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September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

September 11, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Christiana Riot

September 11, 1851: in Christiana, Pa., a group of African Americans and white abolitionists skirmished with a Maryland posse intent on capturing four fugitive slaves hidden in the town. The violence came a year after Congress passed the second fugitive slave law, requiring the return of all escaped slaves to their owners in the South. One member of the posse, landowner Edward Gorsuch, was killed and two others wounded during the fight. In the aftermath of the so-called Christiana Riot, 37 African Americans and one white man were arrested and charged with treason under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law. Most were acquitted. [Black Past article] (see Oct 1)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

September 11, 1977: a guard found Steve Biko semiconscious and foaming at the mouth. A doctor ordered him transported to a prison hospital in Pretoria. [Overcoming Apartheid article] (see Sept 12)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

September 11, 1897: 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia ended a 10-week strike after winning an 8-hour day, semi-monthly pay and the abolition of overpriced company-owned stores where they had been forced to shop. (see February 28, 1898)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Emma Goldman

September 11, 1917: Goldman was prevented from speaking at the Kessler Theater by the New York City police. Goldman was out on bail at the time, having been arrested on June 15, 1917, for violating the Espionage Act by opposing U.S. involvement in World War I. To protest the ban, she appeared on stage at the Kessler Theater on this day with a gag over her mouth. She was later convicted and sent prison. Upon her release two years later, she was deported to the Soviet Union, on December 21, 1919 (see Goldman for expanded story)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

September 11, 1945

Lt Col A Peter Dewey

The first members of the US OSS team landed at Saigon led by Lieutenant Colonel A Peter Dewey. His mission was to care for American prisoners-of-war, protect American property, and gather information about enemy atrocities. [History dot com article]

Gen. Douglas Gracey

In accordance with the Potsdam Agreements at the end of World War II, 5,000 British troops of the 20th Indian Division, commanded by Gen. Douglas Gracey, arrived in southern Indochina to disarm the defeated Japanese forces Gracey detested the Viet Minh and rearmed some 1,400 French soldiers who had been imprisoned by the Japanese. This effectively was the first step in the re-establishment of French colonial rule and set the stage for the conflict between the French and the Viet Minh that led to a nine-year war. [MHN article] (see Sept 23)

1st Cavalry Division

September 11, 1965: the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) began to arrive in South Vietnam at Qui Nhon, bringing U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam to more than 125,000. The unit, which had a long and storied history, was the first full U.S. Army division deployed to Vietnam. The division consisted of nine battalions of airmobile infantry, an air reconnaissance squadron, and six battalions of artillery. The division also included the 11th Aviation Group, made up of three aviation battalions consisting of 11 companies of assault helicopters, assault support helicopters, and gunships. [First Team article] (see Sept 15)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

September 11, 1961: KQED in San Francisco broadcast The Rejected, a made-for-television documentary film about homosexuality. The Rejected was the first documentary program on homosexuality on American television. Experts interviewed for the program included Margaret Mead who spoke from an anthropological standpoint. Mead referred to the positive roles that homosexuality had played in the cultures of Ancient Greece, the South Sea Islands, and in Inuit and Native American societies. Mead noted that it was society and not the individual that determined how homosexuality and homosexual behavior were viewed. (see October 17, 1963)

Please note: copyright to The Rejected is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. The Rejected was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired on September 11th 1961, on KQED Ch.9 in the Bay Area

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

September 11 Music et al

Beatles

September 11, 1962: finally recorded their first single, “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You,” at EMI studios in London. (see Oct 5)

Beatles demand audience integration

September 11, 1964: the management of the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., where had stated firmly that the stadium would be segregated. The Beatles said they would refuse to play if the stadium were segregated. The day before the concert they were assured that the show would be fully integrated. (BH, see Oct 14; Beatles, see Nov 13)

Help! album

September 11 – November 12, 1965, The Beatles: the soundtrack Help! the Billboard #1 album. On each album cover, the Beatles hold their arms in semaphore-like letters, as if spelling out H E L P, but on the UK release (below left) the letters are R U J V and on the US release (bottom right) the letters are N V U J (see Sept 12)

The accurate arm placements would be:


H	E	L	P

Magical Mystery Tour

September 11, 1967: Beatles began filming ‘Magical Mystery Tour’. There was no script, nor a very clear idea of exactly what was to be accomplished, not even a clear direction about where the bus was supposed to go. The bus set off for the West Country in England stopping for the night in Teignmouth, Devon where hundreds of fans greeted The Beatles at their hotel. (see Sept 29)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Victor Jara

September 11, 1973: a CIA-backed military coup in Santiago led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet overthrows democratically elected Pres. Salvadore Allende of Chile, who commits suicide with a rifle given to him by Fidel Castro. [History dot com article] (see Victor Jara for expanded chronology)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

September 11, 1988: 300,000 demonstrate for independence in Estonia. (see USSR for expanded chronology)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

IRAQ War I

September 11, 1990: President George H W Bush delivered a nationally televised speech in which he threatened the use of force to remove Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait. (see Nov 29)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

September 11, 1998: the House of Representative votes to receive the Starr report. The House Judiciary Committee takes possession of the 18 boxes of materials and promptly releases the first 445 pages to the public. (see Clinton for expanded story)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

World Trade Center

September 11, 2001: terrorists associated with al Qaeda hijacked four US commercial airliners, two of which were crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City, with a third hitting the Pentagon in Washington DC. The fourth plane went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The attacks spawned an immediate tightening of aviation security regulations and in October 2001 led to Congressional passage of the controversial USA PATRIOT Act, giving the executive broad new national security powers. (Terrorism, see Sept 18, WTC, see December 19, 2003)

Terry Jones acquiesces

September 11, 2010: Jones told NBC’s “Today” show that he would not burn Korans on the September 11 anniversary or at any point in the future.

Terry Jones arrested

September 11, 2013: sheriff deputies arrested pastor Terry Jones and his associate pastor, Marvin Sap, they drove to a park to set fire to nearly 3,000 Qur’ans to mark the September 11 terrorist attacks.

They were charged with unlawful conveyance of fuel as they traveled in a pickup truck towing a large barbecue-style grill filled with Qur’ans soaked in kerosene. Sheriff’s officials said that Jones was also charged with the unlawful open-carry of a firearm and that Sapp faced a charge of having no valid registration for the trailer. (see Oct 15)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH & Colin Kaepernick

September 11, 2016: NFL Seahawks, Dolphins, Chiefs and Patriots players demonstrated during nation anthem

The first Sunday of the NFL season took place on the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. This made the national anthem ceremonies on that day particularly emotional. Four Dolphins players — running back Arian Foster, safety Michael Thomas, wide receiver Kenny Stills and linebacker Jelani Jenkins — took a knee during the anthem after standing up for a 9/11 acknowledgment.

After the game, Foster explained that he loves the country and the rights it affords him. He later tweeted “don’t let the love for a symbol overrule the love for your fellow human.”

No Seahawks players took a knee during the anthem, but the entire team did link arms as a way of honoring the flag and continuing the conversation that Kaepernick started.

The Kansas Chiefs locked arms before kickoff of their game with the San Diego Chargers. Cornerback Marcus Peters held up a fist, saying he supported Kaepernick’s efforts to raise awareness to the justice system.

Prior to Sunday Night Football, Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett and safety Devin McCourty also raised their fists after the national anthem. [Huff Post article] (FS & CK, see Sept 12)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

September 11, 2019: the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to bar most Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the United States, while the legal fight plays out in the courts.

The Court, in a brief, unsigned order, said the administration may enforce new rules that generally forbid asylum applications from migrants who have traveled through another country on their way to the United States without being denied asylum in that country.

The court’s order effectively barred most migration across the nation’s southwestern border by Hondurans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and others. Mexican migrants, who need not travel through another country to reach the United States, were not affected by the new policy. (see Sept 27)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

September 11, 2019: the Trump administration said that it would ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes, at a time when hundreds of people had been sickened by mysterious lung illnesses and teenage vaping continued to rise.

Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, said that the Food and Drug Administration would outline a plan within the coming weeks for removing flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods from the market, excluding tobacco flavors. The ban would include mint and menthol, popular varieties that manufacturers have argued should not be considered flavors. (e-cigarette ban, see Nov 18; next CP, see Nov 18)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

Inmate firefighters

September 11, 2020: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill allowing inmate firefighters to have their records expunged, clearing the path for them to be eligible for firefighting jobs upon release.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, let prisoners who received “valuable training and [placed] themselves in danger assisting firefighters to defend the life and property of Californians” to petition the courts to dismiss their convictions after completing their sentences.

That will make them eligible to receive EMT certification, a hiring requirement of municipal firefighting departments. [NPR story] (next C & P, see Oct 14)

Voting rights

September 11, 2020: in a significant reversal, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that a Florida law requiring people with serious criminal convictions to pay court fines and fees before they can register to vote was constitutional.

The decision overturned a ruling by a lower court in May that found the law discriminated against the majority of felons, many of whom were indigent, by imposing an unlawful “pay-to-vote system.”

The ruling, if upheld, would put new hurdles in place for people convicted of crimes who are seeking to vote, after Florida’s voters had amended the state’s Constitution in 2018 to end the disenfranchisement of those convicted of felonies, except for murder and sexual offenses. [NYT article] (next VR, see Oct 28; next C &P, see Oct 14)

September 11 Peace Love Art Activism

Birthdays, Grateful Dead, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

Video September 11, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

born September 11, 1943

Synopsis

The opening description of Mickey Hart from his site reads that he “is a pivotal innovator, chronicler, and influencer in percussion and rhythm. Best known as a drummer in the renowned expedition into the soul and spirit of rock and roll, The Grateful Dead, the multi-Grammy award winner is also an energetic painter, accomplished writer, restless explorer, and an acclaimed expert on the history and mythology of drums. A true original armed with an inventor’s audacious curiosity, Hart boldly seeks to break the rhythm code of the universe and investigate its deepest vibrations.”

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

To the beats…

Michael Steven Hartman was born in Brooklyn. Leah, his mother, raised Mickey. Leonard, his father, had left Leah before Mickey was born. Mickey and mom moved to Long Island (NY) soon after his birth. Later he attended Lawrence High School there, but dropped out as a senior. He went to Europe and later joined the Air Force.

Hart was in the Air Force’s drum and bugle corps. After the Air Force, Hart became a session drummer in NYC. While there, he received a letter from his father inviting him to work at his music store in San Carlos, California. Mickey went and it was a good thing for him, a great thing for us.

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

Rhythm Devils

Of the Grateful Dead members, Mickey first met Bill Kreutzmann who invited Hart to sit in with the band. On September 29, 1967 he did just that for the band’s second set.

Having two drummers was a rarity, but he and Kreutzmann became known as the Rhythm Devils because of their unique interplay.

Leonard Hart became the band’s money manager, but in March, 1970, he and an estimated $70,000 to $150,000 of band money disappeared. A detective eventually located him and a jury found him guilty of embezzlement. Hart served a six month sentence; he and his son never saw each other again.

Lenny Hart died of natural causes on February 2, 1975. According to Dennis McNally “Mickey went to the funeral home, cleared the room, took out the snakewood sticks that had been his inheritance, played a traditional rudimental drum piece, “The Downfall of Paris,” on Lenny’s coffin, and split.“

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

Hart leaves; returns

Because of his father’s actions, Hart left the band in February 1971 and in 1972 released Rolling Thunder. Not bitter about Lenny Hart’s crime, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir all played on the album.

Hart returned to the Dead in October 1974 at Winterland for the band’s final shows on its tour. The Dead cut back touring in 1975 doing only four shows: one each in March, June, September, and October. Mickey did contribute to their 1975 studio album, Blues for Allah. In 1976 Hart was in again and continued to be in the band.

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart

Outside on his own both during and after the Dead’s last show with its Jerry Garcia line-up, Hart remained and remains active.

You can check out his live appearance schedule here.

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

Discography

1976, Diga Rhythm band
1979, music from the movie Apocolypse Now, much of which he contributed.
1989, Music to Be Born By, an album based on the heartbeat of his son in the womb,
1990 his first book, Drumming at the Edge of Magic
1990, At the Edge album
1991, both book and disc, Planet Drum,
1998 Supralingua album
2000, Spirit into Sound album
2007 Global Drum Project, with Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. It won the Grammy award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
2012 the same group on Hart’s Mysterium Tremendum,
2013, Superorganism, with long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.
2017, RAMU

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart

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September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

September 10, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Lattimer Mines massacre

September 10, 1897: in Pennsylvania, Polish, Lithuanian and Slovak miners are gunned down by the Lattimer Mine’s sheriff deputies—19 dead, more than 50 wounded—during a peaceful march from Hazelton to Lattimer. Some 3,000 were marching for collective bargaining and civil liberty. The shooters were tried for murder but the jury failed to convict . [PSU article] (see Sept 11)

Chicago teacher strike

September 10, 2012: the Chicago teachers union strike the nation’s third largest school system. [Mother Jones article] (see Sept 18)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Emma Goldman

September 10, 1901: a warrant was issued for Goldman’s arrest in connection with the (then) assassination attempt. Goldman gave herself up and was subjected to intensive interrogation. Though initially denied, bail was set at $20,000. She was never officially charged with a crime. (see Goldman for expanded story)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

September 10, 1915: William Sanger convicted re birth control literature. (from the NYT) Turbulent scenes followed the conviction…in Special Sessions of William Sanger, artist and architect, of having violated the Criminal Code in giving away a single copy of “Family Limitation,” a pamphlet on birth control written by Margaret Sanger, his wife. He spent 30 days in jail. (see March 1, 1916)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

School desegregation

September 10, 1963: in January 1963, African American parents of students in Macon County, Alabama, sued the Macon County Board of Education to desegregate the county’s public schools. Though the United States Supreme Court had declared school segregation unconstitutional nearly nine years earlier, the board had taken no steps integrate local schools. In August 1963, Federal District Judge Frank Johnson ordered the school board to begin integration immediately.

The school board selected 13 African American students to integrate Tuskegee High School that fall. On September 2, 1963, the scheduled first day of integrated classes, Alabama Governor George Wallace had ordered the school closed due to “safety concerns.” The school reopened a week later, and on September 10, 1963, the second day of classes, white students began to withdraw. Within a week, all 275 white students had left the school.

Most fleeing white students enrolled at Macon Academy, a newly formed, all-white private school. In support of the school and its efforts to sidestep federal law to maintain school segregation, Governor Wallace and the school board approved the use of state funds to provide white students abandoning the public school system with scholarships to attend Macon Academy. Meanwhile, the Macon County School Board ordered Tuskegee High School closed due to low enrollment and split its remaining African American students among all-white high schools in Notasulga and Shorter, Alabama. White students in those high schools boycotted for several days and many eventually transferred to Macon Academy.

Macon-East Academy, the school relocated near Montgomery, Alabama, in 1995, and today (2015) operates as one of several private schools in the Alabama Black Belt with origins rooted in resistance to integration. As of the 2007 – 2008 school year, Macon-East Academy’s student population of more than 400 was 98% white and less than 1% African American. [NYT article] (see Sept 12)

Earle Race Riot of 1970

September 10, 1970: a group of whites armed with clubs, guns, and other weapons attacked a group of unarmed African-Americans marching to Earle County (Arkansas) city hall to protest segregated conditions in the town’s school system. Five black residents were injured, including two women who were shot, and one was in serious condition but survived.

Over 30 protesters from the ages of 13 to 20 were arrested, all of whom were students except two. Police charged the protesters with marching without a permit. [Black Then article] (next BH, see Sept 24)

BLACK & SHOT

September 10, 2014: Darrien Hunt was shot seven times by Saratoga Springs, Utah, police who were investigating reports of a man with a sword on at a shopping center. Hunt’s family said the sword was a replica. Police said Hunt refused to give up his sword and then started swinging it at them. An autopsy report determined that Hunt was shot seven times by officers, including several times in the back as he fled from police. The Hunt family’s attorney, Bob Sykes, disputed assertions from cops that the 22-year-old acted aggressively. “I think it’s a whitewash. I think it’s an exaggeration,” Sykes said. “I think they ignored good hard evidence to the contrary.” [NY Daily News story] (see Oct 20)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

September 10, 1945: the opening argument by Vashti McCollum’s attorney, Landon Chapman, suggested the program was sectarian and social pressure from students and teachers was used to get all students to participate. Defense attorney John Franklin indicated similar programs existed in 46 states and 80 Illinois communities.

The Baptist Joint Committee submitted an amicus brief in support of McCollum, saying, “We must not allow our religious fervor to blind us to the essential fact that no religious faith is secure when it meshes its authority with that of the state.” [NYT obit for McCollum] (see January 26, 1946)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

September 10, 1963: a New York state court ruled on this day that “trashy” novels “have a place in our society,” and deserved the same constitutional protection as recognized literary classics.

The judge dismissed obscenity charges against three book distributors and their executives charged with selling obscene publications. He agreed that the 25 books in question were “poor writings, bad in taste, profane, offensive, disgusting and plain unvarnished trash.” Nonetheless, he ruled, they are entitled to First Amendment protection. [Today In Civil Liberties article] (see January 6, 1964)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

September 10 Music et al

You Can’t Hurry Love

September 10, 1966, the Supremes’ ”You Can’t Hurry Love” is Billboard #1 single.

Revolver

September 10 – October 21, 1966: Revolver became Billboard’s #1 album. Released in the US on August 8, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote: All the rules fell by the wayside with Revolver, as the Beatles began exploring new sonic territory, lyrical subjects, and styles of composition. It wasn’t just Lennon and McCartney, either — Harrison staked out his own dark territory with the tightly wound, cynical rocker “Taxman”; the jaunty yet dissonant “I Want to Tell You”; and “Love You To,” George‘s first and best foray into Indian music. Such explorations were bold, yet they were eclipsed by Lennon‘s trippy kaleidoscopes of sound.

Side 1

“Taxman” (George Harrison)
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Love You To” (Harrison)
“Here, There and Everywhere”
“Yellow Submarine”
“She Said She Said”

Side 2

“Good Day Sunshine”
“For No One”
“I Want to Tell You” (Harrison)
“Got to Get You into My Life”
“Tomorrow Never Knows”

From Rolling Stone magazine: Revolver signaled that in popular music, anything – any theme, any musical idea – could now be realized. And, in the case of the Beatles, would be. (see Sept 26)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam & Cultural Milestone

September 10, 1967: the second season of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Show begins with Pete Seeger appearing for the first time in 17 years since his 1950s blacklisting. He sang Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, but CBS dropped the performance when Seeger refused to edit the obviously anti-Viet Nam sentiments the old song presented. (CM, see Sept 17; Seeger, see February 25, 1968; Vietnam, see Sept 27)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

September 10, 1989: thousands of East Germans cross the Austria-Hungary frontier after Budapest waived border restrictions amid the largest legal exodus from eastern Europe since 1945.Video on East German exodus (see USSR for expanded chronology)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk Policy

September 10, 2008: a judge ordered that New York City and the NYPD turn over all UF-250 (stop-and-frisk) data for the past 10 years.

By December 2008, 531,159 police had stopped New Yorkers. 271,602 were black (51 percent); 167,111 were Latino (32 percent); 57,407 were white (11 percent) (see May 1, 2009)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Alan Turing

September 10, 2009: British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Turing was treated after the war. The statement read, in part: Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly. full statement[] (Turing, see December, 2011; LGBTQ, see Oct 28)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Terry Jones

September 10, 2010: Jones told NBC’s “Today” show that he will cancel Koran burning if he could meet with Rauf. Rauf insists no meeting has been planned with Jones and that he is committed to meeting with anyone “seriously committed to pursuing peace.” [Reuters article] (see Sept 11)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans & Voting Rights

September 10, 2015: Alaska agreed to provide increased language assistance for voters who speak Yup’ik and Gwich’in. Natalie Landreth with the Native American Rights Fund said: “The choices that were made in the settlement open the door for Alaska Native access to the polls in a way that we have not seen before.”

Landreth said that the centerpiece of the settlement was translating the state’s official election pamphlet into Gwich’in and up to six different dialects of Yup’ik.

The pamphlet contains pre-election information on how to vote, biographical information on candidates and ballot measures. [Alaska Public article] (NA, see August 1, 2016; voting suit, see August 16 2016)

Native Americans & Environmental Issues

September 10, 2016: the federal government ordered work to stop on one segment of the project in North Dakota and asked the Texas-based company building it to “voluntarily pause” action on a wider span that an American Indian tribe says holds sacred artifacts.

The government’s order came minutes after a judge had rejected a request by the Standing Rock Sioux to halt construction of the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline.

The tribe, whose cause drew thousands to join their protest, had challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for the pipeline at more than 200 water crossings. Tribal leaders alleged that the project violated several federal laws and wouldharm water supplies. The tribe also said ancient sites had been disturbed during construction. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article] (NA, & EI, see Dec 4)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Unaccompanied alien children

September 10, 2019: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)’s new report found the Trump administration’s policy changes in 2018 exacerbated the mental health needs of “unaccompanied alien children” in their custody. The unaccompanied alien children in this study were overwhelmingly asylum seekers from Central America.

The OIG found two particular policies — separating children from their parents and prolonging the time children are in custody — were especially harmful to the children’s mental health. (see Sept 11)

Census 2020

September 10, 2020: a special three-judge court in New York blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to make an unprecedented change to who is included in the census numbers that determine each state’s share of seats in Congress.

The president, the court concluded, cannot leave unauthorized immigrants out of that specific count.

The decision comes after the July release of a memorandum by President Trump that directs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, to provide Trump with information needed to exclude immigrants who are living in the United States without authorization from the apportionment count.

The panel of judges — including U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Wesley, Circuit Judge Peter Hall and District Judge Jesse Furman — noted the president does have some direction over the census and how the results of the count are used for reapportionment. But that authority, which is delegated from Congress, is limited.

A “tabulation of total population” is what the commerce secretary is directed to report to the president from the once-a-decade census, under Title 13 of the U.S. Code. According to Title 2, the president, in turn, is supposed to hand off to Congress “a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State.” [NPR article] (next IH, see Oct 1; next Census, see Sept 25)