Plus, election bills out of Texas signal an intensification of voter suppression and New York steps up to protect Amazon workers.
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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023
Hello! In this issue:
* This legendary photographer ([link removed]) chronicled the civil rights movement. But did he also betray it?
* The wave of election crime legislation ([link removed]) continues.
* New York passes a law ([link removed]) to improve working conditions at Amazon facilities.
** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** The Double Life of a Civil Rights Icon
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Photographer Ernest Withers took some of the most enduring photos of the civil rights movement and earned the trust of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. But Withers’ photos also served another purpose – one he kept secret from those who thought they knew him.
This week on Reveal ([link removed]) , we explore whether the legendary chronicler of the civil rights movement also betrayed it.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])
🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , Google Podcasts ([link removed]) , Stitcher ([link removed]) or wherever you get your podcasts.
** NEW
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** Texas Republicans Look to Usurp Power of Local Prosecutors Who Don’t Pursue Their Voter Fraud Agenda
By Ese Olumhense
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** Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton waves to the crowd during an October 2022 rally featuring former President Donald Trump in Robstown, Texas. Credit: Nick Wagner/Associated Press
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In October, our investigation ([link removed]) exposed the most threatening front in voter suppression efforts in generations. The proliferation of election crime legislation comes in direct response to false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and that legislation wave is continuing and intensifying.
This year, the Texas Legislature is considering ([link removed]) at least nine bills that would increase criminal penalties for voting-related infractions or extend law enforcement’s ability to investigate voters.
Some of the bills ([link removed]) , all with Republican authors, would:
* Allow the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, to send prosecutors from neighboring counties to investigate suspected cases of voter fraud in the state’s large Democratic counties.
* Allow the attorney general to remove from office a district attorney who chooses not to prosecute election crimes, effectively stripping local prosecutors of discretion over how they use their office’s resources.
* Make it a crime for a voter to cast a ballot in a party’s primary election if the voter is not a member of that party.
Threatening people with criminal prosecution is “the most extreme deterrent you can imagine,” said civil rights attorney Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “Even if someone has every right to vote, they may hesitate.”
Read the full story ([link removed])
** NEW
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** New York Passes Law to Protect Amazon Warehouse Workers
By Will Evans
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** An Amazon employee works at the Bridgewater, Massachusetts, fulfillment center in 2021. Amazon’s push for speed has been linked to an increase in worker injuries. Credit: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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New York has become the second state ([link removed]) to regulate warehouse work quotas in an effort to improve working conditions at Amazon facilities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last month ([link removed]) signed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which says warehouse workers can’t be forced to hit work quotas that would prevent them from taking meal and rest breaks and using the bathroom.
“We’re just getting started, baby,” said New York Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos, who sponsored the bill. “I can’t let my state become one where we condone high-tech sweatshops.”
* As we reported ([link removed]) in 2019, Amazon workers felt such pressure to achieve productivity targets and escape discipline that some delayed bathroom trips and even developed urinary tract infections.
* We’ve also documented how Amazon used tracking software to hold workers to specific productivity rates under threat of discipline. Workers, former Amazon safety managers and Washington state safety officials have said that constant pressure to work fast leads to injuries.
The New York law is the latest example ([link removed]) of government officials taking action after years of mounting injuries from Amazon’s relentless drive for speed.
Read the full story ([link removed])
** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 Drilling Down on Fossil Fuels and Climate Change ([link removed])
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🎧 The Suspect Detective ([link removed])
This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kassie Navarro, edited by Kate Howard and copy edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:
[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!
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