After 10 years, federal executions set to resume
Gloria Rubac | workers.org | 2019-08-17
Attorney General William Barr is moving the United States backward. He is taking hard-fought civil rights gains to the dumpster. Just like President Donald Trump, he has nothing but racist contempt for people caught up in the so-called criminal justice system. Barr suddenly announced in a Department of Justice press . . . | Continue reading After 10 years, federal executions set to resume at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/17/after-10-years-federal-executions-set-to-resume/

APTP Monthly Membership Meeting: Scott Morris on Santa Rita Jail
Anti Police-Terror Project | indybay.org | 2019-08-17
East Side Arts Alliance | 2277 International Blvd. | Oakland, CA 94606…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/17/18825530.php

Venezuelan military court jails union official as working-class opposition grows
wsws.org | 2019-08-17
The indictment of Rubén González is part of an attempt to criminalize growing social opposition among workers and the impoverished masses.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/17/vene-a17.html

600 Mink Liberated from Jerry Marr Mink Farm in Washington (Delayed Report)
Animal Liberation Press Office | indybay.org | 2019-08-17
Washington State: In early November last year, animal liberation activists crossed a waist high stream to reach the woods surrounding Jerry Marr mink farm in northern Washington. While waiting to ensure the farm was free from security patrols, the activists were met with the scattered cries and constant scratching of imprisoned minks. Within fifteen minutes six hundred cages were opened. Fencing was damaged allowing escapees easier access to the nearby creek. These solitary predators can travel ten miles in a day and will quickly disperse over a large area once released. Hopefully a handful of animals found the N…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/15/18825509.php

"In the US Prison Industrial Complex, slavery can be used as form of punishment"
Alex Anfruns | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-17
On the 31st July 2019 a group of incarcerated people at Scotland Correctional, North Carolina, started a hunger strike in order to protest against the use of torture in the correctional facility. In the United States, there are more than 2 million people incarcerated. To know more about the hunger strikers' conditions, Alex Anfruns has …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/in-the-us-prison-industrial-complex-slavery-can-be-used-as-form-of-punishment/

Private Prisons Face 87.4 Percent Financing Gap as Banks Continue to Flee
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-17
| As of August 2019, eight banks — JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, Fifth Third Bancorp, Barclays, and PNC — have publicly committed to ending their future financing relationships with the private prison industry, including CoreCivic and GEO Group. Together these eight banks represent an estimated $2.35 billion — or 87.4% — of the credit lines and term loans that are central to these companies' operations. | Notably, all of the banks t…
truthout.org/articles/private-prisons-face-87-4-percent-financing-gap-as-banks-continue-to-flee/

Black August Forum: Down with the Racist Prison System!
Party for Socialism and Liberation | indybay.org | 2019-08-17
2969 Mission St. near 26th St.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/15/18825505.php

Activists challenge ICE profiteers
Betsey Piette | workers.org | 2019-08-17
Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, shares of CoreCivic Inc. and GEO Group (CXW and GEO on the stock exchange) shot up 21 and 43 percent, respectively. The two companies controlled 85 percent of the private, for-profit prison industry. Today, facilities run by these two companies hold . . . | Continue reading Activists challenge ICE profiteers at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/17/activists-challenge-ice-profiteers/

Blackwater mercenary Nicholas Slatten sentenced to life in prison for initiating 2007 Nisour Square Massacre
wsws.org | 2019-08-17
Eight months after being found guilty a third time for first-degree murder, Slatten was sentenced Wednesday for his role in the notorious massacre in Baghdad during the height of the US occupation of Iraq.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/17/slif-a17.html

The great land robbery: How federal policies dispossessed black Americans of millions of acres
Amy Goodman | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-17
This mass land dispossession is part of the pattern of institutional racism and discrimination that has contributed to the racial wealth gap in the United States.
nationofchange.org/2019/08/17/the-great-land-robbery-how-federal-policies-dispossessed-black-americans-of-millions-of-acres/

'Outrageous': Trump DOJ Urges Supreme Court to Legalize Firing Workers for Being Transgender
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-17
"The equality principle is so simple and obvious; it's a disgrace the government is affirmatively arguing for a narrow, pro-discrimination interpretation." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1058060204_0.png …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/17/outrageous-trump-doj-urges-supreme-court-legalize-firing-workers-being-transgender?cd-origin=rss

The Prosecution of Julian Assange Affects Us All
Nozomi Hayase | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-16
With the indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, we are seeing the US government's blatant attack on the First Amendment. This assault now is officially acknowledged by a US federal court, where the judge dismissed a Democratic National Committee (DNC) civil suit against WikiLeaks on the grounds of…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/16/the-prosecution-of-julian-assange-affects-us-all/

How Federal Policies Dispossessed Black Americans of Millions of Acres
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-16
| Over the 20th century, black people in the U.S. were dispossessed of 12 million acres of land. Half of that loss — 6 million acres — occurred over just two decades, from 1950 to 1969, a period largely associated with the civil rights struggle. This mass land dispossession, which affected 98% of black agricultural land owners, is part of the pattern of institutional racism and discrimination that has contributed to the racial wealth gap in the United States. Many of the driving force…
truthout.org/video/how-federal-policies-dispossessed-black-americans-of-millions-of-acres/

Friday's Daily Brief: Education key for Rohingya, DR Congo violence continues, Zimbabwe protest latest, women's rights in Iran, environmental protection
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-16
Our main stories today: Two years in, Myanmar's Rohingya youth need more education; DR Congo testimonies highlight armed brutality; appeals for Zimbabwe to 'stop cracking down' on protesters; Iran urged to release women jailed for protesting veiling laws; and new human rights agreement on environmental protection.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044391

'Quash' convictions and release women jailed for protesting against wearing veils in Iran, urge UN rights experts
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-16
Decades-long prison sentences handed down to three women protesting the strictly enforced wearing of veils in Iran, have drawn alarm and condemnation from six United Nations independent human rights experts.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044371

US Trained Honduran Police Get Medieval as Political Prisoner Edwin Espinal Released
Adrienne Pine | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-16
The Honduran corruption canard keeps the focus on police resources and individuals rather than on the pangs of privatization, and so it is often the line favored by the U.S. State Department.
mintpressnews.com/honduras-political-prisoner-edwin-espinal-released-us-trained-police-medieval/261374/

Rap Brown, now Jamil Abdullah El-Amin, Challenges His Imprisonment
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-16
Kairi Al-Amin, the son of H. Rap Brown, now Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, talks about his father's case and his appeal because of a prosecutor violating his right not to testify him by questioning during closing arguments. Al-Amin is 75 and with a sentence of life imprisonment…
therealnews.com/stories/rap-brown-now-jamil-abdullah-el-amin-challenges-his-imprisonment

Salvadoran Woman Hopeful of Acquittal in Retrial for Stillbirth
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-16
A Salvadoran woman sentenced to 30 years in prison after a stillborn delivery–the result of rape–was back in court Thursday for a retrial on homicide charges, for which prosecutors are now asking a 40-year prison sentence. | RELATED: | Ecuador: Women Demand Decriminalization of Abortion in Rape Cases | Judge Jose Virgilio Jurado Martin…
telesurenglish.net/news/Salvadoran-Woman-Hopeful-of-Acquittal-in-Retrial-for-Stillbirth-20190816-0013.html

Brazil: Supreme Court Judges Sergio Moro's Lack of Impartiality
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-16
Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) will judge the lack of impartiality of former judge Sergio Moro in conducting trials against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has remained a political prisoner since April 7, 2018. | RELATED: | Students Strike, Protest Across Brazil as Moro Orders Crackdown | From August 16 to August 22, the STF judges w…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-Supreme-Court-Judges-Sergio-Moros-Lack-of-Impartiality-20190816-0002.html

New Trump Rule Allows Federal Contractors to Fire LGBTQ Employees
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-16
| Shortly after Donald Trump took office, he officially declared that his administration was "determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community," following on his campaign promise to "do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology." (That would be a not-so-coded reference to Islam.) Despite such rhetorical gestures, Trump's administration can hardly be described as pro-LGBT. | On Wednesday, the De…
truthout.org/articles/new-trump-rule-allows-federal-contractors-to-fire-lgbtq-employees/

The Great Land Robbery: How Federal Policies Dispossessed Black Americans of Millions of Acres
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-16
Over the 20th century, black people in the U.S. were dispossessed of 12 million acres of land. Half of that loss — 6 million acres — occurred over just two decades, from 1950 to 1969, a period largely associated with the civil rights struggle. This mass land dispossession, which affected 98% of black agricultural land owners, is part of the pattern of institutional racism and discrimination that has contributed to the racial wealth gap in the United States. Many of the driving forces behind this land theft were legal and originated in federal policies, as documented by Vann Newkirk, staff writer at Th…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/16/vann_newkirk_great_land_robbery

Bulgaria: Jock Palfreeman denied parole
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-16
Andy FlemingIssue 1233 Bulgaria Jock Palfreeman Bulgarian Prisoners Rehabilitation Association (BPRA)Anti-fascist activist Jock Palfreeman was denied parole on July 17 on his 20-year prison sentence for murder in Sofia, Bulgaria.
greenleft.org.au/content/bulgaria-jock-palfreeman-denied-parole

India turns Kashmir into a giant prison
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-16
Susan PriceIssue 1233 Kashmir 2019 Indian occupation of KashmirThe left in India and Pakistan is united in opposing the decision by Narendra Modi's BJP government on August 5 to unilaterally revoke Kashmir's autonomy, send in troops, impose a curfew and shut down all communications. | Pakistan's Awami Workers' Party spokes…
greenleft.org.au/content/india-turns-kashmir-giant-prison

For Years, Reporters Questioned the Terror Prosecution of Hamid Hayat. Now He's Been Freed
Trevor Aaronson | theintercept.com | 2019-08-16
After spending 14 years in prison on charges that he attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, Hamid Hayat was freed on August 9 following a California judge's decision to overturn the conviction. | From the start, Hayat's case had been controversial. | The government's star witness, Naseem Khan, was a fast-food worker earning $7 per hour before the FBI enlisted him as an informant and paid him nearly $230,000 over three years. Khan came to the FBI's attention about a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks by claiming to have information about a visit to the United States by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama…
theintercept.com/2019/08/16/terrorism-september-11-prosecution/

The Challenges of Breastfeeding as a Black Person
aclu.org | 2019-08-15
How our workplaces and healthcare system create barriers to breastfeeding. | The fight to protect individual choices about reproductive care, including breastfeeding, is an ongoing battle. The central lesson of the reproductive justice movement is that choice means little without access. That lesson applies equally to breastfeeding. | Though laws, in the workplace and other contexts, are in place to protect the right to breastfeed, many low-income women and w…
aclu.org/blog/womens-rights/pregnancy-and-parenting-discrimination/challenges-breastfeeding-black-person

Truck Rams Anti-ICE Protest in Rhode Island
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-15
A corrections officer struck Never Again protestors with his truck outside of the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island, hospitalizing two while other protestors were pepper sprayed by police. Update: A Captain involved in the incident was placed on leave pending an independent investigation, officials say…
therealnews.com/stories/truck-rams-anti-ice-protest-in-rhode-island

Truck drives into protesters blocking entrance to ICE detention center (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2019-08-15
A video made by protesters shows the moment a pickup truck drives into sit-in demonstrators blocking the street entrance to an ICE detention center in Rhode Island. A crowd starts banging on the car then gets pepper-sprayed. | …
rt.com/usa/466553-ice-truck-video-protesters-ram/

The BDS movement calls to boycott three anti-Palestinian German clubs
SAMIR | bdsmovement.net | 2019-08-15
The BDS movement calls to boycott three anti-Palestinian German clubs: PACBI StatementConne Island, Golden Pudel and : //about blank are complicit in Israel's oppression of Palestinians | Cultural Boycott Right To BoycottAugust 15, 2019…
bdsmovement.net/news/bds-calls-to-boycott-three-german-clubs

Federal Ex-Offenders at Risk of Losing Ties to Their Community in DC
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-15
A DC Real estate mega-developer has reneged on an agreement to lease one of his properties for a re-entry program for 300 men returning from federal prison. What does this mean for those men, their families, and the community?
therealnews.com/stories/federal-ex-offenders-at-risk-of-losing-ties-to-their-community-in-dc

SPLC publishes Opportunity Costs: Unequal Justice in Alabama's Community Corrections Programs
splcenter.org | 2019-08-15
A new investigative report published today by the Southern Poverty Law Center reveals serious flaws in Alabama's community corrections programs, an otherwise promising system for diverting people from the state's prisons.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/15/splc-publishes-opportunity-costs-unequal-justice-alabamas-community-corrections-programs

Talks break down between Women's Soccer and Federation over pay equity
Al Neal | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-15
After three days, mediated talks between World Cup champion U.S. women's national soccer team and the U.S. Soccer Federation, aimed at settling their equal pay dispute, came to a crashing end. The USWNT's gender discrimination and equal pay lawsuit will now likely head to jury trial following the breakdown in New York. "We entered this …
peoplesworld.org/article/talks-break-down-between-womens-soccer-and-federation-over-pay-equity/

Federal Judge Continues Chelsea Manning's Confinement and $1000 a Day Fine
The Real News Network | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-14
Chelsea Manning could be jailed for another 400 days and owe $144,00 because of an unprecedented decision by Bush-Appointed Judge Tenga. Kevin Gosztola discusses the latest development.
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/federal-judge-continues-chelsea-mannings-confinement-and-1000-a-day-fine/

BDS condemns antisemitic, fascist forces in Germany and worldwide
patrick | bdsmovement.net | 2019-08-14
BDS condemns antisemitic, fascist forces in Germany and worldwide: BNC StatementOur nonviolent movement opposes all forms of racism and racial discrimination. | Right To BoycottAugust 14, 2019 | By: | | Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) …
bdsmovement.net/news/bds-condemns-antisemitic-fascist-forces-germany-and-worldwide

"River of Fire": In New Memoir, Sister Helen Prejean Reflects on Decades of Fighting Executions
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-14
The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to resume the death penalty after a more than 15-year moratorium. This week Attorney General William Barr proposed fast-tracking executions in mass murder cases, and last month ordered the execution of five death row prisoners beginning in December. The federal government has executed just three people since 1963 — the last being in 2003. The death penalty is widely condemned by national governments, international bodies and human rights groups across the world. Experts say capital punishment does not help deter homicides and that errors and racism in the…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/14/sister_helen_prejean_federal_death_penalty

Expanding Involuntary Confinement is Not the Answer to Solve Gun Violence
aclu.org | 2019-08-13
Institutionalizing people against their will is usually a mistake. | In the wake of last weekend's tragic shootings, President Trump did what he does best: stoked fear and cast blame. He proclaimed that "we must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people, not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement." | There are two things wrong with the idea of involuntary commitment as a solution to gun violence. First, focusing on people with identifiable mental disabilities won't help. The data is clear: men…
aclu.org/blog/disability-rights/integration-and-autonomy-people-disabilities/expanding-involuntary

Federal Judge Continues Chelsea Manning's Confinement and $1000 a Day Fine
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-13
Manning could be jailed for another 400 days and owe $144,00 because of an unprecedented decision by Bush-Appointed Judge Trenga. Kevin Gosztola discusses the latest development…
therealnews.com/stories/federal-judge-continues-chelsea-mannings-confinement-and-1000-a-day-fine

Intent on Restoring His Conviction and Death Sentence, Arizona Reinvents Its Case Against Barry Jones
Liliana Segura | theintercept.com | 2019-08-13
On a clear, blue day in late spring, Arizona Assistant Attorney General Myles Braccio stood before a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It was just after 10 a.m. Braccio had a half-hour to salvage a 24-year-old death penalty conviction that had been overturned by a federal judge. "Your honors," he began, "this case today presents nothing more than a habeas petitioner who hired several new experts, many years after his convictions and sentences, in an attempt to undermine the jury's verdicts." | The petitioner was Barry Lee Jones, sent to death row in 1995 for an unspeakable crime: the rape and…
theintercept.com/2019/08/13/arizona-death-penalty/

Unequal Justice: John Roberts' Dark Legacy of Voter Suppression
Bill Blum | progressive.org | 2019-08-13
Plaintiffs are litigating voting rights cases in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and several other states. Some will succeed, some will fail, but all will be more uncertain and expensive thanks to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
progressive.org/dispatches/unequal-justice-john-roberts-dark-legacy-of-voter-suppression-blum-190812/

Weekend Read: Neo-Nazi leader must pay more than $14 million in damages
splcenter.org | 2019-08-10
A federal judge has ruled in an SPLC lawsuit that neo-Nazi leader Andrew Anglin must pay more than $14 million in damages for using his website to launch an antisemitic campaign of terror against a Jewish woman and her family.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/10/weekend-read-neo-nazi-leader-must-pay-more-14-million-damages

Over 132,400 Opposed Trump's Anti-Trans Health Care Plan
aclu.org | 2019-08-09
A proposed rule would undermine protections for transgender people and others facing discriminatory denials of health care and insurance coverage. | The Trump Administration has shown it will stop at nothing to undermine access to health care for marginalized communities. Most recently, the Administration has proposed to undermine critical protections against sex discrimination in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, the Health Care Rights Law. Instead of combatting discrimination in accessing health care a…
aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/transgender-rights/over-132400-opposed-trumps-anti-trans-health-care-plan

New Civil Rights Memorial to be installed on 54th anniversary of Voting Rights Act
splcenter.org | 2019-08-05
Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18, 1965.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/06/new-civil-rights-memorial-be-installed-54th-anniversary-voting-rights-act

Oklahoma Victims Compensation Program Disproportionately Denies Funds for Black Victims
aclu.org | 2019-07-31
Data shows that Black victims are often denied compensation for the very same crimes as committed against white victims, who did receive compensation. | Tiras Johnson, age 23, was unarmed when he was shot and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His family was devastated by his death, and they were struggling to pay for Tiras' funeral. Like many victims' families, Tiras' mother applied for financial compensation through the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Act in order to cover his funeral costs, but instead received a surprising response in the mail. | The letter, addressed to Tiras' mother, Netarsha, explained that h…
aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/oklahoma-victims-compensation-program

Los Angeles demands justice for Anthony Vargas — #JailKillerCops!
Kameron Hurt | liberationnews.org | 2019-07-31
On July 27, over 60 members of the Los Angeles community gathered outside the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to celebrate the life of Anthony Daniel Vargas, who would have been celebrating his 22nd birthday that day.
liberationnews.org/los-angeles-demands-justice-for-anthony-vargas-jailkillercops/

Supreme Court Order No 'Big Victory' For Trump's Border Wall. The Fight Continues
aclu.org | 2019-07-29
The Supreme Court has not yet decided the case, or given Trump's abuse of emergency powers the stamp of approval. | Late Friday evening, the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a temporary green light to begin construction of the border wall using military funds Congress denied. The order, while temporary and limited to specific wall projects where fencing already exists, threatens to permanently damage border communities, the environment, and our Constitution's separation of powers. | But it's not the "big victory" President Trump q…
aclu.org/blog/national-security/supreme-court-order-no-big-victory-trumps-border-wall-fight-continues

When Kicking Around an Orange Gets You On Probation
aclu.org | 2019-07-26
I was in 8th grade. I just didn't want to get in more trouble, so I signed the papers, like I was told to. | I was in 8th grade when it happened. I'll never forget the feeling of those cold, clanky pairs of metal constraints. I was being handcuffed in front of my friends and classmates. | As a lot of middle school students do, I was fooling around with my friends outside at lunch. We found an orange and started kicking it around like a soccer ball. It turns out I picked a bad day to fool around, and a bad person to tick off. A school resource officer — basically a cop — was stationed in the cafeteria,…
aclu.org/blog/juvenile-justice/when-kicking-around-orange-gets-you-probation

This County Criminalized Students for Bad Grades — Until Now
aclu.org | 2019-07-25
Today, we filed a landmark settlement that will end the relationship between the probation department and school districts in Riverside. | Since 2001, the Riverside County, California probation department has been needlessly funneling young people struggling with grades, behavior, trauma, and mental health into the criminal justice system. | This direct line to the criminal system is the product of a partnership between local school districts and the county probation department called the Youth Accountability Team (YAT). Instead of counselors or other school and community-based supports stepping in to support and…
aclu.org/blog/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/county-criminalized-students-bad-grades-until-now