Roosevelt @ GWU

It’s Time to End Money Bail in America

6/7/2020

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By: Sean Ruddy

Over the last week millions of dollars have been donated to help protesters marching against police brutality post bail. The Minnesota Freedom Fund received so many donations that it actually stopped asking for any more funds. While this outcry of support has been inspiring we should stop and ask: Why do we still require money bail?
For those that are unaware the United States often requires that someone booked for a crime must provide a monetary payment before being released as a guarantee that they will show up for any court appearances. Similar to a deposit, this payment is either given back once the person attends their hearing or is forfeited to the government. Bail amounts differ by judge decree but are usually similar across equivalent offenses. The practice has become increasingly common, with an ACLU report from 2017 finding that the number of arrests that required money bail rose from 37 percent to 61 percent in the twenty year period between 1990 and 2009.
While the system may not seem that problematic at first glance, this ignores the semi-obvious problem that not everyone can pay it. Analysis from the Prison Policy Initiative found that while bail is typically $10,000 for felonies, the median annual pre-incarceration income of those in local jails is only $15,109. Bail is lower for misdemeanors but even small amounts can be unpayable for the most cash-strapped individuals and awaiting trial behind bars can take a large psychological toil. Unable to pay bail, many are forced into the only "solutions" provided- bail bonds. These predatory agreements provide a defendant with money to post bail, but requires the full amount plus a premium equal to about 10 to 15 percent of the bail bonds total value is repaid in full after the Court date. Unlike normal bail these premiums aren't refundable, making those who are already financially vulnerable even worse off. Failure to pay back a bail bond in full can carry excessive consequences, as individuals can be chased down by bounty hunters, have their wages or tax returns garnished or can, ironically, be arrested. Yet as bail bonds have been ruinous for individuals it has become a booming industry, with $14 billion in bail bonds issued annually and industry raking in a yearly profit of $2 billion.
The revenue gained by the government from money bail may also worsen police brutality problems. While every jurisdiction uses these funds differently, some redirect revenues generated from the forfeiture of bail money into police state budgets. Jurisdictions with larger African American populations tend to gain more of their revenue from these types of fees, a phenomena that is seemingly not explained by differences in criminality or poverty rates. For example, in 2012 Ferguson Missouri gained $2 million or about 13 percent of its total government revenue from fines and fees, such as revenue from bail.
The problems with money bail aren’t just economic. Much like every facet of our criminal justice system, money bail is riddled with biases and discriminations against communities of color. African American and Hispanic men pay significantly higher bail amounts than white men, paying 35 percent and 19 percent more respectively. Jurisdictions with larger African American populations tend to gain more of their revenue from bail bonds, and these revenues can be used to help police budgets. Communities of color are also overrepresented in the pretrial jail population, meaning the population of people in local jails awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crimes. African Americans represent 43 percent of the pretrial jail population despite composing about 12 percent of the US population and Hispanics represent almost 20 percent of the pretrial population despite only being about 13 percent of the population.
It is time that we stop conflating pretrial convictions with socio-economic status. In a system where Justice is meant to be blind, money bail represents another way that race, money, and privilege stack the deck against communities of color and the financially vulnerable. No one should be deterred from making their voices heard because they can’t afford bail. This isn’t a new or involuntary idea, DC has restricted the use of money bail since 1992 with no issues. Several other states and localities including California, New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia have taken steps to phase out money bail without experiencing real declines in court appearance rates. It's time for the rest of the country to do the same and for America to end money bail.

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Food Insecurity in the Time of Covid-19

6/3/2020

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By: Matthew Allen

The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted so many of the things in our everyday lives, including one of the most fundamental: food. At the same time that we’re seeing shortages in grocery stores, we’re seeing surpluses on farms. Surpluses so large that farmers are crushing eggs, dumping milk, and, in a shocking case in Idaho, burying one million onions, all because they know they won’t be able to sell them. This problem of too much food where it’s not needed, and too little where it is, is a result of the inability of our supply chain to adapt. While our food distribution system is normally quite efficient, it relies on predictability. As a result of Covid-19, many of the biggest buyers of food, such as restaurants and school cafeterias, have closed. The chain has struggled to shift from supplying about half of all food to establishments such as this, to now bringing almost all of it to grocery stores. And this is exacerbated by the fact that distribution requires labor, and most workers are being told to stay home. As a result, we’re seeing farmers struggling to make a simple living, while also seeing grocery stores struggling just to stock shelves, and, in some of our more densely populated centers, limits to customers on how much of one item they can buy. In addition to creating difficulties for consumers, these shortages are also having a huge effect on our food banks. Food banks typically relied upon grocery stores for a significant portion of their total donations, but, now that grocery stores have less and less left over on the shelves, food banks have seen a 35% reduction in donations from the retail sector. This comes at a particularly difficult time when unemployment is at its second-highest in our nation’s history, and a time when millions of children who would typically be receiving free meals at their schools no longer are. In 2018, there were about 37 million food insecure people in the United States. That number is much, much, higher now due to several factors. The first of which is a massive increase in unemployment, the second worst in American history. In addition, there are higher prices for food due to a huge spike in demand from panic-buying and hoarding. There are also even more mobility issues for seniors, 5.5 million of which were already food insecure before this crisis. Since they are one of the populations at highest risk, public transportation, which- for many- is the only option, becomes very dangerous. As a result of all of this, Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, estimates there will be an increase of between 4.1 million and 17.1 million in individuals who are food insecure because of the Covid-19 crisis. In a time as uniquely challenging as this, everyone has difficulties and problems, whether that is having to stay at home for several months or having to leave college early. But for far too many Americans, it’s a matter of whether or not they’ll be able to put food on the table for themselves and their families that night. During this crisis, it’s even more important than usual that we remember those who need our help, both as a national community and as individuals. Our government should be doing more to ensure a steady food supply, such as financing the payroll of food distribution companies; and to help those who are unemployed, such as by canceling payments like student loan debt and rent. But we as individuals also need to take responsibility to not take up more food than we need from grocery stores, and to make donations to our local food banks. In this time of crisis, we need to come together as Americans to make sure that, while a disease can disrupt our everyday lives, it doesn’t keep people from being able to feed themselves and their families.

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The corona virus pandemic has disrupted many aspects of life in D.C, businesses are closed, travel is restricted, and the university students have been sent home. The mayor has issued a stay at home order to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Stay at home orders are a necessary and effective step to limit the spread and cost of the virus. However, they leave behind those who are without homes to shelter in. In addition, many homeless shelters have struggled to accomodate the need for social distancing, and cities have struggled to find alternatives. Many cities forged agreements with their now empty hotels to provide housing for the homeless, giving them someplace to stay and avoiding the cramped conditions that allowed the corona virus to spread rapidly in homeless shelters. However, hotels are still an imperfect venue for social distancing given that their rooms do not have kitchens or eating areas. This necessitates residents to leave their rooms and interact with others frequently in order to get food. There is also difficulty in assembling enough capacity to house the 6,500 or so homeless people in the district.
A better alternative would be to use the now vacant college dorms in D.C. The city and George Washington University should forge an agreement to make use of the now vacant dorms at GW and other D.C schools to house the homeless. The dorms at GW and other now closed universities would provide a better way to house this vulnerable population. These dorms would not need to be filled to capacity and could instead each house 1 individual or family. At GW alone there are more than 1200 dorm units which include kitchens and eating areas, which would allow residents to social distance more effectively. If the district could forge such agreements with all of the 19 colleges and universities they should be more than able to house their homeless until the crisis is over. The Universities could rent out these rooms to the city at their upkeep cost and recoup some of the red ink the pandemic has caused, and the city could provide a safe residence for their vulnerable homeless population within blocks of the essential services they rely upon.

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April 7th was World Health Day, and it seems the world has never been more conscious of the work our nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers do. Amid the chaos of the coronavirus, millions of healthcare workers brave the harrowing halls of hospitals and emergency rooms across the country every day. They suit up with whatever personal protective equipment (PPE) they can find, but shortages around the globe means health care workers are forced to reuse the same PPE over several days and use makeshift alternatives, like trash bags. Our healthcare workers are ill-equipped, overworked, and know full well that they are likely to get sick themselves. Still, they go in.

That’s why they’re heroes. That’s why they’re warriors. That’s why they’re applauded. Rightly so, the rhetoric around the nurses, doctors, and health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus is inspiring. Here’s the thing, rhetoric is not enough. While many of these healthcare workers are compassionate, brave, and dedicated to their field, they’re doing their jobs. Jobs that have gotten significantly riskier (dare I say, hazardous) than ever before. At the same time, their jobs aren’t ones that can be moved to the living room (in fact, their jobs are actually keeping some out of their homes). These healthcare workers deserve just compensation for the increased dangers of their jobs; jobs that are critical to responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Our healthcare workers are putting their lives at risk to protect and save others, and there should be some kind of fair compensation for their added responsibilities and risks. Our healthcare workers have become (and I argue always have been) the backbone of our society through the pandemic, and they should be paid accordingly.

I am not alone in my beliefs. Earlier today, Senate Democrats proposed to give doctors, nurses and other essential workers up to $25,000 in hazard pay. Dubbed “The Heroes Fund” by Senate Democrats, this hazard pay is a step in the right direction for the heroes and warriors that must go to work every day. We can’t wait for private businesses to take the initiative to extend hazard pay to their essential employees (because, surprise, they won’t). Therefore, this provision is absolutely essential for any forthcoming stimulus package that comes out of Congress. I encourage all readers to take some time to contact their representatives to express support for such a provision, and take some time to look at the numerous petitions advocating a hazard pay for many essential employees. While our healthcare workers are heroes, they are also humans who deserve a fair wage for their immense contributions.

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It’s Time for Americans to Consider a National Health Service

3/16/2020

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(Photo Credit: Golden Cosmos/ NBC)

By: Daniel Ohiri

Currently the United States is struggling to address the global COVID-19 pandemic. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified to the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 2020; the United States is failing in its coronavirus testing. “The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” Dr. Fauci added. In this election year, we should push for not only the system we need but the system we deserve.

On March 13th, the Trump administration belatedly declared what most Americans knew —that we are in the midst of a national emergency. Policymakers and public health officials are attempting to cope with the lack of coherent leadership from the White House and its coronavirus task force. This coming week, Americans can expect that $40-50 billion of emergency funds will be freed up to combat coronavirus. Moreover, we can expect that Congress will pass, and the President will sign, a bill that will provide free coronavirus testing, $1 billion in food aid, and extended sick leave. Nevertheless, as the President said in the Rose Garden, “we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time. [It] wasn’t meant for this kind of event”. Trump is right – our healthcare system is not built for an overwhelming public health emergency. Let alone the fact that our healthcare system is not even built to provide affordable comprehensive health care to all Americans and residents. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our public policy shortcoming regarding healthcare.

Healthcare is the number one issue voters are concerned about going into the 2020 election. Because of the importance of access to healthcare, this election will prove to be pivotal. Candidates have proposed everything from a single-payer system to a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But now is the time for Americans to explore the creation of a national health service.

If healthcare is a human right, which I believe it is, then it is reasonable to expect the government to enact and enforce that right. In the same way that public schools, police departments, and libraries are services provided to the public so should medical care. No human being in this country should have to face bankruptcy for an unexpected medical expense. No son should have to make a plea on Facebook or GoFundMe to raise money for his mother’s knee replacement. Just as it is in the United Kingdom all medical procedures and appointments ought to be free at the point of use.

The NHS was created in the aftermath of World War II. U.K. citizens often have to pay no more than about $10 in out of pocket medical expenses. The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other OECD Nation at $10,586 per capita while the U.K. spends just $4,070—only 9.8% of the Kingdom’s GDP. Due in part to the NHS, the U.K. has a higher life expectancy than the U.S., along with a lower infant mortality rate, and a lower rate for potential deaths due to a lack of healthcare. The British NHS is a monument to effective social policy, it is a program that U.K. citizens cherish so much they proudly, and rightly, displayed to the world during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The average American household paid $6,015 for coverage in 2019 through its laggard, patchwork system. In Canada, a nation that has adopted a single-payer system over a national health service, the average citizen paid $6,604 in taxes for healthcare coverage. In both the United States and Canada, insurance is not comprehensive. Even in Canada, the government only pays 70% of healthcare costs ignoring coverage for prescription drugs, dental, and vision. Whereas, while in the U.K., the average citizen paid just $2,000 in taxes for coverage. The U.K. National Health Service is extraordinarily broad, providing in-patient care, vision, dental, mental, long-term, and rehabilitative care. In the NHS model, there is are very little cost-sharing and copayments are low. By administrating and staffing the hospitals, the United Kingdom lowers most barriers to access seen in the American and Canadian models; moreover, it virtually eliminates regional pricing discrepancies in ambulance, diagnostic, and other healthcare fees.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Services has enjoyed over 70 years of success and satisfaction. The NHS enjoys a 54% approval rating while only 30% of Americans are satisfied with their healthcare. In Great Britain, no qualified resident is uninsured, while in the United States 87 million adults were either uninsured or underinsured. The American healthcare system cannot stay the course, the status quo is reckless and deadly. The U.S requires a major overhaul to address lack of access, coverages, cost, and satisfaction. It is time that we seriously think about adopting a national, universal health care system in the United States.

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Democratic Access is on the ballot

11/5/2019

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By: Daniel Ohiri

It’s election day! All across the country, people will be voting for governors, attorneys general, state house, and city council. Thousands will also be voting for several municipal propositions. I want to focus on one of these referendums in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Proposition No. 2 says,

“Shall the City of Albuquerque adopt the following amendments to update the language of the Open and Ethical Elections Code, which provides for public financing of City candidates: Vied eligible city residents with Democracy Dollars, to contribute to their choice of qualified candidates , which the candidates could redeem with the city clerk, up to a limit, for funds to spend in support of their campaigns, as directed by the City Council, and increased funds for publicly financed mayoral define family candidates?”

This simply worded proposition actually radically alters the way we finance elections. Following a 5-4 ruling from the Supreme Court, municipalities nationwide had to redo their public financing system. Paraphrasing Justice Kagan’s dissent, this ruling significantly weakens election authorities’ ability to combat the hold special interests have in our political system. No city is safe from high dollar donors corrupting their politics. In Albuquerque, Demos found that, “A small pool of donors contributing at least $1,000 each provided the majority of campaign funds in the last city election”. In a city, where the per capita income is $28,229, we are currently crippling, in a major way, the average citizen’s ability to participate in politics.

The rising cost of city council elections is damaging to our democratic process. Take for example this year’s election in Albuquerque City Council District 8. In this district one of the candidates has opted to pursue private financing while the other has chosen to be publicly financed. Trudy Jones, who is privately financed and the incumbent, raised $31,305 (mostly from the real estate industry) during Reporting Period 7 (09/03/ 2019 – 10/11/2019). During the same reporting period her opponent, Maureen Skowran, raised $0.00. The race in District 8 demonstrates the advantages that affluent incumbents have in financing their campaigns. In elections across the country we are seeing more and more that big money is unfortunately essential to a modern campaign, and without it challengers face an uphill battle to even get on the ballot, let alone mount a successful campaign. The reliance on big donor financing is damaging because it limits the entryway into public service to the affluent or affluent adjacent. Therefore, it limits the socioeconomic diversity of thought and people in the halls of power and decision making. It also affects access to policymakers, there is evidence that suggests that politicians will listen more keenly and respond to the policy proposals put forth by high dollar donors instead of low dollar constituent contributors.

Albuquerque voters have a choice in filling the public financing hole created by the Supreme Court. They have a choice in following in the steps of Seattle, WA, when they created a similar program. They also have a choice to continue the status quo. Ultimately, the choice is theirs.

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The New Comprehensive Plan: A Positive Step for D.C

11/1/2019

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By: Sean Ruddy

This past month, the D.C. city council took landmark action when it unanimously passed an updated Framework of the city’s comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is a far-reaching document that guides the decision-making of the city's zoning commission for the next 20 years, having great influence on the landscape of the city. One of the main improvements to the comprehensive plan included encouraging the Zoning Commission to approve the development of planned unit developments (PUDs), which are a type of multi-purpose development that are exempted from some zoning restrictions if they provide a public good. One of the main changes to PUD developments is that they are no longer forbidden if the development would have “incompatibility” with a neighborhood but only when there are “unacceptable project impacts in the surrounding area.” This change will ensure that new crucially needed affordable housing developments are not blocked because of frivolous subjective reasons, such as distributing the “character” of a neighborhood, while still ensuring that current residents are not harmed.
The new comprehensive plan also requires that some PUDs and developments using city funds must help provide more equitable housing within DC. These changes to PUDs are expected to improve the amount of affordable housing units throughout the District. These necessary changes come at a crucial time, with a new report finding that DC is displacing lower-income residents at the highest rate in the country. These new housing developments will help stop this displacement and move the city towards the estimated 320,000 new units that have to be built by 2030 to keep up the job growth within the city. The plan gives priority to PUDs with a “build first” approach, which prevents residents from being displaced by allowing them to stay in their homes until new facilities are built. The amendments also establish a “right to return” clause that will make sure residents are able to return to their homes following housing redevelopment projects.

Other new improvements to the comprehensive plan coming from the amendments include a focus on development density instead of height, emphasizes on renewable energy sources in construction, and encouraging the development of multimodal public transportation to connect all residents to the bustling sectors of the city.

The Roosevelt Network praises the new amendments and appreciates the D.C. council’s commitment to preventing the displacement of its citizens. We hope to work with the council and other important stakeholders to monitor implementation and make certain that these changes help the city’s most vulnerable residents.

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How Congestion Pricing could increase mass transit ridership and reduce pollution

10/19/2019

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By Matthew Allen

Every day for as long as I can remember, my Dad has driven to and from work in Boston from our suburban town of Andover. This, according to 2018 numbers, has cost him a total of almost $50,000 in productivity over the last two decades due to the fact that Boston has the worst traffic of any city in the United States (and the eighth worst of any city on Earth). In 2018 alone, the average commuter that drove into Boston wasted over 160 hours of their life sitting in traffic, and, in rush hour, 60% of all roadways in the Greater Boston area are congested. Even worse, perhaps, is the fact that the average speed of driving in downtown Boston is 11 mph. However, this traffic doesn’t just plague the lives of commuters (and their employers). It plagues the environment, too. According to a 2014 EPA report, auto emissions serve as the largest source of air pollution in the state.

Despite all of this, very few commuters choose to take the commuter rail, as the trains are run-down, most lines have limited service, and many simply cannot afford the fares. These factors have led the MBTA’s commuter rail ridership to decrease by 25% since 2002, making Boston the only major city in the country whose commuter rail has decreased in riders since that point.

In order to address this important issue, I propose the implementation of a congestion pricing system in Boston, which will serve to: reduce overall traffic, decrease air pollution, and generate revenue to apply to more sustainable alternatives, such as the commuter rail. Congestion pricing is an idea that’s worked incredibly well in cities all over the globe. So well, that many American cities, such as New York and Seattle, are officially exploring implementing it themselves. However, Boston’s government has yet to follow their lead.

The fundamental concept of congestion pricing is that if we charge drivers a fee for entering a specific zone (generally the downtown area), people will choose to take alternative forms of transportation in order to avoid that fee, thus decreasing traffic and air pollution, and increasing public transportation ridership. And this has had immense success in cities such as Stockholm, Singapore, and London. Each of them has had a congestion pricing model for over a decade (Singapore has even had theirs since 1975). London’s system, which has been in place since 2003, includes an ￡8 ($13) daily flat fee for entering the congestion zone. This has helped to reduce traffic by 30%, and increase average downtown traffic speeds from 2-5 mph to 10 mph. It has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 16%, increased public transit ridership by 18%, and generated over $200 million in revenue annually. It’s even served to help business within the zone, as such businesses are growing twice as fast as those in other areas of the city.

It’s clear that Boston has a congestion problem; one that is doing significant harm to economic productivity, to the environment, and to the lives of hundreds of thousands of commuters. Implementing a congestion pricing system has been proven to alleviate these problems in myriad cities across the globe, and now I believe it’s time for Boston to give it a try.

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<<Previous

The roosevelt Reader

It’s Time to End Money Bail in America

Food Insecurity in the Time of Covid-19

Dorms for the homeless

Heroes Need Hazard Pay

It’s Time for Americans to Consider a National Health Service

Democratic Access is on the ballot

The New Comprehensive Plan: A Positive Step for D.C

How Congestion Pricing could increase mass transit ridership and reduce pollution

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