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On the "Criminalization Lessons from HIV to COVID19" webinar, @trevorhoppe details the ways in which epidemics have historically been used to target & police specific populations based on racism, classism, and sexism, from over 100 years ago until now.
Public health police powers can be every bit as repressive as the criminal legal system. We need to be aware of this when we refer to public health as relates to handling epidemics. - @CatHanssens
As the #COVID19 pandemic continues, we'll see more of this policing enforcement: driven by healthcare providers calling for more enforcement; driven by calls by individuals about others not following rules; driven by push to re-open economy. - @dreanyc123
We're seeing a conflict between CDC guidance to wear masks in public places & existing state laws that criminalize covering one's face -- resulting mostly in the policing of marginalized populations. - @TheBreannaDiaz
Wow - @TheBreannaDiaz raises the issue that Kentucky is using ankle monitors to track people with #COVID19 who break self-isolation orders. https://www.jurist.org/news/2020/04/kentucky-judges-order-ankle-monitors-for-patients-breaking-covid-19-quarantine/
. @PublicHealth has been working on identifying criminalization as a public health issue. Drug use isn't a criminal issue, it's a public health issue. But at the same time, public health has been used to criminalize the same people who are targeted by policing. - @dreanyc123
The more grief & pain & loss we suffer, the more frustrated we get by being inside, the more people are going to push for more policing. We need think of new ways to support each other to stay safe. - @dreanyc123
Epidemics are social, not individual. People are acting as part of broader communities & environments. When we see someone not self-isolating, ask, what are their sick leave policies? We're not going to punish our way out of this thing. We have to think socially. - @trevorhoppe
A few resources from @uspwn on intimate partner violence during #COVID19:
https://www.thehotline.org/2020/03/13/staying-safe-during-covid-19/ https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/get-updates-information-covid-19/
https://www.thehotline.org/2020/03/13/staying-safe-during-covid-19/ https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/get-updates-information-covid-19/
A chapter from @trevorhoppe about the ways that public health powers have historically been used to restrict our freedom and liberty in times of epidemics & pandemics: https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/50058/controlling-typhoid-mary/
There are some things we can say without needing a lot of public health research: a cop stopping someone or giving a ticket to someone is creating opportunities for transmission and we need to stop that. - @dreanyc123
Decisions about quarantining or arresting people and putting them in jails right now doesn't make any kind of logical public health sense. People in the public health field need to speak out on this. - @CatHanssens
As quarantines are lifted, we will likely see widespread ticketing of people, which will harm mostly low-income people. We're not going to ticket our way out of this. Just because someone isn't thrown in jail doesn't mean it's not a form of punishment. - @trevorhoppe
If you are a medical worker or health professional, sign on to this letter about public health concerns on NYPD spread of COVID-19 (h/t @dreanyc123): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWAFC9bxNRuZ3aZRjpvQyRgTOcMjr3o8Jl92OHSIOj9u-VBA/viewform
Thank you to @TheBodyDotCom, @kenyonfarrow, @mathewrodriguez, @dreanyc123, @CatHanssens, @trevorhoppe, @TheBreannaDiaz for an amazing & important conversation on policing pandemics from HIV to COVID19. We won't police our way out of this pandemic!
