Today I’m mostly focused on the response to Hurricane Harvey. If you are so moved, Huffington Post has a round-up of donation options. As always, do your own research. And with natural disasters, the need is LONG TERM. So if you can’t give right now, please consider giving in a couple of months, or next year even. These folks will need our help for years.

Horrific Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary Action

“But professor Martin Redish argues in the New York Times that this particular pardon ought to be deemed constitutionally invalid. He contends that it offends the Due Process Clause because the only effective redress for those whose rights were violated by then–Sheriff Arpaio when he defied the court’s injunction is a contempt sanction, and voiding that sanction with a pardon both neuters the judicial power to enforce constitutional rights and deprives Arpaio’s victims of relief.” Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio Is an Impeachable Offense (by Frank Bowman for Slate)

“Overseeing the process was Judge Linda R. Reade, the chief judge of the Northern District of Iowa. She defended the decision to turn a fairground into a courthouse, saying the proceedings were fair and unhurried. The incident sparked allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct and led to congressional hearings. Erik Camayd-Freixas, an interpreter who had worked at the Waterloo proceedings, testified that most of the Spanish-speaking defendants had been pressured to plead guilty. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the unconventional process seemed “like a cattle auction, not a criminal prosecution in the United States of America.”” A Federal Judge Put Hundreds of Immigrants Behind Bars While Her Husband Invested in Private Prisons (by Samantha Michaels for Mother Jones)

Disaster

“In an interview on Sunday morning, Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center, said: “Everything that we had hoped wouldn’t happen but was forecasted is happening. We have a catastrophic, life-threatening flood event taking place over southeastern Texas, including the Houston metropolitan area. It’s bad now and it’s getting worse.”” Harvey Brings Catastrophic Floods to Houston; at Least Five Reported Dead (New  York Times)

““The Right to be Rescued” is a short documentary that tells the stories of people with disabilities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Released days before the 10th anniversary of the storm, our goal is to make emergency planners aware of the specific needs of people with disabilities and push them to alter their disaster plans to make sure those needs are met. You can help! We will provide links or DVDs to anyone who would like to screen this film for emergency planners and others in their community.” The Right to be Rescued (by Rooted in Rights)

Reproductive Health

“Richardson’s case has also attracted national attention from advocates who note that it bears some resemblance to that of Purvi Patel’s, the Indiana woman who was arrested after prosecutors said she delivered a live fetus following taking abortion-inducing drugs obtained from the internet. Patel was ordered to serve 20 years in prison for feticide and felony neglect of a dependent in 2016. After an appeal, the feticide charge was overturned and the neglect charge was reduced last year.” Trial Date Set for Ohio Woman Accused of Killing Baby After Reporting Stillbirth (by Sonia Chopra for Rewire)

Policing

““I shouted out begging for their help,” Kendall said, “telling them, ‘The man who hit me, he’s walking away right now, I can see him, please help me. I need your help …. I would say two of the officers had the courage to meet my gaze. Most of them averted their eyes. All of them did nothing. None of them said a word.”” In Charlottesville, ‘Police Did Nothing’ (by Jackson Landers for Rewire)