affirmative action under the constitution. and then the legacy of those decisions. you re watching american history tv on c-span three. the u.s. supreme court today ruled that the death penalty does not necessarily represent cruel and unusual punishment, and that i can be a deterrent to crime. by seven to two, the judges upheld the death penalty in florida georgia and texas, other states may be affected in this similar way. but about five to four, the court struck down capital punishment laws and and louisiana. that ruling could prevent still other states from invoking their own death penalty laws. all persons having business before the honorable, the supreme court of the united states are admonished to drawn their and give their attention. landmark cases, spends special history series, produced in partnership with the national constitution center. exploring the human stories and constitutional dramas behind 12 historic supreme court decisions. mr. chief justice, may it
you can also send us a text this morning, (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from, and otherwise catch up with us on social media. that is facebook.com/cspan and @cspanwj. a very good saturday morning to you. you can start calling in now if you are an essential worker in this country. as you are calling in, we show you this map from abc news of the 46 states and washington, d.c. that have enacted policies to close nonessential businesses in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. the exact number of essential by.oyees, hard to come there is an estimate from the brookings institution that relied on department of homeland security designations of essential. atut 7 million employees grocery stores, pharmacies, and big-box stores. when it comes to the state of california, the public policy institute of california estimates that in a typical year, roughly one third to one half of california s labor force is employed in essential operations.
television companies, as a public service, and brought to you by your television provider. lance robertson is the assistant secretary for aging in the department of health and human services and head of the administration for community leave living. secretary, we all know that older adults are most at risk when it comes to coronavirus. where have you focus your efforts as secretary for aging? good morning, great to be with you, happy saturday lance: within the department of health and human services, we are very proud to have the mission of caring for older adults and people with disabilities. twoe know, those are our vulnerable and targeted populations of this virus so the work we do has never been more important. is the programming we offer to help people stay safely at home in their community and that work has been compounded with virus impact. we are able to serve them in a variety of ways and we are honored. what theind people administration for community living does.
and holy saturday. easter is tomorrow. big day. let s go through where we are right now. the good news is the curve of the increase is continuing to flatten. the number of hospitalizations appears to have hit an apex and the apex appears to be a plateau. which is what many of the models predicted. it was going to be straight up to the top number and then you plateau and that looks like what we are doing. the hospitalization rate is down. that s important more people getting infected still. more people going to the hospitals, but we have a lower number. fewer people are going to the hospitals still net positive. the 300 average, which is what we look at because day-to-day can be deceiving, especially towards the weekend because we can reporting gets a little different. all the numbers are on the downward slope. still, people getting infected, people going to the hospital but a lower rate of increase. the number of icu admissions is down. the three day average is down. this is
where have you focus your efforts as secretary for aging? guest: good morning, great to be with you, happy saturday morning. hhs are one of the operating divisions and very proud to have the mission of caring for older adults and people with disabilities. those are vulnerable and targeted populations with this virus so the work we do has never been more important. is the programming we offer to help people stay safely at home in their community and that work has been compounded with virus impact. we are able to serve them in a variety of ways and we are honored. what theind people administration for community living does. guest: we have three dozen programs, research institute, we offer a number of community support services that offer ways people can remain healthy and vital in their communities. for us, we are talking things like meals, transportation, legal services, independent living assistance, transition out of facilities. a range of things. thankfully, our website is