By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Franklin County, MA) Massachusetts Senate Challenger Joe Kennedy thinks mental and behavioral health are the key to reforming the criminal justice system here in Massachusetts and broadly over the whole of the United States. But President Trump’s attempts to end healthcare for all make that end even more challenging. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy said healthcare for all is an essential part of a functioning system.
“Your health and my health are linked,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy said that COVID-19 makes the need for universal healthcare even more apparent, because of how COVID-19 highlights the economic and social disparities amongst socio economic and racial groups. Healthcare, he said, is a commitment to each other and not just a problem for people who cannot afford it.
“We are not going to route out COVID by hiding behind a wall,” she said.
What baffles Kennedy even more are the recent allegations from the New York Times that President Trump was briefed on intelligence indicating the Russians were paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers. Kennedy referred to the allegations as stunning, and noted that the Russians are one of the nation’s longest running adversaries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated voting inequality around the country and in Massachusetts. Kennedy pointed out that with the pandemic, immune compromised and at risk voters should not have to risk their health to stand in line to vote. However, he also noted that mail in voting will only solve part of the problem. In other parts of the country, where up to 600,000 people were told to go to one polling place, voting became a nightmare outside of the challenges of providing an ID or using a mail in vote.
“That wasn’t an accident,” said Kennedy. “That was done on purpose.”
Proper voting registration is one way Kennedy thinks voting rights can be protected, but he worries about how that would look during COVID-19. He wants to make sure a government mailing does not appear to be junk mail, and the important voter registration information is received and understood. Even though Massachusetts does not require an ID to vote, Kennedy understands the challenges that some might face in obtaining an ID. Kennedy also discussed the ways voting ID laws can be manipulated and gave the example of Texas, that uses gun registration IDs, which can sway the vote towards the conservatives.
Other parts of the country also color Kennedy’s understanding of abortion rights. Kennedy explained that abortion regulations that limit the amount of available clinics in a particular state can provide a barrier to lower income individuals, but a woman with a higher level of income would not have a problem traveling to that location to receive the abortion. The increase in travel cost can be a burden to a woman with a lower income.
As for the issue of police reform, Kennedy does support ending qualified immunity for Police Officers.
“People of color should not live in fear when they simply leave their house,” said Kennedy.
The mental health crisis and drug addiction crisis in America is one way Kennedy thinks the criminal justice system can be redefined.
“We criminalize mental illness,” Kennedy explained.
When Kennedy explained his position on mental health and the criminal justice system, he gave the example of when a police officer is called to the scene of a disturbance. If the individual in question needs psychological help or drug addiction therapy, the police officer cannot provide that. What the police officer does is arrest that person. Moving those mental health services away from police officers will solve the gaps for both police officers and the community according to Kennedy.
Kennedy is hoping to win against Ed Markey this year for the Massachusetts Senate seat. Kennedy is currently serving in Congress for the Fourth Congressional District.