July 4, 1896: Sidney Randolph, a native of Georgia in his mid-twenties, was lynched in Rockville, Maryland on July 4, 1896 by an officially-unidentified group of white men from Montgomery County. The full story of Sidney Randolph’s murder was connected to the mystery involving an axe-wielding attack on the Buxton family of Gaithersburg in May of that same year, and the subsequent death of the youngest child, Sadie Buxton. Though professional detectives were brought in from both Washington and Baltimore to investigate the case, local residents of Gaithersburg took it upon themselves to find and/or create circumstantial evidence implicating Sidney Randolph, a stranger to the area who had no motive and consistently maintained his innocence. Removed to the jail in Baltimore to avoid an immediate lynching, Randolph survived repeated interrogations while imprisoned from May 25 until July 4, when a masked mob of white men dragged him from his cell in the Rockville jail, brutally beat him, and hanged him from a tree just outside of town along Route 355. His murderers were never identified or brought to justice for this crime. [Montgomery History article] (next BH, see July 31; next Lynching, see December 10, 1897 or see Never for expanded 19th century lynching chronology)
Robert Mallard continued
July 4, 1949: on November 20, 1948, the KKK had killed Robert Mallard.
Why was open to speculation, but his wife, Amy Mallard, later testified that she and her husband had received a warning not to vote in the November election. Other speculations were that Amy Mallard, driving their new Frazer, honked the car horn in an attempt to have a white churchgoers move a car obstructing traffic, which was not acceptable behavior from a black person. But, most people believed the KKK killed Robert Mallard because white neighbors resented his prosperity, and were jealous of his new car.
Authorities initially did nothing. Amy Mallard spoke out and eventually testified in front of a grand jury.
A trial in January had quickly acquitted those accused.
On this date, the Ku Klux Klan burned down the Mallard home in Lyons. The local sheriff was reported as saying, “It was just an accident. That woman hasn’t been back here to look after her property since she left.”
Amy Mallard and her son left Lyons for good, and relocated to Buffalo, New York. (next BH, see July 16)
Clyde Kennard
July 4, 1963: while still incarcerated, Clyde Kennard (see September 8, 1959) died of colon cancer that had gone undiagnosed and untreated in prison; he was 36 years old. [SMN article] (see July 6)
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
Hawaii
July 4, 1960: US flag with 50 stars (Hawaii, 1959) is first flown [Philadelphia, PA] [Baltimore Sun article]
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
July 4 Music et al
I Get Around
July 4 – 17, 1964: the single released in May, “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys #1 on Billboard Hot 100. [the first of (only) three Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs for them during the 1960s. Not until November 1988 will they have another with “Kokomo” – their last. (see December 5, 1964 – January 1, 1965)
July 4 – 5, 1969 – Atlanta International Pop Festival. (Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, GA).
Road to Bethel
July 4 – 5, 1969: a NYT article stated that the event presented “an impromptu but efficient commodities exchange in marijuana and LSD, where buyers and sellers let supply and demand establish prices.”
Such news only added to the Wallkill residents’ aggressive confrontation of the Woodstock Festival. (see Chronology for expanded story)
July 4 – 5, 1969: Saugatuck Pop Festival (Pottawattamie Beach, Saugatuck, MI).
seeBullfrog Lake Music Festival for more
July 4, 5, & 6: Estacada, CA
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
Reminder Day
July 4, 1965: at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, picketers begin staging the first Reminder Day to call public attention to the lack of civil rights for LGBTQ people. The gatherings will continue annually for five years. [LGBTQ Nation article] (see October 17, 1963)
Rev. Jerry Falwell
July 4, 1983: Rev. Jerry Falwell described AIDS as a “gay plague.” (AIDS, see July 25)
Oliver W. Sipple
In 1984 the California Supreme Court dismissed Sipple’s suit, which upheld a lower court’s finding that the sexual orientation of Oliver W. Sipple (the former marine who thwarted an assassination attempt on President Gerald R. Ford) had been known to ”hundreds of people” before the news accounts, but Mr. Sipple’s protest spurred a debate among news organizations obout the individual’s right to privacy versus freedom of the press. (LGTBQ, see November 14, 1985)
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
Free Speech
Freedom of Information Act
July 4, 1966: President Lyndon Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He had opposed the bill, but signed it nonetheless. [FOIA site]
By allowing citizens to obtain records about government actions, FOIA is regarded as one of the most important legislative contributions to democracy in American history. The FOIA bill had virtually unanimous support in Congress. The Senate first approved it on a voice vote without dissent in October 1965 and passed it again on a voice vote in July 1966. The House approved it, 306–0, in late June 1966. (see January 23, 1967)
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
Native Americans
July 4, 1971: the American Indian Movement staged a Fourth of July counter-celebration by occupying the Mount Rushmore National Monument. [ICT article] (see Dec 23)
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
INDEPENDENCE DAY
July 4, 1993: Abkhazia de facto independence from Georgia. Officially declared in 1999. (see May 20, 2002)
July 4 Peace Love Art Activism
World Trade Center
July 4, 2004, Groundbreaking for the then-called Freedom Tower begins at Ground Zero in New York City. (see April 27, 2006)
July 3, 1782: Deborah Sampson wounded outside Tarrytown, NY receiving two musket balls in her thigh and a forehead wound from a sabre slash. She begged her fellow soldiers to let her die and not take her to the hospital, but they refused to abandon her. Doctors treated her head wound, but she left the hospital before they could attend to the musket balls. Fearful that her true identity would be discovered, she removed one of the balls herself with a penknife and sewing needle, but her leg never fully healed because the other musket ball was too deep for her to reach. (see Deborah for expanded story)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Cannabis
July 3, 1893: the government of India commenced a study of the effects of hemp drugs in the province of Bengal. W. Mackworth Young was the commission’s President. When released (1894) the Commission will state in part: “It has been clearly established that the occasional use or hemp in moderate doses may be beneficial; but this use may be regarded as medicinal in character” as well as “The moderate use practically produces no ill effects. In all but the most exceptional cases, the injury from habitual moderate use is not appreciable.” (see CC for expanded chronology)
INDEPENDENCE DAY
July 3, 1944; Belarus independent from German occupation. [Belarus article] (see May 5, 1945)
July 3 – 6, 1969: the festival’s 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. Its lineup included, besides jazz, Friday evening appearances by rock groups Jeff Beck, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull. Saturday’s schedule mixed jazz acts such as Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck with others including John Mayall and Sly & the Family Stone. James Brown was among those who appeared Sunday afternoon, followed in the evening by Johnny Winter, Herbie Hancock, B. B. King, and Led Zeppelin.
Jim Morrison
July 3, 1971: Jim Morrison died.
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam & Operation Popeye
July 3, 1972: a NY Times article on Operation Popeye appeared. It’s lead paragraph stated that “The United States has been secretly seeding clouds over North Vietnam, Laos and South Vietnam to increase and control the rainfall for military purposes.”
A second NYT article quoted Dr. Matthew Meseison, a professor of biology at Harvard University, from the June 16 issue of the magazine Science:
“It is obvious that weather modification used as a weapon of war has the potential for causing large‐scale and quite possibly uncontrollable and unpredictable destruction. Furthermore, such destruction might well have a far greater impact on civilians than on combatants. This would be especially true in areas where subsistence agriculture is practiced, in food‐deficit areas, and in areas subject to flooding.”
A third NYT article stated: Two former high‐ranking officials of the Johnson Administration said…that Robert S. McNamara, while Secretary of Defense, specifically ordered the Air Force to stop all rainmaking late in 1967….But other officials, who served in both the Johnson and Nixon Administrations, said they recalled no such clear‐cut order.It was not clear whether Mr. McNamara’s order was dis obeyed, ignored, or—as one of ficial suggested—“there was a kind of slippage” in putting it into effect. (see Operation Popeye for expanded story)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
FREE SPEECH
July 3, 1978: comedian George Carlin had developed a routine that used a host of dirty words, to great comic effect. At one point the monologue was broadcast on WBAI, a nonprofit radio station in New York City. A listener complained and the FCC issued WBAI a citation for broadcasting obscene material. The Pacifica Foundation, which owned WBAI, took an appeal to the Supreme Court.
In FCC v Pacifica Foundation, decided on this day, the Court upheld the FCC in a 5–4 vote, singling out the seven words, The seven words are: shit, piss, cunt, fuck, tits, cocksucker, and motherfucker. You can find the words in the Supreme Court’s opinion, but you just can’t hear them on the radio (or network television).
In the decision it was written: “As Mr. Justice Sutherland wrote, a ‘nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place, like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard’ . . . We simply hold that when the Commission [the FCC] finds that a pig has entered the parlor, the exercise of its regulatory power does not depend on proof that the pig is obscene.” (see July 9)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Toxteth & Merseyside revolts
July 3, 1981: the Merseyside police force had a poor reputation within the black community for stopping and searching young black men in the area, under the “sus” laws, and the perceived heavy-handed arrest of Leroy Alphonse Cooper watched by an angry crowd, led to a disturbance in which three policemen were injured. [Echo story] (see July 9)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
TERRORISM
July 3, 1988: U.S. missiles shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian jet airliner over the Strait of Hormuz. All 290 passengers and crew aboard died. [Washington Post story] (see Dec 21)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Iraq War II
July 3, 2006: Pfc. Steven Green charged with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi girl. (see July 8)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
STAND YOUR GROUND LAW
July 3, 2017: Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch found Florida’s recently updated “stand your ground” law to be unconstitutional, rolling back a defendant-friendly change to an already defendant-friendly law.
The new version of the statute made it easier for defendants to claim self-defense in shootings and potentially have the case against them thrown out. Under the revised law, prosecutors had the burden to prove that defendants who claim they shot in self-defense were wrong, rather than defendants having to prove they’re right.
If a defendant acted in self-defense, the judge could dismiss related criminal charges. The National Rifle Association played a major hand in pushing through the new legislation.
Hirsch held that under the state’s constitution, this change to the law could be made only by the Florida Supreme Court and not by the legislature. [M H article] (see Aug 11)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Environmental Issues
July 3, 2017: a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel rebuffed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s contention that stakeholders didn’t have a chance to object before the Obama administration in August set in motion requirements that energy companies monitor and reduce emissions of planet-warming methane. Pruitt in May announced a 90-day delay of the regulation, part of a widespread Obama administration effort to curb methane.
“The administrative record thus makes clear that industry groups had ample opportunity to comment on all four issues on which EPA granted reconsideration, and indeed, that in several instances the agency incorporated those comments directly into the final rule,” two of the three appeals judges wrote in the split opinion.
“Because it was thus not ‘impracticable’ for industry groups to have raised such objections during the notice and comment period [the Clean Air Act] did not require reconsideration and did not authorize the stay.”
July 3, 2018: the Trump administration announced that it would encourage the nation’s school superintendents and college presidents to adopt race-blind admissions standards, abandoning an Obama administration policy that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses
The reversal would restore the policy set during President George W. Bush’s administration, when officials told schools that it “strongly encourages the use of race-neutral methods” for admitting students to college or assigning them to elementary and secondary schools. (see July 11)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Victor Jara
July 3, 2018: statement from Chile’s courts authority said that Judge Miguel Vázquez sentenced eight retired Chilean military officers to 15 years in prison for the murder of Victor Jara. Vázquez handed down the sentences after leading a long-running inquiry into Jara’s death on Sept. 16, 45 years ago.
A ninth suspect was jailed for five years for his role in covering up the killings. (see Jara for expanded chronology)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Nuclear/Chemical News
July 3, 2019: state news outlets reported that President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will “take the next step” and begin to enrich uranium beyond the levels specified under its 2015 accord with the United States and other global powers.
Rouhani’s pledge to accelerate the country’s uranium enrichment was the latest step in an escalating confrontation with the United States over President Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear pact and imposition of crippling economic sanctions on Iran. [NYT article] (next N/C N, & Iran, see July 8)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Women’s Health
July 3, 2019: in a case that stirred national outrage, prosecutors in Alabama said that they were dropping a manslaughter charge against Marshae Jones over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot in the belly,.
Jones, was accused of beating up a co-worker who ultimately drew a gun and fired it, wounding Ms. Jones in the stomach and killing her five-month-old fetus. A grand jury in Jefferson County, convened by District Attorney Lynneice Washington, dismissed charges against the co-worker, saying she had acted in self-defense. But it indicted Ms. Jones for “initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant.”
Under Alabama law, a fetus was considered to have the same rights as a child who has already been born. The grand jury sought to hold someone accountable for its death and Ms. Jones was arrested.
Washington, who had signed the indictment, said in a brief news conference that she had weighed the evidence and decided to dismiss the case. (see July 15)
July 3 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Census
July 3, 2019: a day after pledging that the 2020 census would not ask respondents about their citizenship, Justice Department officials reversed course and said they were hunting for a way to restore the question on orders from President Trump.
Justice Department officials told the judge that their plan had changed in the span of 24 hours: They now believed there could be “a legally available path” to restore the question to the census, and they planned to ask the Supreme Court to help speed the resolution of lawsuits that are blocking their way. [NYT article] (next Census, see July 9)
Trump’s Wall
July 3, 2019: the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a block on President Trump’s attempt to use $2.5 billion from the Department of Defense to construct a wall along the southwestern border.
The divided three-judge panel agreed with a lower court’s decision that ruled the Trump administration did not have the authority to reallocate the funds without congressional approval. The administration immediately appealed.
Two of the three judges on the panel affirmed that the administration could not build the barriers during future challenges.
“We conclude that it is best served by respecting the Constitution’s assignment of the power of the purse to Congress, and by deferring to Congress’s understanding of the public interest as reflected in its repeated denial of more funding for border barrier construction.” (next IH, see July 9; see TW for expanded chronology)
July 2, 1777: after declaring independence from New York in January 1777, the citizens of Vermont developed their own constitution, which contained “A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont.” This declaration affirmed that all men were born free and that no male over age 21 or female over age 18 could serve another in the role of servant, slave, or apprentice whether “born in the country, or brought from over sea.” Thus, with the ratification of its constitution on July 2, 1777, Vermont became the first North American territory to abolish slavery. [Slave North dot com article] (see March 1, 1780)
Joseph Cinqué
July 2, 1839: Joseph Cinqué led fifty-two fellow captive Africans, recently abducted from the British protectorate of Sierra Leone by Portuguese slave traders, in a revolt aboard the Spanish schooner Amistad. The ship’s navigator, who was spared in order to direct the ship back to western Africa, managed, instead, to steer it northward. When the Amistad was discovered off the coast of Long Island, New York, it was hauled into New London, Connecticut by the U.S. Navy.
President Martin Van Buren, guided in part by his desire to woo pro-slavery votes in his upcoming bid for reelection, wanted the prisoners returned to Spanish authorities in Cuba to stand trial for mutiny. A Connecticut judge, however, issued a ruling recognizing the defendants’ rights as free citizens and ordering the U.S. government to escort them back to Africa. [NPS article] (see Aug 26)
East St Louis riots
July 2, 1917: the city exploded in the worst racial rioting the country had ever seen. Most of the violence — drive-by shootings, beatings, and arson — targeted the African American community. The riots raged for nearly a week, leaving nine whites and hundreds of African Americans dead, and property damage estimated at close to $400,000. More than six thousand black citizens, fearing for their lives, fled the city. [Smithsonian article] (BH, see July 8; RR, see Aug 23)
Medgar Evers murder
July 2, 1963: in Jackson, Mississippi, the Hinds County grand jury indicted Byron de La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar W. Evers. (BH, see July 4; see Evers for expanded chronology)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Native Americans
Lieutenant Colonel George Custer
July 2, 1874: Lieutenant Colonel George Custer departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln with some 1,000 soldiers and 70 Indian scouts on a 1200 mile expedition to chart the Black Hills of eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota, land which belonged to the Sioux. (see August 2, 1874)
United States v. Washington
July 2, 1979: in United States v. Washington the US Supreme Court reaffirmed an earlier decision by US District Judge George Hugo Boldt that most Washington tribes may act as “co-managers”, alongside the state, of salmon and continue to harvest it. Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the court, writing that “Both sides have a right, secured by treaty, to take a fair share of the available fish.” [DoJ article] (see July 25)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Cold War
July 2, 1948: the Soviet Union rejected participation in the Marshall Plan [the American program to aid Europe with monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II], with Stalin’s Foreign Minister, V.M. Molotov, calling it an “imperialist” plot to enslave Eastern Europe. (see July 15, 1948)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
July 2, 1890: Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Intended to block business monopolies, it will be used effectively by employers against unions. (follow-up, see October 15, 1914; LH, see September 3, 1891)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Cultural Milestone
July 2, 1962: Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Ark. (see July 9)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Feminism and ADA
Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 2, 1964: President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibited discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin but it does not make any provision for people with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities still lacked opportunities to participate in and be contributing members of society, were denied access to employment, and were discriminated against based on disability.
Title XIX
In 1965: Title XIX (19) of the Social Security Act created a cooperative federal/state entitlement program, known as Medicaid, that paid medical costs for certain individuals with disabilities and families with low incomes. [BIA article]
Camp Shriver
In 1962, Eunice Kennedy Shriver had founded the Camp Shriver to provide athletic training and competition for persons with intellectual disabilities. By 1968, the organization had grown into an international program enabling more than one million young people and adults to participate in 23 Olympic-type sports.
The Architectural Barriers Act
Also in 1968, The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 mandated the removal of what is perceived to be the most significant obstacle to employment for people with disabilities—the physical design of the buildings and facilities on the job. The act requires that all buildings designed, constructed, altered, or leased with federal funds to be made accessible. (BH, see July 9; Feminism, see July 13 – 16, 1964; ADA, see June 19, 1970)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
July 2, 1965: the EEOC was created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Under the terms of the law, the EEOC was established one year later, on this day. (see July 18)
July 2 – 8, 1966: “Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The [Bumpy] Road to Bethel
July 2, 1969: town meeting in Wallkill with many voicing highly critical views of festival. After the public meeting the council passed an ordinance severely curtailing public events. Woodstock Ventures would have an opportunity at a later meeting to show compliance with the various parts of the ordinance. (see July 4 – 5)
Live 8
July 2, 2005 MTV and VH1 aired the eight hours of the Live 8 concerts. The performances, featuring artists U2, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Green Day, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Jay-Z, Pink Floyd and Destiny’s Child among many others, were held in eight cities to raise awareness of poverty in Africa.
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
Alpha and Bravo Companies
July 2, 1967: Alpha and Bravo Companies, 1st Battalion 9th Marines made their way up north on Highway 561 and secured a crossroad as their first objective. As they went further north between Gia Binh and An Kha, near a place called “The Market Place”, they made contact with the elements of the NVA 90th Regiment when sniper fire began to break out, enemy fire intensified as efforts were made by the 3rd Platoon to suppress it.
The NVA used flamethrowers in combat for the first time setting fire to hedgerows along Highway 561 forcing the Marines out into the open, exposing them to artillery, mortar and small arms fire, causing heavy casualties on A and B Companies and prevented them from linking up. B Company Headquarters was wiped out when a single NVA artillery round exploded within the command group.
Out of nearly 400 Marines, the two Companies suffered 84 killed, 190 wounded and 9 missing making this the worst one-day loss for the Marines in Vietnam. (see July 11)
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
July 2, 1976: North Vietnam and South Vietnam united to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (see January 21, 1977)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
DEATH PENALTY
Gregg v. Georgia
July 2, 1976: in Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of three state death penalty laws that had been passed following Furman v. Georgia [June 29, 1972]. In Furman, the Court had held that the death penalty as applied was unconstitutional because of a lack of procedural safeguards. Following the Furman decision, the newly approved death penalty laws included a bifurcated jury process that separated the decision on guilt from the decision on the sentence, specification of aggravating and mitigating circumstances to guide jury decision-making, and appellate review of death sentences. (see January 17, 1977)
July 2, 1982, The US Supreme Court (Endmund v. Florida) overturned [in a 5-4 vote] the death sentence of a man who was convicted of the robbery and murder of an elderly couple in Florida. Endmund had not directly participated in the murders himself, but had only drive the getaway car. This was enough, under Florida law, to make him a ‘constructive aider and abettor‘ in the killings, and so liable to the death penalty. However, a majority of five of the Supreme Court justices ruled that this is not enough to subject him to the death penalty, since they find Endmund had no intent to kill. (see December 2, 1982)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Women’s Health
July 2, 1979: the Supreme Court ruled, in Bellotti v. Baird, that teenagers were not required to obtain parental consent for an abortion. The decision, however, left questions about the extent of the rights of minors on decisions regarding abortion. In June 1990, in Minnesota v. Hodgson, the Court invalidated a Minnesota requirement that minors obtain the consent of both parents, but approved the constitutionality of a judicial “by-pass” by which a minor, in certain circumstances, could obtain judicial approval for an abortion rather than parental consent. (see March 23, 1981)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Technological Milestones
Walkman
July 2, 1979, : Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple’s iPod and other new digital devices. [Time article]
Two TVs
By the end of 1980 half of American households had more than one television set. (see August 12, 1981)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
July 2, 2015: BP and five Gulf states announced an $18.7 billion settlement that resolved years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by BP’s 2010 oil spill. The settlement money was used to resolve the Clean Water Act penalties; resolve natural resources damage claims; settle economic claims; and resolve economic damage claims of local governments, according to an outline filed in federal court. The settlement involved Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. [chronology via CNN] (see July 16)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Crime and Punishment
July 2, 2019: Judge Marsha J. Pechman of United States District Court for the Western District of Washington blocked an order by Attorney General William P. Barr that would have kept thousands of migrants detained indefinitely while waiting for their asylum cases to be decided.
Pechman described the order, which would have denied some migrants a bail hearing, as unconstitutional. Under a preliminary injunction, Judge Pechman said migrants must be granted a bond hearing within seven days of a request or be released if they have not received a hearing in that time.
“The court finds that plaintiffs have established a constitutionally protected interest in their liberty, a right to due process, which includes a hearing before a neutral decision maker to assess the necessity of their detention and a likelihood of success on the merits of that issue,” Judge Pechman wrote. [NYT article] (next C & P, see Sept 24)
Squalid conditions
July 2, 2019: a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General reported that overcrowded, squalid conditions were more widespread at migrant centers along the southern border than initially revealed, The report described standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release.
The findings were released as House Democrats detailed their own findings at migrant holding centers and pressed the agency to answer for the mistreatment not only of migrants but also of their own colleagues, who had been threatened on social media. [NYT article] (next IH, see )
2020 Census
July 2, 2019: the Trump administration abandoned its quest to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, a week after being blocked by the Supreme Court.
Faced with mounting deadlines and a protracted legal fight, officials ordered the Census Bureau to start printing forms for next year’s head count without the question.
The decision was a victory for critics who said the question was part of an administration effort to skew the census results in favor of Republicans. [NYT article] (next IH & Census, see July 3)
July 2 Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
