FROM THE ACLU This week in civil liberties: A COVID-19 Balancing Act: Public Health and Privacy, How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized, Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it's a Death Trap., We're Working to Safeguard Our Democracy and Our Health, What Happened When I Needed an Abortion During the Pandemic, Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19, Four Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked 2MAI20

This week's best reads from the front lines of the fight for civil liberties.

AT LIBERTY PODCAST A COVID-19 Balancing Act: Public Health and Privacy As some states loosen restrictions and lift stay at home orders, proposals on how to harness technology for contact tracing are flooding in. While some of these options offer promising possible steps toward efficiently tracking and stopping the spread of the virus, history tells us that we must proceed cautiously. In the past, public health and safety have been used as a proxy for discrimination. Technological tools can be applied unevenly and in biased manners. How do we prevent this from happening again as we try to stop the spread of COVID-19? We are joined on the podcast this week by professor Michele Goodwin, and ACLU staff attorney Jennifer Granick, who leads our work on surveillance and cybersecurity. Listen here → By ACLU Staff April 29, 2020   OUR PANDEMIC PLAN How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the ACLU's work of defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights continues, essential as ever. At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on issues arising from the government's response – or lack thereof – to the pandemic. Here's a look at the more than 90 legal actions we've filed since the start of the outbreak, and our successful efforts to win the release of thousands of people from prisons, jails, and detention centers. Read more → By ACLU Staff April 30, 2020   DETENTION, TRUMP STYLE Immigration Detention Was a Black Box Before COVID-19. Now, it's a Death Trap. The rapid spread of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities is a prime example of everything that has gone wrong with immigration detention. "Justice Free Zones: Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration," a new report released this week by the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, looks at the origins of this humanitarian crisis. The report shows how the Trump administration laid the groundwork for the current disaster of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities, and documents the detention crisis through interviews with 150 detained people, detention facility site visits, and analysis of countless records. Read more → By Eunice Cho April 30, 2020   PROTECTING THE VOTE We're Working to Safeguard Our Democracy and Our Health No one should have to choose between their health and their vote, but during the Wisconsin primary, an estimated 19,000 Milwaukeeans were forced to risk their health to cast their primary ballots. Already, at least seven positive COVID-19 cases have been linked to in-person voting in Milwaukee, including one poll worker who may have interacted with hundreds of other voters, and 19 cases have been linked to the primary statewide. Wisconsin is a preview of what could happen in November if we don't act. That's why we're fighting in the halls of Congress and in courts across the country to adopt common sense solutions to protect every voter's right to safely cast a ballot during the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect their rights while doing so. Read more → By Dale Ho and Sonia Gill April 29, 2020   PLAYING POLITICS WITH WOMEN'S HEALTH What Happened When I Needed an Abortion During the Pandemic A 30-year-old mother of three children in Tennessee shares her experience of learning of an unintended pregnancy during a pandemic, shortly before Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order blocking all abortion access in the state until April 30. In her words, the mother explains the challenges faced by caring for her two premature twin daughters and two-year-old son, while managing her epilepsy and barely making ends meet. "The thought of having a fourth child is gut-wrenching," she writes. "All of my plans to get back to work, my hopes for my kids' lives – all of it would go down the drain." Read more → By Anonymous Mother in Tennessee May 1, 2020   LET THEM OUT Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19 A month ago, Congress gave the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons increased authority to reduce the federal prison population. On March 29th, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, providing DOJ and BOP with the ability to expand home confinement eligibility. Then, AG William Barr "applaud[ed] the substantial steps taken" by DOJ and BOP to "move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions" in an April 3 memo. But Barr's applause came too soon. Now, Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have introduced legislation to ensure vulnerable people are identified and released from prison as swiftly as possible. Read more → By Kanya Bennett and Charlotte Resing April 29, 2020   LET'S CLEAR THIS UP Four Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked For years, state lawmakers have pushed legislation attempting to shut trans people out of public spaces. In 2020, lawmakers zeroed in on sports and introduced 20 bills seeking to ban trans people from participating in athletics. These statewide efforts have been supported through a coordinated campaign led by anti-LGBTQ groups that have long worked to attack our communities. Here, we explore and debunk four common myths wielded by these campaigns against trans athletes. Read more → By Chase Strangio and Gabriel Arkles April 30, 2020

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