THE BIG STORY

Justice when the courts are closed

Like so many other things, America’s courts have mostly closed their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. So what’s happening to all those cases during the shutdown?

Court systems are working to move their operations online, and while that might work out fine for participants with legal teams that know how to navigate the new systems, it can be a disaster for people without access to expensive lawyers and support. With tens of millions of out of work, that’s a lot of people, Zoe Tillman reports.

“Basically the court system and legal resolution is just off the table during one of the greatest crises our country has faced,” said Katherine Alteneder, an adviser for the Self-Represented Litigation Network, a national organization of legal aid providers.

In the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, about 10,000 people would pass through on any given day back before the lockdowns. Chief Judge Robert Morin said filings have dropped since operations shifted online. "This is the stuff that keeps me up at night," he said. "It means either people's legal issues miraculously resolved, or people feel they don't have access to the court's processes."

Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Joe Biden’s high hopes

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is figuring out where he can win this November, and his national map includes three reliably Republican states: Arizona, Georgia and Texas. Polling shows a close race between President Trump and Biden in all three states, with Biden ahead in Arizona.

“This is something that we are very, very focused on,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told reporters on Friday. “We believe that there will be battleground states that have never been battleground states before.”

All three states were easily won by Trump in his 2016 race against Hillary Clinton, although Democrats won a senate seat in Arizona in 2018. “I’m bullish on Arizona,” Dillon later added.

Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters

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SNAPSHOTS

A New York man visiting Hawaii was arrested after posting photos on social media showing him breaking quarantine rules. Like all new arrivals, Tarique Peters, 23, was required to quarantine for 14 days. His Instagram showed a different story.

Barack Obama criticized the US coronavirus response this weekend. "More than anything, this pandemic has fully finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing," he said. "A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge."

Grubhub has found a way to make money from restaurants even when you call them and order directly. It sets up its own phone numbers for restaurants, and charges a commission if you call on that line.

Eric Trump thinks coronavirus lockdowns are a plot against his father’s presidential campaign. “After Nov. 3, coronavirus will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen," he said.

Richard Levine / Alamy Stock Photo

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Stanford’s controversial antibody study

A Stanford study released last month prior to being peer reviewed got a lot of attention by finding that the number of coronavirus cases in Silicon Valley may be up to 85 times higher than officially recorded. The study, whose findings suggested the coronavirus fatality rate could be much lower than expected, became one of many data points cited by coronavirus skeptics and anti-lockdown activists who say the deadliness of the virus is being exaggerated.

But there was something about the study that was not made public when its headline-grabbing numbers were first announced, Stephanie M. Lee reports: It was funded in part by JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman, who has been a prominent and wealthy voice among lockdown skeptics.

“Concern that the authors were affected by a severe conflict of interest is unavoidable,” according to a whistleblower complaint submitted to Stanford’s research compliance office and seen by BuzzFeed News.

PRIESTLY INNOVATION

The holy Super Soaker

Father Tim Pelc of St. Ambrose Parish in Michigan figured out a creative new way to bless people with holy water at a safe social distance, and the resulting images have made him an internet star across the world. Introducing the holy water pistol.

Courtesy Larry Peplin

"The original idea was to do something for the kids of the parish," Pelc told BuzzFeed News. "They were about ready to have an Easter unlike any of their past, so I thought, What can we still do that would observe all the protocols of social distancing?"

His logic is impeccable, and one we fully endorse: “The sun was out. We had a nice turnout,” he said. “It was a way of continuing an ancient custom, and people seemed to enjoy it."

Enjoy the sun today, along with any ancient custom your heart desires,

Tom