The Lipman Letter
Issue 19 - Friday, April 29, 2022
A weekly newsletter from the Ira A. Lipman Center For Journalism and Civil and Human Rights at Columbia Journalism School. Website: https://journalism.columbia.edu/lipman-center Twitter: @LipmanCenterCJS
The Lipman Letter
Issue 19 - Fri, April 29, 2022
1. In the News
1A. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron won re-election with a comfortable margin, defeating his far-right, nationalist rival Marine Le Pen. In his victory speech, Macron acknowledged that many voters supported him only to keep Le Pen out of office. Macron also pledged to address economic issues, especially the rising cost of living, on behalf of middle and lower-income citizens: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/macron-or-le-pen-france-faces-stark-choice-president-2022-04-24/
1B. On Thursday, President Biden asked Congress for $33 billion in additional aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, now in its third month. The funding will go toward defense spending as well as economic and humanitarian aid: https://nyti.ms/3voX99N
1C. On Tuesday, Harvard University declared its commitment to endow a $100 million “Legacy of Slavery Fund” to redress past wrongdoing by highlighting its connections to the slave trade. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the University of California system announced that beginning in fall 2022, Native American state residents will have tuition and student fees waived upon enrollment. This news comes as colleges and universities across the country grapple with ways to confront past wrongdoing and the increased enrollment of marginalized groups: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/us/harvard-slavery-redress-fund.html and https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1095209856/university-of-california-native-american-tuition-fees-waive
1D. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights issued a report alleging that the Minneapolis Police Department engaged in a pattern of illegal racial discrimination evidenced by disproportionately high stops, searches, arrests, use of force and the killing of people of color — especially Black people: https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-department-of-human-rights-to-release-civil-rights-findings/600168389/
2. Story of the Week
In Allegheny County, Penn., child welfare agencies have deployed new algorithmic decision modeling tools to “predict” which minors are at risk of child neglect. The Associated Press reports that researchers from Carnegie Mellon University found that the system’s calculations showed a significant pattern of racial bias in which Black children were flagged at disproportionately higher rates, calling these tools into question: https://apnews.com/article/child-welfare-algorithm-investigation-9497ee937e0053ad4144a86c68241ef1
3. People Are Talking
On Thursday, ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune published an article investigating Illinois schools that refer thousands of students to police departments that subsequently give them tickets and fines. Hours after publication, Carmen Ayala, superintendent of the Illinois State Board of Education, decried the practice and discouraged school administrators from working with police in that manner: https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-illinois-schools-discipline-tickets-fines-price-kids-pay-20220428-tpkekqt3sfcadhmczbl7xadcva-htmlstory.html and https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-education-chief-urges-schools-to-stop-working-with-police-to-ticket-students-for-misbehavior
4. For Your Consideration
In this piece from The Phoenix, 2018 Lipman Fellow Kira Lerner reports how Florida legislation that restored voting rights for those with felony convictions has led to 10 men being charged with illegal voting. Eight of the 10 are Black. Those arrested were unaware of an exemption in the law for unpaid fines and fees from prior convictions:
5. Online
On Tuesday, May 3 at 10 a.m. EDT, the Global Investigative Journalism Network hosts a webinar for journalists on investigating elections. The event will be moderated by our Columbia Journalism School colleague and investigative journalist, Sheila Coronel, and will feature five reporters offering tips, tools and other guidance:
https://gijn.org/2022/04/15/gijn-webinar-investigating-elections/
