(2019-06-05). Dr. King and Mr. Garrow. indybay.org Patrick Martin at the World Socialist Web Site responds to an incendiary smear campaign against the political legacy of the American civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr.
(2019-06-05). 'Straight-Up Cruel': Trump Admin Condemned for Canceling Education, Recreation, and Legal Services for Detained Migrant Children. commondreams.org Human rights advocates responded with outrage Wednesday to the Trump administration's decision to start canceling education, recreation, and legal services for unaccompanied migrant children in federal shelters across the country, purportedly because of high detention rates and low funds. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/children_2_0.jpeg…
(2019-06-05). Activists close down Atlanta Detention Center. workers.org 
The multistory Atlanta City Detention Center was built prior to the 1996 Olympics to house the hundreds of poor and homeless people that the image-conscious corporate elite were determined to banish from the sight of a global audience. At that time the City Council passed a series of "quality of . . . | Continue reading Activists close down Atlanta Detention Center at Workers.org
(2019-06-05). Brazilian Prosecutor's Office Recommends Semi-open Regime for Lula. plenglish.com 05 de junio de 2019, 13: 13Brasilia, Jun 5 (Prensa Latina) The Federal Public Ministry of Brazil on Wednesday recommended that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has served 424 days in prison for alleged corruption, benefit from a semi-open regime.
(2019-06-05). FARC leader Santrich freed, but peace is still held hostage in Colombia. peoplesworld.org 
Former FARC guerrilla commander Jesús Santrich, imprisoned on April 9, 2018, went free on May 30. Colombian authorities had held him pending extradition to the United Sates. Their plan violated the peace agreement signed in November 2016 between FARC guerrillas and Colombia's government. Santrich, born Seuxis Hernández Solarte, personifies the turmoil in Colombia stemming from …
(2019-06-05). Australian government forces refugees back to face repression in Sri Lanka. wsws.org At least 20 more asylum seekers have been detained by the Australian navy and deported to Sri Lanka to face possible torture and imprisonment.
(2019-06-05). Trump Administration Asks Congress to Make Disrupting Pipeline Construction a Crime Punishable by 20 Years in Prison. theintercept.com The proposed legislation would put anti-fossil fuel organizers at significant legal risk for providing training or support to peaceful protesters.
(2019-06-05). Calling Solitary Confinement 'Government Torture,' Ocasio-Cortez Says 'Release Everyone'. commondreams.org In tweet commenting on upcoming "protective custody" of Paul Manafort, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez says prison sentences don't provide license to commit "human rights violations" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/aoc-ban-solitary-manafort.jpg…
(2019-06-05). 'Shock and awe' war on migrants and prisoners. workers.org 
In 2003, during the genocidal and criminal U.S. war against Iraq, the term "shock and awe" was propagated. The British Telegraph wrote 10 years later on March 19, 2013: "One expression above all others has become associated with the invasion of Iraq: 'shock and awe.' Developed at the Pentagon, . . . | Continue reading 'Shock and awe' war on migrants and prisoners at Workers.org
(2019-06-05). ICE Must Be Held Accountable for Trans Salvadoran Asylum Seeker's Death. truthout.org Johana Medina, a 25-year-old transgender asylum seeker from El Salvador, died at an El Paso, Texas, hospital this weekend after spending seven weeks in immigration jail, according to several LGBTQ groups and advocates who knew her. Medina had sought medical treatment for nearly two months for complications related to HIV/AIDS before finally being transferred to the hospital last week. She died four days later. Medina is believed to be the second transgender migrant to die in or after being released from ICE custody since Trump became president. The other is Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a 33-year-old Hon…
(2019-06-05). The racist roots of American policing: From slave patrols to traffic stops. nationofchange.org The persistence of racially biased policing means that unless American policing reckons with its racist roots, it is likely to keep repeating mistakes of the past.
(2019-06-05). This is What Donald Trump's Failed and Cruel Border Policy Looks Like. blackstarnews.com 
The Trump Administration's polices have everything to do with racism not border security… | On Friday, the Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a management alert requiring "immediate attention and action…to alleviate dangerous overcrowding at the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center (PDT)." | In unannounced visits to the PDT, the IG observed that DHS was housing 6 to 7 times the maximum capacity of detainees, including: some detainees "in standing-room-only conditions for days or weeks…;" with other "detainees standing on toilets in the cells to make room and ga…
(2019-06-05). More Than 100 Commercial, Cultural and Sporting Activities in Italy Declare Themselves Free of Israeli Apartheid. bdsmovement.net 
More Than 100 Commercial, Cultural and Sporting Activities in Italy Declare Themselves Free of Israeli Apartheid: In the NewsTrade unions, movements, artisans, businesses and cultural, recreational and sports centers join campaign for Palestinian rights in what is also a clear stand against the mounting racism and nationalist closure that is fomenting hatred and intolerance across Europ…
(2019-06-05). Report expresses concern over 'undercurrent of low-level racist violence' in Ireland. thecanary.co A new report has argued that racism and discrimination in Ireland continue to be a problem. The authors insist that, even though Ireland has made progress in recent years, there continues to be "an undercurrent of low-level racist violence". | As a result, the report says that the government needs to do more to fight these problems. | Inadequate laws again…
(2019-06-05). Louisiana bills would increase transparency in law enforcement and public schools. splcenter.org The Louisiana Legislature this week passed legislation that will help ensure schools are complying with federal anti-discrimination laws, and, in a separate bill focused on law enforcement agencies, create a task force that will improve collection and reporting of data on basic law enforcement activities.
(2019-06-05). Corporate Media Have Second Thoughts About Exiling Julian Assange From Journalism. fair.org 
"Democracy dies in darkness," reads the Washington Post slogan—though apparently sometimes it's good to put people in prison for exposing government wrongdoing ( 4/11/19). | After British police arrested Julian Assange on April 11, the first instinct of corporate journalists was to perform a line-drawing exercise. In so doing, corporate media dutifully laid the groundw…
(2019-06-04). SPLC to Congress: Myth of 'white genocide' driving white nationalist terror attacks. splcenter.org The SPLC's Lecia Brooks testified today before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Committee on Oversight and Reform) about the need for federal action to confront the deadly white nationalist movement. Brooks delivered the following oral remarks to the subcommittee chaired by U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, in addition to written testimony.
(2019-06-04). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Celebrates Anniversary of Historic 19th Amendment Securing the Right for Women to Vote. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-06-04). Irish civil rights NGO calls Trump's policies 'unethical and unlawful' as he prepares to visit the country. thecanary.co An Irish civil rights organisation, along with its US counterpart, has criticised Donald Trump ahead of his trip to Ireland on 5 June. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties ( ICCL) and the American Civil Lib…
(2019-06-04). Dr. King and Mr. Garrow. wsws.org The historian and King biographer David Garrow has unleashed a #MeToo-style slander campaign against the martyred civil rights leader.
(2019-06-04). The Countdown: Trump Regime's Census Ploys Will Promote Gerrymandering And Resource Diversion from Blacks and Latinos. blackstarnews.com 
Marc Morial. Photo: Facebook | | A leadership gap, inadequate funding and staffing and a deliberate campaign to intimidate immigrants and communities of color all make the 2020 Census among the most challenging in American history. | | This was my testimony last week before a special field hearing of the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties regarding the upcoming Census. | | The hearing, entitled "Getting Counted: The Importance of the Census to State and Local Communities," was held at Queens Community College at the request of Congress Members Caroly…
(2019-06-04). Tuesday's Daily Brief: Bicycles for the environment, new leader for the UN General Assembly, UN values, Ebola, Syria and Libya. un.org This Tuesday, we cover: Bicycles in China; a new President elected for the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, to start in September; vital food crops destroyed in Syria; migrants and refugees in Libya's detention centres; Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surpasses 2,000 cases; and the UN deputy chief in London pushes for UN values.
(2019-06-04). Headlines for June 4, 2019. democracynow.org CBP Confirms 2 More Migrants' Deaths in Recent Days, Judge Denies Dem Request to Block Funding of Border Wall, Mexico, U.S. Lawmakers Hope to Avert Trump Tariff on Mexican Goods, U.S. Sends Border Patrol Agents to Guatemala, Trump Meets with Theresa May as Protesters Blast His U.K. Visit, Sudan: Death Toll from Anti-Protest Raid Mounts, as Transitional Gov't Sets Timeline for Election, Reports: Car Bomb Kills At Least 14 People in Northern Syria, Swedish Court Rejects Detention Request for Julian Assange, New Images Appear to Contradict Reports of Killings of High-Level North Korean Officials, House Passes Disast…
(2019-06-04). Pentagon Fires Guantanamo Prison Commander for Calling Attention to US Crimes. globalresearch.ca The Pentagon has announced the abrupt firing of the commander of the infamous US prison camp at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. | In a statement released Sunday, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees the extra-legal detention center, …
(2019-06-04). Trump Companies Accused of Tax Evasion in Panama. truthdig.com 
The owners of a 70-story Panama City hotel tower formerly managed by President Donald Trump's companies are accusing them of stiffing the Panamanian government. | In a legal filing Monday in an ongoing lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, private equity manager Orestes Fintiklis and the company he leads, Ithaca Capital Partners, claimed that two Trump companies failed to pay Panamanian taxes equal to 12.5% of the management fees they drew from the hotel. | The Trump entities were allegedly supposed to withhold those fees…
(2019-06-04). Judge Blocks House Democrats' Right to Block Funds for Trump's Border Wall. truthout.org A judge has ruled against House Democrats in a federal lawsuit, which attempted to block President Donald Trump's ability to fund his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. | "While the Constitution bestows upon members of the House many powers, it does not grant them standing to hale the executive branch into court claiming a dilution of Congress' legislative authority," U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden wrote in a 24-page decision regarding the Democrats' lawsuit to block the transfer of funds appropriated for other means to Trump's wall. "The court therefore lacks jurisdiction to hear the Hou…
(2019-06-04). NAACP President: "Congress must make election security a top priority" naacp.org NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, issued the following statement after a report detailed Russian intent to sow discord in U.S. elections: "Nothing in these documents comes as a surprise. We have known for some time the disturbing level of tampering by Russian nationals in the 2016 presidential election. The Mueller report confirmed that Russia had interfered "in sweeping and …
(2019-06-04). Begging Your Pardon. thenation.com Begging Your Pardon…
(2019-06-04). 'Blatant Attempt to Intimidate': Trump Administration Proposal Threatens Pipeline Protesters With Up to 20 Years in Prison. commondreams.org "This dangerous proposal threatens to undermine Americans' right to peaceful assembly and free speech." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/dapl_protest_1_0_0.jpg…
(2019-06-04). In Scott Warren's No More Deaths Trial, Prosecutors Attempt to Paint a Web of Conspiracy. theintercept.com 
For nearly a year and a half, U.S. government prosecutors in Arizona have sought to make an example out of Scott Warren. The 36-year-old geographer and border-based humanitarian aid volunteer was arrested with two undocumented migrants on January 17, 2018, and accused of providing the men with food, water, and a place to sleep over three days. A month later, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of harboring and one count of conspiracy, bringing the total amount time he could spend in prison — if convicted on all counts and sentenced to consecutive terms — to 20 years. | Warren's trial began in Tucs…
(2019-06-04). French Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Increased 50% in 2018: Report. telesurenglish.net Despite a national call to end Yemen's "Dirty War," in 2018 French weapons sales to Saudi Arabia skyrocketed by 50 percent, a federal report revealed Tuesday. | RELATED: | US to Sell Arab Allies $8B in Arms to 'Deter Iran': Pompeo | According to the annual report, France's arms sales rose to 91 billion euros (US$102 billion) or 30 pe…
(2019-06-04). Force-Feeding Is Cruel, Painful, and Degrading—and American Prisons Won't Stop. thenation.com Force-Feeding Is Cruel, Painful, and Degrading—and American Prisons Won't Stop…
(2019-06-04). XY Chelsea: A deeply flawed portrait of US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. wsws.org The film charts Manning's life following Barack Obama's unexpected commutation in January 2017 of her vindictive 35-year-term jail sentence.
(2019-06-04). Hey Trump: Remember Wikileaks? globalresearch.ca Last week in an episode of my daily Ron Paul Liberty Report we discussed whether the US and British government were actually trying to kill jailed Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange. More than seven years ago Assange was granted asylum …
(2019-06-04). With Manafort reportedly en route to Rikers, even his enemies call for 'hell hole' jail reform. rt.com 
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is reportedly being transferred to New York's Rikers Island jail. While the news excited some anti-Trump commenters, it also reignited debate over the notorious jail's violent history. |
(2019-06-04). ACLU Testifies Before Congress on State Abortion Bans. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-06-04). New Hampshire Repealed the Death Penalty. aclu.org New Hampshire's legislature overrode the governor's veto to end the use of capital punishment in the state. | As of Thursday, May 30th, New Hampshire is a state without the death penalty. It took decades to be able to say that. In the end, it came down to a single vote in both the state House and Senate. Thursday's Senate vote means that all of New England is free of the death penalty, making it the first full region of the country to reject capital punishment. | The victory is a credit to the 279 representatives and 17 senators who voted in support of the repeal bill earlier this year, and a particular credit to…
(2019-06-04). Proof of Census conspiracy against Latino vote: gerrymanderer dies, daughter tells all. liberationnews.org 
Given the track record of the U.S. government, with its racist history of deportations, incarceration and family separations under both the Democratic and Republican parties, the citizenship question on the census is sure to incite anxieties and fear among immigrants who are repeatedly scapegoated by politicians for mass unemployment and poverty that are in fact products of the capitalist economic system.
(2019-06-04). This Chinese Artist Criticized Google and Xi Jinping. Now He's Facing Government Harassment. theintercept.com 
Dissident Badiucao has emerged from hiding to unveil a documentary film about suppression of his work — and to finally show his face.
(2019-06-04). Lawsuit Challenges Discriminatory Housing Policy in Chesterfield County, Virginia. aclu.org 
All housing providers should comply with the legal obligation to give all applicants the opportunity to access housing. | Housing discrimination takes different forms in different eras. More than fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), it's rare to see an advertisement for housing that says "Whites Only." But in Chesterfield County, Virginia, where a Black resident is almost three times as likely as a white resident to have a criminal record, an explicit policy barring any individual with a conviction from housing has a similar effect. | Sterling Glen is an apartment complex in a white neighb…
(2019-06-03). St. Paul marks police killing of Marcus Golden. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – June 2 would have been Marcus Golden's 29th birthday, but he was shot in the back of the head and killed by St. Paul police four years ago. About three dozen friends and family of Marcus and other victims of police killing, activists, and supporters gathered, June 2, in front of the Minnesota Governor's Mansion to celebrate Marcus' birthday and call for justice for all victims of police violence. | Monique Collars Doty, Marcus' aunt and member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar and Black Lives Matter Minnesota, said, "I thank you so much for being out here to show Marcus some love, to sho…
(2019-06-03). Who Controls Our Genes? Congress Is Deciding Right Now And It Could Harm Our Health. aclu.org Draft legislation will try to undo Supreme Court precedent forbidding patenting of human genes. | This morning the ACLU, along with 169 other civil rights, medical, scientific, patient advocacy, and women's health organizations, including the Mayo Clinic, Breast Cancer Action, Lung Cancer Research Foundation, the Huntington's Disease Society of America, the Women's March, University of Washington, and many others sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Intellectual Property strong…
(2019-06-03). Raising Some Issues at Oral Communications. indybay.org Continued delay and inaction on providing homeless shelter and services (to say nothing of civil rights) for homeless folks was the silent part of yesterday's Santa Cruz City Council agenda. Several of us raised issues at Oral Communications…
(2019-06-03). NAACP President and CEO Addresses Graduates at STCL Houston Commencement. naacp.org NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson gave an inspiring commencement address at his alma mater, South Texas College of Law Houston, on May, 25, 2019. ### About the NAACP Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the …
(2019-06-03). Trans Asylum-Seeker Dies after Being Denied Healthcare by ICE. telesurenglish.net Asylum-seeker Johana Medina Leon from El Salvador, died Saturday due to complications related to HIV/AIDS after spending six weeks at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in New Mexico, where she asked, in vain, repeatedly for treatment, according to her lawyer. | RELATED: | Record Number of Cubans in ICE Detention Centers | "For weeks she pleaded for medical help, referring to health problems caused by complications with HIV/AIDS," Grecia, a transgender advocate and…
(2019-06-03). Lawsuit Over Ferguson's 'Debtors Prison' Drags On. truthdig.com After discovering that DeBerry, 51, had several outstanding traffic tickets from three jurisdictions, the officer handcuffed her and took her to jail. | To be released, she was told, she would have to pay hundreds of dollars in fines she owed the county, according to her account in a federal lawsuit. But after her family came up with the money, DeBerry wasn't released from custody. Instead, she was handed over to the municipalities of Ferguson and Jennings, and in each city, she was told she would be released only after she paid a portion of the fines she owed them, according to the lawsuit. | It was as if she we…
(2019-06-03). Los Angeles County sues Monsanto over chemical contamination. nationofchange.org Los Angeles County recently filed a | lawsuit against Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto last year, for | allegedly contaminating the local environment with an outlawed chemical that | Monsanto used in many of its products decades ago. According to the lawsuit, | Monsanto had been aware that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were harmful but | concealed the data for years while polluting the water. | Between 1935 and 1977, Monsanto manufactured | PCBs in many of its products but discontinued production shortly before the | U.S. government outlawed PCBs in 1979. According to the U.S. Environmental | Prot…
(2019-06-03). Amazon Offered Job to Pentagon Official Involved With $10 Billion Contract It Sought. theintercept.com In a federal lawsuit, the tech giant Oracle has provided new details to support its accusation that Amazon secretly negotiated a job offer with a then-Department of Defense official who helped shape the procurement process for a massive federal contract for which Amazon was a key bidder. | Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are now the two finalists to win the highly contested $10 billion contract for what is known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. The deal, one of the largest federal contracts in U.S. history, would pay one company to provide cloud computing services in support of Defense D…
(2019-06-03). Will the Police Behind Ferguson's 'Debtors Prison' Ever Face Justice? truthdig.com In January 2014, Tonya DeBerry was driving through an unincorporated area of St. Louis County, Missouri, when a police officer pulled her over for having expired license plates. | After discovering that DeBerry, 51, had several outstanding traffic tickets from three jurisdictions, the officer handcuffed her and took her to jail. | To be released, she was told, she would have to pay hundreds of dollars in fines she owed the county, according to her account in a federal lawsuit. But after her family came up with the money, DeBerry wasn't released from custody. Instead, she was handed over to the municipalities of F…
(2019-06-03). San Francisco Joins National Push to Abolish Youth Prisons. truthout.org It's happening in Minneapolis. New Jersey. Arkansas. Upstate New York. Durango, Colorado. One by one, juvenile prisons are closing, or are slated to close, in response to child abuse reports, sustained pressure from activists and a halving of national juvenile confinement rates since 2002. | San Francisco is on the verge of joining the national trend, following decades of organizing led by Black and Brown activists, and a San Francisco Chronicle report that documented stable spending o…