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A.D.A. Now!

Laine Kaplan-Levenson

July 30, 2020 |

NPR |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Congress' passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act 30 years ago made life-changing advances for millions of people with all manner of disabilities. Beyond removing physical barriers and opening education, employment, and public accommodations, it also opened minds to see people with disabilities as fully human – a barrier that had existed historically. The protests and lobbying to put a civil rights lens on these barriers as discrimination got the law enacted, but social change is still a work in progress.

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Black voter mobilization efforts begin to bear fruit

Megan Botel Isaiah Murtaugh

July 29, 2020 |

Los Angeles Times |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

HeadCount, a voter mobilization group, held registration drives at concerts and other events and collaborated with celebrities, music industry leaders, and athletes to form March on Ballot Boxes (M.O.B.B.), an informal coalition harnessing the activism of the Black Lives Matters movement. They provided voter registration tools such as text messaging and QR codes, which protesters could print and display on their signs. They also partnered with Atlantic Records to launch ATL Votes, a digital registration campaign aimed at young voters. They registered over ten times as many new voters in 2020 than in 2016.

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Technology Works Behind the Scenes to Keep US Mail-in Voting Secure

Michelle Quinn

July 27, 2020 |

Voice of America (VOA) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

With many more people are voting by mail in the 2020 presidential election, technology is helping to make sure ballots are counted and that voters are informed. Although the system is not perfect, it does allow for voters to follow the progress of their ballot to see if there may have been a problem at some point during the process.

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Need a physical exam? How about registering to vote while you're at it? Milwaukee clinics join program to boost voting

Patricia McKnight

July 27, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

The VotER initiative registers voters while they wait at 75 hospitals and community health centers across the country. The founders feel that voting will help their patients because there are social and political issues that impact health. VotER has hospital posters and doctor badges with QR codes that take patients to a voter registration portal. There are also iPad kiosks in waiting rooms for patients to register, and some clinics send out text messages with voter information and election reminders. The team has registered 800 new voters and helped about 280 people request absentee ballots.

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Giving Police Departments Money to Buy Body Cameras Will Never End Brutality

Tyler Hicks

July 26, 2020 |

Truthout |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Milford, Delaware

Body-worn cameras gained popularity as a potential check on police brutality, but for them to fulfill that purpose, numerous changes in typical public policies are needed, starting with public access to videos and independent oversight of camera policies. Research is inconclusive about whether cameras have changed police conduct, but they have discouraged citizen complaints about police. Other changes that could improve the use of cameras as a police-reform tool include constraining officers' discretion to record and better automated review of reams of stored data.

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Baltimore's Violence Interrupters Confront Shootings, the Coronavirus, and Corrupt Cops

Brandon Soderberg Baynard Woods

July 26, 2020 |

The Intercept |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore’s Safe Streets program, which uses a public-health approach to stopping the spread of community gun violence, mediated more than 1,800 conflicts in 2019 and is credited with preventing homicides altogether in one neighborhood, despite the city’s overall violent year. Since the program’s launch in 2007, studies have shown it to be effective in its use of “credible messengers” whose street savvy can be deployed to “interrupt” retaliatory violence. But the Baltimore program also illustrates tensions between such community-based programs and the police, especially when the police are corrupt.

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Black Lives Matter Protests Rarely End in Violence – Especially in Appalachia

Chris Jones

July 23, 2020 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

Thirty-six people protesting police violence and racism held the first civil rights march in Terra Alta. Met by counter-protesters with guns who were expecting out-of-town agitators, the groups engaged in peaceful and respectful dialogue rather than conflict. Each side expressed their viewpoints and shared the personal experiences that helped form those views. While they did not agree on many topics, they both felt that social media and mainstream media portrayals of the two groups fueled misinformation and ill will. Instead, both sides saw each other as human beings rather than stereotypes and caricatures.

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Wisconsin's April primary was a mess. Here are five changes officials hope will make the next election smoother.

Patricia McKnight

July 23, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

Wisconsin officials learned important lessons from the problematic primary election. Moving forward, an informational mailer is being sent to educate voters about absentee voting and an absentee ballot request form will be automatically sent to 2.7 million registered voters. Ballots will be tracked using an intelligent barcode and more ballots will be ready to be sent out ahead of time to meet increased demand. Voters will need to provide contact information on their ballots so that clerks can contact them in case of any errors and more polling places will open to reduce long lines and wait times.

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A national forewarning: Wisconsin's high absentee volume and ballot errors

Dee J. Hall Tom Scheck Geoff Hing

July 23, 2020 |

APM Reports |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

Wisconsin officials are using lessons from the failures of the April 2020 primary, where many mail-in ballots were rejected based on technicalities such as missing a witness signature or address, to make changes in the general election. Since the law doesn’t require officials to notify voters so they can fix the mistakes, they adapted a computer system to process absentee ballot applications so clerks have more time to focus on other voting related issues and they will use barcodes to track ballots. But issues such as missing signatures or addresses will still lead to rejected ballots without recourse.

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How Lightfoot and housing activists reached an uneasy détente in the battle for Woodlawn's future

Alex Nitkin

July 22, 2020 |

The TRiiBE |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

After tense negotiations and protests, the Coalition for a CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) and the mayor of Chicago agreed to an ordinance guaranteeing a percentage of affordable housing for tenants making below 50% of median income. The coalition expects gentrification to accelerate due to the nearby $500 million Obama Presidential Center, making housing unaffordable for current residents. In addition to negotiations, the coalition organized a blockade of the mayor’s office and set up a “tent city” to emphasize their message. Not all residents want the ordinance and neither side got everything they want.

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