Civil Rights News: DOJ Fights for First Amendment in Jail; Mother Mortality Racial Gap; 25 Percent Children Have Single Parent
Feds’ Request: Let us take on Jail that Bans All Books except the Bible
The Christian Science Monitor
A detention center in South Carolina forbids outside reading materials in its facilities. These materials include magazines, books, and newspapers. The jail does not have a library or other means of access to a range of reading material for inmates. Prisoners of Jewish and Muslim faith were told the prison only provided bibles. A lawsuit filed in October by the American Civil Liberties Union prompted the U.S. Justice Department to step in and request the case be upheld as a violation to the First Amendment.
“The freedom to practice one’s faith is among our most cherished rights, and the Justice Department is committed to defending that right,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in a statement.
Racial Gap Cited in California Maternal Mortality
The Boston Globe
African-American mothers are roughly four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than women in any other racial or ethnic groups, according to California health officials. According to state statistics, “African-American women were 36.1 per 100,000 live births, compared to 9.6 for White women and 8.5 for Hispanic women in 2008.” As a response, the state is expanding its’ Black Health Program to include better communication for black mothers-to-be, hosting group sessions to check on health progress.
Diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure are also compounding diseases that disproportionately affect black mothers that also complicate pregnancies. Low-income women and women with less education were also more negatively affected.
1 in 4 children in US Raised by a Single Parent
The Seattle Times
A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released Wednesday says that one in four children in the United States is being raised by a single parent. “The U.S. had 25.8 percent of children being raised by a single parent, compared with an average of 14.9 percent across the other countries,” the article noted.
The article points out that the factors contributing to these numbers include greater acceptance of single-parent homes in the United States and less government support of childcare programs and national paid maternity leave in comparison to other OECD nations.
“Single moms do a brilliant and amazing job raising their children,” said Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. “It is also true that single moms in this country are systemically underpaid, and systematically under-resourced and systemically unrespected. It’s not the fact they are single moms that makes things difficult.”
Compiled by Leah Bui, a winter/spring intern