(2019-11-09). The Criminal Justice System Is Not Broken. It's Doing What It Was Designed to Do. theintercept.com 
Alec Karakatsanis's book "Usual Cruelty" is a powerful takedown of the U.S. mass punishment bureaucracy, also known as the criminal justice system.
(2019-11-09). Build a mass movement to free class-war prisoners Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. wsws.org Assange and Manning are being persecuted because the US and its imperialist allies are preparing for war and want to silence all honest journalists and fighter for the truth.
(2019-11-09). Three Administrative Detainees Continue Hunger Strike, One For 109 Days. imemc.org Three Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails remain on hunger strike against their illegal incarceration without charge or trial, one of them for 109 days in a row, the Palestinian Prisoners Commission said Saturday. Ismail Ali, from the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike …
(2019-11-09). Brazil: Thousands Await Lula Da Silva's Speech Outside Union. telesurenglish.net After having spent 580 days as a political prisoner in Curitiba, Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday arrived at the ABC Union of Workers of Metallurgical Industry, which is located at Sao Bernardo do Campo, the city where he began his political life as a worker leader. | RELATED: | Lula is Free | Although the Workers' Party (PT) politician must defend himself against accusati…
(2019-11-08). Lula freed after surprise Brazilian Supreme Court ruling. peoplesworld.org 
UPDATE: This story was first published just hours before former Brazilian President Lula was freed from prison. It has been updated to reflect this breaking news. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was released from prison today after a key Supreme Court ruling. The court ruled by six judges to five on Thursday …
(2019-11-08). Texas Prepares to Execute Rodney Reed Amid a Flood of New Evidence Pointing to His Innocence. theintercept.com 
Deke Pierce was wearing civilian clothes as he took to the lectern in a narrow press room inside the Texas Capitol in Austin last month, but it was still obvious that he was a cop. He stood with his feet wide and his arms slightly away from his body, a stance molded by years in a uniform encumbered by heavy gear. He was there to make an extraordinary announcement: He and 12 other members of law enforcement with more than 250 years of combined experience had filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of a Texas death row prisoner named Rodney Reed, slated for execution on November 20.
(2019-11-08). Why I'm Fighting for Menstrual Equity in Prison. aclu.org My name is Kimberly Haven. I am an activist, an advocate, and I have also been referred to as the "tampon queen." I got this moniker because, while I was incarcerated, I learned how to make my own tampons out of the subpar menstrual products I was "given" while incarcerated. | For those who do not have firsthand experience with it, incarcerated women are typically provided with a very limited number of subpar products you would never buy outside of the carceral system. Access to pads and / or tampons is not a given—they are closely restricted and sometimes run out, leaving women without any solutions ex…
(2019-11-08). Lula is Free. telesurenglish.net Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was released on Friday, one day after Brazil's Supreme Court decided to end the mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after they lose their first appeal. | RELATED: | Brazil Court Ends Early Prison Rule, Decision Could Free Lula | Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked on Friday all the peo…
(2019-11-08). Egypt: 'Credible evidence' that 'brutal' prison conditions prompted Morsi's death, thousands more at risk. un.org A group of independent UN human rights experts said on Friday that there was "credible evidence" that inadequate prison conditions in which former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was held may have led "directly" to his death in June, and thousands of other detainees may be at "severe risk".
(2019-11-08). Brazil: Lula's Defense Submits Request for Immediate Release. telesurenglish.net Brazil's former president Lula da Silva's lawyers on Friday morning filed in court a request for his inmediate release based on the decision adopted by the Supreme Court (STF) on Thursday. | RELATED: | Court Ends Early Prison Rule, Decision Could Free Lula | The Workers' Party leader, who has remained a political prisoner for one year and seven month…
(2019-11-08). 'An Extraordinary Day': Brazilian Leftist Leader Lula Freed From Prison. commondreams.org "An extraordinary day in Brazil—for the world, given Lula's stature." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/lula_livre_brazil.jpg …
(2019-11-08). Remembering the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre When Police Shot Dead Three Unarmed Black Students. democracynow.org 
The 1968 Orangeburg massacre is one of the most violent and least remembered events of the civil rights movement. A crowd of students gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest segregation at Orangeburg's only bowling alley. After days of escalating tensions, students started a bonfire and held a vigil on the campus to protest. Dozens of police arrived on the scene, and state troopers fired live ammunition into the crowd. When the shooting stopped, three students were dead and 28 wounded. Although the tragedy predated the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings and it was the fir…
(2019-11-07). We Said We Would See Him in Court and We Did. aclu.org Several months into the Trump administration, my wife was | doing The New York Times crossword puzzle and came across this clue: "Group | that told President Trump, 'We'll see you in court.'" I'm not generally much use | when it comes to the crossword, but on that one I could help. She didn't really | need the assistance of course, as the ACLU is my employer, and she, The New | York Times crossword puzzle drafters, and much of the country already knew that | it was the ACLU who told the president we'd see him in court. | In fact, we told him that before he took office. Just days after | he improbably won t…
(2019-11-07). 'Terminator' warlord Bosco Ntaganda sentenced to 30 years in prison for DR Congo atrocities. un.org The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday handed down a maximum 30-year prison sentence for mass murder and numerous other atrocities, to Bosco Ntaganda, the heaviest sanction yet imposed by judges at The Hague, in the Netherlands.
(2019-11-07). Algerian Protesters Are Still in the Streets, Months After Pushing Out Longtime President Bouteflika. democracynow.org 
In Algeria, protests against corruption, the jailing of opposition leaders and the army's powerful role in national politics have entered their ninth month. Tens of thousands filled the streets of the capital Algiers last Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the war of independence from France and to demand a "new revolution" rather than an upcoming election they say will be rigged. Over 100 student protesters were arrested last night as the Algerian government intensified its crackdown on demonstrators ahead of the upcoming polls. Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah announced the country will hold a presiden…
(2019-11-05). League of the South Resorts to Video Stunts as Membership Declines. splcenter.org The League of the South made a 25-second propaganda video over the weekend at the memorial of a civil rights icon in an apparent attempt to attract members to its neo-Confederate ideology.
(2019-11-05). SPLC celebrates 30th anniversary of Civil Rights Memorial. splcenter.org The first African American elected mayor of Montgomery, Alabama — a city known as both the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the "Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement" — urged those who gathered today to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Civil Rights Memorial to ask themselves how they can make an impact on the lives of others.
(2019-11-05). Witnessing repression from a hotel window: A reflection on the suppression of Chile protests. greenleft.org.au 
John EnglartIssue 1244 Chile 2019 Chile protests SantiagoNovember 5, 2019I am in Chile due to the United Nation's Climate conference being originally hosted here in Santiago. Now, I find myself an observer of the widespread social protest against the government, ca…
(2019-11-05). Trump Wants to Allow Discrimination with Billions of Dollars of Federal Funding. aclu.org Last Friday, the Trump administration announced | an alarming new proposal that would strip away critical protections against discrimination | in grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. | Initially, we thought this proposal would serve to fulfill Trump's promise to give taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies a license to discriminate. This proposal does…
(2019-11-05). "Release My Mother": A Yale Student Fights to Halt Deportation of His Mother with Stage IV Cancer. democracynow.org 
Tania Romero, an undocumented mother from Honduras and survivor of stage IV cancer, is fighting to remain in the United States with her four children. Two months ago, Romero was imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the privately owned Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, interrupting her life-saving medical treatments. In mid-August, Romero was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and arrested for not having a driver's license. Tania Romero's attorney requested a stay of deportation on humanitarian grounds because of her fragile health, but it was denied in September. Her son, Cristian…
(2019-11-02). American Graffiti: Church, Cancer, and 'Hate Faith'. progressive.org Spirituality is love. Religion, as often practiced now and through history, is a convenient partner of oppression, and can easily become what I call hate faith.
(2019-11-01). Civil Rights Memorial commemorates 30 years. splcenter.org Carolyn Wells Gee was in bed watching TV with her younger sister when she heard the shot that killed Medgar Evers.
(2019-10-31). The FBI is Tracking Our Faces in Secret. We're Suing. aclu.org Many of us wear masks on Halloween for fun. But what about a world in which we have to wear a mask every single day to protect our privacy from the government's oppressive eye? | Face | recognition surveillance technology has already made that frightening world a | reality in Hong Kong, and it's quickly becoming a scary | possibility in the United States. | The FBI is currently collecting data about our faces, irises, walking patterns, and voices, permitting the government to pervasively identif…
(2019-10-31). Why Have a Forum on Reparations in Charleston and Why Now? aclu.org This year marks 400 years since enslaved, kidnapped people were purchased by the forefathers and — mothers of America. Are the events that began 400 years ago connected to today? William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." | On June 19, 2019, the National African American Reparations | Commission (NAARC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) held | a forum on H.R. 40 in the historic Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, | D.C. As a follow up to that…
(2019-10-31). Abortion is Legal in All 50 States, and We Intend to Keep It That Way. aclu.org On | Tuesday, a federal court issued a decision in our challenge to Alabama's | near-total ban on abortion blocking the law from taking effect. The decision | comes on the heels of similar rulings blocking abortion bans in Arkansas, | Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah. In other words, the ACLU has an | undefeated, 7-0 record challenging state abortion bans in court. None of the state abortion bans passed | earlier this year will be permitted to take effect. Abortion is — and will | remain — legal in all 50 states. | The | Alabama ban, like all the others, is the anti-abortion movement's t…
(2019-10-25). Weekend Read: If your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't fight so hard to block it. splcenter.org At the intersection of race and politics in the United States lies voter suppression — the array of laws and election practices intended to make it harder for people of color to vote.
(2019-10-24). Why is Missouri So Afraid of Finding out Whether Lamar Johnson is Innocent of Murder? aclu.org In 1994, the St. Louis | Circuit Attorney's Office committed gross prosecutorial misconduct in order to convict Lamar Johnson of murder. | They knowingly presented perjured testimony, fabricated facts to negate | Johnson's strongly corroborated alibi, and buried the fact that a prime witness | against him was a paid jailhouse informant. Twenty-five years later, that same | Circuit Attorney's Office, now led by Kim Gardner, is doing everything it can | to get Johnson a new trial so the truth can vind…
(2019-10-23). 'No rehabilitation,' just oppression, behind bars in Alabama. splcenter.org …
(2019-10-11). Creative writing class in prison was 'light' in the darkness. splcenter.org …