The flag-draped casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, September 23, 2020. Ginsburg, 87, died of cancer on September 18. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Friday, after lying in repose for two days at the Supreme Court where thousands paid homage to her.
“She was a hero. She was a warrior. She was a champion. She is an inspiration,” said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), in a press statement. “Our society is more equitable because she advocated and because she adjudicated…”
In a videotaped statement posted on its YouTube channel, a spokesperson for UnidosUS said, “No one stood taller or fought harder for women, for civil rights, and for justice. In her name we will continue the fight.”
LULAC President Domingo Garcia said, “She was well aware of her place in history as one of the voices for the excluded, the oppressed, and those trying to find real justice in our courts.”
Garcia appealed to President Trump not to announce a replacement for Ginsburg until after the presidential inauguration in January, but Trump is now set to declare his pick to replace Ginsburg on Saturday. Trump has said his nominee will be a woman.
LULAC President and CEO Sindy Benavides said, “[Ginsburg’s] sense of integrity and courage is one that so many of us, women and young leaders, shall always look towards as a compass for justice in our democracy… Rest in power RBG.”
Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), called Ginsburg, “a legal titan, champion for women’s rights, and an inspiring cultural figure for women and so many who refused to accept that they did not have a dignified place in courts, workplaces, and in a democratic society.
Justice Ginsburg, who died of pancreatic cancer, served 27 years on the Supreme Court. She is scheduled to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband, Martin Ginsburg, a lawyer and U.S. Army veteran who died of cancer in 2010.
Gynecologist Can No Longer See Detained Migrant Women
Federal immigration officials have stopped sending detained women to a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing surgeries without consent, according to the Associated Press.
“Dr. Mahendra Amin faces allegations that he administered hysterectomies and other procedures that [migrant] women held at the Irwin County Detention Center didn’t seek or fully understand,” AP reported.
The allegations against Amin surfaced after Dawn Wooten, a nurse who worked in the detention center, filed a whistleblower complaint against the facility’s operators. Wooten says migrant women called Amin “the uterus collector.” She has also accused officials of underreporting the number of COVID-19 cases in the detention center.
Latest NALEO Tracking Poll
Just over half of Latino registered voters intend to vote by mail, but 33 percent do not trust mail-in voting, according to the 2020 Latino Weekly Tracking Poll from NALEO Educational Fund and Latino Decisions.
“While Latino voters continue to prioritize COVID-19, healthcare, jobs, and discrimination, our community is shifting on how we prefer to make our voices heard this election,” stated Arturo Vargas, NALEO Educational Fund Chief Executive Officer, who noted that the percentage of Latino voters surveyed who plan to vote by mail has dropped seven points in the past week.
Among other key findings:
- 31 percent of respondents know someone who has died from COVID-19
- 46 percent plan to vote early
- 30 percent do not know how to request a mail-in-ballot
- 76 percent are almost certain they will vote in 2020
- 59 percent are more enthusiastic about voting in 2020 than in 2016
- 48 percent have been contacted by a political campaign or other organization ahead of the November election, including 62 percent who were contacted by the Democrats, 34 percent by Republicans, and 27 percent by a non-partisan group
- The most important issues for respondents: COVID-19, 46 percent; lowering healthcare costs, 31 percent; racism and discrimination, 31 percent; jobs and wages, 27 percent.
The survey also that found 65 percent of respondents plan to vote for Vice President Joe Biden, 25 percent for President Trump in November.
More Than Half of Latino College Students in California May Quit School
A survey released by UnidosUS found that 51 percent of respondents were considering withdrawing from full-time college enrollment in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis.
More than 1.3 million Latinos are enrolled in colleges and universities in California. The possibility that so many Latino college students may be forced to drop out could deal a serious blow to college attainment gains Latinos have made in recent years.
The survey, conducted by Latino Decisions, also found “nearly half (47 percent) of current students have turned to local food banks for meals. And 65 percent of current college students with loans have reported job or income loss.”
“The effects of the fast-moving crisis have been particularly acute for Latino college-goers, who are overwhelmingly first-generation, members of mixed-status households and from low-income backgrounds,” according to UnidosUS, which notes that 33 percent of Latinos with college degrees in California are receiving unemployment insurance benefits.
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