Households around the country began receiving their official invitations to participate in the 2020 Census just as the coronavirus prompted city shutdowns and school closures. The stakes are high and rising, since the Census will determine how $1.5 trillion of federal funding will be distributed annually for the next 10 years, and the coronavirus will make reaching hard-to-count communities even more difficult. “It’s impossible to shield the count from everything that will go wrong,” writes the Brennan Center’s Tom Wolf. “But there’s one factor every person can control even during a national health emergency: responding.” // Read More

The last time there was legislation like last week’s stimulus bill, super PACs didn’t exist. They’re the product of the SpeechNow court ruling, which implemented Citizens United’s twisted approach to campaign finance. Today, the campaign finance system is in far worse shape, as wealthy donors use enhanced influence to try to obtain big payouts from the government. We have not yet learned what lurks in all the fine print of the legislation. Meanwhile, unlimited big money has already been affecting the 2020 election.

The solution? Public campaign financing. “The idea is not to eliminate big super PAC money, but to give candidates not supported by wealthy donors the resources to compete for office,” writes the Brennan Center’s Ian Vandewalker. // Read More

Many of the United States’s correctional facilities are dangerously overcrowded, with people double-bunked, and sometimes even triple-bunked, inside cells. Living in these close quarters produces conditions that can quickly turn deadly in times of a public health crisis, especially when 40 percent of those held behind bars already suffer from at least one chronic health condition. “Dramatically reducing the number of people held inside our prisons and jails isn’t only smart criminal justice policy: it’s necessary for public health,” write the Brennan Center’s Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ruth Sangree. // Read More

The Brennan Center’s Justice Program has also compiled policies and practices criminal justice agencies and government officials should prioritize immediately to ensure safer communities during this pandemic. // Read More

Shortly after New York’s new bail law went into effect, some were calling for its repeal. This new law, which reduces the number of New Yorkers sent to jail before trial because they can’t afford bail, seems to be achieving its goal, and it should stand long enough for an accurate assessment of its consequences. Now, coronavirus gives us another good reason to keep people from unnecessarily entering jails.

The Brennan Center’s Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ames Grawert write, “Before the new reform took effect this year, our system punished poor people with jail time because they couldn’t afford to pay for freedom, disproportionately affecting people of color.” And that’s even more dangerous, and immoral, during a pandemic. // Read More

As the Trump administration pivots to more robust action against the coronavirus, now is the time to be vigilant about a potential problem: attempts to leverage the atmosphere of crisis created by the epidemic to unnecessarily infringe on rights and liberties. Already, President Trump has been using the epidemic to try to retroactively legitimize unrelated immigration policies.

Going forward, it’s possible Trump will misuse surveillance authorities under claims that they are necessary to track those who may have the virus and identify those with whom they may have come in contact. “From domestic uses of the military to restrictions on gatherings in public spaces, it is not difficult to see how otherwise legitimate powers to combat the spread of coronavirus could be abused for ulterior motives,” warns the Brennan Center’s Andrew Boyle. // Just Security

• Lauren-Brooke Eisen on criminal justice reform after the coronavirus // The Intercept
• Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf on how the coronavirus will ravage prisons without proper precautions // Newsweek
• Max Feldman on the need for more funding for this year’s elections // CNN
• Elizabeth Goitein on whether Trump can use emergency powers to quarantine states // MSNBC
• Sean Morales-Doyle on the right to vote for Floridians with felonies in their past // Washington Post
• Lawrence Norden on funding and preparing for this year’s elections // NPR
• Myrna Pérez on voter registration and the coronavirus // NBC News
• Michael Waldman on the stimulus package’s inadequate funding for elections // New York Times