Cowboy Conman

New subscribers: We’re on episode 4 of a multiepisode series called American Rehab. If you haven’t listened yet, catch up here.

When reporter Shoshana Walter first discovered the work-based rehab Cenikor a few years ago, its beginnings were obscure. She knew it was a spinoff of the cult-like program Synanon, as we chronicled in previous chapters. And Cenikor’s website mentioned that the program began in Canon City, Colorado, where state penitentiary inmates “gathered together to discuss their issues with drugs and alcohol.” Beyond that? Not much.

So producer Laura Starecheski started combing through old newspapers, calling former Cenikor members and even pursuing records from the FBI. Her goal: Get to know the program’s founder, Luke Austin. Austin, a failed country singer and veteran of multiple prison work programs, created Cenikor to be what he called a “total environment” – anyone who broke the rules was “rewarded with distasteful and humiliating chastisement.” Punishments for misbehavior could range from having one’s head shaven to sitting in a so-called “idiot chair” with a sign around one’s neck that said, “I’m stupid, please help me.”

The more Laura read about Austin, the more troubling details – and versions of Austin – she uncovered. He lied about his name, his place of birth and his history of drug use. He claimed to be friends with Elvis Presley. Most shockingly, he murdered a man he thought had embraced his girlfriend, then nearly killed another girlfriend years later. 

So how did he become the founder of a program that survives to this day? 

‘I feel like Texas put me in danger.’

In this week’s installment of “In/Vulnerable,” our ongoing comic series with The Nib investigating inequity during the pandemic, a 24-year-old college student in Texas explains her fraught quest to get an abortion. 

After an initial consultation with Planned Parenthood near the beginning of the pandemic, the woman, who we’re identifying only as Jane Doe, learned that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had halted abortions in the state, claiming that medical supplies needed to be saved for other patients. She was advised to either find an abortion provider out of state or have her baby.

What we’re reading

A teenager didn’t do her online schoolwork. So a judge sent her to juvenile detention.  – ProPublica

The decision … flies in the face of recommendations from the legal and education communities that have urged leniency and a prioritization of children’s health and safety amid the crisis. The case may also reflect, some experts and Grace’s mother believe, systemic racial bias. 

Why we’re losing the battle with COVID-19  – The New York Times Magazine

Decades of research shows that a robust national public health system could save billions of dollars annually by reducing the burden of preventable illnesses and keeping the population healthier overall. But like most public health departments across the country, Harris County’s was grossly underfunded. 

Federal law enforcement use unmarked vehicles to grab protesters off Portland streets – Oregon Public Broadcasting

The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and President Donald Trump have said they plan to “quell” nightly protests outside the federal courthouse and Multnomah County Justice Center that have lasted for more than six weeks.

The true story of the heartthrob prince of Qatar and his time at USC – Los Angeles Times

From the moment (Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa) Al Thani stepped off the plane, an entire economy quickly grew up around him to meet his wishes and whims: chauffeurs, a security detail, concierges, trainers, a nurse, an all-purpose fixer and even, according to several USC faculty members, a graduate student who served as his academic “sherpa.”

Newsom reopened California without meeting his own coronavirus testing, tracing benchmarks – Los Angeles Times

Now, the governor has once again ordered closures as California surpasses 350,000 COVID-19 cases. Hospitalizations have more than doubled and deaths have nearly tripled since Newsom launched the reopening on May 8. Many Californians are still struggling to get tested amid new shortages and growing demand.