skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, February 28, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump's promise of 'very big deal' with Zelensky undercut by officials' widespread doubts over Ukraine's resources; Faith leaders call out inhumane heat conditions in U.S. prisons; Texans encouraged to 'decarbonize' buildings to fight climate change; the state of animal waste regulations in Virginia.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Senate Republicans say they'll change the House's budget resolution. Trump questions whether he called the Ukrainian president a 'dictator' ahead of his White House visit, and environmental groups question EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's call for deregulation.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The federal funding freeze has left U.S. farmers in limbo about their future farm projects, tourists could find public lands in disarray when visiting this summer, while money to fight rural wildfires is in jeopardy.

Will CA Consider Prison Releases to Lessen COVID-19 Risk?

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 26, 2020   

LOS ANGELES -- Civil rights advocates are praising Los Angeles County's release of 1,700 people in jail for nonviolent offenses in an effort to fight COVID-19 infections, but they also say more needs to be done.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department released 10% of the jail population.

So far, no one behind bars in L.A. has tested positive for the virus, but Peter Eliasberg, chief counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, says it is only a matter of time.

"And the minute that starts happening, the more people who are there, the more people are going to get it in the jails," he states. "And then those people are going to come out into the community, and they're going to be flashpoints for further transmission."

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has asked the county health officer to issue a public health order that would empower the sheriff to release more people, particularly those with fewer than 30 days remaining on their sentences.

Opponents of the move say releasing people early could lead to more crime.

The Drug Policy Alliance is calling for jails and prisons across the country to release most people who are over age 60, and those who have underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to a viral infection.

Eliasberg says the authorities won't release people convicted of violent offenses.

"We're facing the greatest public health threat in 100 years," he stresses. "So, that has to the number one thing we focus on.

"The threat that probably millions of people will be exposed to it, I think that's the greatest public safety risk we've got to worry about -- not an increase in crime."

Civil rights groups also are calling on judges to allow more people to await trial at home, especially those picked up on immigration offenses.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California cosponsored a bill to open community release programs to people in federal prisons who are pregnant, over age 50 or who have underlying health issues.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The National Cancer Institute has found red and processed meat consumption is associated with higher cancer levels. (Wikimedia Commons)

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Zamone Perez for Maryland News Connection reporting for the Sentient/Just and Climate-Friendly…


Environment

play sound

School districts and county governments across Texas are being encouraged to consider building decarbonization to combat climate change. The process …

play sound

Virginia has certain restrictions in place for workers handling animal waste in order to avoid contaminating groundwater sources. But one expert says …


People who raise chickens say the process can serve educational purposes for kids. (Cavan/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bill in the Idaho Legislature would lower restrictions for allowing chickens in residential areas. The impetus for the legislation from Sen…

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesota's rural health-care landscape is described as being "stressed" - and the diagnosis could become grimmer if congressional Republicans keep th…

The American Immigration Council estimates 305,300 Connecticut immigrants are legally eligible to vote. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Community groups are coming together to expand voting rights to all Connecticut residents. The Connecticut Right to Vote Campaign says it aims to …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan's congressional delegation has "aced" the National Environmental Scorecard, earning a perfect 100% in 2024. The League of Conservation …

Environment

play sound

By Kathiann M. Kowalski for Canary Media.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Ohio News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021