{"id":12553,"date":"2021-02-22T09:21:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T14:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=12553"},"modified":"2021-02-22T09:21:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T14:21:07","slug":"this-week-in-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/this-week-in-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties-11\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Covid-19 in Prisons and Jails<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prisons and jails remain hotspots for Covid-19 transmission. A top medical journal recommends that states prioritize incarcerated persons\u2019 access to lifesaving Covid-19 treatments. (The Lancet<\/a>)<\/p>\n

States have taken different approaches to vaccinating incarcerated individuals, with some placing them on priority lists and others restricting their access. (U.S. News and World Report<\/a>)<\/p>\n

A new report in Massachusetts discloses alarming numbers of prison guards refusing to be vaccinated. Half<\/em> of Department of Corrections of officials refused vaccination. Largely to blame: a pervasive culture of \u201ctoughness\u201d and \u201chostility to science.\u201d (Dig Boston<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Technology in Prisons<\/strong><\/p>\n

In all federal and state prisons and jails, personal cellphones are classified as contraband. Covid-19 restrictions on in-person visits and with high fees for phone and video calls through official prison portals make communication with family and friends difficult for many incarcerated people. A recent op-ed argues \u201cJust Let People Have Cellphones in Prison.\u201d (Slate<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In many prisons and jails, private communications companies have a monopoly on inmates\u2019 access to the internet and digital communications. They can charge exorbitant fees for products that are feature limited and prone to failure<\/a>. However, when they work, the products are a vital source of information, access to education, and connection to the outside world. A currently incarcerated person offers a nuanced, personal perspective. (New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Police violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

An extensive study on police conduct in Chicago used data acquired through public records requests to build four years of time-stamped, geolocated records of the officers\u2019 decisions to stop, arrest, and use force against civilians. Their findings are powerful and revealing: \u201cRelative to white officers, Black and Hispanic officers make far fewer stops and arrests, and they use force less often, especially against Black civilians. These effects are largest in majority-Black areas of Chicago and stem from reduced focus on enforcing low-level offenses, with greatest impact on Black civilians.\u201d (Science<\/a>)<\/p>\n

An ongoing reporting collaboration between the Salt Lake Tribune and PBS\u2019s Frontline has resulted in a database of shootings<\/a> by police officers in Utah. A recent analysis of this data found that \u201cIn 2020, at least 40% of people Utah police shot at were experiencing a mental health event.\u201d (Frontline<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This week’s post focuses on Covid-19 in prisons and jails, incarcerated persons’ access to communications technology, and analyses of police violence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101940,"featured_media":12386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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