Last month, Maine鈥檚 Gov. LePage once again got our attention when he claimed to be keeping a binder of 鈥渆very single drug dealer who has been arrested in our state,鈥� 90 percent of whom, he said, are Black or Hispanic.
We couldn鈥檛 believe that was true, so we filed a public records request for the binder. On Monday, we got in line at the state house to receive our copy on CD.
could best be described as a scrapbook: a random, incomplete collection of newspaper clippings and press releases from the Maine Department of Public Safety. Some press releases don鈥檛 include photos of the arrested. Some contain handwritten notes from the governor himself: 鈥済et photo for my album;鈥� 鈥減lease be sure we get all mugs with release;鈥� 鈥渇ile pictures in my binder for historical value.鈥�
While the binder paints an incomplete picture of the demographics of drug arrests in Maine, it very clearly support the governor鈥檚 assertions that over 90 percent of the people in his scrapbook are Black or Hispanic. While it is impossible to tell the race of all arrestees included in the binder, at least 50 of the 90 people pictured appear to be white. In other words, the governor greatly exaggerated the role people of color play in Maine鈥檚 drug trade.
The governor 鈥� the top official in our state 鈥� has agencies at his disposal that collect arrest data. Yet he pointed to a scrapbook that he compiled on his own as evidence that people of color are responsible for Maine鈥檚 drug problem. And even that scrapbook doesn鈥檛 back up his claims.
Worse still, the governor used those false claims as the basis for calling people of color the enemy. At a press conference following the binder claims, , "When you go to war鈥� you shoot at the enemy. You try to identify the enemy and the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in, are people of color or people of Hispanic origin.鈥�
These words cannot be brushed off as a careless misstatement. In 2015, . The last message our governor should be sending is that we should shoot at the enemy and that the enemy is people of color.
Sadly, Gov. LePage has a history of making racist statements, so much so that felt compelled to apologize to the rest of the nation for him, while The Washington Post for his resignation.
The governor鈥檚 statements do nothing to address Maine鈥檚 very real drug crisis. Instead, they divide our state into 鈥渦s鈥� and 鈥渢hem鈥� and make people of color feel like they are under siege. Such disunity can only end in tragedy.
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Racial Justice
老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report
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News & CommentaryDec 2024
Racial Justice
Human Rights
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Press ReleaseOct 2024
National Security
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老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections
WASHINGTON 鈥� The Biden-Harris administration today released its National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence (AI), establishing guidelines for how the U.S. government uses AI in national security programs, such as counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and defense. The use of AI to automate and expand national security activities poses some of the greatest dangers to people鈥檚 lives and civil liberties. Agencies are increasingly exploring the use of AI in decisions about who to surveil, who to stop and search at the airport, who to add to government watchlists, and even who is a military target. While the government鈥檚 policy includes some important steps forward 鈥� such as requiring national security agencies to better track and assess their AI systems for risks and prohibiting a subset of dangerous AI uses 鈥� it falls far short in other critical areas, leaving glaring gaps with respect to independent oversight, transparency, notice, and redress. The policy imposes few substantive safeguards on a wide range of AI-driven activities, by and large allowing agencies to decide for themselves how to mitigate the risks posed by national security systems that have immense consequences for people鈥檚 lives and rights. As we have repeatedly seen before, this is a recipe for dangerous technologies to proliferate in secret. 鈥淒espite acknowledging the considerable risks of AI, this policy does not go nearly far enough to protect us from dangerous and unaccountable AI systems. National security agencies must not be left to police themselves as they increasingly subject people in the United States to powerful new technologies,鈥� said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淚f developing national security AI systems is an urgent priority for the country, then adopting critical rights and privacy safeguards is just as urgent. Without transparency, independent oversight, and built-in mechanisms for individuals to obtain accountability when AI systems err or fail, the policy鈥檚 safeguards are inadequate and place our civil rights and civil liberties at risk.鈥� For years, the 老澳门开奖结果 has been urging far stronger safeguards and transparency about the AI tools that national security agencies are deploying, the rules constraining their use, and the dangers these systems pose to fairness, privacy, and due process. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
Racial Justice
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WASHINGTON 鈥� Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a roadmap for artificial intelligence (AI) best practices, designed to ensure that emerging technologies such as AI enhance job quality, benefit workers, and comply with existing employment laws when they are used in the workplace. The best practices, pursuant to President Biden鈥檚 executive order on the development and use of AI, include recommendations for AI system developers and employers that prioritize workers鈥� experiences and empowerment throughout the entire AI lifecycle 鈥� from design to use and oversight. These practices also call on employers and developers to create standards and processes to identify and mitigate risks from AI systems, such as threats to health and safety, civil rights, privacy, fair labor rights, and labor organizing prior to a developer marketing them or an employer deploying them, and recommend turning to different systems when sufficient mitigation is not possible. 鈥淲e applaud DOL for issuing best practices for use of AI that center workers鈥� empowerment, civil rights, privacy, and safety protections and call on developers and employers to adopt critical guardrails in developing, procuring and using AI systems. Employers and developers should take note, as many have been burying their heads in the sand on their risk of legal liability with respect to AI tools,鈥� said Olga Akselrod, senior staff attorney of the 老澳门开奖结果 Racial Justice Program. 鈥淔ollowing these best practices for AI can help employers and developers ensure that they do not violate existing civil rights and other employment laws that protect workers.鈥� The best practices also recommend transparency measures through conducting and publishing impact assessments, notice and recourse for impacted workers, and measures to minimize worker displacement. The DOL also stated that employers should minimize electronic monitoring and avoid unnecessary collection or retention of worker data.