WJI's Daily Reads for June 20, 2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Another departure from the City Attorney's Office with claim of sex discrimination.

In a resignation document dated May 31, then-Assistant City Attorney Elleny Christopoulos said she was leaving because of the "toxic work environment with unethical, incompetent, and sexist management."
She added: "The city has utterly failed to protect the brave women who spoke out against illegal discrimination. Do. Better. For. Women."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Juneteenth highlights need to end the exception that allows slavery and involuntary servitude for those in prison.

Three states have amended their constitutions in the past four years to change wording that advocates say allows a form of slavery through unpaid or low-paid work requirements for incarcerated people. Similar campaigns are underway in over a dozen states, with the resolution on the ballot this year in six states and a federal-level resolution introduced last year.

Vera Institute of Justice: More on the movement to end the exception that allows slavery in prisons.

Every day, incarcerated people work—under threat of additional punishment—for little to no pay. Estimates suggest that a minimum of $2 billion and as much as $14 billion a year in wages is stolen from incarcerated people, to the enrichment of private companies, state-owned entities, and correctional agencies. In five states—Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas—incarcerated people can be forced to work for nothing. Even in more “liberal” states, incarcerated people work for pennies a day. The people who bottled and labeled “NYS Clean” hand sanitizer in New York’s prisons during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, earned wages that started at $0.16 per hour. In California, incarcerated people who battled fires in 24-hour shifts earned as little as $2.90 per day. Even when work is supposed to be voluntary, incarcerated people who have refused to work report being beaten, denied visits and family phone calls, and placed in solitary confinement.

Courthouse News Service: Freedom Riders' 1947 convictions vacated.

The men boarded buses in Washington, D.C., setting out on a two-week route that included stops in Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro, North Carolina. As the riders attempted to board the bus in Chapel Hill, several of them were removed by force and attacked by a group of angry cab drivers. Four of the so-called Freedom Riders — Andrew Johnson, James Felmet, Bayard Rustin, and Igal Roodenko — were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to move from the front of the bus.
After a trial in Orange County, the four men were convicted and sentenced to serve on a chain gang. Rustin later published writings about being imprisoned and subjected to hard labor for taking part in the first freedom ride, which was also known as the Journey of Reconciliation.
CNN: Iowa Supreme Court reverses course and now says state constitution does not protect right to an abortion.

The court's decision is a reversal of its 2018 ruling, in which it found that the Iowa constitution's due process clause protected abortion as a fundamental right. In its 2018 decision -- issued before the state's Republican governor appointed four of the seven current justices -- the high court struck down a state law that required a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion as unconstitutional.