective equipment shortages .
“ [ F ] rontline nurses find themselves delivering care for a high volume of acutely ill patients , often in situations with limited…supplies of personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , ” it reads .
The survey also revealed a 30 percent decline in participants ’ emotional states , asking respondents to rate their general well-being , and measure it against their perceived well-being before COVID-19 .
Another 63 percent of respondents said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t take the mental health of nurses seriously .
“ Nurses don ’ t feel that their health and well-being are prioritized by the system they work for , ” Weberg says .
The methodology of the survey has led to some criticism of its findings .
“ We don ’ t know what percentage responded to the survey , ” Andrew Kuller , a clinical psychologist and Harvard Medical School instructor , says .
“ That ’ s a real limitation , that ’ s sample bias.
” Kuller notes that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of nurses would require recurrent measurements of mental health , rather than a single data point in emergency .
A possible discrepancy could exist between respondents estimating their psychological states before COVID-19 versus measuring it at that time .
Nonetheless , he says , “ There ’ s no doubt that nurses are feeling more stressed out now.
” The implications of a health worker ’ s mental state extends beyond the individuals .
In 2017 , the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine published a study gauging the mental health status of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drew a strong correlation between the psychological well-being of nurses and the occurrence of medical errors in clinical situations .
More than half of the 1,790 clinical practices surveyed reported “ sub-optimal physical and mental health…those with worse health were associated with 26 % to 71 % higher likelihood of having medical errors.
” The year before , the British Medical Journal suggested that errors in the US medical system could result in up to 250,000 annual deaths .
One of the JOEM authors , Bernadette Melnyk , the dean of Ohio State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is trying to address that concern in the COVID-19 era in tandem with Trusted .
The two organizations announced a partnership to support the hundreds of working nurses contracted through its service with the help of OSU resources .
According to Melnyk , that support comes in two forms : a hotline manned by 17 OSU faculty members to provide immediate assistance for “ nurses who really need some help with coping and staying well during the pandemic , ” and a “ wellness partner support program , ” planned to be rolled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partner program , up to 1,000 nurses will be matched with one of 250 OSU nurse practitioner students .
Over four to eight weeks , the OSU students , who have been trained to provide cognitive behavior therapy—which consists of stress management coaching—will be supervised by professionals as they assist frontline nurses through their experiences , via tele-health .
“ Our intention is to become a national wellness hub [ for nurses ] , ” Melnyk says .
At UC Davis , the psychology department has created what they describe as an early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ university hospital hasn ’ t seen a major Covid-19 surge , but the school is sending out regular anonymous surveys to monitor the general status of its medical workers .
According to Angela Drake , a clinical neuropsychologist at the school , the data is used to determine which already-existing resources should be scaled up or down .
“ The survey results have been coming up with anxiety , ” she says .
“ So the plan is to roll out some specific anxiety management interventions for staff.
” California hasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the same extent as New York City , and it is uncertain what the trajectory of the disease and the demands on workers will be .
“ Do we make this a permanent program ?
” Drake asks .
The answer isn ’ t clear .
I asked Melnyk and Dohrn why , if this issue is so serious , it has had such a hard time becoming a priority in heath care , especially when the consequences play out within the field itself .
Melnyk suggests that healthcare workers often “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because they ’ re such givers .
So they let their own health kind of suffer for everybody else ’ s. ” Meanwhile , there exists a misconception outside of healthcare , Dohrn says , that “ we ’ re supposed to know good health .
People look at that as a contradiction , ‘ You ’ re in this field so everyone is healthy . '
”

The meetings start with the ring of a bell, then breathing exercises. After that, faculty, nurses, and nursing students from Columbia University’s nursing school exchange stories from their experiences as part of the COVID-19 response, serving in hospitals at the epicenter of the outbreak. One nursing student describes being with another student at the bed of a man who dies in front of them—with no nurses available to begin the post-mortality procedures. The students offered their respects, then gently removed tubes from the body.
No one spoke for a while after the story ended. Then other members of the group began to describe what they’d witnessed on their own shifts.
“You hear the stories of the frustration, sadness, and anger at the senselessness,” says Jennifer Dohrn, a professor of nursing and the assistant dean of Global Initiatives at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, “but also see resiliency and really deepened commitment.” Usually meetings this intimate would be held in person, but in the era of social distancing, Dohrn has created nearly a dozen Circle of Care support groups online through Zoom. They meet weekly and most have between 10 and 20 participants.
As the coronavirus spread into New York City and began to directly affect the medical personnel, Dohrn and Lorraine Frazier, the nursing school’s dean, saw the need for a new program for the institution’s nurses, faculty, and students who were working to treat the spread. Circle of Care adds to existing mental health resources—Dohrn calls it “one tool in the toolkit”—that Columbia offers health workers should the emotional demands of their work begin to wear them down. “It’s not a support group,” she says, but a space where “there’s lots of silence, tears, and it’s a moment to just gather your feelings.”
The meetings can help participants in the short-term but also over time, potentially, in preventing some suffering after the crisis passes. When days are dominated by adrenaline, trauma often becomes suppressed. “But what happens as you have time to remember the rest of our lives?” Dohrn asks. “All that stuff starts to churn in you, what you witnessed. This is a release valve.”
Across the country, various sectors of the health care industry are rolling out new programs to meet a growing health concern during the pandemic: the emotional well-being of health practitioners. “The crisis has accelerated the visibility of cracks in the healthcare system,” says Dr. Dan Weberg, the head of clinical innovation at Trusted Health, a tech company that connects traveling nurses with employer health care systems.
In mid-April, when there were 650,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, Trusted Health sent out a survey to nurses they had deployed, in an attempt to take a snapshot of the mental well-being within their community of health workers. During crisis situations, travel personnel often serve as reinforcements to bolster strained medical institutions—65 percent of Trusted’s 1,425 respondents were working with COVID-19 patients firsthand.
The responses concerned its developers. “Nurses feel really unsupported in this [crisis],” Weberg says. More than 80 percent of respondents reported being worried they would contract the disease, and the report underscored their concerns about personal protective equipment shortages. “[F]rontline nurses find themselves delivering care for a high volume of acutely ill patients, often in situations with limited…supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE),” it reads. The survey also revealed a 30 percent decline in participants’ emotional states, asking respondents to rate their general well-being, and measure it against their perceived well-being before COVID-19. Another 63 percent of respondents said that the health care industry at large doesn’t take the mental health of nurses seriously.
“Nurses don’t feel that their health and well-being are prioritized by the system they work for,” Weberg says.
The methodology of the survey has led to some criticism of its findings. “We don’t know what percentage responded to the survey,” Andrew Kuller, a clinical psychologist and Harvard Medical School instructor, says. “That’s a real limitation, that’s sample bias.” Kuller notes that a full assessment of the mental status of nurses would require recurrent measurements of mental health, rather than a single data point in emergency. A possible discrepancy could exist between respondents estimating their psychological states before COVID-19 and those measuring it at that time. Nonetheless, he says, “There’s no doubt that nurses are feeling more stressed out now.”
The implications of a health worker’s mental state extends beyond the individual. In 2017, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine published a study gauging the mental health status of nurses at the time. The results drew a strong correlation between the psychological well-being of nurses and the occurrence of medical errors in clinical situations. More than half of the 1,790 clinical practices surveyed reported “sub-optimal physical and mental health…those with worse health were associated with 26% to 71% higher likelihood of having medical errors.” The year before, the British Medical Journal suggested that errors in the US medical system could result in up to 250,000 annual deaths.
One of the JOEM authors, Bernadette Melnyk, the dean of Ohio State University’s College of Nursing, is trying to address that concern in the COVID-19 era in tandem with Trusted. The two organizations announced a partnership to support the hundreds of working nurses contracted through its service with the help of OSU resources. According to Melnyk, that support comes in two forms: a hotline staffed by 17 OSU faculty members to provide immediate assistance for “nurses who really need some help with coping and staying well during the pandemic,” and a “wellness partner support program,” planned to be rolled out on May 18. In the partner program, up to 1,000 nurses will be matched with one of 250 OSU nurse practitioner students. Over four to eight weeks, the OSU students, who have been trained to provide cognitive behavior therapy—which consists of stress management coaching—will be supervised by professionals as they assist front-line nurses through their experiences, via telehealth. “Our intention is to become a national wellness hub [for nurses],” Melnyk says.
At UC Davis, the psychology department has created what it describes as an early warning system for staff. The university hospital hasn’t seen a major COVID-19 surge, but the school is sending out regular anonymous surveys to monitor the general status of its medical workers. According to Angela Drake, a clinical neuropsychologist at the school, the data is used to determine which resources should be scaled up or down. “The survey results have been coming up with anxiety,” she says. “So the plan is to roll out some specific anxiety management interventions for staff.”
California hasn’t seen the pandemic crash the health care systems to the same extent as New York City, and it is uncertain what the trajectory of the disease and the demands on workers will be. “Do we make this a permanent program?” Drake asks. The answer isn’t clear.
I asked Melnyk and Dohrn why, if this issue is so serious, it has had such a hard time becoming a priority in heath care, especially when the consequences play out within the field itself. Melnyk suggests that health care workers often “don’t prioritize their self care because they’re such givers. So they let their own health kind of suffer for everybody else’s.” Meanwhile, there exists a misconception outside of health care, Dohrn says, that “we’re supposed to know good health. People look at that as a contradiction: ‘You’re in this field, so everyone is healthy.'”


motherjones--2020-05-04--“Designed to Create a Climate of Fear”: Amazon VP Quits After Company Fires Activists

Tim Bray , a vice president at Amazon , announced he ’ s leaving the company because of the “ chickenshit ” firing of activists who spoke about conditions at the company ’ s massive warehouses .
Bray , a high-level engineer at Amazon Web Services , laid out his complaints and reasons for stepping away in a damning blog post worth reading in full .
It centers on Amazon ’ s warehouse policies , which—as we ’ ve reported on before—have been the target of employee strikes for increased safety , pay , and workplace protections .
Workers say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gear , inability to stay six feet apart , and not enough cleaning .
( The company told Mother Jones , in a previous statement , that safety measures , including masks , temperature checks , and hand sanitizer are “ standard ” across facilities ; that social distancing has been implemented ; and that protest numbers “ grossly exaggerated.
” ) Last week , a group of Amazon employees , organized under the banner “ Amazon Employees for Climate Justice , ” held a town hall to discuss conditions in the warehouses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a State Island Amazon warehouse , was fired soon after leading a protest ( Amazon says for violating a 14-day quarantine ) .
And two organizers with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice—Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa—were fired for organizing the town hall , Bray says .
“ The justifications were laughable , ” he writes , “ it was clear to any reasonable observer that they were turfed for whistleblowing.
” “ It ’ s evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture , ” he continues .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poison .
”

Tim Bray, a vice president at Amazon, announced he’s leaving the company because of the “chickenshit” firing of activists who spoke about conditions at the company’s massive warehouses.
Friday was my last day at Amazon: https://t.co/kXYDPdNbs7
[Server’s running a little hot but give it time, it’ll come through.] — Tim Bray (@timbray) May 4, 2020
Bray, a high-level engineer at Amazon Web Services, laid out his complaints and reasons for stepping away in a damning blog post worth reading in full.
It centers on Amazon’s warehouse policies, which—as we’ve reported on before—have been the target of employee strikes for increased safety, pay, and workplace protections. Workers say there is a lack of personal protective gear, inability to stay six feet apart, and not enough cleaning. (The company told Mother Jones, in a previous statement, that safety measures, including masks, temperature checks, and hand sanitizer are “standard” across facilities; that social distancing has been implemented; and that protest numbers “grossly exaggerated.”) Last week, a group of Amazon employees, organized under the banner “Amazon Employees for Climate Justice,” held a town hall to discuss conditions in the warehouses.
Amazon’s response has been retribution.
Chris Smalls, a worker at a State Island Amazon warehouse, was fired soon after leading a protest (Amazon says for violating a 14-day quarantine). And two organizers with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice—Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa—were fired for organizing the town hall, Bray says. “The justifications were laughable,” he writes, “it was clear to any reasonable observer that they were turfed for whistleblowing.”
Amazon VP, @timbray resigns over #covid firings of me, @marencosta and others. Says Amazon “firing whistleblowers” is “evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.” Thank you, Tim.https://t.co/oShy4TQisN — Emily Cunningham (@emahlee) May 4, 2020
“It’s evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture,” he continues. “I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.”


motherjones--2020-05-04--As Gun Violence Surges During the Pandemic, Mayors Beg Congress For Help

On an unseasonably warm and sunny day in early April , Chicago hit a deadly milestone : 21 people were shot—including a 5-year-old girl who was wounded while sitting on a front porch .
Seven of the 21 people shot in the city died from their injuries .
It was the highest number of gun-related deaths that the city had seen in a single day since 2018—an especially tragic milestone considering that Illinois , like most other states around the country , was under stay-at-home orders to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus .
As Chicago struggles to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a surge in gun violence continues to disproportionately affect the city ’ s most vulnerable communities and further puts a strain on the city ’ s resources—hospitals all over the city are already overwhelmed fighting the novel coronavirus .
But Chicago is far from the only city that ’ s struggling with the dueling public health crisis of COVID-19 and gun violence .
Though overall crime may be down nationwide because of the pandemic , gun violence is surging in several major cities—including Cincinnati , Philadelphia , and Dallas—and many of those cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dwindling .
In Philadelphia , for example , homicides are up 17 percent compared to this point last year , while in Cincinnati , the homicide number is up more than 90 percent .
Mayors from cities across the country are asking Congress to step in and provide additional funding for frontline workers who work to prevent the spread of gun violence .
In a letter sent on Friday by the gun violence advocacy group Giffords to Senate and House leadership , the mayors of 17 cities—including Los Angeles , Oakland , Philadelphia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Newark—are asking for additional funding specifically to address the spike in gun violence .
“ Our emergency resources are dedicated to protecting public health and safety , but we do not have enough health care resources to fight both these battles , ” the letter reads .
“ We need our health care resources to combat COVID-19 , and we need specific resources to tackle gun violence and support the frontline workers and organizations who are already working to do so.
” With looming budget cuts due to the funds spent fighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money that would be used to support vulnerable communities and curb gun violence are on the chopping block .
In many cases , these communities are also being disproportionately ravaged by COVID-19 , and as a result violence interrupters in these communities have had to take on a duel role not just as community mediators but as health advocates .
In Chicago , my colleague Samantha Michaels profiled one such group , the Target Area Development Corp. : Auburn Gresham , already one of Chicago ’ s most dangerous neighborhoods , is now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the neighborhood has logged at least 487 infections so far , and for a while had more infections than any other zip code in the city .
Mayor Lori Lightfoot deemed Coakley and about 200 other street outreach workers essential workers , sending them letters to show to police if they are stopped for being outside during their work .
The hope was that , during their regular outings into their neighborhoods , they would continue to deter violence—and now they could also inform people about how to stay healthy during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these workers are “ going to be a lifeline for some of those communities , ” says Dr. Ezekiel Richardson , an emergency-room doctor who is working with community organizations on the South Side to inform people about the disease .
Even though many of these programs could receive financial support via the CARES Act ’ s Paycheck Protection Program , according to the Giffords letter that program has fallen short for a number nonprofits , especially community-based violence prevention organizations whose budgets are often dependent on their affiliation with larger fiscal sponsors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difficult situation , violence interrupters and street outreach workers are providing hope and lifelines to communities who need it , ” says Peter Ambler , Giffords ’ executive director .
“ They are the first line of defense , lending a helping hand to those troubled by gun violence while taking on new responsibilities in the effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading .
In this emergency , we can ’ t afford to have the lights go out on the violence intervention programs they work for .
”

On an unseasonably warm and sunny day in early April, Chicago hit a deadly milestone: 21 people were shot—including a 5-year-old girl who was wounded while sitting on a front porch. Seven of the 21 people shot in the city died from their injuries. It was the highest number of gun-related deaths that the city had seen in a single day since 2018—an especially tragic milestone considering that Illinois, like most other states around the country, was under stay-at-home orders to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
As Chicago struggles to treat the flood of COVID-19 patients, a surge in gun violence continues to disproportionately affect the city’s most vulnerable communities and further puts a strain on the city’s resources—hospitals all over the city are already overwhelmed fighting the novel coronavirus. But Chicago is far from the only city that’s struggling with the dueling public health crisis of COVID-19 and gun violence. Though overall crime may be down nationwide because of the pandemic, gun violence is surging in several major cities—including Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Dallas—and many of those cities’ resources to address the issue are dwindling. In Philadelphia, for example, homicides are up 17 percent compared to this point last year, while in Cincinnati, the homicide number is up more than 90 percent.
Mayors from cities across the country are asking Congress to step in and provide additional funding for frontline workers who work to prevent the spread of gun violence. In a letter sent on Friday by the gun violence advocacy group Giffords to Senate and House leadership, the mayors of 17 cities—including Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Pittsburgh, and Newark—are asking for additional funding specifically to address the spike in gun violence. “Our emergency resources are dedicated to protecting public health and safety, but we do not have enough health care resources to fight both these battles,” the letter reads. “We need our health care resources to combat COVID-19, and we need specific resources to tackle gun violence and support the frontline workers and organizations who are already working to do so.”
With looming budget cuts due to the funds spent fighting COVID-19, some mayors are worried that money that would be used to support vulnerable communities and curb gun violence are on the chopping block. In many cases, these communities are also being disproportionately ravaged by COVID-19, and as a result violence interrupters in these communities have had to take on a duel role not just as community mediators but as health advocates. In Chicago, my colleague Samantha Michaels profiled one such group, the Target Area Development Corp.:
Auburn Gresham, already one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, is now reeling from the coronavirus. One section of the neighborhood has logged at least 487 infections so far, and for a while had more infections than any other zip code in the city. Mayor Lori Lightfoot deemed Coakley and about 200 other street outreach workers essential workers, sending them letters to show to police if they are stopped for being outside during their work. The hope was that, during their regular outings into their neighborhoods, they would continue to deter violence—and now they could also inform people about how to stay healthy during the pandemic. In the coming months, these workers are “going to be a lifeline for some of those communities,” says Dr. Ezekiel Richardson, an emergency-room doctor who is working with community organizations on the South Side to inform people about the disease.
Even though many of these programs could receive financial support via the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program, according to the Giffords letter that program has fallen short for a number nonprofits, especially community-based violence prevention organizations whose budgets are often dependent on their affiliation with larger fiscal sponsors.
“In the midst of a difficult situation, violence interrupters and street outreach workers are providing hope and lifelines to communities who need it,” says Peter Ambler, Giffords’ executive director. “They are the first line of defense, lending a helping hand to those troubled by gun violence while taking on new responsibilities in the effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading. In this emergency, we can’t afford to have the lights go out on the violence intervention programs they work for.”


motherjones--2020-05-05--A “Heartbreakingly Difficult Equation”: Prisons Struggle to Maintain College Programs During the Pan

A “Heartbreakingly Difficult Equation”: Prisons Struggle to Maintain College Programs During the Pandemic

The story is published in partnership with The Marshall Project , a nonprofit news organization covering the US criminal justice system .
Sign up for their newsletter , or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter .
When coronavirus kept college professors from teaching in person at Maine Correctional Facility , officials reconfigured a prison classroom to hold classes over Zoom using the Internet from an administrator ’ s computer .
Officials at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Michigan waived a ban on communication between volunteers and prisoners so that Delta College professors could instruct their students over email .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ York , college classes are postponed and graduation is cancelled .
Coronavirus has upended the semester for college students across the country—and thousands of incarcerated students are no exception .
On the outside , professors are conducting classes over video conferencing and graduations will be live-streamed online .
But in prison , where the majority of incarcerated people are cut off from the Internet , the options for distance learning are limited , leaving college administrators scrambling to figure out how to finish the semester from beyond prison walls .
Many have found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enter the prisons .
But they fear the coronavirus could undermine a critical component of college in prison : teaching in person .
Research shows that higher education in prison reduces recidivism and saves taxpayer money .
In interviews with The Marshall Project , college-in-prison administrators noted less often-cited benefits : College programs in prison build community , boost morale , and provide incarcerated students with an antidote to the despair and monotony of prison life .
For Pablo Negron , who is enrolled at Prison-to-College Pipeline at Otisville Correctional Facility , college @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from prison politics and negativity.
” Taking classes has given him a “ sense of accomplishment , ” which makes him feel like his time behind bars wasn ’ t simply wasted .
As he looks forward to life after prison , he says he is optimistic he ’ ll have more career choices with a college education .
How well college programs are able to adapt during the pandemic largely depends on their relationship with the corrections department for their state , and what resources they ’ re able to provide .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ workforce , and can ’ t spare the staff to keep the college programs running .
But there ’ s an understanding among prison officials of the value of education programs , especially during a crisis , says Ruth Delaney , who provides assistance to college sites for the Vera Institute of Justice .
“ Tensions are high , ” Delaney said .
“ Being able to give people something familiar , and engaging can really help to make sure all the resources are focused on fighting coronavirus.
” Many college administrators say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure college classes continue , but without laptops , tablets or an easy way to securely access the Internet , many college programs have had to put their semesters on pause .
With classes on hold , some incarcerated students won ’ t be eligible for important incentives .
In some state prisons , earning a college degree while behind bars could result in a sentence reduction through “ good time ” credit programs .
In New York , for example , students could have six months shaved off their time for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a clean disciplinary record .
For incarcerated students at Great Meadow , an isolated prison several hours outside of New York City , the disrupted semester means they ’ ll have to wait even longer before they ’ re eligible to transfer to facilities closer to home .
Students are placed on an educational hold while enrolled in college programs , so they can not be transferred to other facilities while they complete their degrees .
At San Quentin Prison in California , college classes are suspended until volunteers from the Prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person .
It was a choice between keeping the students on track to finish the semester as planned or ensuring they received a high quality education , said Jody Lewen , the project ’ s executive director .
In-person teaching is essential because students , who overwhelmingly come from marginalized communities , benefit from relationships with their peers and professors .
“ It ’ s particularly important for students who don ’ t have lots of relationships to a wide range of economic and social networks , ” Lewen said .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you and give you guidance and advice.
” As coronavirus spread throughout New York in early March , Jessica Jensen decided it was no longer safe to hold classes at Otisville Correctional Facility .
Jensen directs the Prison-to-College Pipeline program at John Jay ’ s Institute for Justice and Opportunity , which enrolls 52 men .
At first , classes continued through the mail .
Professors sent the remaining course materials directly to the prison and students completed their work on their own .
The program designated several “ clerks ” who collected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warden .
The warden then mailed the completed work to the professors , who graded it and returned it to the students .
Shortly after she reconfigured the semester , Jensen received some alarming news from the Department of Education : correspondence learning is not approved for programs that receive funding through the Second Chance Pell Program , which enrolls nearly 10,000 incarcerated students across the country .
Any Second Chance sites wrapping up the semester through the mail would have to pause their classes or return the grant money .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Second Chance Pell experiment that prisons ’ responses to COVID-19 have created significant challenges for the continuation of instruction at prisons , ” the department wrote in a statement issuing guidance to Second Chance programs .
The department declined to waive the restriction on correspondence classes , and has offered several alternatives for distance learning , including teaching over email or on conference calls .
They believe these methods allow for more “ regular and substantive ” interaction between teachers and students , as outlined in the grant requirements , than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jensen is working with New York ’ s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to use the prison ’ s teleconferencing equipment , normally used for parole hearings .
Jensen hopes they ’ ll be able to “ approximate the Zoom experience , ” allowing professors to directly engage with their students throughout the week .
A spokesperson for the department said they are working “ with college partners to ensure our student population is able to complete required coursework and will continue working to ensure students are able to do so in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several facilities are “ developing plans for distance learning through telephone and video conferencing.
” Research shows that earning a degree in prison decreases recidivism and boosts incarcerated peoples ’ r career prospects once they are released .
A 2013 study by the RAND Corporation found that every dollar spent on prison education saves $ 4 to $ 5 dollars on the overall cost of incarceration in the first three years after someone is released from prison .
It ’ s not clear just how many incarcerated people are enrolled in college classes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill eliminated Pell grants for incarcerated students .
Prior to the 1994 ban , there were roughly 772 college prison programs in over 1,200 prisons nationwide , according to a 2017 report by the American Enterprise Institute , a conservative public policy organization .
By 1997 , the Institute estimates , only a handful of college programs in prison remained .
But over the past several years , with new programs the Obama administration started and President Trump continued , college attendance in prison is on the rise .
In 2015 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pell Program , an experimental initiative to provide Pell grants to incarcerated students .
The program , now in its third year , has provided college classes to roughly 17,000 incarcerated people .
On April 24 , the DOE announced 67 new Second Chance sites , doubling the number of Pell-funded college prison programs .
Members of Congress have also taken interest in higher education in prison .
In April 2019 , Senator Brian Schatz , a Democrat from Hawaii , introduced legislation to restore Pell grants for incarcerated students .
The bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Senate before stalling in committee .
Finding their way back into prison classrooms after the pandemic will be a “ heartbreakingly difficult equation , ” says Max Kenner , director of Bard Prison Initiative in New York .
The decision to leave was urgent : Classes ended in order to keep people safe .
Returning to the prisons could mean sending faculty and staff into facilities where the virus may have spread unchecked .
For incarcerated students , an extended lockdown could mean months without the community they ’ ve come to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see what the fall semester holds , Kenner , like many others , hopes to maintain the foothold college programs have made in prisons over the years .
If programs have to teach at a distance , they risk “ losing the most meaningful part of what we do , which is classroom and community based work in the prisons , ” he said .
“ The most important thing now is not leaving this crisis in a radically worse place than when we started .
”

The story is published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the US criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter, or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter.
When coronavirus kept college professors from teaching in person at Maine Correctional Facility, officials reconfigured a prison classroom to hold classes over Zoom using the Internet from an administrator’s computer. Officials at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Michigan waived a ban on communication between volunteers and prisoners so that Delta College professors could instruct their students over email. At Great Meadow Correctional Facility in New York, college classes are postponed and graduation is cancelled.
Coronavirus has upended the semester for college students across the country—and thousands of incarcerated students are no exception. On the outside, professors are conducting classes over video conferencing and graduations will be live-streamed online. But in prison, where the majority of incarcerated people are cut off from the Internet, the options for distance learning are limited, leaving college administrators scrambling to figure out how to finish the semester from beyond prison walls. Many have found workarounds now that they can no longer enter the prisons. But they fear the coronavirus could undermine a critical component of college in prison: teaching in person.
College classes keep him “busy and away from prison politics and negativity.” Taking classes has given him a “sense of accomplishment.”
Research shows that higher education in prison reduces recidivism and saves taxpayer money. In interviews with The Marshall Project, college-in-prison administrators noted less often-cited benefits: College programs in prison build community, boost morale, and provide incarcerated students with an antidote to the despair and monotony of prison life.
For Pablo Negron, who is enrolled at Prison-to-College Pipeline at Otisville Correctional Facility, college classes keep him “busy and away from prison politics and negativity.” Taking classes has given him a “sense of accomplishment,” which makes him feel like his time behind bars wasn’t simply wasted. As he looks forward to life after prison, he says he is optimistic he’ll have more career choices with a college education.
How well college programs are able to adapt during the pandemic largely depends on their relationship with the corrections department for their state, and what resources they’re able to provide. Many prisons are operating with a reduced workforce, and can’t spare the staff to keep the college programs running. But there’s an understanding among prison officials of the value of education programs, especially during a crisis, says Ruth Delaney, who provides assistance to college sites for the Vera Institute of Justice.
“Tensions are high,” Delaney said. “Being able to give people something familiar, and engaging can really help to make sure all the resources are focused on fighting coronavirus.”
Many college administrators say corrections officials have bent over backwards to make sure college classes continue, but without laptops, tablets or an easy way to securely access the Internet, many college programs have had to put their semesters on pause. With classes on hold, some incarcerated students won’t be eligible for important incentives. In some state prisons, earning a college degree while behind bars could result in a sentence reduction through “good time” credit programs. In New York, for example, students could have six months shaved off their time for completing designated programming, provided they also have a clean disciplinary record.
For incarcerated students at Great Meadow, an isolated prison several hours outside of New York City, the disrupted semester means they’ll have to wait even longer before they’re eligible to transfer to facilities closer to home. Students are placed on an educational hold while enrolled in college programs, so they cannot be transferred to other facilities while they complete their degrees.
At San Quentin Prison in California, college classes are suspended until volunteers from the Prison University Project can return to teaching in person. It was a choice between keeping the students on track to finish the semester as planned or ensuring they received a high quality education, said Jody Lewen, the project’s executive director. In-person teaching is essential because students, who overwhelmingly come from marginalized communities, benefit from relationships with their peers and professors.
“It’s particularly important for students who don’t have lots of relationships to a wide range of economic and social networks,” Lewen said. “The professors are people who get to know you and give you guidance and advice.”
“Being able to give people something familiar, and engaging can really help to make sure all the resources are focused on fighting coronavirus.”
As coronavirus spread throughout New York in early March, Jessica Jensen decided it was no longer safe to hold classes at Otisville Correctional Facility. Jensen directs the Prison-to-College Pipeline program at John Jay’s Institute for Justice and Opportunity, which enrolls 52 men. At first, classes continued through the mail. Professors sent the remaining course materials directly to the prison and students completed their work on their own. The program designated several “clerks” who collected coursework and submitted it to the deputy warden. The warden then mailed the completed work to the professors, who graded it and returned it to the students.
Shortly after she reconfigured the semester, Jensen received some alarming news from the Department of Education: correspondence learning is not approved for programs that receive funding through the Second Chance Pell Program, which enrolls nearly 10,000 incarcerated students across the country. Any Second Chance sites wrapping up the semester through the mail would have to pause their classes or return the grant money.
“We have heard from numerous postsecondary institutions participating in the Second Chance Pell experiment that prisons’ responses to COVID-19 have created significant challenges for the continuation of instruction at prisons,” the department wrote in a statement issuing guidance to Second Chance programs. The department declined to waive the restriction on correspondence classes, and has offered several alternatives for distance learning, including teaching over email or on conference calls. They believe these methods allow for more “regular and substantive” interaction between teachers and students, as outlined in the grant requirements, than simply corresponding by mail.
Now, Jensen is working with New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to use the prison’s teleconferencing equipment, normally used for parole hearings. Jensen hopes they’ll be able to “approximate the Zoom experience,” allowing professors to directly engage with their students throughout the week.
A spokesperson for the department said they are working “with college partners to ensure our student population is able to complete required coursework and will continue working to ensure students are able to do so in the future.” The statement added that several facilities are “developing plans for distance learning through telephone and video conferencing.”
Research shows that earning a degree in prison decreases recidivism and boosts incarcerated peoples’r career prospects once they are released. A 2013 study by the RAND Corporation found that every dollar spent on prison education saves $4 to $5 dollars on the overall cost of incarceration in the first three years after someone is released from prison.
It’s not clear just how many incarcerated people are enrolled in college classes. Enrollments plunged after the 1994 crime bill eliminated Pell grants for incarcerated students. Prior to the 1994 ban, there were roughly 772 college prison programs in over 1,200 prisons nationwide, according to a 2017 report by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy organization. By 1997, the Institute estimates, only a handful of college programs in prison remained.
“It’s particularly important for students who don’t have lots of relationships to a wide range of economic and social networks.”
But over the past several years, with new programs the Obama administration started and President Trump continued, college attendance in prison is on the rise. In 2015, the Department of Education piloted the Second Chance Pell Program, an experimental initiative to provide Pell grants to incarcerated students. The program, now in its third year, has provided college classes to roughly 17,000 incarcerated people. On April 24, the DOE announced 67 new Second Chance sites, doubling the number of Pell-funded college prison programs.
Members of Congress have also taken interest in higher education in prison. In April 2019, Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, introduced legislation to restore Pell grants for incarcerated students. The bill received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate before stalling in committee.
Finding their way back into prison classrooms after the pandemic will be a “heartbreakingly difficult equation,” says Max Kenner, director of Bard Prison Initiative in New York. The decision to leave was urgent: Classes ended in order to keep people safe. Returning to the prisons could mean sending faculty and staff into facilities where the virus may have spread unchecked. For incarcerated students, an extended lockdown could mean months without the community they’ve come to depend on.
As they wait to see what the fall semester holds, Kenner, like many others, hopes to maintain the foothold college programs have made in prisons over the years. If programs have to teach at a distance, they risk “losing the most meaningful part of what we do, which is classroom and community based work in the prisons,” he said. “The most important thing now is not leaving this crisis in a radically worse place than when we started.”


motherjones--2020-05-05--Navajo Nation Is Behind Only New York and New Jersey in Rates of COVID-19 Infection. What Happened?

When the Indian Health Service doctors said they ’ d have to keep him overnight , Ray Berlin tore the IVs out of his arm and fled the emergency room .
His granddaughter Judith Solomon found him in the hospital ’ s waiting room , waving his cane to fend off doctors as they tried to get him back in bed .
“ He didn ’ t feel safe , ” Solomon says of Berlin , who ’ d been diagnosed with pneumonia after resisting his family ’ s first attempts to take him in for care .
“ He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ horse doctors ’ because he thought they weren ’ t qualified doctors , just students who came to practice on us , not caring about what kind of care they provided , ” Solomon says .
Around the same time , her grandmother was diagnosed with diabetes .
She refused to take “ the white man ’ s medications ” and ultimately perished from the disease .
That all took place in the 1990s , but Solomon , whose family has resided on Navajo Nation lands for more than two centuries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Western medicine and health care providers—has enabled the coronavirus to rapidly spread across their reservation .
With a population of 350,000 and territory encompassing over 27,000 square miles , the Navajo Nation is the largest Indigenous reservation in the country , bigger than West Virginia and nine other US states .
Today , the rural community has more per-capita COVID-19 infections than any place outside of New York and New Jersey .
In April , its rate of infection was 10 times higher than that of Arizona , which encircles most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up on the reservation more than one month ago , more than 2,373 people have been infected , and the death toll stands at 73—higher than those of 11 states .
“ The need for the Navajo is far greater than any other tribe I have seen , ” says Rep. Deb Haaland ( D-N.M. ) , whose district includes part of the reservation .
The reasons for it expose how history and long-standing inequalities are shaping the way the disease attacks .
In 1864 , the Navajo endured their own version of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US Army subjected them to more than 50 forced marches away from their homelands .
Many Navajo died of pneumonia along the way , and there is a well-known local legend that the US Army distributed blankets infected with smallpox to expedite the genocide , something that European colonists intentionally did at least once .
Later , in the 1950s , after the reservation had become the hub of the country ’ s booming uranium industry , the US Public Health Service studied Navajo uranium miners without informing them or gaining consent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over time , scientists who knew about the risks of exposure did not inform the Navajo of known precautionary measures and only distributed safety pamphlets in English .
Navajo miners soon began dying of lung cancer and respiratory diseases at astounding rates , while Christian missionaries were taking Navajo children from their families to violently assimilate them at boarding schools .
These traumas remain “ critical to contemporary Navajos ’ sense of identity as a people , ” anthropologist Thomas Csordas wrote in a Medical Anthropology Quarterly article about the tribe .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reservation ’ s outbreak likely began at the March 9 rally of a local chapter of an evangelical church , Solomon says , “ everybody ’ s mindset immediately went right back to ” the church ’ s role in colonizing the Navajo .
Rumors began to swirl that white Christians had brought the virus , perhaps even intentionally , creating confusion about how the virus spreads and suspicion of information from the outside .
“ It brought back the mistrust , and a lot of bad memories .
My parents , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the whole situation , ” says Solomon , who prefers the term Diné as the Navajos ’ traditional name for themselves .
Even COVID-19 prevention measures felt like a form of colonialism .
And as the virus became a growing concern across the country , awareness developed slowly on the reservation .
Early news of the outbreak largely came through English-speaking media , which many Navajo either don ’ t read or don ’ t trust .
Many elders on the reservation only speak the Navajo language , and even those who understand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local sources .
“ If they watch the news , it ’ s not really registering , ” says Solomon .
“ But when they turn into KTEN , ” a popular Navajo radio station , “ they hear the medicine woman or the Navajo Nation president talking about it , and then it sinks in .
When they ’ re talking about it in Navajo , in our language , it has more of an impact .
I see that with my own parents.
” Indian Health Service workers , school nurses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done more to inform Navajo people about the importance of social distancing before their officials were forced to implement widespread closures and intense weekend-long curfews , says Solomon .
She only began to hear KTEN feature local leaders on hand-washing , social distancing , and other mitigation measures around the start of April , long after such advisories became widespread elsewhere .
The Navajo Department of Health first imposed stay-at-home orders on March 20 .
Some Navajo bragged about “ rebelling ” against these orders , since historically , white government officials “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force things on us , ” says Solomon .
Of course , mistrust is not the only reason the coronavirus has ripped through Navajo reservation—other factors , like lack of adequate housing and clean water , high rates of poverty , and low education also contributed .
“ Tribes have been chronically neglected and underfunded for decades and decades , and with this coronavirus , we ’ re seeing it ’ s clear that the US needs to live up to its trust responsibilities , ” says Haaland .
Take water .
Decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the well-documented pollution of drinking water in the area .
Despite the Environmental Protection Agency ’ s remediation efforts , 40 percent of Navajo Nation still lacks reliable access to clean water .
“ If you ’ re having to haul water from a well many miles down a dirt road , and bring it back to water the animals , and also use it for washing and cooking and things like that , it ’ s really hard to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor who directs the University of Arizona ’ s Center for Rural Health .
In 2018 , the US Commission on Civil Rights published the “ Broken Promises Report ” to highlight this chronic neglect of Native American communities , who the US federal government promised to support in various ways through the hundreds of treaties it signed and ratified with Indigenous nations in exchange for taking their lands .
Identifying severe inequities in basic infrastructure , housing , education , health care , and economic needs , the Commission concluded that federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsibilities legally enshrined in treaties , and recommended Congress implement a major spending package as well as “ steady , equitable , and non-discretionary funding directly to tribal nations.
” Neglect has had a death toll since long before the coronavirus , and not just for the Navajo : A study by the National Institutes of Health found that Native Americans and Alaska Natives died of the 2009 H1N1 flu at four times the rates of all other racial and ethnic groups combined .
Yet while reparations for Indigenous nations remain far from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis response has left them out to dry .
While the CARES Act , the largest economic stimulus package in US history , allocated more than $ 8 billion for tribal communities and health institutions , Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has decried the “ very slow ” pace at which those dollars are flowing toward hard-hit communities like his , thanks to a lengthy grant application process with “ heavy reporting requirements ” and the possibility that billions will be unjustly diverted to for-profit Alaska Native corporations .
( The Navajo and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this . )
“ We are using our own dollars to help out these emergencies , ” says Nez , adding that tribal coffers will be badly depleted by the loss of local business and tourism revenue .
To obtain basic protective gear like gloves , masks , and face shields , “ We are bidding against everyone , even against state governments , ” says Nez , “ and it seems like the person with the most money gets the resources .
That ’ s just what this country is doing.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many Navajo households will struggle to implement social distancing measures , says Derksen , given the local tendency for many generations of a family to live together under one roof .
While intergenerational housing may be a preferred cultural practice , expanding food access on reservations is one way to improve health outcomes and mitigate future pandemics .
Currently , many Navajo people must travel up to 50 miles to get groceries and supplies , bringing them into contact with regional COVID-19 hot spots such as Gallup , New Mexico , where Solomon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to renewed racism from non-Native locals .
“ My grandpa used to say , ‘ when you ’ ve been out in the real world , you come back and see everything is just as you left it , ' ” says Solomon , who lived in California and Washington for 13 years before returning to the Navajo Nation .
“ There ’ s no real progress .
It ’ s heart wrenching to see your people struggling , especially when there ’ s this pandemic going on that ’ s so great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t even know what to do with it .
They ’ re so scared .
They ’ re so misinformed.
” But in yet another display of Indigenous resilience , she ’ s been working with her sister and niece to bring food and supplies from distant stores , assembling baskets for elders and families with children so they don ’ t have to leave home .
“ I recently had to go to four or five Family Dollars to get what I needed , ” says Solomon .
“ But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ canned goods and toilet paper .
My aunt just called and said she was down to three rolls and couldn ’ t find any , so I came over and brought some.
” For the Navajo , the same insular focus and close-knit family structures that create challenges during a pandemic can also be part of the solution .
“ I come from a long line of Navajo warriors , ” says Solomon .
“ I moved back here to take care of my parents and that ’ s turned into a long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for .
I fight for my people .
”

When the Indian Health Service doctors said they’d have to keep him overnight, Ray Belin tore the IVs out of his arm and fled the emergency room. His granddaughter Judith Solomon found him in the hospital’s waiting room, waving his cane to fend off doctors as they tried to get him back in bed. “He didn’t feel safe,” Solomon says of Belin, who’d been diagnosed with pneumonia after resisting his family’s first attempts to take him in for care. “He got really mad and started calling them ‘horse doctors’ because he thought they weren’t qualified doctors, just students who came to practice on us, not caring about what kind of care they provided,” Solomon says. Around the same time, her grandmother was diagnosed with diabetes. She refused to take “the white man’s medications” and ultimately perished from the disease.
That all took place in the 1990s, but Solomon, whose family has resided on Navajo Nation lands for more than two centuries, says this tendency—a deeply entrenched mistrust of Western medicine and health care providers—has enabled the coronavirus to rapidly spread across their reservation.
With a population of 350,000 and territory encompassing over 27,000 square miles, the Navajo Nation is the largest Indigenous reservation in the country, bigger than West Virginia and nine other US states. Today, the rural community has more per-capita COVID-19 infections than any place outside of New York and New Jersey. In April, its rate of infection was 10 times higher than that of Arizona, which encircles most of the Nation. Since the first cases cropped up on the reservation more than one month ago, more than 2,373 people have been infected, and the death toll stands at 73—higher than those of 11 states. “The need for the Navajo is far greater than any other tribe I have seen,” says Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), whose district includes part of the reservation.
The reasons for it expose how history and long-standing inequalities are shaping the way the disease attacks.
In 1864, the Navajo endured their own version of the infamous Trail of Tears, the “Long Walk,” when the US Army subjected them to more than 50 forced marches away from their homelands. Many Navajo died of pneumonia along the way, and there is a well-known local legend that the US Army distributed blankets infected with smallpox to expedite the genocide, something that European colonists intentionally did at least once. Later, in the 1950s, after the reservation had become the hub of the country’s booming uranium industry, the US Public Health Service studied Navajo uranium miners without informing them or gaining consent. To track the effects of radiation over time, scientists who knew about the risks of exposure did not inform the Navajo of known precautionary measures and only distributed safety pamphlets in English. Navajo miners soon began dying of lung cancer and respiratory diseases at astounding rates, while Christian missionaries were taking Navajo children from their families to violently assimilate them at boarding schools.
These traumas remain “critical to contemporary Navajos’ sense of identity as a people,” anthropologist Thomas Csordas wrote in a Medical Anthropology Quarterly article about the tribe.
So when the Navajo Times reported that the reservation’s outbreak likely began at the March 9 rally of a local chapter of an evangelical church, Solomon says, “everybody’s mindset immediately went right back to” the church’s role in colonizing the Navajo. Rumors began to swirl that white Christians had brought the virus, perhaps even intentionally, creating confusion about how the virus spreads and suspicion of information from the outside. “It brought back the mistrust, and a lot of bad memories. My parents, like other Diné people, became wary of the whole situation,” says Solomon, who prefers the term Diné as the Navajos’ traditional name for themselves. Even COVID-19 prevention measures felt like a form of colonialism.
And as the virus became a growing concern across the country, awareness developed slowly on the reservation. Early news of the outbreak largely came through English-speaking media, which many Navajo either don’t read or don’t trust. Many elders on the reservation only speak the Navajo language, and even those who understand English prefer to receive information from particular local sources. “If they watch the news, it’s not really registering,” says Solomon. “But when they turn into KTNN,” a popular Navajo radio station, “they hear the medicine woman or the Navajo Nation president talking about it, and then it sinks in. When they’re talking about it in Navajo, in our language, it has more of an impact. I see that with my own parents.”
Indian Health Service workers, school nurses, and community center officials could have done more to inform Navajo people about the importance of social distancing before their officials were forced to implement widespread closures and intense weekend-long curfews, says Solomon. She only began to hear KTNN feature local leaders on hand-washing, social distancing, and other mitigation measures around the start of April, long after such advisories became widespread elsewhere. The Navajo Department of Health first imposed stay-at-home orders on March 20. Some Navajo bragged about “rebelling” against these orders, since historically, white government officials “always tried to come in here and force things on us,” says Solomon.
(Rep. Haaland, who is sponsoring a bill that would improve tribes’ access to CDC funding and programs, is also pushing for local media outlets to receive emergency funding as part of the next coronavirus relief package, as small newspapers face what one journalism expert called an “extinction-level crisis.” Haaland’s office says that “equal access to accurate information and culturally relevant news will save lives.”)
Of course, mistrust is not the only reason the coronavirus has ripped through Navajo reservation—other factors, like lack of adequate housing and clean water, high rates of poverty, and low education also contributed. “Tribes have been chronically neglected and underfunded for decades and decades, and with this coronavirus, we’re seeing it’s clear that the US needs to live up to its trust responsibilities,” says Haaland.
Take water. Decades of uranium mining on Navajo lands contributed to the well-documented pollution of drinking water in the area. Despite the Environmental Protection Agency’s remediation efforts, 40 percent of Navajo Nation still lacks reliable access to clean water. “If you’re having to haul water from a well many miles down a dirt road, and bring it back to water the animals, and also use it for washing and cooking and things like that, it’s really hard to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds,” says Daniel Derksen, a public health professor who directs the University of Arizona’s Center for Rural Health.
In 2018, the US Commission on Civil Rights published the “Broken Promises Report” to highlight this chronic neglect of Native American communities, who the US federal government promised to support in various ways through the hundreds of treaties it signed and ratified with Indigenous nations in exchange for taking their lands. Identifying severe inequities in basic infrastructure, housing, education, health care, and economic needs, the Commission concluded that federal institutions were failing to fulfill the trust responsibilities legally enshrined in treaties, and recommended Congress implement a major spending package as well as “steady, equitable, and non-discretionary funding directly to tribal nations.”
Neglect has had a death toll since long before the coronavirus, and not just for the Navajo: A study by the National Institutes of Health found that Native Americans and Alaska Natives died of the 2009 H1N1 flu at four times the rates of all other racial and ethnic groups combined.
Yet while reparations for Indigenous nations remain far from a legislative priority, even the COVID-19 crisis response has left them out to dry. While the CARES Act, the largest economic stimulus package in US history, allocated more than $8 billion for tribal communities and health institutions, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has decried the “very slow” pace at which those dollars are flowing toward hard-hit communities like his, thanks to a lengthy grant application process with “heavy reporting requirements” and the possibility that billions will be unjustly diverted to for-profit Alaska Native corporations. (The Navajo and 10 other tribes are suing to stop this.)
“We are using our own dollars to help out these emergencies,” says Nez, adding that tribal coffers will be badly depleted by the loss of local business and tourism revenue. To obtain basic protective gear like gloves, masks, and face shields, “We are bidding against everyone, even against state governments,” says Nez, “and it seems like the person with the most money gets the resources. That’s just what this country is doing.”
Even with proper gear and information, many Navajo households will struggle to implement social distancing measures, says Derksen, given the local tendency for many generations of a family to live together under one roof. While intergenerational housing may be a preferred cultural practice, expanding food access on reservations is one way to improve health outcomes and mitigate future pandemics. Currently, many Navajo people must travel up to 50 miles to get groceries and supplies, bringing them into contact with regional COVID-19 hot spots such as Gallup, New Mexico, where Solomon says she’s lately been subject to renewed racism from non-Native locals.
“My grandpa used to say, ‘when you’ve been out in the real world, you come back and see everything is just as you left it,'” says Solomon, who lived in California and Washington for 13 years before returning to the Navajo Nation. “There’s no real progress. It’s heart wrenching to see your people struggling, especially when there’s this pandemic going on that’s so great and so huge, and our people don’t even know what to do with it. They’re so scared. They’re so misinformed.”
But in yet another display of Indigenous resilience, she’s been working with her sister and niece to purchase food and supplies from distant stores, assembling baskets for elders and families with children so they don’t have to leave home. “I recently had to go to four or five Family Dollars to get what I needed,” says Solomon. “But I always have a van full of canned goods and toilet paper. My aunt just called and said she was down to three rolls and couldn’t find any, so I came over and brought some.”
For the Navajo, the same insular focus and close-knit family structures that create challenges during a pandemic can also be part of the solution. “I come from a long line of Navajo warriors,” says Solomon. “I moved back here to take care of my parents and that’s turned into a long list of people I’m caring for. I fight for my people.”


motherjones--2020-05-04--As Gun Violence Surges During the Pandemic, Mayors Beg Congress for Help


motherjones--2020-05-05--Adam Schiff Says Trump’s “Cult of the President” Has Infected the Republican Party

How the hell did we get here ?
That ’ s what Rep. Adam Schiff ( D-Calif. ) wants to know .
The congressman and colleagues have introduced legislation to set up a commission to investigate and identify how the Trump administration failed in its response to the coronavirus .
( Based on our timeline of the first 100 days of Trump ’ s response , they ’ ll have plenty to look into . )
Schiff recently joined Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief and the Commonwealth Club to talk hiring Twitter trolls into top intelligence positions , and chat about his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Real time oversight is vitally important , ” he says .
Even if it ’ s hard “ to do meaningful oversight when you ’ re dealing with bodies that don ’ t particularly want to share the answers.
” But Schiff believes his experience from the impeachment trial has prepared him for it .
You can watch the full interview here , or read an edited transcript below .
Congressmen , at the end of the impeachment trial , you posed a rhetorical question to the Senate : “ You may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do over the next few months before the election.
” Then you said , “ A lot , a lot of damage.
” What were you imagining then and how does that square with what ’ s happening now ?
I don ’ t think anyone anticipated that we would very soon lose more lives than we did during the Vietnam War , and it ’ s due to the incompetence and maladministration of this president .
We grossly underestimated the damage that he could do .
The impeachment proceedings and then-trial centered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president of Ukraine and then covered it up .
How is that mentality playing out here ?
Those that have been willing to say nice things about him have seen the Trump campaign take those statements and put them into campaign ads .
We can ’ t have any confidence that this president or his administration are making those decisions on the basis of science , on the basis of need , on the basis of what ’ s in the best interest of the American people , but as we said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you can always count on Donald Trump for is , he will do what ’ s right for Donald Trump , not what ’ s right for the country .
You said it ’ s hard to tell if something is of corrupt intent or just incompetence .
How are you untangling that right now ?
This has been the story of the Trump presidency .
You can say , “ That ’ s really not in the president ’ s interest to do politically , ” but he does it nonetheless because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him personally .
He thinks it ’ s good for him politically—it ’ s part of the myopia of this extraordinary narcissism we see .
It ’ s certainly not in the national interest for Donald Trump to be out there postulating that maybe people should inject bleach as a way of killing the virus or pushing out untested treatments .
The entire prism is not what ’ s best for the country with this president , [ it ’ s ] what ’ s best for him .
Is that in part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or unwilling , to tell him the truth ?
Or are they living in a bubble of their own creation as well ?
One of the points we made during the trial is that you ’ re not going to change the president ’ s character .
He is who he is .
In terms of his family , Jared Kushner was asked about this grim milestone we are crossing where more people are dying of the virus and have died of the virus than died during Vietnam , and his answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really good decisions .
We ’ re doing a really good job.
” [ That ] was equally revealing in terms of this whole family ’ s blind spot .
The most that we can do in Congress is try to mitigate and limit the damage , do vigorous oversight , and insist on accountability .
We need to do that in real time .
Do you feel confident that you are getting forthright briefings from the intelligence community ?
Well , it grieves me to say that the answer is no , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the intelligence community under Trump .
It has really reached its pinnacle with the appointment of Rick Grenell as the top intel official in the country , someone who has virtually no intelligence experience—he was essentially a Twitter troll .
He did what you do to get a high appointment in the Trump administration : You go on Fox , on social media , and make the most incendiary attacks on the president ’ s opponents and say the most exaggerated claims on behalf of the president .
I think it came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inspectors general who were supposed to be this firewall against intergovernmental corruption , or malfeasance of other sorts , could be so easily dismissed by the very people that they are reporting on .
Is that something that happened before and what could Congress do to fortify those rules and laws ?
The inspector generals system , which has been really integral to rooting out waste , fraud , and abuse in government and has a great success record , is a post Watergate reform .
But like so many of the post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obliterated by this president .
In the intelligence bill that we ’ re drafting now , we are going to have a provision that provides you can not fire an inspector general except for good cause .
We ’ re going to also have requirements that if you do fire an inspector general , Congress needs to be informed of what they were working on when they were fired .
The existing law says that when you fire an inspector general you have to give 30 days notice .
Well the president did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they couldn ’ t fulfill that last 30 days .
Now that 30 days might have given the opportunity for the inspector general to make sure that investigations that were ongoing were not closed , swept under the rug , or made to disappear .
We are going to be putting in statute protections for the inspector generals going forward , things that we didn ’ t think were going to be necessary , because we thought presidents would never do what this president is doing—our own post Watergate reforms .
Things that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone to make sure that our democratic norms and institutions are codified , or protections are codified , so that they can never be assaulted the way that this president has .
Have you found any bipartisan support for such line of thinking thus far ?
Given the slave like devotion of particular House Republicans , Kevin McCarthy doesn ’ t cross the street without asking Donald Trump .
That kind of sycophantic , slavish devotion to the president isn ’ t going to admit of independent reforms .
What kind of accountability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
The oversight committee—what can it do and not do in the immediate future ?
There are two kinds of oversight going on in Congress that are going to be very important in real time .
Real time oversight is vitally important .
There ’ s a whole host of other issues though—it ’ s very difficult at a distance to do meaningful oversight when you ’ re dealing with bodies that don ’ t particularly want to share the answers .
Much of what we will need to know in the intel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not do it at a distance .
We certainly don ’ t have the secure video capability among all of our members around the country right now to be able to conduct such a hearing .
In the meantime , we are doing the kind of oversight that we can by requesting , requiring information by teleconference , by using the budget where necessary to compel answers .
For example , an oversight committee looking at the problem with protective gear .
They did a bipartisan briefing where administration officials acknowledged that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests and that there are shortages in reagents and swabs .
It ’ s less visible to the public , which is a problem , because a very important point of the oversight is getting good information out to the country .
When you talked to my colleague David Corn during the impeachment hearings , you were shocked that it was quite obvious that when you started making your arguments to the Senate , that they hadn ’ t watched the house hearing , and not just hadn ’ t watched the full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it all kind of mediated through Fox .
Do you feel that that ’ s going on with this crisis ?
House Republicans have become such a cult of the president that they ’ re not even capable of acknowledging the facts staring them in the face .
We had to operate from the premise , which turned out to be all too accurate , that the senators were really not watching the hearings in the House .
They were getting the topline from Fox , which was completely misleading .
Have you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delegation when it comes to the pandemic ?
Kevin McCarthy , Devin Nunes—do the two of them , and you , and Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters ever come to any agreement about what needs to proceed in terms of representing the state of California ?
I will say it ’ s been one of the biggest disappointments I ’ ve had of the Trump administration , and that is , I had a much higher view of my Republican colleagues of their commitment to their own ideals , of their commitment to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ represent the Republican party anymore .
They represent a cult of personality of the president .
And so , I do think when the president is gone , I have to hope that they will return to being Republican once again .
COVID ’ s taken every inequity in our society and magnified it and increased it .
What of any old fights may have a chance of being viewed in a new way by both members of Congress and more conservative constituents ?
One thing I will say about what we ought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the approach that European countries were taking , but also Asian countries .
Where the government was guaranteeing payroll for businesses , large and small .
That seemed to me much more equitable , much more efficient .
You didn ’ t need a separate program for small business and one for large industry .
You didn ’ t need to overwhelm unemployment compensation .
You didn ’ t need to have so many people unemployed .
And when this virus does pass , then who have to now go and find employment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they had , even if they couldn ’ t perform the work right now .
That kind of a payroll guarantee is the best approach .
Do you think it ’ s via payroll or is it a UBI , a universal basic income , kind of start it up now , let ’ s become Alaska ?
Those are two good models for us to explore .
I ’ ve been particularly attracted to the payroll model because it has the effect of preserving employment .
They ’ re not also mutually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of universal basic income if you made them monthly .
But I particularly think that the payroll guarantee is the right approach .
America has made a choice to have millions and millions of its people now going to unemployment rolls .
Do you think election protection will be a part of the next stimulus bill ?
Absolutely .
I think we have to insist that in the next legislation that we take up , we protect the health of the American people , we protect the health of our economy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy .
The American people have a right not only to be able to vote , but to know where their elected officials stand on the franchise , whether they are willfully trying to obstruct people ’ s ability to vote in this country .
So if the Republicans are determined to disenfranchise people , it ought to be abundantly clear what they ’ re doing so that they can be held accountable at the polls .

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How the hell did we get here? That’s what Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wants to know. The congressman and colleagues have introduced legislation to set up a commission to investigate and identify how the Trump administration failed in its response to the coronavirus. (Based on our timeline of the first 100 days of Trump’s response, they’ll have plenty to look into.)
Schiff recently joined Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief and the Commonwealth Club to talk hiring Twitter trolls into top intelligence positions, and chat about his alternative to universal basic income. “Real time oversight is vitally important,” he says. Even if it’s hard “to do meaningful oversight when you’re dealing with bodies that don’t particularly want to share the answers.” But Schiff believes his experience from the impeachment trial has prepared him for it.
You can watch the full interview here, or read an edited transcript below.
Congressmen, at the end of the impeachment trial, you posed a rhetorical question to the Senate: “You may be wondering how much damage the president can do over the next few months before the election.” Then you said, “A lot, a lot of damage.” What were you imagining then and how does that square with what’s happening now?
I don’t think anyone anticipated that we would very soon lose more lives than we did during the Vietnam War, and it’s due to the incompetence and maladministration of this president. We grossly underestimated the damage that he could do.
The impeachment proceedings and then-trial centered around the accusation that Trump essentially extorted the president of Ukraine and then covered it up. How is that mentality playing out here?
Those that have been willing to say nice things about him have seen the Trump campaign take those statements and put them into campaign ads. We can’t have any confidence that this president or his administration are making those decisions on the basis of science, on the basis of need, on the basis of what’s in the best interest of the American people, but as we said during the trial, the one thing you can always count on Donald Trump for is, he will do what’s right for Donald Trump, not what’s right for the country.
You said it’s hard to tell if something is of corrupt intent or just incompetence. How are you untangling that right now?
This has been the story of the Trump presidency. You can say, “That’s really not in the president’s interest to do politically,” but he does it nonetheless because he thinks it’s good for him personally. He thinks it’s good for him politically—it’s part of the myopia of this extraordinary narcissism we see.
It’s certainly not in the national interest for Donald Trump to be out there postulating that maybe people should inject bleach as a way of killing the virus or pushing out untested treatments. The entire prism is not what’s best for the country with this president, [it’s] what’s best for him.
Is that in part because his aides and children are unable, or unwilling, to tell him the truth? Or are they living in a bubble of their own creation as well?
One of the points we made during the trial is that you’re not going to change the president’s character. He is who he is. In terms of his family, Jared Kushner was asked about this grim milestone we are crossing where more people are dying of the virus and have died of the virus than died during Vietnam, and his answer was, “We’ve made really good decisions. We’re doing a really good job.” [That] was equally revealing in terms of this whole family’s blind spot.
The most that we can do in Congress is try to mitigate and limit the damage, do vigorous oversight, and insist on accountability. We need to do that in real time.
Do you feel confident that you are getting forthright briefings from the intelligence community?
Well, it grieves me to say that the answer is no, that there has been a tremendous politicization of the intelligence community under Trump.
It has really reached its pinnacle with the appointment of Rick Grenell as the top intel official in the country, someone who has virtually no intelligence experience—he was essentially a Twitter troll. He did what you do to get a high appointment in the Trump administration: You go on Fox, on social media, and make the most incendiary attacks on the president’s opponents and say the most exaggerated claims on behalf of the president.
I think it came as a surprise to most people that inspectors general who were supposed to be this firewall against intergovernmental corruption, or malfeasance of other sorts, could be so easily dismissed by the very people that they are reporting on. Is that something that happened before and what could Congress do to fortify those rules and laws?
The inspector generals system, which has been really integral to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government and has a great success record, is a post Watergate reform. But like so many of the post Watergate reforms, they’ve been obliterated by this president.
In the intelligence bill that we’re drafting now, we are going to have a provision that provides you cannot fire an inspector general except for good cause. We’re going to also have requirements that if you do fire an inspector general, Congress needs to be informed of what they were working on when they were fired. The existing law says that when you fire an inspector general you have to give 30 days notice. Well the president did an end run around that so that they couldn’t fulfill that last 30 days. Now that 30 days might have given the opportunity for the inspector general to make sure that investigations that were ongoing were not closed, swept under the rug, or made to disappear.
We are going to be putting in statute protections for the inspector generals going forward, things that we didn’t think were going to be necessary, because we thought presidents would never do what this president is doing—our own post Watergate reforms. Things that will be necessary when this president has gone to make sure that our democratic norms and institutions are codified, or protections are codified, so that they can never be assaulted the way that this president has.
Have you found any bipartisan support for such line of thinking thus far?
Given the slave like devotion of particular House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy doesn’t cross the street without asking Donald Trump. That kind of sycophantic, slavish devotion to the president isn’t going to admit of independent reforms.
What kind of accountability can Congress muster now under these circumstances? The oversight committee—what can it do and not do in the immediate future?
There are two kinds of oversight going on in Congress that are going to be very important in real time. Real time oversight is vitally important. There’s a whole host of other issues though—it’s very difficult at a distance to do meaningful oversight when you’re dealing with bodies that don’t particularly want to share the answers. Much of what we will need to know in the intel committee will be classified and therefore we cannot do it at a distance. We certainly don’t have the secure video capability among all of our members around the country right now to be able to conduct such a hearing.
In the meantime, we are doing the kind of oversight that we can by requesting, requiring information by teleconference, by using the budget where necessary to compel answers. For example, an oversight committee looking at the problem with protective gear. They did a bipartisan briefing where administration officials acknowledged that there were shortages of protective gear and tests and that there are shortages in reagents and swabs. It’s less visible to the public, which is a problem, because a very important point of the oversight is getting good information out to the country.
When you talked to my colleague David Corn during the impeachment hearings, you were shocked that it was quite obvious that when you started making your arguments to the Senate, that they hadn’t watched the house hearing, and not just hadn’t watched the full of them, but seemed to have it all kind of mediated through Fox. Do you feel that that’s going on with this crisis?
House Republicans have become such a cult of the president that they’re not even capable of acknowledging the facts staring them in the face. We had to operate from the premise, which turned out to be all too accurate, that the senators were really not watching the hearings in the House. They were getting the topline from Fox, which was completely misleading.
Have you seen any conciliatory movement within the California delegation when it comes to the pandemic? Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes—do the two of them, and you, and Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters ever come to any agreement about what needs to proceed in terms of representing the state of California?
I will say it’s been one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had of the Trump administration, and that is, I had a much higher view of my Republican colleagues of their commitment to their own ideals, of their commitment to the constitution. They don’t represent the Republican party anymore. They represent a cult of personality of the president. And so, I do think when the president is gone, I have to hope that they will return to being Republican once again.
COVID’s taken every inequity in our society and magnified it and increased it. What of any old fights may have a chance of being viewed in a new way by both members of Congress and more conservative constituents?
One thing I will say about what we ought to do right now—I was struck at the approach that European countries were taking, but also Asian countries. Where the government was guaranteeing payroll for businesses, large and small.
That seemed to me much more equitable, much more efficient. You didn’t need a separate program for small business and one for large industry. You didn’t need to overwhelm unemployment compensation. You didn’t need to have so many people unemployed. And when this virus does pass, then who have to now go and find employment because people got to retain the jobs they had, even if they couldn’t perform the work right now. That kind of a payroll guarantee is the best approach.
Do you think it’s via payroll or is it a UBI, a universal basic income, kind of start it up now, let’s become Alaska?
Those are two good models for us to explore. I’ve been particularly attracted to the payroll model because it has the effect of preserving employment. They’re not also mutually exclusive. The stimulus checks are a form of universal basic income if you made them monthly. But I particularly think that the payroll guarantee is the right approach. America has made a choice to have millions and millions of its people now going to unemployment rolls.
Do you think election protection will be a part of the next stimulus bill?
Absolutely. I think we have to insist that in the next legislation that we take up, we protect the health of the American people, we protect the health of our economy, and we protect the health of our democracy. The American people have a right not only to be able to vote, but to know where their elected officials stand on the franchise, whether they are willfully trying to obstruct people’s ability to vote in this country.
So if the Republicans are determined to disenfranchise people, it ought to be abundantly clear what they’re doing so that they can be held accountable at the polls.


motherjones--2020-05-05--California Is Suing Uber and Lyft for Misclassifying Workers

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Tuesday that the state is suing Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees .
“ We intend to make sure that Uber or Lyft play by the rules , ” Becerra said .
It ’ s a huge win for gig labor activists who have pushed for enforcement of Assembly Bill 5 , which was passed last year to stop Uber and Lyft—among others—from employing drivers in all but name .
Since AB 5 went into effect on January 1 , 2020 , California has been reticent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually follow the new law .
The coronavirus has made the perils of lack of employment more stark .
Drivers have been fighting back , staging car protests to demand enforcement and better protections .
In a statement , Gig Workers Rising , an organizing group for drivers , called the lawsuit a “ an important step in the right direction.
” The group said it ’ s been working with the Attorney General on the lawsuit “ to prove misclassification by these companies.
” In the meantime , tech firms have not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I noted in a previous report : Even before AB 5 went into effect , Uber and Postmates , another delivery app , sued California to stop the law .
( A federal judge denied the companies ’ initial request . )
Uber , Lyft , Instacart , DoorDash , and Postmates have spent $ 110 million to promote and gather signatures for a proposed ballot measure that would essentially exempt many gig companies from the law .
The companies formed a group that recruited what it calls “ app-based drivers ” to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which will almost certainly appear on the November ballot .
Op-eds written by drivers associated with the campaign called it a matter of “ flexibility.
” The coronavirus appears to have done little to change the minds of company executives .
Uber told Mother Jones it was still “ 100 percent ” behind the ballot measure .
And when CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent a letter to President Donald Trump , arguing that government benefits should go to drivers to help with the economic fallout from COVID-19 , he made it clear he didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a case for making Uber employ those drivers .
It would harm , Khsrowshahi argued , their “ flexibility.
” Drivers who I spoke with weren ’ t keen on the flexibility argument .
You can read the full account of one driver , Cardell Calloway , here—he called the model of non-employment “ cheating.
” And he ’ s not alone : many I ’ ve spoken with felt the same way .
The sponsor of AB 5 , Lorena Gonzalez , a former labor organizer , told me in frustration that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this governor to enforce [ AB 5 ] , I think I ’ d be holding my breath all year.
” Today , it finally happened .

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Tuesday that the state is suing Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. “We intend to make sure that Uber or Lyft play by the rules,” Becerra said.
Breaking: California sues Uber and Lyft for misclassifying workers, the first enforcement action under AB 5. The state is seeking civil damages and back wages for drivers. https://t.co/gASiVP2h4s — kate conger (@kateconger) May 5, 2020
It’s a huge win for gig labor activists who have pushed for enforcement of Assembly Bill 5, which was passed last year to stop Uber and Lyft—among others—from employing drivers in all but name. Since AB 5 went into effect on January 1, 2020, California has been reticent, until now, to force companies to actually follow the new law. The coronavirus has made the perils of lack of employment more stark.
Drivers have been fighting back, staging car protests to demand enforcement and better protections. In a statement, Gig Workers Rising, an organizing group for drivers, called the lawsuit a “an important step in the right direction.” The group said it’s been working with the Attorney General on the lawsuit “to prove misclassification by these companies.”
In the meantime, tech firms have not stopped fighting back against regulation. As I noted in a previous report:
Even before AB 5 went into effect, Uber and Postmates, another delivery app, sued California to stop the law. (A federal judge denied the companies’ initial request.) Uber, Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash, and Postmates have spent $110 million to promote and gather signatures for a proposed ballot measure that would essentially exempt many gig companies from the law. The companies formed a group that recruited what it calls “app-based drivers” to serve as spokespeople for the proposition, which will almost certainly appear on the November ballot. Op-eds written by drivers associated with the campaign called it a matter of “flexibility.” The coronavirus appears to have done little to change the minds of company executives. Uber told Mother Jones it was still “100 percent” behind the ballot measure. And when CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent a letter to President Donald Trump, arguing that government benefits should go to drivers to help with the economic fallout from COVID-19, he made it clear he didn’t want such benefits to be a case for making Uber employ those drivers. It would harm, Khsrowshahi argued, their “flexibility.”
Drivers who I spoke with weren’t keen on the flexibility argument. You can read the full account of one driver, Cardell Calloway, here—he called the model of non-employment “cheating.” And he’s not alone: many I’ve spoken with felt the same way.
The sponsor of AB 5, Lorena Gonzalez, a former labor organizer, told me in frustration that, “If I was holding out for this governor to enforce [AB 5], I think I’d be holding my breath all year.” Today, it finally happened.