<p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p" name="bc0e" style="margin-top: 29px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; text-indent: -0.4em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);">By Kate Walz and Marie Claire Tran-Leung</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p" id="bc0e" name="bc0e" style="margin-top: 29px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; text-indent: -0.4em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em" style="font-feature-settings: 'liga' 1, 'salt' 1;">&ldquo;Where will I sleep tonight?&rdquo;</em></span></p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="2e82" name="2e82" style="margin-top: 29px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);">Every year,&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">roughly 640,000 people</a> &mdash; about the population of Washington, D.C. &mdash; leave federal and state prisons. Eleven million are processed through local jails annually. On the day they are released, and indeed for the years to come, the answer these people have to that question above will dramatically affect their ability to successfully rejoin their communities and lead healthy, productive lives.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="c6d3" name="c6d3" style="margin-top: 29px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol15num3/ch3.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">Research shows</a>&nbsp;that safe, stable, and affordable housing plays a crucial role in successful re-entry. But unfortunately, far too many people with criminal records remain locked out.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="242b" name="242b" style="font-family: medium-content-sans-serif-font, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans&quot;, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.02em; margin-top: 56px; margin-left: -2px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --baseline-multiplier:0.157; font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.15;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong">People with criminal records face a host of barriers to safe and affordable housing.</span></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" id="0a08" name="0a08" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);">While lack of access to affordable housing is&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/06/every-single-county-in-america-is-facing-an-affordable-housing-crisis/396284/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">a problem of epidemic proportions nationwide</a>, it is particularly severe for the&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/09060720/CriminalRecords-report2.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">more than 70 million people in this country</a>&nbsp;who have criminal records.&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://www.nij.gov/journals/270/Pages/criminal-records.aspx" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">Because justice-involved individuals often struggle to secure and maintain employment</a>&nbsp;after exiting the criminal justice system, federally subsidized housing is a crucial lifeline. But, by both&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="http://www.povertylaw.org/wdmd" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">federally subsidized housing providers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://talkpoverty.org/2016/05/17/when-landlords-discriminate/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">landlords in the private marketplace</a>, justice-involved individuals are often turned away because of their records. In a&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="http://ellabakercenter.org/who-pays-the-true-cost-of-incarceration-on-families" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">2015 survey of formerly incarcerated people</a>, about 4 out of every 5 respondents said they had experienced such treatment.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" id="be1d" name="be1d" style="margin-top: 29px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);">What&rsquo;s worse, because&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="https://theshriverbrief.org/celebrating-black-history-by-ensuring-a-future-for-tomorrow-s-leaders-b5266103df1e" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">people of color disproportionately bear the brunt of our overly punitive and expansive criminal justice system</a>, admission rejections based on criminal records are often used as proxies for racial discrimination, causing the devastating consequences of housing instability and homelessness to fall ever-more hard on African Americans and Latino/as.</p>
<h3 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="81ca" name="81ca" style="font-family: medium-content-sans-serif-font, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans&quot;, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.02em; margin-top: 56px; margin-left: -2px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --baseline-multiplier:0.157; font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.15;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong">The consequences of lack of access to housing are particularly acute for justice-involved individuals.</span></h3>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" id="6c32" name="6c32" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);">Anyone facing homelessness or housing instability is likely to experience significant physical and financial turmoil, but the stakes are even higher for people with records. Barriers to housing can layer on top of and exacerbate other collateral consequences associated with a criminal record &mdash; <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pager/files/asr_pager_etal09.pdf?m=1392395629" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">like barriers to employment</a> &mdash; further undermining one&rsquo;s ability to reenter the community. Moreover,&nbsp;<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-="" href="http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ps.2008.59.2.170" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;" target="_blank">people who are homeless are also more likely to face incarceration</a>, making it more likely that justice-involved people without stable housing will recidivate.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" name="6c32" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.58; letter-spacing: -0.003em; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><a href="https://theshriverbrief.org/housing-the-key-to-successful-reentry-for-people-with-criminal-records-8eb2f12d491c">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

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Story by Olivia P. Tallet</div>
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Multimedia by Marie D. De Jes&uacute;s</div>
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<p>Juan Rodr&iacute;guez was pulled from the shadows more than a decade ago. Then life began to revolve around meetings with federal authorities.</p>
<p>Twenty-five times, he and his family went in and came back out. But this last time, they knew.</p>
<p>&quot;This time was going to be different,&quot; Celia Rodr&iacute;guez recalled, her right hand pressing against her chest, the left one hurrying to cover her face as a delicate cascade of tears fell.</p>
<p>Celia doesn&#39;t like her daughters to see her that way, so she doesn&#39;t make any noise when she cries. The girls, Karen, Rebecca and Kimberly, were squeezed next to her on a loveseat in the den.</p>
<p>The house fell quiet.</p>
<p>It&#39;s a spacious home near the University of Houston in a majority Latino neighborhood. At the front, manicured grass gives way to a line of sages and young pink velour myrtles, a Texas favorite because they always bloom this time of the year, no matter the heat. Light filters in from the back of the house, and clean floors glow like mirrors.</p>
<p>Juan broke the silence cautiously, patting his wife&#39;s back. Then he looked into Celia&#39;s eyes. &quot;Vamos, vamos &hellip; ,&quot; come on, he said one night last week. They didn&#39;t have much time to tell their story.</p>
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<p><img alt=" Marie D. De Jesus, Staff / © 2017 Houston Chronicle" id="premiumchron-photo-13018766" src="http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/61/52/32/13018766/5/920x1240.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></p>
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<p><span class="credit">Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Staff</span></p>
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<p class="caption">Juan Rodr&iacute;guez and his family - wife Celia and daughters Karen, Kimberly and Rebecca - have built a life in Houston. That could change at month&#39;s end because Juan has been ordered to turn himself in to be deported to El Salvador. </p>
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<p><a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-rules-have-changed-Houston-family-surprised-11192377.php?cmpid=email-mobile">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p>BY MARK BALLARD, MAY 31, 2017</p>
<div class="asset-content subscriber-premium" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Legislative efforts to protect Confederate monuments in Louisiana failed Wednesday when a state Senate committee shot down two measures.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Senate Bill 198 would have required legislative approval prior to removal of statutory. House Bill 71 would require a public referendum before memorials are taken down.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Voting 4-2 for each bill, the Senate &amp; Governmental Affairs Committee rejected both proposals, making the success of either measure nearly impossible at this point in the legislative session. The session must adjourn a week from Thursday on June 8.</p>
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">The issue exposed barely covered anger between the races and the legislators. After HB71 was approved in the Louisiana House two weeks ago, the Legislative Black Caucus walked out.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">State Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, said her SB198 never mentioned the Civil War. She felt the testimony Wednesday took the intent of her legislation down a different path than the protections of military and historical monuments that she wanted.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Sen. Gregory Tarver, D-Shreveport, noted that the two-year fight to remove monuments in New Orleans is over. Still, most of testimony Wednesday refought the recent removal of the four statues.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">New Orleans Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, the committee&#39;s chairwoman and head of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said at their essence both bills are about whether state government should overrule decisions local government makes about the monuments it owns sitting on property it owns and to decide who to celebrate with those memorials,</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Nevertheless, Peterson allowed witnesses freehand to discuss their diametrically different takes on the history and impact of slavery to the origins and meaning of the Civil War.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Peterson said many supporters were impassioned by the belief they were protecting the memories of their Confederate soldier ancestors. But she also wanted to remember the experiences of opponents whose ancestors were enslaved.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">When the HB71 was sent to Peterson&rsquo;s committee, supporters erupted in the blog-o-sphere claiming that she would never allow a fair hearing.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Peterson said she received dozens of vitriolic emails. But she also was determined that everyone would get a chance to have their say.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Unlike the House committee hearing &ndash; where the chairman used an egg timer to limit testimony &ndash; Peterson let everyone talk as long as they wanted. The hearing lasted about six and half hours.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Rob Maness, a former U.S. Senate candidate who testified in favor of the legislation, complimented Peterson for her handling of the hearing.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">All 13 of the supporters who testified in favor of the two bills were white. The audience groaned or clapped to various points made during testimony until scolded by Sergeant at Arms who were tasked with keeping order.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Some supporters argued that slavery wasn&#39;t really a racial issue. Dana Farley, of New Orleans, for instance, argued that tribal leaders in Africa sold slaves.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, countered that was like saying South American coca farmers were more culpable for the sale of illegal drugs in America than crime lords.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Several witnesses were making their first foray and were taken aback at senators on the panel talking among themselves or checking their smart phones.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Jenna Bernstein was angered that some of the senators were absent.&nbsp; &ldquo;I came a long way, from Florida. I want them all here when I speak,&rdquo; she said standing at the testimony table and yelling at Peterson.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">The chairwoman explained that a few members also were attending a Senate Finance committee hearing at the same time.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Sen. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, said he was concerned about the precedent that would set if a referendum was called whenever a group of people disagreed with the decisions made by local government.</p>
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">The issue in New Orleans was vetted by two commissions, which approved the removal of the statuary. Then the City Council voted 6-1 to remove the monuments. The procedure was challenged in court and upheld.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">&nbsp;&ldquo;Where does it end?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Bishop said he was elected to be the voice his constituents. And every four years the voters can replace him if they don&rsquo;t like what he says.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way representative Democracy works,&rdquo; Bishop said.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;"><span class="gold">Nicholas Mitchell, with the Jesuit Social Research Institute at LoyolaUniversity in New Orleans, provided something of a history lesson.&nbsp; He said the monuments were put up after the Confederate States of America had lost the war as a reminder to people of color that white people were in charge. The memorials were erected as Louisiana was passing laws that restricted voting, housing and other rights for African Americans, he said.</span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Voting for both bills was identical and broke along racial and party lines.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Voting against SB198 and HB71 were Democratic Sens. Bishop, Morrell, Tarver and Troy Carter, of New Orleans.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">Voting for both measures were Republican Sens. Neil Riser, of Columbia, and Mike Walsworth, of West Monroe.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, &quot;Libre Baskerville&quot;, Georgia, serif;">State Rep. Thomas Carmody Jr., the Shreveport Republican who sponsored HB71, said he would bring the legislation back again next year.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_e4bffe64-4641-11e7-a01f-0b9cb6bb5a3e.html">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p>[By YAMICHE ALCINDOR and CAMPBELL ROBERTSON, MAY 31, 2017]</p>
<p>JACKSON, Miss. &mdash; Hoyt Cantrell drove a truck for more than 20 years before seizures &mdash; 23 of them since 2009 &mdash; cost him his livelihood. His two-bedroom house in the heart of this Southern state capital is partly boarded up, with no running water or electricity, but he cannot afford much better.</p>
<p>He has tried hard to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance and food stamps. So far, he has failed.</p>
<p>To President Trump, people like Mr. Cantrell are the exceptions in the expanding world of American poverty. In the view of his administration, access to food stamps is far too easy, and being on disability is just a matter of finding a friendly judge.</p>
<p>The budget that the president has proposed for the coming fiscal year would expand a work requirement for &ldquo;able-bodied&rdquo; adults receiving help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, slicing $192 billion over 10 years. He would also trim $70 billion from Social Security&rsquo;s disability program by tightening access.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We need people to go to work,&rdquo; said Mick Mulvaney, the White House&rsquo;s budget director and the proposal&rsquo;s chief architect. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re on food stamps, and you&rsquo;re able-bodied, we need you to go to work. If you&rsquo;re on disability insurance, and you&rsquo;re not supposed to be &mdash; if you&rsquo;re not truly disabled, we need you to go back to work. We need everybody pulling in the same direction.&rdquo;</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/us/politics/food-stamps-disability-benefits-trump-budget.html?_r=2">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p><strong>By Rebekah Allen, May 30, 2017&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, 'Libre Baskerville', Georgia, serif; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">It was a good sign for advocates pushing to overhaul Louisiana&#39;s criminal justice system &ndash;&nbsp;half of the bills in prison revamp package passed the state House and headed to the Senate where they&#39;re expected to have a smoother ride.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, 'Libre Baskerville', Georgia, serif; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">With two weeks left in the session, the&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://5" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 0.258824);" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event">Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;vote means all 10 bills in the ambitious revamp are still alive and it suggests that a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature are still generally warm to a sweeping plan to reduce the state&#39;s prison population.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, 'Libre Baskerville', Georgia, serif; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">The&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://6" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-decoration-color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 0.258824);" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-result="6" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event">Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;votes were a sort of litmus test, because it was the first time the House was able to weigh in on some of the meatiest parts of the criminal justice package. The more conservative House has a reputation for being more difficult to get the consensus necessary to pass laws than the Senate.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Lora, 'Libre Baskerville', Georgia, serif; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><a href="http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_c425bd12-458b-11e7-8733-23b957644fa7.html">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p><em>By</em><span>&nbsp;</span><em><a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/nicholas-mitchell">Nicholas Mitchell</a></em><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>I arrived at Lee Circle just before 10:15 on the night before the statue was scheduled to be removed. Amid the smells of cigarette smoke, the street, sweat, and the murmur of bad historical arguments beneath the beating of drums, I glanced up at the likeness of Lee cast against the fast-moving clouds of a humid New Orleans night. As I stood there looking at the oxidized face of Robert E. Lee illuminated by the blue strobe of police lights, I realized that one day we will have to do the hardest thing a previous generation can do for a rising one: give them the proper context. America doesn&rsquo;t really do well with context.</p>
<p>In this current round of the debate about Confederate iconography, context is lost. There are no participation trophies in the South; they are victory trophies celebrating the collapse of Reconstructed governments. The Lee statue, the first of the four monuments, was erected in 1884; and the final monument, to P.G.T. Beauregard, was erected in 1915. The dedications of the four monuments are book-ended by the 1883 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 that made racial discrimination in any public accommodation or service illegal and the release of the film &quot;Birth of a Nation&quot; in 1915. The film sparked the resurgence and rise of the Ku Klux Klan to a national political power and terrorist group. The context makes it clear that these statues enshrine a promise to maintain white supremacy; and if one looks around Louisiana and America, that promise has been kept.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alternet.org/activism/firsthand-confederate-robert-lee-statue-taken-down-new-orleans">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p class="byline">By&nbsp;<span class="vcard"><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a class="url fn" href="http://www.politico.com/staff/joanne-kenen" rel="author" target="_top"><span itemprop="name">JOANNE KENEN</span>&nbsp;</a></span></span></p>
<p>Here are some key facts and figures from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/hr1628aspassed.pdf" target="_blank">new CBO report&nbsp;</a>on the American Health Care Act, the House-passed bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. CBO stressed the uncertainty of its estimates, given that it&#39;s hard to know which states would take up the chance to opt out of certain key parts of Obamacare. All figures are for the decade spanning 2017-2026 unless otherwise specified.</p>
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14 million</h3>
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<p>14 million fewer people will be insured one year after passage.</p>
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23 million</h3>
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<p>23 million fewer will be insured in 10 years.</p>
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$834 billion in Medicaid cuts</h3>
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<p>AHCA would cut spending on Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for low-income people, by $834 billion. The program would cover 14 million fewer people.</p>
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Premiums will go up in 2018 and 2019</h3>
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<p>Premiums will go up in 2018 and 2019. After that, there will be significant variation depending on whether someone lives in a state that opts out of key Obamacare insurance rules.</p>
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In some states, premiums would decline</h3>
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<p>In states that waive some Obamacare rules, premiums would decline by 20 percent over a decade compared to current law.</p>
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Relatively stable markets</h3>
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<p>One out of 6 Americans will live in an area with an unstable insurance market in 2020 where sick people could have trouble finding coverage. But 5 out of 6 would have access to relatively stable markets.</p>
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Older Americans face much higher premiums</h3>
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<p>Poor, older Americans would be hit especially hard. The average 64-year-old earning just above the poverty line would have to pay about 9 times more in premiums.</p>
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Twice as many uninsured</h3>
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<p>In 2026, 51 million people under age 65 would be uninsured &mdash; almost twice as many as the 28 million who would have lacked coverage under Obamacare.</p>
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Less savings</h3>
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<p>The bill will save $119 billion, which is $32 billion less than a previous version of AHCA.</p>
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$664 billion</h3>
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<p>It repeals $664 billion worth of taxes and fees that had financed Obamacare.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/24/cbo-obamacare-repeal-health-care-238795">MORE&gt;&gt;</a></p>
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<p>Memorial Day weekend is a time when a lot of Americans remember those who have served and lost their lives during war &mdash; and not all of those individuals were U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>When the Iraq war started, nearly 40,000 members of the military were not U.S. citizens. Army Pfc. Diego Rincon was one of them.</p>
<p>In 1989, his family immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia. In 2003, he was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq. He died for his country even though he wasn&#39;t a citizen.</p>
<p>His parents, George Rincon and Yolanda Reyes still remember their son and how quickly he adapted to his home in the U.S.</p>
<p>&quot;We came here when he was 5-years-old,&quot; Reyes says. &quot;Diego started speaking English faster than we did. He was often letting me know, &#39;When I finish high school, I&#39;m going to join the Army.&#39; &quot;</p>
<p>Diego did go on to join the Army and he was on his way to becoming a citizen, along with his parents.</p>
<p>&quot;Before he went to Iraq, he got the green card,&quot; George says. &quot;But he said to me, &#39;Dad, don&#39;t do the citizenship until I return. We&#39;ll do it together.&#39; &quot;</p>
<p>Reyes says the last time she spoke to Diego, he told her he had written her a letter, but instructed her not to open it until she was ready.</p>
<p>&quot;A week later I got the letter, and it was different from the rest,&quot; Reyes says. &quot;He was talking about this feeling that he had that he was going to die. He asked for forgiveness for anything wrong that he had done, and he said that he loves me. This letter was like a bucket of icy water.&quot;</p>
<p>Diego died on March 29, 2003.</p>
<p>While his mother was sitting on the steps of the family&#39;s home, a chaplain walked into the house.</p>
<p>&quot;He said, &#39;Mr. Rincon, I&#39;m sorry. Your son is dead,&#39; &quot; George says.</p>
<p>Reyes says she didn&#39;t believe the news at first.</p>
<p>&quot;I called the Army and asked for pictures of his body,&quot; she says. &quot;I looked at the pictures and I destroyed them.&quot;</p>
<p>It is still hard for the couple to believe that their son is gone.</p>
<p>&quot;Sometimes I wake up in the morning thinking that this is a nightmare and he&#39;s coming back,&quot; George says. &quot;But I had my baby for 19 years and it was a blessing.&quot;</p>
<p>Reyes says they also wonder what might have happened if the family hadn&#39;t left Colombia.</p>
<p>&quot;At least he was doing something with honor, with pride,&quot; she says. &quot;He was doing something for America.&quot;</p>
<p>In the end, Diego did get citizenship. It came the day of the his funeral.</p>
<p>His death also helped get a bill passed that grants immediate citizenship to immigrant soldiers who die in combat.</p>
<p>&quot;It&#39;s a piece of paper, but it means a lot for us,&quot; George says. &quot;He will always be our hero.&quot;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Audio produced for Morning Edition by Liyna Anwar and Jud Esty-Kendall.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/05/26/530026309/remembering-a-soldier-who-died-for-his-country-before-becoming-a-citizen?utm_campaign=storyshare&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social"><em>MORE&gt;&gt;</em></a></p>

<p><em>I WANT TO TRY TO GENTLY PEEL FROM YOUR HANDS THE GRIP ON A FALSE NARRATIVE OF OUR HISTORY THAT I THINK WEAKENS US. AND MAKE STRAIGHT A WRONG TURN WE MADE MANY YEARS AGO --- SO WE CAN MORE CLOSELY CONNECT WITH INTEGRITY TO THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF OUR NATION AND FORGE A CLEARER AND STRAIGHTER PATH TOWARD A BETTER CITY AND A MORE PERFECT UNION.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.nola.gov/getattachment/Mayor/Press-Conferences/5-19-17-Speech-Truth_Removing-Confederate-Monuments-in-New-Orleans_Mayor-Mitch-Landrieu.pdf/">FULL TRANSCRIPT&gt;&gt;</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uJ0Kp9X4eI">VIDEO&gt;&gt;</a></p>

<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;">by Sue Weishar, PhD</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;">I met Thomas Johnson* in Ronnie Moore&rsquo;s office at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans (CCANO) on a rainy Wednesday recently. Ronnie, a long-time civil rights activist, founded Cornerstone Builders at CCANO seven years ago. The program helps formerly incarcerated men and women re-enter society through service projects and also provides immediate help to those who have just been released from prison, including shelter, employment, and a support network.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas arrived at Ronnie&rsquo;s office after being released from a prison in North Louisiana early that same day. Because Ronnie had another meeting to attend, I offered to help. From 1999 to 2003 I ran a re-entry program at CCANO for formerly incarcerated immigrants, so I knew &ldquo;the ropes&rdquo; and how important it is to provide someone assistance within the first 72 hours of leaving prison.</p>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas was released at one minute after midnight, a cruel but common practice at Louisiana penal institutions, which allows prison operators to collect a full-day&rsquo;s per diem. He left without a pair of shoes on his feet&mdash;just a cheap pair of plastic sandals&mdash;and a white plastic garbage bag to carry his few possessions. He was cold, tired, and hungry. In the trunk of my car I was able to find him a sweatshirt and a cloth bag, but my spare pair of tennis shoes were too small. Our first stop after Catholic Charities was the Greyhound bus station, conveniently located across the street, where we got lunch and a ticket to a small town in Georgia where Thomas planned to stay with an elderly relative, leaving early the next morning. Our next destination was Ozanam Inn, a homeless shelter on Camp Street where Thomas would stay that night.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Along the way to Ozanam Inn Thomas told me what landed him in prison. One evening after work at a French Quarter restaurant, a friend was driving Thomas to his apartment when their car was pulled over due to expired brake tags. A records check revealed that Thomas had failed to register with a parole officer when he moved to Louisiana many years earlier. For this infraction, despite over 15 years of crime-free living, he was sentenced to three years in prison.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas briefly described his life in prison. He lived in a large dormitory room where it was loud all the time and young men were &ldquo;always fighting.&rdquo; The food was terrible and the portions meager. He was always hungry and lost 60 pounds. There were no training or rehabilitation programs, so all there was to do all day was watch soap operas and reality shows. He made friends with two other gentlemen and they would often sit together and pray and talk. However, the guards became suspicious whenever people hung out together and would try and break up such friendships.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The morning Thomas was released he got down on his knees and thanked God he was finally leaving.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas&rsquo;s case illustrates many of the problems with Louisiana&rsquo;s criminal justice system. Revocations of parole or probation account for nearly 60 percent of prison admissions a year, and over 85 percent of persons admitted have a primary offense that is not violent.[1] Over half of offenders are housed in local prisons, which sheriffs run as cheaply as possible, offering few services. This lack of attention to rehabilitation and training programs contributes to a 43 percent rate of recidivism over five years.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">At a Philadelphia jail in 2015 Pope Francis told a group of prisoners, &ldquo;Any society, any family that cannot share or take seriously the pain of its children, and views that pain as something normal or expected, is a society condemned to remain hostage to itself, prey to the very things which cause that pain.&rdquo; For decades Louisiana&rsquo;s criminal justice system has been held hostage to &ldquo;tough on crime&rdquo; policies that have ruined lives and decimated communities. For this to end we need to continue to hope, pray, and advocate that Louisiana legislators have the courage and wisdom to embrace major reforms outlined by the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force in the current legislative session.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">*I have changed his name to protect his identity.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[1] Pew Charitable Trusts, Louisiana Data Analysis Part II and Survey of Research, October 21, 2016, author&rsquo;s files.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://t.e2ma.net/message/rgpdp/vr8mje" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="inherit" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">MORE&gt;&gt;</font></a></p>
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