Brief #158—Civil Right
By Rod Maggay
In 2013 the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in the Shelby County v. Holder case. The case was brought seeking to have Sections 4(b) and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 declared unconstitutional. The Voting Rights Act had been enacted to address racial discrimination in voting that had been a longstanding feature in a number of states, particularly in the Deep South.
Brief #12—Social Justice
By Lily Lady Cook
In the United States, Amazon operates 110 fulfillment centers, and has increased its employees in the past year to around 1.2 million workers worldwide. Those employed in Amazon’s fulfillment centers have become highly visible during the pandemic, as the nation becomes more aware of our essential workers and the mechanisms of the global supply chain.
Since Amazon’s inception in 1994, there have been multiple attempts at collective organizing; workers in Staten Island, Chicago, Virginia, and now Alabama have attempted but ultimately failed to unionize. In this latest instance, warehouse workers began a union voting process in Bessemer, Alabama, in coordination with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The results were announced earlier this month, and indicated a resounding victory for Amazon. Of the 5,800 workers, 3,215 cast ballots. 1,798 of those voted against a union and 738 in favor. In order for the union to proceed, at least 30 percent of voters would have had to indicate support; in this case, a mere 13 percent of workers were in favor.
Brief #11—Social Justice
By Erika Shannon
In the wake of several recent mass shootings, there is pressure on President Biden to reform gun laws here in the U.S. With mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado, Texas, and South Carolina recently, many are urging the President to do something before the violence continues to spiral out of control. While some are concerned that President Biden’s reforms will infringe on their Second Amendment rights, Biden alleges that is not the case. A major first step was the President’s nomination of David Chipman to lead the ATF, or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Chipman is a gun owner, a former ATF employee, and staff member at Giffords, the gun reform organization founded by US Senator Mark Kelly.
Brief #120—Immigration
By Kathryn Baron
In March 2021, CBP apprehended at least 170,000 migrants at the US Southwest Border – the highest in 15 years and a 70% increase from February 2021. Nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children were taken into custody after crossing the border – including at port entries – quadrupling figures for the same month in 2020. Many are meeting relatives in the US and/or they are economic migrants looking for work.
Brief #102—Healthcare and Gender
By Rosalind Gottfried’
Biden has outlined an ambitious reform of the Affordable Care Act though his ability to achieve all of his goals rests on the solidarity of the Democrats since he will not have any Republican support, and consensus is not appearing likely. The element most at risk for failure is the issue of a public option, a proposal that was eliminated from the Bill in the Obama administration because it was too divisive.
One way to incorporate a public option is to expand Medicare to younger Americans, to age 55 or 60, and to extend care to dental and vision coverage. This is the plan promoted by Senator Bernie Sanders. Another proposal is in a bill by Democratic Senators Michael Bennet and Time Kaine which would expand Medicare to allow anyone to buy into it and pay a premium including small businesses. Neither of these proposals is likely to win the day. Biden, if successful at all in incorporating a public option, will likely provide for buying insurance directly through the federal government in a system like the current insurance federal insurance exchange. The benefit of this approach is that the government, by directly selling insurance, can set a lower price by appealing to a large segment of the insurance buying public. In order to stay successful, private insurances would have to mirror that rate. As a result, premiums would go down and more of the population would participate. Biden also has increased the tax subsidy for purchasing insurance making the premiums lower. Biden’s extension of the current enrollment period to May 15, 2021, coupled with subsidies under the American Rescue act, has resulted in over a half a million newly insured Americans to date.
Brief #111—Environment
By Jacob Morton
From the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump made every effort to weaken the country’s environmental protections and accelerate profits for the fossil fuel industry. Trump’s single term was riddled with attempts to roll back, what he considered, cumbersome environmental regulations, some that had existed for decades. He appointed oil and coal lobbyists to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior, who would champion the expansion of oil pipelines throughout our federal lands. The work to clean up his mess is far from over. Here is an update on three highly controversial oil pipeline projects made possible by the Trump administration.
Brief #4—Fishing Boat Dispatch
By Katherine Cart
On trawl vessels targeting demersal fish in the North Pacific there is always a government contracted worker – usually a recent college graduate – whose job it is to monitor fishing practices. The Observer’s duties include sampling netted fish for biodiversity, collecting otoliths, sex, length and maturity data, and among many other oddities, standing on deck while a writhing codend[1] the size of a school bus is hauled up the stern ramp. The codend is dumped into the trawl alley; fish flood, flapping dimly, shocked to be, so suddenly, in alien air.
Brief #101—Gender and Policy
By Erin Mcnemar
In President Joe Biden’s policy proposal, “The Biden Agenda for Women,” he highlights how women have been disproportionately impacted in a number of sectors. Biden explains in the United States women are typically the ones that end up having the responsibility of taking care of their families. While that alone can be a large task, typically only one in six American workers qualify for paid family leave. Additionally, Black and Latina individuals are even less likely to qualify according to Biden.
Brief #100—Health and Gender
By Taylor J Smith
During Donald Trump’s final days as president, the US Supreme Court granted a request by the administration to reimplement restrictions on patients attempting to obtain mifepristone, a drug used to terminate early pregnancy. The Supreme Court decision reinstates the requirement for patients to pick up the medication in person. Three lower courts had previously blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement for an in-person pick up. The lower court rulings were fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and assumed risks of entering a hospital, doctor’s office, or clinic at this time. The court split 6-3, with the liberal justices in the opposition.
Brief #99—Health and Gender
By Justin Lee
The American Jobs Plan, introduced by President Biden last week, proposes a whopping $2.25 trillion to revamp and modernize multiple industries. As the plan allocates and focuses most on American infrastructure upgrades, significant parts of the plan also directly and indirectly revamps American public health. As capitol hill will likely continue to debate the size and funding of the legislative package, it is important to outline how this package can move American public health into the modern era.