Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 4-9-19

White House News
Democratic White House Hopefuls Tout Agendas To Black Voters
Stacey Abrams
Democratic presidential candidates on Friday touted their plans on criminal justice reform, the study of repara- tions and other racial equal- ity issues, highlighting the critical role black voters will play in choosing the party’s 2020 nominee.
Speaking at the National Action Network’s conference in New York, California Sen. Kamala Harris pledged to double the size of the Justice Department’s civil rights divi- sion and to sign legislation creating a commission to study reparations to African Americans hurt by slavery.
“We know that they are using the Department of Jus- tice in a way that is about pol- itics and not about pursuit of equality,” Harris, one of two black candidates for the party’s nomination, told the receptive audience. Earlier on Friday, she told a radio inter- viewer she would be open to choosing a woman as her running mate if she wins the nomination to take on Pres- ident Donald Trump.
She’s one of more than a half-dozen White House
suggesting that the nation “shutter some prisons alto- gether.”
In her speech, Warren plans to escalate her call for Democrats to end the 60-vote requirement for many major bills to clear the Senate if her party wins the White House and Republicans try to block their agenda. Warren’s pre- pared remarks outline the history of the Senate fili- buster’s use “as a tool to block progress on racial justice.”
Warren will say that De- mocrats should “be bold and clear” if they take back the presidency, invoking Repub- lican obstruction of former President Barack Obama’s agenda and adding that if Republicans place “small-minded partisanship ahead of solving the massive problems facing this country, then we should get rid of the filibuster.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is leading the conven- tion, told attendees it is about “mainstreaming the racial di- vide in America” as well as “changing the conversation, so we’re all included.”
Joe Biden
STACEY ABRAMS
will do something different going forward.”
Abrams lost the Georgia governor’s race last fall and recently met with Biden, who’s weighing a 2020 presi- dential run. Abrams is also considering whether to run for the Senate.
KAMALA HARRIS
hopefuls who have spoken at the conference to spotlight their records on remedying economic and social in- equities that have impeded African American communi- ties. Democratic presidential contenders slated to address the group later Friday at its annual convention include Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth War- ren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper used his speech to the group to outline his record on policing,
Democrat
Abrams says she doesn’t ex- pect to decide on a presiden- tial bid until the fall because “the average voter is not pay- ing attention until Labor Day.”
On MSNBC on Thursday, Abrams also offered support for former Vice President Joe Biden, who has ac- knowledged that his tendency toward physical displays of affection made some women uncomfortable and has promised to be “more mind- ful” of respecting personal space.
Abrams says “we cannot have perfection as a litmus test” for leaders. She says Biden “has created context for why that is his behavior and he has affirmed that he
Weighs Presidential
Decision, Defends
Stacey
US Finds ‘Severe’ Problems In Alabama Prisons
Personal Space’
Joe Biden Vows
To ‘Respect
The Justice Department issued a scathing report on Al- abama’s prisons on Wednes- day, saying the state is violating the Constitution by failing to protect inmates from violence and sexual abuse and by housing them in unsafe and overcrowded facilities.
The department gave Ala- bama 49 days to correct the violations, or possibly face an-
other federal lawsuit.
“Our investigation found
reasonable cause to believe that Alabama fails to provide constitutionally adequate con- ditions and that prisoners ex- perience serious harm, including deadly harm, as a result,” said Assistant Attor- ney General Eric Dreiband, who leads the department’s civil rights division.
Gov. Kay Ivey responded with a promise to work to- gether on “an Alabama solu- tion.”
The report condemns vir- tually every aspect of prison operations, chronicling a “broken system” beset by poor staff training; an inability to prevent the flow of drugs and weapons from entering; “and a high level of violence that is too common, cruel, of an un- usual nature, and pervasive.”
It lays out in stark detail a culture of violence across the state’s 13 prisons for men, which together house roughly 16,000 inmates in conditions that are among the nation’s most overcrowded. It de- scribes inmates brutally at- tacking each other with knives and other weapons, and a management system that un- dercounts the number of homicides and fails to protect prisoners even when there’s been warning of a problem. Staffing shortages, it says, are at a “crisis level.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Wednesday that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has made some women un- comfortable, and he prom- ised to be “much more mindful” of respecting per- sonal space.
“Social norms have begun to change. They’ve shifted,” the 76-year-old Biden said in a cellphone video posted to Twitter . “And the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset. And I get it. I get it. I hear what they are saying. I understand.”
Wearing a suit and open- collared shirt, Biden also teased an announcement of his political plans, promising to “be talking to you about a whole lot of issues.” Shortly after the video was released, a union announced Biden would speak at their confer- ence in Washington on Fri- day.
The video was Biden’s first direct comment on what
JOE BIDEN
has tripped up his prepara- tions to enter the 2020 Dem- ocratic presidential campaign. He did not directly apologize but seemed to be seeking to ease some people’s discomfort, which has raised questions about whether he could wage an effective cam- paign.
On Friday, former Nevada politician Lucy Flores wrote in New York Magazine that Biden approached her from behind, touched her shoul- ders and kissed the back of her head in 2014.
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019