‘State corrections policy must do better than more of the same’
Brian Koehn at The Hill
Whether candidates “campaign on it or not, corrections is government’s responsibility,” and “governors cannot pretend it belongs to someone else,” says Brian Koehn. Governors “oversee systems that consume major public dollars, employ thousands of correctional professionals and decide whether people return home better prepared for the outside world or more damaged.” As “voters listen to candidates talk about freedom and safety, they should ask what candidates will do about correctional systems already under their authority.”
‘Sophie Cunningham’s actions speak far louder than her words’
Jason Page at MS NOW
There are “those looking to legitimately protect the safety of girls and women in sports and those looking to use the issue to demonize the transgender community,” and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s “actions, more than her words, appear to put her far closer to the latter,” says Jason Page. Cunningham “claims to love everybody.” But in “choosing to pose for postgame photos on Sunday with outspoken trans critic Riley Gaines,” one “could easily wonder if Cunningham is telling us a different story.”
‘When you can’t afford to stay cool, the risks are life-and-death’
Sharon Block and Dr. Satchit Balsari at USA Today
Two “trends are dominating this summer — high temperatures and high inflation,” and “these two extremes combine to create a crisis that rarely makes headlines,” say Sharon Block and Dr. Satchit Balsari. Workers “may die in increased numbers because they can’t afford to stay cool,” a “predictable consequence of policy choices that leave working Americans choosing between the cost of the cooling they need to recover from work in extreme heat and the costs of other necessities of life.”
‘The cure for Russia’s labor shortage is worse than the disease’
Samuel Bendett and Maria Snegovaya at Foreign Policy
Among the “various challenges that Russia has faced since its ill-conceived full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the most acute has been a severe labor shortage,” say Samuel Bendett and Maria Snegovaya. Russia’s “deepening demographic crisis” combined “with mass emigration” has “sharply exacerbated the problem.” The Kremlin’s “response has rested on three pillars: mobilizing underutilized domestic labor, expanding prison labor and increasing labor migration.” But “each proves to be either insufficient or self-defeating.”