USA TODAY International Edition
Population of prisons down 8% amid effort to contain virus
Federal and state prison populations declined by more than 100,000 inmates between March and June, a decrease of 8%, according to a nationwide analysis by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press. The drops range from 2% in Virginia to 32% in Rhode Island. Head counts have dropped largely because prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails to avoid importing the virus, court closures meant fewer people were receiving sentences, and parole officers sent fewer people back inside for low- level violations, according to data and experts.
“Even though we are sending too many people to prison and keeping them there too long, and even though research shows people who are older have the highest risk from COVID- 19 and the lowest risk of recidivism, we are still not letting them out,” said Nazgol Ghandnoosh, a senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson reverses course, requires masks in public
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued an order Thursday that mandates people wear masks in public when social distancing is not possible. This comes as the state has suffered a surge of COVID- 19 cases over the past several weeks.
The order will go in effect Monday and comes one day after Walmart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., announced it would require customers to wear masks while shopping at all of its stores in the United States. Previously, Hutchinson had encouraged people to wear masks, but stopped short of issuing an order and had left the decision to cities.
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan slams Trump for lack of leadership during pandemic
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which he described as a series of missed opportunities, unheeded warnings and failed leadership.
In an essay for The Washington Post titled, “Fighting Alone,” Hogan said, “with nowhere else to turn,” he was forced to rely on his wife Yumi, who was born and raised in South Korea, to arrange for the purchase of 500,000 test kits.
“This should not have been necessary,” Hogan wrote.
Georgia mayors: Kemp ‘ living in an alternate universe’ regarding mask ordinances
Mayors and other local leaders throughout Georgia expressed dismay over Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to nullify municipal mask ordinances when he extended statewide emergency orders aiming to combat COVID- 19. City and county authorities were weighing legal options Thursday aimed at continuing to require residents to wear face masks in accordance with local ordinances rendered officially toothless by Kemp’s announcement Wednesday.
Wearing face masks is a practice widely recognized by health officials as effective in slowing the coronavirus spread.
“It is clear that our governor is living in an alternate universe than we are in Savannah, Augusta, Atlanta, and across the state,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said Thursday. “If the governor is not going to protect our citizens, then he should let us do that.”