THE SAN BERNARDINO
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AMERICAN
“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -R.W. Emerson
NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties
August 11, 2022 Thursday Edition
Volume 53 No. 17 Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92393
Office: (909) 889-7677
Email: Mary @Sb-American.com
Website: www.SB-American.com
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Human Rights Violations in Prisons Throughout Southern United States Cause Disparate and Lasting Harm in Black Communities NNPA NEWSWIRE — “The U.S. has long failed to live up to its international human rights treaty obligations on eliminating racial discrimination, perhaps more so in the area of mass incarceration and prison conditions than in any other context,” said Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy at the Southern Poverty Law Center. By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
According to the report, several states in the United States have also failed to meet several of the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of incarcerated people. NEW YORK – The Southern Prisons Coalition, a group of civil and human rights organizations, submitted a new report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on the devastating consequences of incarceration on Black people throughout the southern United States. With the long-term goal of eliminating all forms of racial discrimination in the criminal legal system, including the carceral system, the report describes the widespread, disparate harms resulting from the arrests, harsh prison sentences, and incarceration on Black communities. The report also cites the devastating impacts of solitary confinement, prison labor, the school to prison pipeline, and incarceration of parents on Black families. On August 8, 2022, the UN will review the United States’ compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination for the first time since 2014. Among the ongoing stark racial disparities throughout prisons in the southern United States, Black
people are five times more likely to be incarcerated in state prisons. In states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas, where Black communities comprise 38% of the total population, Black individuals account for as much as 67% of the total incarcerated population. While incarcerated, Black people are more than eight times more likely to be placed in solitary confinement, and they are 10 times more likely to be held there for exceedingly long periods of time. By submitting the report to the United Nations, the Southern Prisons Coalition hopes to solicit concrete recommendations from the UN Committee as well as commitments from the United States delegation about their plans to address systemic issues in the United States prison system, particularly in the South. According to the report, several states in the United States have also failed to meet several of the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of incarcerated people, including: Work should help to prepare incarcerated people
for their release from prison, including life and job skills; Safety measures and labor protections for incarcerated workers should be the same as those that cover workers who are not incarcerated; Incarcerated workers should receive equitable pay, be able to send money home to their families, and have a portion of their wages set aside to be given to them upon release. “The U.S. has long failed to live up to its international human rights treaty obligations on eliminating racial discrimination, perhaps more so in the area of mass incarceration and prison conditions than in any other context,” said Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “We hope the Committee will help to shine a light on these very dark truths and prompt the U.S. to take its obligation to make significant improvements more seriously.” “The abuses of forced labor are inextricably tied to racial discrimination in our nation,” said Jamila Johnson, Deputy Director at the Promise of Justice Initiative.
“In Louisiana, for instance, people are still sent into the fields to labor by hand in dangerously high heat indexes, for little to no compensation, and with brutal enforcement reminiscent of slavery and the era of ‘convict leasing’.” “This report reveals the suffering of Black people in southern U.S. prisons, whose stories of marginalization and discrimination echo the racial subjugation of slavery and convict leasing during our country’s most shameful past,” said Antonio L. Ingram II, Assistant Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. “Despite widespread knowledge of the longstanding racial inequalities in the criminal legal and carceral systems, the United States continues to allow egregious human rights violations to persist for Black incarcerated people in violation of international law. This report serves as a sobering reminder of how far we need to go.” Read the full report here:https:// www.naacpldf.org/wp-content/ uploads/Report-on-SouthernPrisons-Final-Copy-7.14.22-5pm. pdf
Senate Dems Pass Huge Climate, Health and Tax Bill By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
President Joe Biden said he ran for president promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does. Senate Democrats took a critical step toward reducing inflation and the cost of living by passing the Inflation Reduction Act. Proponents said the measure would make a big difference for many Americans by locking in savings on health insurance premiums and reducing the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices. The bill, when signed by President Joe Biden, should also lead to creating family-sustaining jobs and cutting energy costs by making the most significant investment in history in combating climate change, Democrats have claimed. The country will pay the bill’s $739 billion price tag by making corporations pay their fair share. Those making less than $400,000 annually won’t see tax increases. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in a deadlock Senate to ensure passage. “I’m thrilled we were finally able to pass this historic, oncein-a-generation investment in our country’s future that will lower costs for Georgians, create clean energy jobs and reduce the deficit all at the same time,” said Georgia Democratic Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock. “I’m especially proud the legislation includes two provisions I introduced to cap insulin costs for Medicare patients at $35 a month and to limit the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. This bill will strengthen health care access and lower health care costs for people across Georgia.” Warnock said the legislation would make a real change in people’s lives. “From saving seniors money by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices, to expanding vital health care subsidies, to greening the economy, this legislation will make a lasting impact on Georgians’ lives,” Warnock stated. Experts and economists said the Inflation Reduction Act would save American households thousands of dollars. “This bill will reduce the cost
of prescription drugs, make health insurance more affordable, cap out-of-pocket costs, reduce your energy bill, reduce the federal deficit, and bring down inflation,” Florida Democratic Rep. Val Demings said. “As the daughter of a maid and a janitor, every dollar mattered in our household, and I’ll always fight to protect working families.” Demings said the deal builds on work she did in the House to allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs, bring down energy costs, and create significant new jobs by fighting climate change. “Senate Republicans tried and failed to block this legislation because it takes on their biggest backers: prescription drug companies, fossil fuel companies, and billionaire tax cheats,” Demings remarked. “I’m going to put Florida families first and support policies to bring down costs for working people even if it cuts into the profit margins of these special interests.” Senate Republicans, all of whom opposed the package, lashed out. “This is not about inflation reduction. This is all about Democrats spending on things they want to spend money on,” Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney asserted. “It’s another taxing and spending bill,” he insisted. Biden said he ran for president promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does. “This bill caps seniors’ out-ofpocket spending for prescription drugs at $2000 per year – no matter what their drug bills would otherwise be, seniors will not have to spend more than $2,000,” Biden stated “Additionally, 13 million Americans, covered under the Affordable Care Act, will see their health insurance premiums reduced by $800.” Biden continued: “This bill tackles inflation by lowering the deficit and lowering costs for regular families. This bill also makes the largest investment continued on page 3