In another ding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s public image, photos recently surfaced of Justice Samuel Alito and his wife’s residences with an upside-down U.S. flag and a Revolutionary era “Appeal to Heaven” flag. Both banners are associated with the “stop the steal” 2020 election protestors. Alito’s response has received a flood of commentary and at best a mixed reaction.
The controversy has led some to argue that Alito should have recused himself from two pending Supreme Court cases relating to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Separately, some have characterized the flag-flying as misconduct. Russell Wheeler explains what can be done around recusal requests and misconduct allegations.
Did behavioral changes reduce COVID-19 deaths? Recent research by Stephen Kissler and Andrew Atkeson estimates that public and private behavioral changes to slow COVID-19 transmission prevented close to 800,000 deaths in the United States. On the final episode of this season’s Brookings Podcast on Economic Activity, Kissler talks with Carol Graham about a new model used to study COVID-19’s impacts and what can be done to improve the government response to future pandemics.
Why play is so vital in times of crisis. Crisis contexts can displace children from their homes, cut off access to education, health care, nutritious food, and other services, and impact them psychologically and emotionally. Play in these contexts becomes even more important as it enables young children to repair the fractures of their environment, reestablish relationships and routines, decrease stress, and pave the way for learning to continue, writes Sweta Shah.
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