Political MoJo

Court: Some Types of Emergency Contraception Must Be Available Over the Counter ASAP

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| Wed Jun. 5, 2013 1:45 PM PDT
plan b

An appeals court has ordered the Obama administration to make at least some forms of emergency contraception (EC) available over the counter immediately.

There are two types of EC, a.k.a. the "morning after pill"—one that has two separate pills that contain hormones to prevent pregnancy, and another that requires only one pill. A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that varieties of EC that are sold as two separate pills need to be made available over the counter to everyone immediately. The availability of the one-pill variety will be determined after the full appeal is heard later this year.

Judge Edward R. Korman ruled in April that emergency contraception should be made available to everyone—without a prescription and regardless of age—within a month. The Obama administration appealed that ruling and asked Korman to delay its implementation. Korman refused, calling the administration's argument "something out of an alternate reality." After that, the Obama administration asked the appeals court to delay implementation of Korman's ruling. That's what led to Wednesday's decision, when the appeals court said it wouldn't delay Korman's ruling as it applied to two-pill EC, but would postpone a final decision on the one-pill products.

Although they were surely hoping that an appeals court would just deny the administration's request in its entirety, reproductive rights groups were pleased with Wednesday's decision. The decision means that, for the first time, some form of emergency contraception will be available over-the-counter for all women. "Finally, after more than a decade of politically motivated delays, women will no longer have to endure intrusive, onerous, and medically unnecessary restrictions to get emergency contraception," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the original suit against the FDA, in a statement.

But this does mean that, for now, Plan B One-Step—the most common form of one-pill emergency contraception—will be available over-the-counter only to women ages 15 and over who have government-issued ID to prove their age. And generic brands of one-pill EC will be available over-the-counter only for women ages 17 and over with ID. Confusing, right?

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Report: Mansions Getting Bigger, Rental Apartments Getting Smaller

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| Wed Jun. 5, 2013 9:05 AM PDT
Ernest R. Prim/Shutterstock

It's a metaphor for the lopsided economic recovery: Data out from the Census bureau Tuesday shows that new single-family homes are getting bigger, while new rental apartments are shrinking.

Construction of new homes plummeted as the 2007 financial crisis hit. Residential housing construction is barely coming back to life, but as the New York Times' Economix blog reports in a post titled "The Return of the McMansions," the new homes being built are ballooning in size. Think the 90,000 square foot manse timeshare billionaire David Seagal and his wife Jackie designed pre-crisis, with 30 bathrooms, ten kitchens, and an ice rink. Ok, they're not all that big. The average size of new single-family homes climbed to 2,306 square feet last year,  the largest average home size since the government started keeping track in 1973. The Times has this graph:

The average number of bedrooms and bathrooms per home is also at record levels. Last year, 41 percent of new homes had at least four bedrooms, and 30 percent had at least three bathrooms.

When it comes to new rental units, the opposite is true. The average square footage of new units in multi-family buildings decreased between 2011 and 2012. In 2011, 62 percent of new rental units were under 1,200 square feet, and 17 percent were 1,400 square feet or larger. In 2012, those numbers had changed to 64 percent under 1,200 square feet, and 16 percent above 1,400 square feet. (The percentage of apartments in the mid-range, remained steady.) See here:

The divergence in square footage aligns with the nature of the economic recovery. A new report released by the Federal Reserve earlier this week shows that most of the wealth recovered since the recession has gone to well-off white people. The Fed says that about 62 percent of the wealth Americans have regained since the economy bottomed out has been through the recovery of the stock market. And 80 percent of stock wealth is held by the rich—people with income in the top 10 percent.

Many younger and minority Americans have not experienced any recovery at all, and some are still losing wealth. Hence the need for more shoebox apartments.

Montana Republicans Launch Campaign to Ban Dark Money

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| Wed Jun. 5, 2013 8:07 AM PDT
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), right, was helped in his 2012 reelection bid by dark money spending. Pete Marovich/ZUMAPRESS.com

Unlike their counterparts in Congress, state lawmakers around the country are speeding ahead with efforts to reform how campaigns are funded and to address the flow of dark money into elections. Democrats in New York's legislature want new legislation creating a public financing system for statewide elections. In California, the Democratic-controlled Senate recently passed its own DISCLOSE Act, which would force groups running political ads to name the top three funders of those ads and compel full disclosure of donations masked by pass-throughs or shell companies.

Now comes Montana. On Tuesday, a group of state Republican lawmakers unveiled a new initiative to ban dark money in state political campaigns. The lawmakers and their allies hope to put a dark-money ban initiative on the ballot for the November 2014 elections. A similar piece of legislation, Senate Bill 375, won the backing of Democrats and Republicans in Montana's Senate last legislative session but later died in the state House.

The Republican backers of the ballot measure effort say they expect plenty of Democratic support. "It may be a Republican group that's kicking it off, but it is a joint initiative and it will be a bipartisan cause," state Rep. Roger Hagan (R) told the Great Falls Tribune.

Here's more from the Tribune:

Buffalo Republican Sen. Jim Peterson, SB 375's sponsor, said the initiative would require "full transparency" in Montana state elections.

Peterson said anonymous spending by third-party 501(c)(4) nonprofit political groups has corrupted the political process by allowing undisclosed, outside spending in local races.

"Dark money has brought great divisiveness to the election process," Peterson said. "Locals have no idea who is influencing their politicians and their government officials, so today we're going to put the power back into the democratic process and let the people answer this question for us."

The measure is still in the works, and draft ballot language of the proposed measure should be available within 30 days, Peterson said.

For a proposed initiative to qualify for the ballot, it needs to be submitted to the Legislative Services Division. Then, it must pass a legal review by the Montana Attorney General’s Office. If the ballot language is approved, the sponsor must collect signatures from 5 percent of the total number of qualified voters in Montana, including 5 percent of the voters in each of 34 legislative House districts.

Montanans saw a flood of anonymous political spending in 2012, due to the combination of cheap ad rates and a fiercely fought US Senate race pitting incumbent Jon Tester against Republican Denny Rehberg. As ProPublica reported, total spending in the Tester-Rehberg race reached $51 million, twice as much as was spent in Tester's 2006 race. Of that, roughly $12 million was dark money.

Money from undisclosed sources played an pivotal role in Tester's victory. It helped libertarian candidate Dan Cox grab more votes than any libertarian candidate statewide in a competitive race—votes Rehberg needed to unseat Tester. In the end, Tester won by nearly 4 percentage points.

We're Still at War: Photo of the Day for June 5, 2013

Wed Jun. 5, 2013 7:55 AM PDT

Sgt. Zach Smola, rear door gunner on a CH-47, keeps watch on the mountains in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, May 12, 2013. The Chinooks, operated by members of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, have played a vital part in the mission in Afghanistan since their arrival in December 2012 by performing resupply, retrograde, and planned missions. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessi Ann McCormick.

Florida Dems Snub Their Own Challenger To Rick Scott

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| Tue Jun. 4, 2013 11:11 AM PDT
State Sen. Nan Rich (D), candidate for governor of Florida

Florida Governor Rick Scott is highly unpopular with voters, and polls show him losing his reelection race next year to any generic Democrat. But now that at least one Democratic challenger has emerged, it appears that the Democrats may already be shooting themselves in the foot. Case in point: The Florida Democratic Party denied Nan Rich, the only Democrat who's jumped into the race, a speaking slot at its annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner later this month.

"I think it’s inappropriate, given the amount of attention the governor’s race will draw," Rich told the Miami Herald. "I've been a candidate for a year. I've traveled the state and built a significant infrastructure and grassroots support. And I'm just asking for five minutes."

Party organizers claimed they didn't want big donors to get "bored by too many speeches" at the event, but the snub is largely viewed as an attempt to sideline Rich, a state senator, in favor of the party's preferred candidate, former Republican governor Charlie Crist. (Signs that Crist is seriously considering jumping into the Democratic primary: Most recently an independent, he officially switched party affiliation again in December after losing a Senate race to Sen. Marco Rubio. Then, in early May, he suddenly became a supporter of same-sex marriage, which he'd previously opposed.)

Florida Dems clearly see Crist as the stronger candidate, even if he is, well, a Republican. A recent poll showed Crist prevailing in a Democratic primary, with Rich receiving just 1 percent of the vote, and faring much better than Rich in a matchup with Scott. Still, polls suggest that Crist isn't exactly a shoe-in, with at least one showing him in a dead heat with Scott. And rank-and-file Democrats are understandably leery about jumping on the bandwagon with a candidate who has previously described himself as a "Jeb Bush Republican." 

But Rich, a stalwart liberal Democrat known for her work on child welfare issues and sharp criticism of Scott, has had trouble raising money and her profile. She could have used the platform at the dinner to help boost her visibility. Instead, the state Democratic party decided it's more important to hear from the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Meanwhile, the head of the state GOP, Lenny Curry, has seized the opportunity to taunt Florida Democrats for dissing one of their own. He started the hashtag #FreeNanRich and tweeted, "Are big donors really more important than 5 min for @SenatorNanRich?" He also sent out a press release targeted at the state's Democrats to let Rich on the podium, writing:

While Senator Rich and I might not see eye to eye politically, she has a long history of leadership in public service and deserves five minutes of speaking time as the only announced gubernatorial candidate in your party.

Because Senator Rich is an experienced spokesperson for Democratic ideology in Florida, it must be disappointing to see your Chairwoman, Allison Tant, put the interests of big-dollar donors ahead of a mere five minutes for Florida's leading champion of liberal causes.

The Rich snub promises the beginning of a bitter primary battle for the right to challenge Scott, who will certainly benefit from the distraction from his own record. Whether the Democratic primary fight will be enough to keep one of the nation's most loathed governors in office, though, is still very much an open question. 

Time-Lapse Video of Photographer's 24 Hours in Isolation

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| Tue Jun. 4, 2013 10:41 AM PDT

The acclaimed photographer Richard Ross, whose Juvenile-in-Justice project (and photo book) chronicles the lives of children in prison, recently decided to put himself in the shoes of his young subjects by spending 24 hours in isolation. With permission from the head of an unnamed youth facility in the Midwest, he set up a camera to take a photo every seven seconds. The result is this time-lapse video:

Here's more from Wired's Jakob Schiller:

Ross chose 24 hours because that’s the typical amount of time a juvenile offender spends in isolation at the facility when they’re first admitted. It’s not punishment for some aggressive or egregious behavior, just a matter of procedure while the bureaucracy "evaluates" them. Sometimes children are put in isolation because they are low-level offenders and should not be housed with the more serious offenders in the general population. Isolation can also be used for disciplinary action, however, and Ross has interviewed many kids who have spent weeks alone.

"It was unbelievably dehumanizing [in the cell], and I'm an adult and I knew that I had 24 hours," he says. "Then you have these kids who are used to sleeping in their beds, some of whom have never been away from home."

For a good longread on the subject, check out "The Lost Boys" by David Chura, who spent a decade teaching English to kids in an adult lockup. He chronicles what happens when they are transferred into the prison's new security housing unit. (It isn't pretty.) Also see our recent special report on solitary confinement, which includes an award-winning feature story by former Iran hostage Shane Bauer and a piece I wrote about early experiments in what extreme isolation does to your mind.

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Depressing Lede of The Day, Marijuana Arrest Edition

—By

| Tue Jun. 4, 2013 7:24 AM PDT
marijuana and the law Matthew Benoit/Shutterstock

A reminder, via Tuesday's New York Times:

Black Americans were nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data.

The racial disparity in pot-related arrests in America is no secret. Previous studies and analysis in various states have yielded similar numbers.

The Times story also features a graphic that highlights a few places in the country—including Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington, DC—where black Americans were even more disproportionately likely to be arrested for pot possession. During President Obama's first three years in office, the arrest rate for pot possession was roughly 5 percent higher than the average rate under his predecessor. It's a boost in the arrest rate for a crime that the president himself once frequently committed.

Elizabeth Warren Calls for Grassroots Movement on Student Loan Debt

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| Tue Jun. 4, 2013 7:03 AM PDT
liz warren

On Monday night, Sen. Elizabeth Warren held a briefing on student debt with the progressive policy group MoveOn.org, taking calls from students, parents, and graduates struggling with student loan debt. Warren discussed the the current fight in Congress over student loan interest rates, and what kinds of fixes would work best for the 37 million Americans with student loan debt. And she called on Americans to take matters into their own hands.

Over the past decade, student loan debt has nearly quadrupled, and now stands close to $1 trillion. On July 1, rates for federal need-based student loans are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The deadline has lawmakers scrambling for a fix. There are a bunch of proposals out there, including Warren's call for students to be allowed to pay the low, low rate that big banks pay the Federal Reserve for their short-term borrowing; a plan President Barack Obama laid out in his budget in April; and the GOP plan that recently passed the House, which Warren and Obama hate.

The GOP bill would allow interest rates on student loans to rise or fall from year to year with the government's cost of borrowing, ending the current system under which rates are fixed by law. Because market rates are low right now, the initial rate for the loans envisioned by the Republican bill  would be about 4.4 percent, but the legislation would allow them to rise to as much as 8.5 percent. Warren says the plan would turn students into "a profit center": "Already the government is scheduled to make $51 billion in profits in loans it makes next year. That's 36 cents in profit for every dollar they lend out. And the House bill would make even more money off students," Warren said at the briefing.

She touted her own plan, the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, which would act as a one-year patch, cutting student loan rates to the same rock-bottom interest rate that banks pay to the Federal Reserve for short-term loans. "If a big bank wants to take out a loan from the Fed, it can get .75 interest rate. These are the same banks that cost millions of Americans their jobs and nearly broke the economy. But next year, a student would have to pay nine times as much on her debt," Warren said, referring to the scheduled jump in interest rates to 6.8 percent. "It isn't right. It isn't fair. And it isn't good economic policy."

The ultimate solution, Warren said, is not her one-year fix. It's Americans demanding a fair student loan system. "You can't do this by having a few people stand up in the US Senate and the House and say 'this is important,'" she said. "This is test of whether we can organize something at the grass roots and move it forward. It will take us... and a whole lot more people to show [Congress]... that it does matter and they have got to respond."

Elizabeth Warren to Hold Emergency Briefing on Student Debt

—By

| Mon Jun. 3, 2013 4:34 PM PDT

On Monday night, Sen. Elizabeth Warren will hold an "emergency briefing" on student debt with the progressive policy group MoveOn.org. The senator will take calls from students, parents, and graduates struggling with student loan debt to discuss "the student loan fight, [and] understand some potential solutions," MoveOn said in an email blast Monday.

Since 2004, student loan debt has tripled, and now stands close to $1 trillion. On July 1, rates for Stafford loans are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The deadline has lawmakers scrambling for a fix. There are a bunch of proposals out there, including Warren's call for students to be allowed to pay the low, low rate that big banks pay the Federal Reserve for their short-term borrowing; a plan President Barack Obama laid out in his budget in April; and the GOP plan that just passed the House, which Warren and Obama hate.

The GOP bill would allow interest rates on student loans to rise or fall from year to year with the government's cost of borrowing, ending the current system under which rates are fixed by law. Because market rates are low right now, the initial rate for the loans envisioned by the Republican bill  would be about 4.4 percent, but the legislation would allow them to rise to as much as 8.5 percent. Warren says the plan would turn students into "a profit center."

Under Obama's plan, the interest rate at which student loans are issued would vary depending on the economy, but once the student has borrowed the money, the interest rate would be fixed for the life of the loan, allowing students to plan for consistent payments. Obama's plan would also aid low-income borrowers by letting them cap their monthly loan payments to 10 percent of their income after graduation.

Warren's proposal, the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, would act as a one-year patch, cutting student loan rates to the same low .75 percent interest rate that banks pay to the Fed for short-term loans. After a year, a longer-term student loan solution would be drawn up. (Here is a round-up of all the plans, plus some nice charts.) Warren's bill has drawn praise from students and advocates around the country. MoveOn said in an email blast that more than 434,000 of their members have voiced support for the legislation.

But MoveOn wants more students, graduates, and parents to get involved in influencing the outcome of legislation that will determine how much money they spend on education debt over a lifetime. The Monday briefing is part of that effort. "We can win this fight and show that Congress needs to respond to an agenda that works for us," MoveOn said in a statement, "But only if we organize together in our communities, on college campuses, and everywhere our representatives can see us."

Supreme Court Okays Warrantless DNA Sampling

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| Mon Jun. 3, 2013 10:01 AM PDT
dna

Police can force suspects arrested for serious crimes to give DNA samples, a divided Supreme Court ruled, 5 votes to 4, on Monday (PDF). Law enforcement officials in 28 states already routinely collect DNA from alleged criminals, but privacy advocates had argued that taking suspects' DNA without a search warrant is a violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The high court's decision could lead to a massive national DNA database, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia warned in a dissent joined by three of the more liberal justices.

The case, Maryland v. King, originated from the arrest of Alonzo King, whose DNA was taken against his will after he was picked up for a gun-related assault charge. King was convicted of the gun charge, but officials also matched his DNA to evidence from an unsolved rape case. That, King argued, violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Maryland's Supreme Court agreed. (For more background on the case, read our report from February.)

The Supreme Court's five-justice majority struck down the Maryland court's ruling, noting that DNA sampling is routine police procedure. "Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority.

The other four justices didn't take the decision so lightly. "Make no mistake about it: because of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason," wrote Scalia, who sometimes splits with his right-wing colleagues on civil liberties issues. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor joined Scalia's dissent.

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