By Maseeh Moradi* The recent immigration executive order promises in its title to protect “the nation from foreign terrorist entry.” It does so by barring the entry of, among hundreds of millions of others, all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins (my own parents, once aliens, now citizens, would have been barred as well). Protecting the nation from terrorists evidently means banning everyone from Iran, even though no national from there, or any of the other listed countries, has committed deadly …
Problems of Perception: Unintended Effects of the Immigration Ban on Military Recruitment
By William Denn* Like many Americans, I was deeply troubled by Hameed Khalid Darweesh’s detention at New York’s JFK airport on January 28th. Darweesh, a former U.S. military interpreter from Iraq, who received a special immigrant visa (SIV) on January 20th, was detained due to the recent travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries. The action bans travel for 90 days and suspends all refugee admission for 120 days. Darweesh, who was later released with help from the ACLU, expressed …
Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: South Florida’s Approach
By Jeremy Thompson[1] The U.S. incarceration rate has increased 700% since 1970.[2] As a result, the U.S. has the highest prison population in the world.[3] In the U.S., only 12% of the population is Black.[4] Yet, despite living in a “post-racial,” “colorblind” society,” 38% of the prison population is composed of Blacks.[5] Part of this disparity stems from the disparate impact of zero-tolerance policies in school discipline. These policies were influenced by the fear of the media-driven …
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Automatic Voter Registration: A Rational Solution to an Irrational Problem
By David Howard* Automatic Voter Registration Voting “is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society . . . . [because it] is preservative of other basic civil and political rights.”[1] But before one can vote, that person must first register with the state, often weeks before the election. Voter registration continues to be a contentious issue in the United States, and the current system in many states presents significantly more problems than solutions. Article I, Section 4 of …
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Moms Demand Action: How a Facebook group started a movement to change our nation’s gun laws
By Shannon Watts* As a mother of five, I was devastated by the mass murder of twenty children and six educators at Sandy Hook School nearly four years ago this week. So I started a Facebook page from my kitchen counter in Indiana, which connected me with moms from all over the country who agreed our country must do more to prevent gun violence. Today, Moms Demand Action has a chapter in every state and is the grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention …
Seeing Red: Tomatoes, Salmonella, Takings, & Torts
By Tommy Tobin* It’s an unfortunate reality that food can sometimes make people sick. In just one year, nearly 20,000 Americans were hospitalized due to Salmonella bacteria alone, and over 375 individuals died. In concert with other agencies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a leading role in preventing foodborne illness. For scientists, pinpointing the exact cause of a foodborne illness is difficult. They race against time to find the source, down to the farm, plant, or …
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