There’s not much that my brother Brian fears. 
 
He’s 10 years older than me, a bear of a man physically, and his entire life he’s been a ball of energy. He coached my football team when I was a youth. He dreamed of becoming a business owner. The cleaning service he started from the trunk of his car grew into several companies with 50 employees. After a terrible car accident, he got a prison sentence, and has made it his goal to use that time to improve himself. He has a team of family and friends rooting for him, but no one is more optimistic than Brian about all of the things he’ll contribute once he’s out.
 
But when COVID-19 hit, that fearless outlook changed. The virus spread like wildfire through the New Jersey prison where he is incarcerated. Since March, he’s been scared out of his mind. 
 
If my brother gets COVID-19, he’s never coming home. His release date is February 2021. If Brian contracts the virus, he will not make it. He’s 59, and has Type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and weight issues — all risk factors. During his sentence, medical staff left a catheter in for several months longer than they should have, and he nearly died from sepsis.
 
For my brother, every single day is literally the difference between life and death.
 
New Jersey has a shameful distinction when it comes to COVID-19: Despite success in containing the virus in other ways, the death rates in our prisons are the worst in the country.
 
There is currently legislation pending that could make New Jersey a leader in containing the pandemic, rather than a cautionary tale. This legislation, S2519/A4235, sponsored by Sens. Nellie Pou and Sandra Cunningham, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, would release people from prison who have less than eight months to go on their sentence, advancing public health in two critically important ways. First, it would allow people to distance themselves outside of prison, an environment that’s like a cruise ship on steroids, where social distancing is impossible. Further, it would lower the prison population to make social distancing possible — not just for the people who are serving time, but for employees, medical staff, and the families they go home to.
 
Everyone who would be released under the legislation is getting out soon anyway. This bill would lessen the chance of dying in the short period of time before they can come home. Having passed through the New Jersey Senate last month, the bill must now be voted on in the assembly in order to go to the Governor’s desk.
 
If this legislation fails, the state of New Jersey sends the message that six extra months in prison is worth my brother’s life. As we’ve known since the pandemic began, it is imperative to reduce the prison population as quickly and safely as possible if we are to protect as many lives as we can from this deadly virus.
 
The possibility of death is extremely real. Through the course of fighting for my brother’s life, I’ve come to know Bernice Ferguson. Her son Rory had just celebrated his 39th birthday and was scheduled for release from prison within a matter of weeks. Bernice never got to throw the party she was planning to celebrate his homecoming. Instead, because he contracted COVID-19, she had to plan a funeral.
 
We are all human. We all make mistakes. My brother knows he made a serious one. He regrets it every single day, and he lives every day to make himself a better person. My 16-year-old son, inspired by the entrepreneurship of his uncle and godfather Brian, started a lawn care business of his own. For Brian’s 59th birthday, on Aug. 7, he sent his uncle a card with one simple message: “I just want my godfather to come home, so we can work together.”
 
Of the 3,000 people who would be eligible for release under S2519/A4235, Brian is in some ways luckier than most despite his health. He has me, our three other siblings, our mother, and a host of friends and family who love him, and who have the energy and knowledge to do what we can to fight for his release. But without legislation, there’s only a limited amount we can do. 
 
Whenever another group of people in his prison leave en masse for quarantine, we talk and cry, worrying he could be next. We’ve had several conversations about end-of-life care. The reality of death is everywhere.
 
In recent weeks, we as a nation have surpassed yet another heartbreaking milestone: More than 1,000 people have now died of COVID-19 in prisons across the country. More must be done to save lives. Passing S2519/A4235 in New Jersey would do just that.
  
From the beginning of his sentence, my brother has worked to become a better person than he was when he was first locked up. Before that fateful accident, my brother had built successful companies and strengthened our community — he helped his employees get citizenship, helped families purchase their first home, gave people their first jobs. 
 
When Brian puts his mind to something, he does it. Outside of prison, he’ll make an even greater impact than before. But to get that done, we have to get him home.
 
New Jerseyans, send a message to lawmakers to vote YES on S2519/A4235 and urge Governor Murphy to swiftly sign it into law.

An earlier version of the op-ed originally appeared in The Star Ledger.

Scott Clements

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, people across the country face the economic devastation left in its wake. Along with staggering unemployment numbers, millions of renters now face eviction — a situation made even more dire by the global health crisis. Congress responded by instating an eviction moratorium for more than 12 million rental units across the country. But that moratorium expired on July 24th. This week, the Center for Disease Control introduced another moratorium, protecting certain renters in certain circumstances until the new year. But that still leaves many unprotected, and those who are protected remain burdened with a hefty bill due in 2021.

ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Sandra Park has monitored this situation since the start of the pandemic and has litigated discriminatory eviction policies in the U.S. for almost two decades. She joined us this week to explain the current crisis.

Why Evicting Millions During a Pandemic is Bad for Our Democracy

Why Evicting Millions During a Pandemic is Bad for Our Democracy

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, people across the country face the economic devastation left in its wake. Along with staggering unemployment numbers, millions of renters now face eviction — a situation made even more dire by the global heal...

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, people across the country face the economic devastation left in its wake. Along with staggering unemployment numbers, millions of renters now face eviction — a situation made even more dire by the global heal...

Listen to this episode

Day after day, night after night, protesters have been taking to the streets since the police killing of George Floyd. Led by local Black activists and grassroots groups, they’re chanting, singing, shouting, kneeling, marching, and even laying on the ground to demand justice for the many Black lives that have been taken by police. Everyone — from parents, grandparents, kids, and more — are showing up.

But Donald Trump from day one has expressed extreme hostility towards the Black Lives Matter movement. He has called on NFL owners to retaliate against players who dared to kneel in protest, said it was “terrible” to ask why Black Americans are still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country, compared police killing and injuring Black people to golfers who “choke,” and has called for law enforcement to “dominate” protesters demanding that our legal system value Black lives. He has even encouraged police to abuse people in their custody.

As the movement and calls for change gain broader support from more Americans and people around the world, protesters are being met by even more brutality — in many cases by the same police departments whose racism and brutality they are protesting. Police and federal agents are spreading fear and panic in communities, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking people simply exercising their First Amendment right to protest police racism and brutality. Law enforcement at all levels haven’t even spared U.S. military veterans, journalists, legal observers, and medics. This assault on the First Amendment has only escalated tensions, and emboldened white supremacists to spread terror and hate on our streets.

The ACLU is taking to the streets, legislatures and courts nationwide to demand an end to police violence and accountability for rights violations. Here is just a partial running list of federal and local law enforcement abuses against individuals exercising their First Amendment rights in Portland, Oregon:

• Federal agents with the U.S. Marshals Service brutally attacked and gassed U.S. Navy veteran Christopher David, who simply asked federal agents why they weren’t upholding their oath to the Constitution. The ACLU of Oregon is now suing on his behalf.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1299896621711454208

• Unidentified federal agents in military-style uniforms abducted ACLU of Oregon client Mark Pettibone from a sidewalk, then forced him into an unmarked minivan and drove him away for no apparent reason. The agents were later identified as belonging to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. Pettibone explains how he “still [hasn’t] fully come to terms with what it means that I was kidnapped by [his] government.”
   
• DHS officers violently attacked Nichol Denison, a U.S. Air Force veteran and member of the Portland “Wall of Moms,” while she was attending a Black Lives Matter protest. Without any warning, officers began launching cans of tear gas at her and other women beside her through gaps in the fence. Denison was hit repeatedly and was then struck far more forcefully in the head by a tear gas cannister that appeared to have been thrown from in front of her. She suffered a three-inch gash that was gushing blood, had to be taken to the VA hospital, where she received 11 stitches.
   
• Without warning and for no reason whatsoever, federal officers shot James McNulty, who was attending a protest for the first time, four times: three times with rubber bullets and one time with a pepper ball. At the emergency room, McNulty learned that one of the munitions that struck him in the back had not only gone through his clothes, but pieced his skin, fat layer, and at least one layer of muscle.

• Maureen Healy was attending a Black Lives Matter protest with her child when, without warning, federal officers began firing flash bangs, impact munitions, and tear gas cannisters into the crowd. Healy began to turn and run, but was hit in the head with a projectile that felt metallic and the size of a small can. She started bleeding profusely and called for help. While some volunteer medics attended to her injuries, federal officers continued to fire tear gas into the area, forcing them all to move.
   
• Federal officers shot Donovan LaBella, a 26-year-old protester, in the head with impact munitions. At the time LaBella was shot, he was standing across the street from the Hatfield Courthouse protesting while holding a music speaker above his head. He suffered severe injuries, arriving at the hospital in critical condition with a skull fracture. He subsequently underwent facial reconstruction surgery for his injuries. 
   
• Mac Smiff was attending a Black Lives Matter protest when federal officers shot him on the right side of his face with an indelible hard-cap paintball, just below the line of his helmet and just above a face mask he was wearing. The impact of the shot and resulting shock caused Smiff to fall to the ground. Smiff was partly blinded by the paint in his face and had a large contusion on his head. He received treatment from the volunteer medics, who told him that he may have suffered a concussion. 
   
• Duston Obermeyer, a decorated USMC veteran with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and a co-founder of the “Wall of Vets,” was attending the Portland protests for the first time when, for no reason, a federal officer tried to strike Obermeyer. An officer pointed an automatic weapon in Obermeyer’s face while another officer shot him at point-blank range with an orange chemical irritant. One of the officers also struck Obermeyer in the face and chest with a baton. The gas was severely debilitating, and it took Duston days to recover from the gassing.
   
• Portland police tear-gassed reporters Alex Zielinski and Blair Stenvick of the Portland Mercury, many other journalists and legal observers, and physically assaulted and arrested KBOO reporter Cory Elia, even though he identified himself as press.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/im0l3HuYgNw

• Police hit freelance journalist Sergio Olmos with a truncheon and threatened to tear gas him because he was recording them. His press pass was clearly visible. Police also attacked journalist Donovan Farley with a wooden bat and sprayed him in the face with tear gas or pepper spray while he was trying to walk away from them. He had identified himself as press and was filming several police officers kneeling on a protester’s neck, Derek Chauvin-style. 
   
• Portland police slammed reporter Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian in the back with a truncheon. She had her hands up, press pass in hand, and was saying “press, press.” The officer responded: “I don’t give a fuck.” The same day, police ordered reporter Zane Sparling of The Portland Tribune to leave an area where they were enforcing a dispersal order against protesters. Sparling responded that he was media. The officer responded: “I don’t give a shit! Go!” He then shoved Sparling into a wall, and another officer shot a crowd-control munition at his heel.
   
• When the police noticed journalist Brian Conley using his camera to record their action, officers launched at least one flash-bang grenade directly at him. He was nowhere near any protesters and there was no other target at which the police could have been aiming. The police later charged at him after telling him that it did not matter if he was media. Conley fell over while running away and only narrowly avoided a traumatic head injury.
   
• Portland police repeatedly sprayed large groups of protesters with tear gas from all sides in what is known as a “kettling” or “killbox” military strategy. Killboxing protesters cannot disperse them. Its sole purpose is to inflict pain and suffering.
   
• Portland police have bull-rushed crowds of people, shoving protesters to the ground, and hitting them with clubs and other instruments. They continue to do this night-after-night.

https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/statuses/1300682200082345985

• Federal agents too have been deliberately attacking journalists and legal observers at protests, even after a court issued a temporary restraining order barring them from such unconstitutional attacks. A federal agent shot reporter Jonathan Levinson while he was trying to take a photo. As Levinson looked back and forth between his camera and the agent, trying to focus his lens, he saw the agent raise his weapon, deliberately point it at him, and fire several rounds. Levinson was wearing an OPB press pass with his name, his photograph, the OPB logo, and the word “MEDIA.” He was also wearing a helmet that said “PRESS” in large letters on the front and back and carrying two professional cameras with large, bulky lenses. 
   
• A federal agent also shot journalist Brian Conley when he was trying to video an arrest. Conley yelled that he was press, over and over. Suddenly, without warning, federal agents shot him multiple times with impact munitions in his chest and his foot. An agent also threw a tear-gas canister directly at Conley, where it exploded above his head.  He was carrying a large Micro Four Thirds camera with a telephoto lens and external 20W LED light mounted on it and was wearing a photographer’s vest that said “PRESS” on it as well as a helmet that said “PRESS.” 
   
• Federal agents shot clearly-marked reporter Rebecca Ellis and separately prevented her from documenting their dispersal of protesters. 
   
• Federal agents shot clearly-marked legal observer Haley Nicholson in her chest, just above her heart, from four feet away. Impact munitions should not be used at distances of less than 15 feet or above the waist. 
   
• Federal agents deliberately sprayed toxic chemicals into the faces of multiple clearly-marked legal observers, including Bruce Knivlia and Kat Mahoney, at point blank range. They were all clearly identified in blue ACLU vests and green NLG hats. They also shot photojournalist Kathryn Elsesser, who was also clearly marked with “PRESS” on her helmet. 
   
• Daniel Hollis, a videographer for VICE News, was wearing a helmet with the word “PRESS” on it and operating large, professional video-recording equipment when federal agents launched a barrage of munitions at Hollis and the members of the press around him, hitting Hollis near his groin and in his lower back. 
   
• Federal agents and Portland police have also brutally attacked protest medics treating injured protesters and individuals. ACLU of Oregon clients Christopher Wise, Savannah Guest, and others have suffered numerous injuries from law enforcement deliberately firing rubber bullets, tear-gas, pepper spray, batons, and flash bangs at protest medics providing aid.

https://twitter.com/ACLU/statuses/1287019018147237891

We’re witnessing similarly alarming and dangerous tactics being deployed in Kenosha, Wisconsin as people take to the streets to demand accountability and transformational change within the police and sheriff’s departments. This comes after police attempted to murder Jacob Blake by shooting him seven times in the back, fraternized with heavily-armed white supremacist militias during protests, and then let a white man who shot and killed two protesters walk away from the scene of the shooting. 

There are multiple reports of law enforcement in unmarked vehicles with tinted windows and officers making arrests in Kenosha without identifying themselves or wearing insignia to identify their law enforcement agency. Kenosha police have also indiscriminately fired chemical and other weapons, including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and pepper balls at protesters. We’re also receiving reports of protesters being arrested for violating curfew, and having possessions, like their cell phones, confiscated and not returned to them. 

Notably, all of this is taking place in a county that has a history of severe racial disparities in policing; Black people in Kenosha County are 6.9 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people — almost double the national racial disparity in such arrests.

This is a fight for our democracy. The answer to protests over police brutality cannot be more brutality. We are unleashing the full firepower of the ACLU to defend our rights — in Portland, in Kenosha, and nationwide. We won’t be silenced.

Abdullah Hasan, Communications Strategist, ACLU