The Brennan Center is compiling the formal policy responses of federal courts, immigration courts, and state courts to the Covid-19 crisis. Thus far, they have varied substantially across jurisdictions, with policies ranging from carrying on business as usual to closing courthouses and suspending in-person proceedings indefinitely. As courts adopt new policies, this page will be updated regularly. // Read More

“Disinformation can be toxic in an election, damaging to an accurate census count, and potentially deadly in a viral pandemic,” writes Brennan Center Fellow Ciara Torres-Spelliscy. In our digital age, social media platforms like Facebook play a key role in making sure facts reach people — but on Facebook, disinformation is rampant, and politicians are even allowed to lie in paid political ads on the platform. Here’s how Facebook’s laissez faire policies spread disinformation and threaten our democracy. // Read More

The U.S. criminal justice system is reacting too slowly to the threat the coronavirus poses to the millions of people who are imprisoned, held in pretrial detention around the country, and all the people who interact with them on a regular basis. While some prosecutors and sheriffs are taking steps toward safety, more must be done to keep incarcerated people — and the rest of us — safe.

“The spread of the virus, and the fear of what it will do behind bars, hasn’t unearthed the vast gulf that exists within the criminal justice system. It has merely exposed it,” writes Brennan Center Fellow Andrew Cohen. // Read More

Since taking office, President Trump has declared two significant national emergencies under the obscure National Emergencies Act. The first was a political ploy to fulfill his campaign promise of a border wall. The second was a delayed response to a real emergency: the present pandemic. “What the contrast between the border wall emergency and the coronavirus emergency teaches us is simple: Reforming the law to limit its reach to real emergencies and appropriate powers is both possible and necessary,” writes the Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Goitein. // Washington Post

Last week, the Justice Department floated a chilling proposal to Congress: grant federal court chief judges the power to indefinitely detain people without trial during the pandemic. The ability to go before a judge and contest your detention, known as habeas corpus, is a cornerstone of Anglo-American law and a critical check against government abuse.

In previous times of national calamity, habeas corpus has been suspended or circumvented with disastrous consequences, like Japanese internment during World War II and the roundup of mostly Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men after 9/11. “We must demand Congress not forget those lessons,” writes Brennan Center Fellow Caroline Fredrickson. That’s true especially during an administration known for its autocratic tendencies. // Washington Post

• Alicia Bannon on partisanship and judicial legitimacy // Roll Call
• Max Feldman and Elizabeth Howard on elections during Covid-19 // American Constitution Society podcast
• Elizabeth Goitein on how the Pentagon can help during Covid-19 // Vox
• Lawrence Norden how much it will cost to make elections coronavirus-ready // The Hill
• Myrna Pérez on emergency planning for elections // Rolling Stone
• Wendy Weiser on mail-in voting security // Talking Points Memo