Over 500 Lawsuits Already Filed Days After Child Victims Act Goes Into Effect
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-21
| This is Part 2 of our conversation with two New York state legislators, Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, who helped pass the Child Victims Act in New York. The state law, which went into effect last week, extends the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse and includes a "lookback period," giving survivors of any age a year to take legal action even if their cases had expired under the old statute of limitations. Over 500 lawsuits have already been filed.
truthout.org/video/over-500-lawsuits-already-filed-days-after-child-victims-act-goes-into-effect/

Elizabeth Warren Announces Plan to Protect Black Farm Ownership
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-21
| Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren released farm policy plans this month that intend to address discrimination against farmers of color and protect heirs' property ownership. Her proposals cite ProPublica's investigation into the historic and ongoing dispossession of heirs' property o…
truthout.org/articles/elizabeth-warren-announces-plan-to-protect-black-farm-ownership/

Salvadoran woman exonerated after being sentenced to 30 years in prison over stillbirth
wsws.org | 2019-08-21
The decision in no way signals a shift away from the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world, which continue to be enforced by the FMLN.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/21/salv-a21.html

The Return of the Federal Death Penalty Is an Attack on Democracy
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-21
| The "Justice" Department recently announced that U.S. Attorney General William Barr has instructed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to change the federal execution protocol to include capital punishment. For the first time in nearly two decades, the federal government will carry out the death penalty. What does this say about the time we live in? In this moment, in whose interest is the death penalty to be exercised? In order to answer that critical question, we need a realistic appraisal of the dea…
truthout.org/articles/the-return-of-the-federal-death-penalty-is-an-attack-on-democracy/

600 Mink Liberated from Jerry Marr Mink Farm in Washington (Delayed Report)
Animal Liberation Press Office | indybay.org | 2019-08-21
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

Warning over increasing violence at Pentonville Prison
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-21
Violence fuelled by gangs, drugs, debt and "volatile young prisoners" has "increased markedly" at one of the country's oldest and busiest jails, inspectors have warned. | Violence has shot up by more than 50% since 2017 at HMP Pentonville in north London, the Inspectorate of Prisons said on Wednesday. | Inspectors found the prison was unsafe and plans for activities, rehabilitation and release were not good enough. | In the last six months there have been 264 assaults on staff and inmates and 61 fights, compared with 196 and 65 respectively during a previous inspection. | The problems were "clear and serious" wit…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/08/21/warning-over-increasing-violence-at-pentonville-prison/

APTP Monthly Membership Meeting: Scott Morris on Santa Rita Jail
Anti Police-Terror Project | indybay.org | 2019-08-21
East Side Arts Alliance | 2277 International Blvd. | Oakland, CA 94606…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/17/18825530.php

Over 500 Lawsuits Already Filed Days After Child Victims Act in New York Goes into Effect
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-21
This is Part 2 of our conversation with two New York state legislators, Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, who helped pass the Child Victims Act in New York. The state law, which went into effect last week, extends the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse and includes a "lookback period," giving survivors of any age a year to take legal action even if their cases had expired under the old statute of limitations. Over 500 lawsuits have already been filed. Both Biaggi and Niou are sexual abuse survivors, and they have spoken about the importance of the Child Victims Act in personal…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/21/child_victims_act_biaggi_niou

'This Will Cause Irreparable Harm': Horror as Trump DHS Announces Rule to Allow Indefinite Detention of Migrant Families
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-21
"It is beyond logic and humanity to attempt to keep children locked up for as long as possible, especially when we know that this subjects them to trauma and extreme distress." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/migrant_families.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/21/will-cause-irreparable-harm-horror-trump-unveils-rule-allow-indefinite-detention?cd-origin=rss

The Trump Administration's Immigration Policy Is This Sadistic
Ilana Novick | truthdig.com | 2019-08-20
The flu was the cause in three of the at least seven migrant kids' deaths in U.S. Customs and Border Control custody in the last year. However, CBP officials are declining to provide flu vaccines at detention facilities to stop the spread of the virus, according to a new report from CNBC. | A CBP spokeswoman defended the decision on the grounds that supposedly families wouldn't be in custody l…
truthdig.com/articles/u-s-denies-flu-shots-to-migrant-kids-in-custody-despite-deaths/

Julian Assange's father warns WikiLeaks' publisher's health is "declining rapidly" in Belmarsh Prison
wsws.org | 2019-08-20
"The government will willingly sacrifice Julian's well-being to the demands of the US and the UK."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/20/ship-a20.html

Trump is Taking More Money for Raids and Detention. Congress Should Stop Him
aclu.org | 2019-08-19
Without congressional checks, ICE and CBP will continue to overspend and overstep. | The budget for Trump's turbo-charged immigration enforcement and border militarization is now larger than ever. And just last week, we learned that ICE plans to redirect even more money to further expand immigration detention and enforcement. The plan is currently being reviewed by congressional appropriato…
aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/immigrants-rights-and-detention/trump-taking-more-money-raids-and-detention

Health Care Imperialism: Looting the World's Doctors
David Penner | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-19
To poach and rely on highly skilled foreign workers from poor countries in the public sector is akin to the crime of theft. — "Migration of Health Workers: An Unmanaged Crisis," The Lancet, May 28, 2005 What is striking about the tyranny of the medical industrial complex is not only its unconscionable oppression of the …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/health-care-imperialism-looting-the-worlds-doctors/

"Humanitarian Aid Is Never a Crime": No More Deaths Volunteers Drop Water in Desert to Aid Migrants
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-19
Volunteers with the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths have been venturing into the harsh Sonoran Desert for years to leave life-saving supplies for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Longtime volunteer Scott Warren was charged with three felonies for the alleged crime of providing food, water and shelter to migrants. After a hung jury in June, he is now facing retrial on two felony counts and faces a possible 10 years in prison. As he awaits his next trial as well as deals with misdemeanor charges in another case of aiding migrants, Democracy Now! followed him into the Sonoran Desert for his first trip…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/19/humanitarian_aid_is_never_a_crime

Activist Scott Warren, Facing Federal Charges for Aiding Migrants, Says He Won't Be Deterred
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-19
We broadcast live from Tucson, Arizona, where the government recently put humanitarian activist Scott Warren on trial amid the ongoing policing of the U.S.-Mexico border, separation of families, and cruel and inhumane conditions at immigrant jails across the country. Warren, a longtime volunteer with the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, was charged with three felony counts for his alleged crime of providing food, water and shelter to migrants in Ajo, Arizona. The immigrants had arrived at the doorstep of a humanitarian shelter after a perilous journey across the Sonoran Desert. At the same time, he and othe…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/19/no_more_deaths_scott_warren

"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/

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

'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/

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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