Criminal Injustice

Photo by Isaiah Rustad on Unsplash

2020 will mark the 10-year anniversary of the publication of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, which explains how the criminal justice system unfairly burdens black people. At the same time, criminal justice reform advocates are calling upon Democratic presidential candidates to make ending mass incarceration a campaign centerpiece. Today isn’t the first time we’re talking about criminal justice reform at MCW, and it won’t be the last. Here’s how to take action this week.

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The Many Victims of Gun Violence

Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash

Please note that this edition discusses gun violence and suicide. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741. They are both confidential and available 24/7. 

Two Parkland shooting survivors died by suicide in the last few days, as has the father of a child who was killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting. The harm done by gun violence doesn’t end when the shooting stops: trauma and grief can persist for survivors, for loved ones of victims, and many others connected to a shooting. Today, you’re going to learn how to take care of people who have been affected by gun violence in lots of different ways.

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Serving Military Servicemembers

Image by skeeze from Pixabay 

The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in January that the White House’s ban on transgender people serving in the military could move forward (Trump’s two confirmed Supreme Court nominees supported this ruling). The ban (which currently offers an exemption for transgender personnel currently serving, but would force new recruits to identify with their biological sex), came into effect Wednesday. Transgender Americans serve in the military disproportionately relative to their share of the total population, and transgender veterans disproportionately face the likelihood of homelessness.

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