Biden-Harris: Character Illustration of Joe Biden facing Kamala Harris: black silhouettes on background of flag, White House

Opinion: What a Biden-Harris Administration Means For Gun Violence Epidemic

By |

The 2020 presidential election — which took place near the end of a tumultuous year that featured the rampant spread of a highly lethal pandemic, a disastrous economic recession and a long-overdue nationwide reckoning around systemic racism and police brutality — presented the country with a choice between two candidates with drastically different messages and visions for the nation. The election had historic levels of voter turnout, including among 18- to 29-year-olds and Joe Biden emerged as the clear winner with a victory that exceeded 300 electoral votes and a popular vote margin of victory of nearly 6 million (and growing). 

Although public health experts have rightly been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic this year, America has been in the grips of another public health crisis for much longer — a gun violence epidemic that will continue to take lives long after we’re vaccinated unless bold steps are taken to curb the violence and address its underlying causes. Gun violence has continued unabated throughout the other crises of 2020 and acutely impacts Black, Indigenous and other communities of color. 

In order to end the gun violence epidemic, the Biden-Harris administration must take a public health approach to solving the issue that not only corrects the harmful policies of the current administration but also goes significantly further to address the root causes of gun violence. Over the last four years, the Trump administration largely turned a blind eye to the issue of gun violence, except to encourage gun ownership and traffic in irrational and often racist fear-mongering. The administration eliminated funds for violence intervention programs in favor of law enforcement suppression and weakened the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also worked alongside the administration to block common-sense gun legislation, including expanded background checks, closing the Charleston loophole and so-called “red flag laws,” also known as extreme risk protection orders.

gun violence: Man and woman fasten seatbelts while sitting in car

Opinion: Gun Violence Can Be Reduced With Incremental Changes, As With Car Safety

By |

I remember when everyone knew a family that had been adversely affected by the loss or serious injury of a loved one in a motor vehicle accident. Initially, there was much hand-wringing and little action about automobile safety. After seat-belt laws were enacted, people railed against them as government interference, spreading fearful predictions that people would be trapped inside their cars. Then, something amazing happened: Seat belts worked. Fewer people died, and a disproportionate number of those who did die were not strapped in. 

Automobile manufacturers were not fans of improved safety measures for cars.

New York Raise Age: Big sign on grass says Hillbrook Detention Center raise the age renovations Tags: Hillbrook, Syracuse, Legal Aid Society, Children’s Defense Fund, raise the age, New York, legislation

Proposed New York Legislation Would End Juvenile Delinquency For Kids 7 to 11

By |

New York state lawmakers and justice reform advocates are trying to end formal prosecution for all children under the age of 12, in a measure that would steer them toward county-based social services. The bill, sponsored by state Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee and state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, both Democrats, would raise the minimum age requirement for juvenile delinquency from 7 to 12. This age range made up about 2-4% of the state’s incarcerated population from 2014-18, according to state data. (Twelve-year-olds would still be eligible for juvenile delinquency status under the bill.)

The Legal Aid Society, the Children’s Defense Fund and other advocacy groups helped draft the legislation as part of a New York state black youth agenda, unveiled Tuesday. The three measures in the agenda would regulate how law enforcement agencies can search and charge youth across the state.

raise the age: 3 Teenage Boys happily Drinking Beer indoors

Effort to Raise the Age in North Carolina Was Long, Exhausting March

By |

With one worried phone call from the mother of a 16-year-old boy, the modern movement that brought raise the age to North Carolina began, drawing legislators, activists, lawyers, parents and kids into a battle that lasted more than 13 years before the state passed its RTA bill in summer 2017.

Change in Washington State Law Helps Parents With Their Teens’ Mental Health Needs

By |

For about three months, Karen Kelly would drive around Enumclaw, Wash., after midnight looking for her 13-year-old daughter, Hollie. She carried Hollie’s photo with her, pulling over to show it to everyone she saw. Sometimes she got lucky. She learned that Hollie had talked a hotel manager into giving her a free room, or that she was camping out near the P.O. boxes in a post office, or that she’d settled into a tent in the bushes behind an industrial park. Hollie remained in Enumclaw, a town of less than 12,000 40 miles southeast of Seattle.