A webinar hosted by the Alliance for Safety and Justice featured members of the black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American Caucuses speaking about the challenges their constituents are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. The webinar, hosted Monday by Robert Rooks, CEO of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, featured one member from each caucus. U.S. Rep. Karen Bass – Chair of the Congressional Black Cauc us Karen Bass said the Congressional Black Caucus is focused on the U.S. prison population. African Americans make up about 15% of the population in the U.S. but more than 40% of the prison population. “From day one the Congressional Black Caucus was very concerned about mass incarceration period,” Bass said. “But the idea that you have hundreds of thousands of people in our prisons and jails around the country really amount to them being a petri dish.” Bass added that while the Centers for Disease Control promotes social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding people, pris...
