First Step Programming Credits Still Not Given, As DOJ Deflects, Delays, and Denies; EQUAL Act Supporters Press for a Vote Before the Election; Monkey Pox Spreads in Federal Prisons; New Pressure to Reform Broken Prison Medical System;

 

Happy Memorial Day!  Compassionate Release Decisions Have not Always "Followed the Science" On Effectiveness and Adverse Side-Effects of Vaccines, Seriousness of Long COVID. 

by Derek Gilna, Director of Research 

            Thank you, veterans ! It has been almost six months since DOJ was REQUIRED by law to award and post the one-year sentence credits for programming and employment. Congress, in  the First Step Act, unequivocally spelled out  this deadline, but prison system has only awarded credits to those who were within one year of release to avoid legal liability for confining individuals whose sentences were completed. Instead of promptly complying with the law, prison officials have blamed Grand Prairie, but the fact remains that until the hundreds if not thousands of prisoners entitled to those credits assert their legal rights, nothing will happen.

            Even those not close to release date but close to their 50% mark have a liberty interest in becoming CARES eligible before the  program goes away at some point in the indeterminate future. Your case managers and counselors, and even your wardens have NO say in this matter, and there is no point in calling Grand Prairie. Since this is a FSA-mandated benefit, send a cop out to the warden and wait 30 days before filing suit,  as with compassionate release requests, and this should be sufficient until the courts state otherwise.

            Congressional pressure to move the EQUAL Act to a vote has increased in the past week, as Republicans and Democrats who are not in leadership have begun to speak out on this necessary legislation, which overwhelmingly passed the House. Senate Majority Leader Schumer, who is desperately attempting to avoid a primary challenger from progressive superstar Ocasio-Cortez, is feeling the heat from among others, Corey Booker, who is a reliable supporter of justice reform. My feeling that this should come to a vote before the election, but certainly shortly thereafter.

            To no one's surprise, the newest virus, known as Monkey pox, is spreading in federal prisons.   Unlike Omicron, the symptoms of this cannot be passed off as simple flu, as it also produces large fluid-filled blisters along with  flu symptoms.

            Human-to-human transmission of the virus is known to occur, but is less common. The virus isn’t especially infectious between humans as it requires very close contact to spread, (like in prisons?) and people are only contagious when they have symptoms, Dr. Whitworth said. Still, it could spread within a close-knit community, he added. Symptoms of Monkey pox include fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and exhaustion. A chicken pox-like rash can develop, beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body, such as the hands and feet. The rash eventually forms scabs, which later fall off. Most people recover after a week or two although the disease can be deadly. Vaccines have not been found to protect from this virus. https://www.wsj.com/articles/monkeypox-outbreak-widens-in-europe-11652901073.

            " We have been on lockdown for supposed to be covid 19 protocol ..... lies, lies, and more lies .......... the 8th case of monkey pox is here @ bennettsville........ they are trying to hide it as not to scare the general public but its real and factual."

            COVID and its variants continue to infest numerous prisons, including Waseca, Ashland, Lexington, Phoenix, Elkton, Terre Haute,, and others, as institutions continue in red status, but uniformly do not test, since positive tests mean it would have to be reported on the national website.

            Prison watchdogs are gathering information as Congressional critics of the federal prison system sharpen their pencils for the next oversight hearings, which will focus on the near total breakdown of the prison medical system. Despite years of understating medical problems, as well as systematically altering medical records to downplay deteriorating prisoner health, the system's  the wheels are almost ready  to fall off.  Years of headline -grabbing drug "taskforces," entrapment of non-contact SO's, and  questionable long sentences given to non-violent offenders, all used to grab more dollars from a gullible public and a nervous Congress,  have all contributed to this mess.

            Where has all the money appropriated for medical care gone?  Certainly not to Carswell, where elderly and chronically and terminally ill women languish in beds when they could be home with their families. Hundreds of women are treated by two doctors and one gynecologist. Routine tests of people with terminal heart disease and cancer-like symptoms are either delayed or not carried out. All the impressive program statements in the world mean nothing if they are not followed.

            In March 2022, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report on audits of three medical service contracts for over $300 million “Although (DOJ) told us that it did not identify any significant problems with ...performance related to the timely delivery of inmate healthcare and quality of care (Huh?), we found that it did not have a reliable, consistent process in place to evaluate either the timeliness of inmate healthcare or the quality of that care," and "faced challenges in transporting inmates to off-site appointments which resulted in a frequent need to reschedule appointments that could delay an inmate’s healthcare," and did not, "have systems in place to track and monitor the causes for rescheduling appointments," or "a process in place to monitor how long an inmate waited to receive care after a cancelled appointment...we believe it is difficult for the (prisons) to determine whether inmates are receiving care within the required community standard.” These are all issues that a first year MBA student could solve. https://oig.justice.org/sites/default/files/reports/22-052.pdf.

            Also in the same report: " One institution has been without a pharmacist for most of 2022 due to being out on medical leave. The result according to the submission to OIG is that “We now have several psychiatric patients decompensating daily. We also have many diabetics, hypertensives, cardiomyopathy and HIV inmates that have run out of medications and have no way of refilling them until they, as well as emergent issues, or are lucky enough to communicate the need to executive staff, or custody staff who communicate it to Medical...we have more than 750 unfilled prescriptions."

            We have received numerous inquiries to provide official data on the effectiveness of COVID vaccines. A new study has concluded that while vaccinated people who get breakthrough COVID-19 infections are less likely to become severely ill or die, they still can develop the serious, lingering problems known as Long-COVID. “The constellation of findings shows that the burden of death and disease experienced by people with [breakthrough infections] is not trivial,” say the authors of the study published this week in Nature Medicine. In general, it found that, six months after infection, a significant number experienced serious problems affecting areas such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, mental health and brain function. Vaccinated people were less likely to come down with long-term lung problems and blood clots, but their rates for the other problems were similar to those of unvaccinated people who got COVID-19. Ziyad Al-Aly, the lead author and a researcher at VA Saint Louis Health Care System, called the findings “disappointing. I was hoping to see that vaccines offer more protection, especially given that vaccines are our only line of defense nowadays,” he said.

            The authors also compared the long-term problems experienced by people hospitalized with breakthrough COVID-19 with those of people hospitalized with regular flu, finding the COVID-19 patients were more likely to have long-term problems.

The authors said the findings shed light on the previously murky question of whether vaccinated people who get breakthrough infections can end up with long-COVID.

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01840-0.

          The underreported nationwide toll of adverse reactions to COVID vaccinations continues to mount, with the number reaching 820,787 (US), through May 20, 2022, including 13,045 deaths, according to the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System). https://openvaers.com/covid-data.

Clemency Again a Hot Topic in Congress; Federal Prisoner Wins 7-Year Reduction with FSA Petition

 

House Holds Clemency Hearings; First Step Motion Unlocks Seven-Year Sentence Reduction; Update on Sentencing Credits; Sentencing Project Study Highlights Skyrocketing Female Incarceration; New Director Will Come From Outside the System; DOJ  Fails Women, and Conceals Recent Covid Outbreaks; New Studies Highlight COVID Vaccine Suppresses Normal Immune System; Supreme Court Update;  by Derek Gilna               Members of the House subcommittee on the Judiciary heard testimony from experts pressing the White House and Justice Department to increase the rate and diversity of federal clemency grants. Witnesses also testified about the need to reform the Office of the Pardon Attorney.  Congress urged Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer to release disaggregated demographic data on the more than 17,000 pending clemency applications by June 7, 2022, on all pending clemency applications detailing applicant demographic data, month and year of application submission, representation by an attorney, type of clemency request, type of relief sought, type of offense(s), and office currently reviewing application. These petitions often remain on the books for years until granted or denied, but pressure is growing to clear the backlog.             A recent motion for sentence relief based upon the First Step Act (FSA) unlocked a seven-year sentence reduction, based upon our teams. research and drafting, such that the government was forced to resort to unsuccessfully argue 3553 factors after the beneficiary had completed dozens of classes, had an excellent institutional record, and enjoyed strong family support. The facts of every case are unique, but perhaps a similar result is waiting for you.             Many of you are still puzzled as to why those FSA programming credits, which should changed your outdates as of January 15, 2022.  Unfortunately, this willful failure fits the pattern of DOJ non-compliance with many sentence-relief laws, putting pressure on prison staff to deflect, deceive, and delay. File your remedies, and be prepared to go to court to get those credits.             Unfortunately, this pattern of non-compliance with the law and basic human rights spills over to substandard medical care, as well as abuse in many different forms. Research by the Sentencing Project  on female incarceration shows that the number of incarcerated women was nearly five times higher in 2020 than in 1980. Between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%, rising from a total of 26,326 in 1980 to 152,854 in 2020, nationwide. Sadly, the federal prison system has mishandled this increase, as claims of medical neglect (see: Carswell, Aliceville, Waseca, etc.) and outright abuse (see: Dublin) have skyrocketed .             In a positive development, the new federal prison director will come from outside the federal system, and will not be a former CO, like the current director. Gary Mohr, who has also worked in the private prison industry, is at the top of the list of candidates to replace Michael Carvajal, who submitted his resignation in January but said he would stay on until a successor was named, the people said. A final decision has not been made and it’s unclear when an official announcement would be put forward.             Covid counts continue to increase, as has prisons' lack of transparency.  FMC Carswell has just been put into "Yellow Level" for COVID.  A town hall meeting  stated it had nothing to do with COVID inside of Carswell,  but was due community spread and the rise in cases in the area. However, outside sources indicated that there were 5 staff positive at Carswell according to the DOJ website.             At FCI "Cactus Land," masks were issued and the prison went into Code Red, matching the county. According to one, "Many vaxed guys in units have Covid again and some say it is worse this time. However, no more moving to a quarantine unit. But probably no cases on the website because the Health Service does not test anymore, so no tests means there are no cases to report.  Guys just lay in bed with it a couple weeks until it is over."  As this newsletter has detailed, there is no longer a scientific foundation for denial of compassionate release based upon availability of vaccines, since vaccines do not uniformly protect anyone for Covid and the symptoms are not less, despite the assertions of Fauci and the White House..             Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT who has been at MIT for over five decades, discusses her latest paper, “Innate Immune Suppression by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination,." co-written with Dr. Peter McCullough, along with two other authors, Dr. Greg Nigh and Dr. Anthony Kyriakopoulos. Those researchers note that there has been a serious increase in long-term side effects from the COVID vaccines, including the well known problem with blood clotting, and the fear is that in the rush to inoculate large numbers of people without long-term studies on possible side-effects, authorities might have unwittingly caused more long-term problems. Researchers also state, even the natural immunity from the milder OMICRON virus, " may be canceled out in those who have received multiple COVID jabs... Each dose erodes your immune response, such that it becomes increasingly compromised with each jab." In fact, regulators in the European Union are now warning that repeat COVID shots can weaken overall immunity. Business Standard January 12, 2022, Frontiers in Immunology April 14, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.656700, www.epochtimes.com.              The US Supreme Court  moves toward its summer break in late June, with a decision expected on United States v. Taylor, 20-1459, out of the 4th Cir., argued in December, and asking: Whether 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A)’s definition of “crime of violence” excludes attempted Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).Other cases seeking to resolve the widening circuit split regarding the meaning of "extraordinary and compelling circumstances," are slowly working their way to the SC.  Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled.  Derek Gilna, Director of Research, JD, (De Paul Law School , 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 113 McHenry Rd. #173, Buffalo Grove, IL   60089 (and Indiana); dgilna1948@yahoo.com (English newsletter and ALL inquiries, English or Spanish); (Alternate email: dagilna1948@yahoo.com, firststeprelief@yahoo.com). federallc_esp@yahoo.com, Spanish newsletter, but NO inquiries. (This Newsletter is for Information Only and Does Not Constitute Legal Advice. The Director of Research is not an  attorney currently licensed to practice in any jurisdiction.) Blog:  "Derek Gilna's Federal Criminal Justice Musings and Reflections."

Sentencing Commission Vacancies Finally FIlled: Two Positive Compassionate Release Developments

 

Sentencing Commission Reactivated by Biden Nominees; Oregon Judge Grants Compassionate Release, Citing "Excruciating" Conditions of Confinement;  Battles for FSA Sentence Credits Continue; Two New Supreme Court "Relists" Seek to Expand 2241 Retroactivity; Appellate Updates 

by Derek Gilna 

            In very positive news, the White House announced on Wednesday a bipartisan list of seven nominees to fill the federal sentencing body that hasn’t had enough members to do its work since 2019. One of the nominees is Carlton Reeves, a federal judge in Mississippi, who would be the first Black chairman of the Commission. John Gleeson, the former federal judge and reform advocate, is also nominated.  The Commission has lacked a quorum to make sentencing changes for several years, much to prisoners' detriment. The commission in recent years showed itself willing to make positive changes when Congress lacked the political will to do so.

            The Sentencing Commission also recently published charts showing that the grant of Compassionate release varied widely from district to district, and often within districts, with about 20% of all petitions being granted.

            A federal district court judge in Oregon recently issued a scathing opinion,  finding that Oregon federal prisoner James Lee Wood, 53, served significant periods of his sentence in federal prison without access to his psychiatric medication or received medication that made his symptoms worse with no recourse. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman this week granted James Lee Wood compassionate release, calling his prison term “an excruciating experience.”

             "For reasons stated on the record, I find Defendant Wood has provided extraordinary and compelling reasons for compassionate release and that the 18 USC 3553(a) factors weigh in favor of compassionate release. Accordingly, the motion is granted. " Wood v. US, 18-599, D. of Oregon, 2-25-21.

            In Charlemagne v. US, 18-cr-181, (D. of Conn, 5-7-22), the court also granted compassionate release. "On October 29, 2020, this court sentenced defendant Timothy Charlemagne to 41 months in prison...(and) recommended that Mr. Charlemagne be "housed at a facility that accounts for his medical condition," including "chronic ulcerations under both of his feet and at the ends of both his big toes that require . . . [debridement] of the wounds every 3-4 weeks, (since) failure to continue this course of treatment 'could leave him subject to amputation,' (but) the BOP has failed to treat his conditions appropriately at every step of the way. On February 22, 2022, following the development of gangrene in his right foot, the toes on that foot had to be amputated. In light of: (1) the fact that the BOP has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to provide adequate medical care for Mr. Charlemagne and (2) the court's consideration of the applicable section 3553(a) factors below, the Motion is granted."

            We have previously commented about how many courts are now apply FSA more expansively to grant sentence relief. Since the First Step Act was passed, federal courts have diverged in how they interpret their roles and responsibilities under section 404(b). One group of circuit courts interprets section 404(b) to provide limited discretion to the district court and, therefore, the appellate court need only review the district court’s decision under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.  The second group interprets section 404(b) to provide district courts with broad discretion to resentence defendants in a manner similar to an initial plenary sentencing, which appellate courts are required to review for reasonableness.

            COVID and its variants continue to infest almost all federal facilities. As noted by  one observer, " I am pretty positive that there are a lot of Covid cases here at Edgefield right this moment but the facility is not testing nor recording them. It's a lot of inmates walking around sick but are scared to go to medical."  Sound familiar? Another at  Ray Brook FCI said, "we are operating on code red because of the 'outside community' and this means we have to go to chow and get a pre-made tray and walk directly back to our units, we are on the unit 23 hours a day." So much for rehabilitation and programming.

           My personal mission to find reliable data from ANY agency or reputable research group that the various COVID vaccines, ( initially touted as completely effective,) even reduces the risk of death from COVID, has failed. Although the CDC (and others, especially drug manufacturers) has flatly stated that as fact, when one examines the fine print, there are so many qualifiers as to render the CDC pronouncement suspect. (Full disclosure: I took two doses, but no booster, and still contracted the virus.)  Here is the bottom line: if you are old and have serious chronic health problems, the vaccines will not conclusively prevent you from falling ill and dying, period. And if you get sick, DOJ will not provide even the necessary minimum level of care to assist in your recovery.

            Many prisoners are seeking relief in compelling courts to grant them sentence credits provided for under the plain language of FSA. Obviously, only those with outdates in the next two years, or those who reach the 50% threshold for possible CARES consideration should consider prioritizing these petitions.

            In the Supreme Court, two pending petitions ask,  whether a habeas corpus statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, grants district courts authority to review a claim that a federal prisoner’s sentence is invalid, when circuit precedent foreclosed the claim at the time of the prisoner’s prior habeas motion, but an intervening Supreme Court precedent changed the construction of the statute and held that new interpretation applies retroactively. Federal prisoners raise that issue in pending petitions in Ham v. Breckon and Jones v. Hendrix.

Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled.

Derek Gilna, Director of Research, JD, (De Paul Law School , 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 113 McHenry Rd. #173, Buffalo Grove, IL   60089 (and Indiana); dgilna1948@yahoo.com (English newsletter and ALL inquiries, English or Spanish); (Alternate email: dagilna1948@yahoo.com, firststeprelief@yahoo.com). federallc_esp@yahoo.com, Spanish newsletter, but NO inquiries. (This Newsletter is for Information Only and Does Not Constitute Legal Advice.reckon and Jones v. Hendrix.

BOP Prisoners Suffer and Die When It Can't Even Administer COVID Drug Therapies Given to It

 

Happy Mother's Day; Congressional Abortion Debate Delays Votes on Reform Until After Election; Still No FSA Sentencing Credits Given;  First Batch of Clemencies Creates Hope for More After the Election;  COVID Roars Back As Prison System Slammed for Denial of COVID Drug Therapies; 

by Derek Gilna 

            To mothers and grandmothers, a belated Mother's Day;  may your next one be celebrated with your family.  Many of you are incarcerated for drug and property offenses, often stemming from poverty and/or substance use disorders, or abusive partners. Unfortunately, prosecutors and judges often do not take into account women's vital roles in preserving families, putting many communities under even further strain. The lack of proper sanitation supplies, specialized medical care, and the seeming inability of the bureau to protect vulnerable women from predatory staff is also an under-reported national scandal.  

            From a women's prison in the state of Alabama: " This place continues to baffle me with their inconsistencies and nonsense. They have denied us cleaning products and trash bags throughout, despite all the COVID protocols that ought to be followed.

We have consistently had to beg for toilet paper. Now these past 2 weeks they have been completely OUT OF sanitary pads ! There are 200+ women being housed here.

This is nothing short of DISGRACEFUL. Commissary is out of most things and we are being told they are out of money so they cannot order anything. The Food Service officers say they don't have produce to feed us." The First Step Act's Compassionate Release provisions may provide an avenue for individuals seeking home confinement to return to their families.

            There is also no response from DOJ as to why no FSA sentence and HW house and home-confinement credits have been given; thus,  you are encouraged to explore your options if you are between 6 months and two years from the door, or CARES eligible. A clemency petition is yet another avenue for possible relief.

            Unfortunately, the escalating political controversy surrounding the federal abortion issue almost ensures that none of the sentence reform bills will be considered before the November elections-there are simply not enough legislative days on the calendar. However, the abortion issue will also sideline the Tom Cotton/ Josh Hawley effort in the Senate to defeat the EQUAL Act and other legislation already approved by  the House.

            Of more immediate concern to prisoners is the nationwide surge in COVID infections, with Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and Minnesota emerging as COVID hotspots. Of course, OMICRON and its variants have  been surging for months in almost all prisons, given the crowded conditions of confinement. New research also  casts serious doubt on whether vaccinations, often cited by the government in responses to compassionate release petitions as a reason to deny release,  are even effective.   Worrisome news broke over the weekend indicating that the federal prison system had drug therapies in their possession to mitigate some of the disease and suffering of the tens of thousands of prisoners who contracted COVID, and still suffer from Long COVID. The new records, which include shipment information for Covid therapeutics and prescribing records for all federal prisons, were obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU,

            The new study showed that the federal prison system  appears to have left some of the most effective drugs for treating Covid-19, such as Pfizer’s antiviral pill, Paxlovid, almost completely unused. The prescribing records, which span from March 31, 2020 to March 24, 2022, include just three prescriptions for Paxlovid, despite the fact that the drug is easy to administer and has been proven to significantly reduce hospitalization and death from Covid-19. Prison officials have only prescribed 363 doses of antivirals since the first such drug proven to work, Gilead’s Remdesivir, was authorized in May 2020. At least 55,000 of the roughly 137,000 people held in federal prisons have contracted Covid-19; roughly 300 have died. https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/05/prisons-paxlovid-incarcerated-people-covid-19.

            Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which also oversees the federal prison system, said in a statement that he is “very concerned” by the new data. “Covid-19 therapeutics are lifesaving drugs that should be available to anyone who meets the criteria — whether that person is incarcerated or not,” Durbin said. “This pandemic has hit America’s prisons especially hard, and (DOJ) should be doing everything it can to safeguard the health of the men and women in its custody.”

            Thirty-eight people have died at Butner, and more than 1,100 have gotten infected, according to data compiled by the UCLA Covid Behind Bars Data Project. Two lawsuits against the facility filed by the ACLU in May and October 2020 alleged that the prison had made insufficient efforts to isolate men with Covid-19 symptoms and to test the men within their care. Thirteen of the 918 people housed at Devens have died since the start of the pandemic. Ten of the 1,236 people housed at Lexington have died.

Several other prisons haven’t prescribed any antivirals at all, despite having huge surges of Covid-19 within their walls, according to the prescribing data. The Yazoo City Federal Correctional Complex has had the second-most Covid cases in the entire prison system. More than 1,700 people housed at the complex have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic. But the facility has never prescribed an antiviral drug. Neither has Coleman Federal Correctional Complex , which had the third-most Covid-19 cases in the federal prison system. The federal prison in Danbury, Conn., also hasn’t prescribed any of these drugs, despite experiencing a massive Covid outbreak in January that prompted calls for a federal investigation from Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled. 

Derek Gilna, Director, JD, (De Paul Law School , 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 113 McHenry Rd. #173, Buffalo Grove, IL   60089 (and Indiana); dgilna1948@yahoo.com (English newsletter and ALL inquiries, English or Spanish); (Alternate email: dagilna1948@yahoo.com, firststeprelief@yahoo.com).federallc_esp@yahoo.com, Spanish newsletter, but NO inquiries.(Mr. Gilna is not an attorney currently licensed to practice in any jurisdiction.)

First Step Act Continues to Fuel Prisoner Relief Petitions; Reform Bills Delayed by GOP Posturing on Violent Crime

First Step Act Filings Accelerate, While Congress Dithers on Reform Before November Election; EQUAL  Act Passage Still Possible This Year; COVID Updates; 

by Derek Gilna 

            Over three years since its passage, the First Step Act (FSA), is still the gift that "keeps on giving." Courts in almost all districts are giving defendant's, who previously had to petition appellate courts to file second-successive 2255's, with uneven results, now use "extraordinary and compelling" circumstances to revisit previous sentencing decisions.

            FSA sentence credits for those eligible are still stalled, as DOJ delays what it should have completed in January. DOJ does not permit the prisons to issue credits, which are being done in Central Office and Grand Prairie. Beware the misdirection and rumors from staff. Most of those eligible will receive the maximum of one year sentence credit, in addition to RDAP credits.

            A super-majority of U.S. Senators, including Charles Grassley of Iowa, who along with Senator Durbin, and of course, President Donald Trump, pushed FSA through Congress in the face of opposition from Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton, are still in favor of sentence reform.    Of course, in the House, EQUAL passed overwhelmingly. I do not expect a vote on criminal justice reform in the Senate until after the November elections, but will continue to follow all bills closely. (Both Grassley and Durbin are up for reelection.) Also probably waiting until after the November election is reform of PATTERN and a housecleaning of the federal prison system for its botched COVID response.

            It appears that a lot of groups who would normally strongly push for justice reform have instead bogged down in "defund the police" culture-war rhetoric which, combined with the rise of crime in central cities controlled by democrats, have  empowered the Tom Cottons of the world to oppose any reform. Both McConnell and Cotton were critical of the recent pardons, attempting to conflate justice with chaos.  

            More data is emerging that show that vaccinations and boosters lose their effectiveness within 4 months, and that there’s a good chance you’ll get Covid more than once. Covid-19 reinfections are common and can happen within a shorter window of time than doctors previously thought possible, recent research suggests. More than half of people in the U.S. showed signs of having been infected at least once as of February, according to a report Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.wsj.com.

            Data from the U.K. government found that reinfections were 10 times higher during the recent Omicron outbreak compared with the earlier Delta outbreak between May and December last year. People who were unvaccinated, younger and lived in areas the study described as more deprived were more likely to be reinfected between July 2020 and March 2022. (The U.S. doesn’t track national reinfection rates broadly.) www.ons.uk.gov. Interestingly, there have been NO peer-reviewed scientific reports published that prove that the vaccinated get milder symptoms, but there are plenty of reports of serious side effects of those who got vaccinated.

            Of course, the inept prison medical system ignores these reports, refuses to test, and ignores the resulting misery of Long Covid, which not only weakens people but makes them vulnerable to other diseases. Amy Duckro, an infectious-disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente, says many questions about long Covid remain unanswered. “I don’t think we should make any bets on someone who has a reinfection having a less likelihood of having long Covid,” says Dr. Duckro. A research group that grew out of the Body Politic patient support group is launching a reinfection study with part of a $3 million grant it recently received to study the impact of reinfections on long Covid patients. Gina Assaf, a co-founder and co-leader of the research group, says Body Politic has heard from people who got long Covid after a reinfection. “We don’t know to what degree it’s happening, but it is happening,” she says, in the Wall Street Journal.https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-twice-immunity-reinfection-vaccine-1651013266.

        "Any fool can make something complicated.    It takes a genius to make it simple" Woody Guthrie. 

Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled. 

Derek Gilna, Director, JD, (De Paul Law School , 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 113 McHenry Rd. #173, Buffalo Grove, IL   60089 (and Indiana); dgilna1948@yahoo.com (English newsletter and ALL inquiries, English or Spanish); (Alternate email: dagilna1948@yahoo.com, firststeprelief@yahoo.com).