Alternatively titled “Unconstitutional Edition.”
Editor’s Warning: Mentions of violence.
Happening in the World: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been freed after being held in jail since 2012. Badawi was initially jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam,” according to his wife. Images of the blogger being publicly flogged spurred global outrage, outwardly demonstrating the rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. Badawi is still subject to a 10-year travel ban, and it is unclear whether he will face other limitations. (BBC)
Happening in the US: Judge Amy Clark Meachum of Texas has issued a temporary injunction on Governor Greg Abbott’s order to investigate families providing gender-affirming health care for children, which the state qualifies as child abuse. A temporary injunction blocks the enforcement of this order, with Judge Meachum stating Abbott’s order was “unconstitutional.” (CNN)
Happening in NYC: Academy Award-winning actor and SAG-AFTRA member Susan Sarandon paid a surprise visit to Amazon workers and volunteers in the Chelsea offices, where they were phone banking to raise support for their unionization efforts. Amazon Labor Union organizers are pushing for higher starting wages, just cause protections, longer breaks, and other workplace improvements. Workers and volunteers hope to call all the estimated 8,000 employees at the Staten Island Amazon Warehouse before voting on whether to form a union begins on March 25; the JFK8 distribution facility could become the first or second unionized Amazon warehouse in the country. (Gothamist)
Happening in Our Community: While there are no events today, feel free to check out PERN’s (Population-Environment Research Network) cyberseminar entitled “The Demography of Sustainable Human Wellbeing” happening next week. In collaboration with the Wittgenstein Center, the seminar proposes a new indicator of human wellbeing which has the potential to serve as a criterion for sustainable development. The event is on Monday, March 14 at 10 am, with more information available here.
Herman Marion Sweatt Courthouse via Wikimedia Commons