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Journalistic articles that required 3-5 months of reporting, research, public records requests and more...
Federal Immunity Shields Private Companies Detaining Migrants
States have limited ability to respond to sweeping immigration enforcement as prison companies use their relationship with ICE to shield themselves from regulation.
Prison contractors successfully convinced two federal appeals courts that their federal contracts entitled them to immunity from being directly regulated or interfered with by states. They sued over laws to regulate or ban private immigration detention in California, Illinois, Washington, and New Jersey.
People detained are seen behind fences at the Desert View Annex at the private prison company GEO Group Adelanto ICE Processing Center detention facility in Adelanto, Calif., last July.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
Greenberg Traurig Vice Chair Lori Cohen uses "Lola," an artificial intelligence voice regeneration tool, to give remarks at an event at the law firm.
Photo: Greenberg Traurig
Trial Lawyer’s AI-Powered Voice Tool ‘Brought Me Back to Life’
She tried intensive speech therapy, experimental surgeries, acupuncture, and even Russian gravitational weightlifting to restore her voice. Cohen initially “waved off” a speech pathologist’s suggestion to use technology to speak for her—"I could not fathom that I would not be better within a matter of weeks,” she said—and later found text-to-speech tools lacking.
Then she discovered “Lola,” her artificial intelligence alter-ego that’s given Cohen her voice back in court
‘Stay-or-Pay’ Suits Cast Light on Immigrant Nurse Recruiting
Staffing agencies, and sometimes health-care facility operators, will charge their foreign-recruited nurses as much as $50,000 in reimbursement for costs incurred if the recruits leave before their three-to-four-year contract ends, court filings say. Many of these breach fees aren’t prorated, meaning the nurse would have to pay the total amount no matter how long they worked for the company.
Filipino and other foreign-born nurses are increasingly fighting to extract themselves from US recruiter and employer contracts requiring them to pay exit fees if they quit or get fired before the expiration of their contracts.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Jordan Daniel, a runner and a member of the Lowere Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, wears a red handprint across her face when she runs, to bring attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women, in this 2020 file photo. (Photo courtesy Devin Whetstone)
MMIP task forces are given years to solve a problem centuries in the making
At least 10 states and various federal agencies have launched efforts to address the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous people. But, charged with solving in a few years an issue that took centuries to develop, those efforts have had to grapple with historical neglect, modern bureaucracy and myriad disparities that would require a transformation of Indian Country’s public services to be resolved.
ASU's expansion into California seen as a rare step for a public state university
Now, the University has opened campus locations outside Arizona's borders — a decision, particularly in California, that challenges the status quo of a public higher education institution. Experts say the center is a rare move for a public university. But in Crow's eyes, Los Angeles shined gold with possibility: He saw a city with global financial influence, a uniquely stark demand for more schooling options and endless ventures for University partnerships.
The ASU California Center, which was introduced on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Photo courtesy Kristen Apolline Castillo
'Real estate is king'
The University's use of tax-exempt land has given itself the ability to find new sources of revenue. The ethics of the practice, however, have come into question. Some experts argue ASU is abusing its tax-exempt status for purposes it wasn’t designated for. Others say the matter is a “gray area.” The state cut funding, so the University had to go looking for money using the tools it had available.
Photo by Kiersten Moss
Trials of Translation: How healthcare leaves out Asian American seniors
The American healthcare system rarely offers services in Asian languages, forcing younger family members to shoulder the burden of navigating an often labyrinthine system that leaves many Asian American seniors behind. Pandemic restrictions on hospital visits forced many elders to seek care at hospitals without their families to translate.
The lack of Asian language services offered in the American healthcare system has forced younger family members to shoulder the burden of navigating an often labyrinthine system. CreativeCommons
"As the UCWA grows in membership and subsequently in power, the union will continue to become a more present political force on campus." (Illustration courtesy Kristin Millie Salazar)
ASU's union struggles to get recognition from administration
The union has published letters addressed to University administration in opposition to policies which asked students and faculty to come back to the classroom. The union has repeatedly said COVID-19 policies regulating masks and social distancing do not do enough to protect the community. The group held a protest to communicate that same message.
These efforts have gone largely unheeded by ASU leadership.