Judge says Assange extradition hearing will take "three to four weeks" as political opposition mounts
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Assange appeared physically unwell, but followed the proceedings carefully via videolink from Belmarsh maximum security prison.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/assa-d20.html
Women Politicals: Still Defiant
Linda Ford | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-20
As Australian activist John Pilger recounts his visit to the world's most abused US/UK political prisoner, Julian Assange, he gives us the brutal details of how the friends and families of political prisoners also face punishment, gauntlets, humiliation. And he tells of the terrible conditions and terrible treatment meted out to Assange, and the weakened, …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/women-politicals-still-defiant/
Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year
aclu.org | 2019-12-20
It isn't news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories–from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration's attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few. | Here are some of our attorneys' takes on 2019 and the year ahead–what's changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will a…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/four-lawyers-four-projects-one-non-stop-year
Expert Q&A: Trump's executive order on campus antisemitism
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-12-20
Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring federal agencies to use a definition of antisemitism that conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism when investigating civil rights complaints alleging antisemitism on campus. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/20/expert-qa-trumps-executive-order-on-campus-antisemitism/
A Fair Chance at Opportunity: The U.S. Government Bans the Box
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
When Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) reintroduced the Fair Chance Act earlier this year, he | said: "This bill would give individuals who are reentering society from prison | a fair chance at truly achieving the American dream." The Fair Chance Act would | ban the box that employers use to ask about arrest and conviction history on | job applications. It also requires that federal agencies and contr…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/a-fair-chance-at-opportunity-the-u-s-government-bans-the-box
Charlotte Kates: The Palestinian Economy Under Israeli Occupation
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
Press TV interviewed Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, about Israel's occupation of Palestine and control of the Palestinian economy. "Israel consistently uses Palestinians as a captive, colonial market, to buy its goods, to work in its factories, and denies Palestinians the right to economic independence …
imemc.org/article/charlotte-kates-the-palestinian-economy-under-israeli-occupation/
Activist Marty Gottesfeld Silenced for Writing About Prison Corruption While Serving Time
Barrett Brown | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
As I've recently learned from his wife, activist and prison journalist Marty Gottesfeld — recently sentenced to ten years for a denial of service attack on the website of the Boston hospital that was holding a young girl against her will and that of her family while denying her treatment for the painful condition they…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/why-was-activist-marty-gottesfeld-silenced-for-writing-about-prison-corruption-while-serving-10-years/
'Silent plight' carolers show solidarity with county jail inmates
Martha Grevatt | workers.org | 2019-12-20
Cleveland Question: Where are holiday carolers unwelcome this time of year? Answer: In the Cuyahoga County "Justice Center," when they represent the Coalition to Stop the Inhumanity at the Cuyahoga County Jail, and they have changed the words "Silent night, holy night" to "Silent plight, violated rights." Singing rewritten . . . | Continue reading 'Silent plight' carolers show solidarity with county jail inmates at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/45021/
Trump's Executive Order Targets Federal Funding to Universities in Suppression of Speech on Palestinian Rights
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
(photo: A classroom in Gaza destroyed in Israel's 2014 attacks. Credit:…
imemc.org/article/trumps-executive-order-targets-federal-funding-to-universities-in-suppression-of-speech-on-palestinian-rights/
After Nearly a Century, 2020 May Usher in the Equal Rights Amendment
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
The year 2020 could finally bring the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) — the constitutional amendment banning sex-based discrimination that was passed by Congress in 1972 but has been in limbo since 1982, the deadline by which 38 states were required to have ratified it. | If the amendment succeeds, it will be in large part because of Nevada State Sen. Pat Spearman, who championed the legislation that made her state the 36th to ratify the ERA in 2017, 45 years to the day after Co…
truthout.org/articles/after-nearly-a-century-2020-may-usher-in-the-equal-rights-amendment/
Trump's Judaism Order Has Nothing to Do With Fighting Anti-Semitism
Sarah Gertler | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The Trump administration says it's anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. That's the gist of a recent executive order that would treat campus calls to boycott Israel over its treatment of Palestinians as anti-Semitic discrimination on the basis of "national origin." Days after the order, the synagogue I most often attend here in Washington, D.C. became another…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/trumps-judaism-order-has-nothing-to-do-with-fighting-anti-semitism/
Public housing residents sue NYC over slum conditions
Liberation staff | liberationnews.org | 2019-12-20
In addition to demanding repairs, residents involved in this lawsuit are demanding full public funding for NYCHA.
liberationnews.org/public-housing-residents-sue-nyc-over-slum-conditions/
The Stink and Injustice of Life Next to an Industrial Hog Farm
Barry Yeoman | thenation.com | 2019-12-20
The Stink and Injustice of Life Next to an Industrial Hog Farm…
thenation.com/article/hog-farm-lawsuit-south/
Federal judge rules US government is entitled to seize proceeds from Edward Snowden's book sales and speaking fees
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
A federal court ruled Tuesday in favor of the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking all proceeds from the whistleblower's recent memoir Permanent Record.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/snow-d20.html
Beaten, electrocuted and institutionalized: Uyghur woman's tale turns into viral manga
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-20
Her husband has been jailed for more than 16 years and one of her young children succumbed to death following detainment, both at the hands of the Chinese government; what follows is the heart wrenching story of one Uyghur woman has become a viral manga."What has happened to me — A testimony of a Uyghur woman" tells the tale of Mihrigul Tursun, a 29-year-old Uyghur, just one of the thousands who have been persecuted by China and its medieval methods of torture used against the Muslim minority.Little did Tursun know that her story, which was adapted into a manga, or Japanese comic book, by Tomomi Shimizu, wo…
yenisafak.com/en/world/beaten-electrocuted-and-institutionalized-uyghur-womans-tale-turns-into-viral-manga-3507919
Spate of historical employee suicides sees telecom firm Orange fined & ex-CEO sent to prison in landmark case
rt.com | 2019-12-20
French telecoms company Orange has been found guilty of multiple employee suicides in a case that could open the door for other firms to be charged with "institutionalized moral harassment." | Multinational firm Orange is France's first corporation to be tried on such a charge, and the landmark court ruling could set a legal precedent. | A Paris court fined the company €75,000 (more than $83,000) on Friday over 39 cases in the 2000s. They include 19 suicides, 12 suicide attempts and eight cases of serious depression. Other employees' suicides couldn't be linked directly and solely with their jobs. | Confl…
rt.com/news/476494-orange-telecom-employee-suicides/
US 'disappointed' with UK charging diplomat's wife involved in fatal crash who 'won't return voluntarily'
rt.com | 2019-12-20
The wife of a US diplomat who killed a teenage motorcyclist in a fatal crash in August has said through a lawyer that she won't return to the UK to face a possible jail sentence after prosecutors announced charges against her. | …
rt.com/usa/476519-sacoolas-diplomat-imunity-britain/
US Hardliners Want Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning Crucified
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-19
Mass incarceration in the US is a national disgrace, a crime against humanity, including countless numbers of political prisoners — pesecuted behind bars for their beliefs and activism, for resisting the dirty system, judged guilty by accusation. | Julian Assange and …
globalresearch.ca/us-hardliners-want-julian-assange-chelsea-manning-crucified/5698261
Samsung executives sentenced in South Korea for union-busting
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-19
26 senior executives and former employees of the Samsung Group have been sentenced to jail, while the company has been charged a minor fine for violating the country's labor laws…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/19/samsung-executives-sentenced-in-south-korea-for-union-busting/
Japanese 'MeToo' Activist Wins Lawsuit Against Rapist
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-19
Japanese journalist Shiori Ito, the complainant in a sexual assault case that turned her into the most visible face of the "#MeToo" campaign in Japan, sought on Thursday an amendment in the country's law declaring all sexual relations without consent as rape. | RELATED: | Another Brutal Gang Rape and Murder Shakes India | "In our current rape law, which doesn't have the word consent, survivors have to prove the rape. The way to prove it is to prove how much you have been threatened, how much…
telesurenglish.net/news/Japanese-MeToo-Activist-Wins-Lawsuit-Against-Rapist-20191219-0016.html
10 LGBTQ Moments that Defined 2019
aclu.org | 2019-12-19
1. Aimee Stephens goes to the Supreme Court: | In October, the Supreme Court heard its first trans civil rights case ever. The case was brought by our client Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job at a funeral home solely for being transgender. That's sex discrimination and it violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. , | We have yet to see whether the Supreme Court will uphold the civil rights of trans people. But no matter what, history has already been made. , | "I'll never forget the feeling of coming out of the Supreme Court and seeing a crowd of trans people and allies chanting to…
aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/10-lgbtq-moments-that-defined-2019
Federal Study on Racial Biases in Facial Recognition Technology Confirms Warnings of Civil Liberties Groups
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-19
Confirming what privacy and civil rights groups have warned about for years, the U.S. government on Thursday released the first major federal study of facial recognition surveillance, showing the technology's extreme racial and gender biases. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-869082432.png …
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/20/federal-study-racial-biases-facial-recognition-technology-confirms-warnings-civil?cd-origin=rss
Iowa man gets 16 years for stealing church's pride flag & burning it outside STRIP CLUB
rt.com | 2019-12-19
Stealing a Pride banner from a church and burning it outside a local strip club has landed an Ames, Iowa resident in prison for sixteen years, on hate crime charges. | Adolfo Martinez, 30, has been found guilty of a hate crime, third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire for stealing. He was arrested after police said he stole a pride banner hanging at the Ames United Church of Christ on June 11. | Martinez later burned the purloined flag, doused with lighter fluid, outside the Dangerous Curves Gentleman's Club, which had actually been kicked him out earlier that day. He had also threatened to burn down t…
rt.com/usa/476442-pride-flag-burned-jail-sentence/
Elite NY school rocked by claims of anti-Semitism, swastikas on campus & Holocaust survivors labeled oppressors
rt.com | 2019-12-19
An elite private school in the Bronx that costs $53,000 a year is being accused of failing to properly address complaints of discrimination and anti-Semitism made by Jewish students who reportedly say they've felt unsafe there. | Swastikas have reportedly been posted on the grounds of Fieldston School and a recent speaker argued that Holocaust survivors have turned into oppressors. | "If someone was coming to Fieldston to talk about apartheid and went off on a rant about the pea-sized brains of women who belong in a kitchen, or repeated racist tropes, or ranted about any form of homophobia or racism or sexism,…
rt.com/usa/476432-anti-semitism-concerns-fieldston-ny/
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Spends Her Birthday Imprisoned
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-18
Military whistleblower Chelsea Manning spent her 32nd birthday behind bars yesterday for continuing to refuse to testify against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. She has been in prison since May after a U.S. District Judge ordered her incarceration for not recognizing the legitimacy of the grand jury. She tweeted that she was grateful for t…
mintpressnews.com/whistleblower-chelsea-manning-spends-her-birthday-imprisoned/263594/
A Secret CBP Team is Targeting and Detaining Innocent Travelers. We're Suing
Tarek Ismail | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is deploying secret teams that target, detain, and interrogate innocent travelers. We're suing to expose their activities. | In November 2018, three CBP officers detained Andreas | Gal, a former chief | technology officer at Mozilla Corporation and current Apple employee, at San | Francisco International Airport after he landed from a business trip to Sweden. | Andr…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/a-secret-cbp-team-is-targeting-and-detaining-innocent-travelers-were-suing
A Tennessee City Banned Surgical Abortion Within the City Limits. We're Taking Them to Court
Melissa Grant | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
For 30 years, I have | worked in reproductive health care. In my current role as Chief Operating | Officer of carafem, a nonprofit with a national network of health centers, I | know the difference compassionate and comprehensive reproductive health care | makes in the lives of our clients. I have witnessed the personal impact when | people who have the legal right to have a child or to have an abortion are denied | those rights due to outrageous societal barriers. Abortion providers are used | to opposition, but we've never experienced the kind of explicit targeting we | received from politicians in the city…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/a-tennessee-city-banned-surgical-abortion-within-the-city-limits-were-taking-them-to-court
A Little-Known Privacy Battle Is Being Waged Over Encrypting the Nuts and Bolts of the Internet
Daniel Kahn Gillmor | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
An important fight is brewing over the nuts and bolts of the | Internet that has significant implications for the privacy and security of all Internet | users. The fight has already pitted Google and Cloudflare against American | telecommunications companies, which are lobbying | Congress | to complain about the search giant. The fight is complicated, but at its core | are questions about c…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/a-little-known-privacy-battle-is-being-waged-over-encrypting-the-nuts-and-bolts-of-the-internet
Torture exposed in Cobb County Detention Center
| workers.org | 2019-12-18
By Arielle Robinson Marietta, Ga. Formerly incarcerated people from the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and loved ones of those currently incarcerated spoke out about the horrid conditions at a town hall meeting at Life Church here on Dec. 9. Seven people have died in the jail since last December. . . . | Continue reading Torture exposed in Cobb County Detention Center at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/44958/
Misery for Venezuelans continues ahead of 2020 elections: UN rights chief Bachelet
news.un.org | 2019-12-18
Demonstrations in Venezuela must be allowed to take place ahead of elections in 2020, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday, citing continued reports of harassment, threats, and detention by intelligence services and security forces.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1053791
Celebrity gangster? Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine gets away with 2yrs in jail after testifying against former gang
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Rapper Tekashi 6x9ine faced decades behind bars due to his ties to crimes committed by the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, but he was given a much lighter sentence thanks to his being a star witness for the prosecution. | Rapper Tekashi 6x9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, will be walking the streets a free man very soon. Despite facing potentially decades behind bars for his affiliation with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang, the 23-year-old rapper was sentenced to just two years behind bars on Wednesday. Because he has already served 13 months of that sentence, Tekashi will be a free man before 2020 is up.
rt.com/usa/476235-tekashi-rapper-jail-sentence-gang/
US Venezuelan embassy protectors denied right to fair trial
The Grayzone | thegrayzone.com | 2019-12-17
Four US activists protecting Venezuela's embassy in Washington, DC face prison time after the Trump administration illegally arrested them. And now…
thegrayzone.com/2019/12/16/venezuelan-embassy-defenders-denied-right-fair-trial/
In the Midst of Trump's Attacks, Offshoots of Progress in Congress for Immigrants' Rights
Madhuri Grewal | aclu.org | 2019-12-17
From the continued separation of families, to attacks on asylum-seekers, to the largest immigration raid ever in a state, to an unprecedented number of immigrants jailed by ICE, this year was filled with new lows for the…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/in-the-midst-of-trumps-attacks-offshoots-of-progress-in-congress-for-immigrants-rights
Democratic Candidates Focus on Public Education at Historic Forum with Civil Rights & Labor Groups
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-17
Ahead of the last Democratic presidential debate of the year this Thursday, seven candidates appeared Saturday at the historic Democratic Presidential Forum on Public Education in Pittsburgh, an event organized by public education organizations, unions, civil rights organizations and community groups. We play highlights from the forum and get response from Keron Blair, director of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools in Atlanta; Jitu Brown, national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance; and Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education Action. She recently authored a report titled "S…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/17/democratic_presidential_forum_on_public_education
It's Clear: In Oklahoma Cash Bail is Being Used as Ransom to Keep People Who Are Poor Behind Bars
Twyla Carter | aclu.org | 2019-12-17
Imagine you are one of the 4,000 people arrested every year in Canadian County, Oklahoma, a county with less than 200,000 people. Maybe the police find marijuana in your car during a traffic stop, maybe the police have mistaken you for someone else, or perhaps you can't afford the $40 per month you owe the court from a different charge. | After you're arrested, things will go one of two ways. You may | spend an hour or two in the jail for booking and then go home until your court | date. Or, you might sit in jail for weeks or months until your court date, | eating substandard food and sleeping on a linoleum fl…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/its-clear-in-oklahoma-cash-bail-is-being-used-as-ransom-to-keep-people-who-are-poor-behind-bars
Wisconsin: Medicaid to cover gender-confirming medical procedures
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-17
Kenosha, WI – As of December 10, Wisconsin is now one of the 20 states that cover medically necessary gender-confirming surgeries. People in need of these procedures will receive coverage under the state's Medicaid healthcare plan. This development comes after state officials allowed the time frame to lapse for an appeal of the 2018 lawsuit that initiated the whole process. | This is undoubtedly a big win for transgender and non-binary people across the state and a huge rebuke to traditional thinking when it comes to transgender and non-binary individuals seeking surgery to help with gender dysphoria. Gender Dysp…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/17/wisconsin-medicaid-cover-gender-confirming-medical-procedures
The Freedom of the Cuban Five Will Never be Reversed
Alicia Jrapko and Bill Hackwell | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-16
Celebration upon the release of the Cuban Five in Washington DC (Photo by Bill Hackwell) Five years ago tomorrow, in near disbelief, we watched on television as the Cuban Five were released from US prisons and flown home after a 16 year struggle. Leading up there had been some signs that their freedom was being …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/the-freedom-of-the-cuban-five-will-never-be-reversed/
He spent 36 years in prison because he stole $100 in cash and $4 in food stamps. Now Willie Parker is free
Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2019-12-16
It was pouring rain the day Willie Parker left William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility after 36 years in prison.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/17/he-spent-36-years-prison-because-he-stole-100-cash-and-4-food-stamps-now-willie-parker-free
Cop Charged with Making Multiple False Arrests
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-14
Baltimore Police Sgt Ethan Newberg is facing 32 counts of false imprisonment and assault for using illegal arrests to intimidate the community, prosecutors allege.
therealnews.com/stories/cop_charged_with_making_multiple_false_arrests
Eddie Conway Tells It Like It Is
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-13
Please donate and help Eddie–Real News Executive Producer and former Black Panther–continue to expose issues relating to the prison-industrial complex.
therealnews.com/stories/eddie-conway-tells-it-like-it-is
Weekend Read: Amid Alabama's prison crisis, the voices of the people living through it should be heard
splcenter.org | 2019-12-13
For years, Alabama's prison system has been under a microscope. Harsh sentencing laws coupled with chronic underfunding have led to horrific conditions for people behind bars.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/13/weekend-read-amid-alabamas-prison-crisis-voices-people-living-through-it-should-be-heard
The Inside Story of an Elite Law Enforcement Unit Which Ran a Criminal Gang Inside a US Jail
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-13
The police accountability report talks to a first-hand witness to the alleged crimes of a group of corrections officers charged with brutalizing inmates as part of a larger criminal scheme.
therealnews.com/stories/inside-story-elite-law-enforcement-unit-which-ran-criminal-gang-inside-us-jail
Support the Workers of Iran, but Oppose US Sanctions
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-12
How is it possible to oppose the violent suppression of Iranian protest while still condemning U.S. sanctions on Iran?
therealnews.com/stories/support-iran-oppose-us-sanctions
Arizona educators, progressives confront ALEC summit and Betsy DeVos
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-09
Tucson, AZ – On December 4, a coalition of union educators, immigrant rights, police crimes, and climate change activists confronted the agenda of corporations like UPS and energy industry giants and billionaires like Charles Koch and Sheldon Achelson. At its height the crowd numbered around 200 with signs reading: "ALEC: Oligarchy in progress" and "Privatization, criminalization, incarceration, climate change, imperialism: #ALECisBehindIt." | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a notorious organization of hardcore conservatives, was holding its States and Nation Policy Summit in Arizona. ALEC hoste…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/8/arizona-educators-progressives-confront-alec-summit-and-betsy-devos
SPLC lawsuit seeks to restore Mississippi citizens' right to vote
splcenter.org | 2019-12-04
When they were children, Herman Parker and his three sisters went to their grandparents' house every election day.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/04/splc-lawsuit-seeks-restore-mississippi-citizens-right-vote
Prison By Any Other Name: A Report on South Florida Detention Facilities
splcenter.org | 2019-12-02
splcenter.org/20191209/prison-any-other-name-report-south-florida-detention-facilities
Civil Rights Are on the Chopping Block in New Supreme Court Term
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2019-12-02
Hello, A very small proportion of ZNet content is available only to Sustainers. You can become a sustainer for a small repeating donation – monthly or yearly via the links for Sustaining, or Donating, available on the top page of ZNet.
zcomm.org/zmagazine/civil-rights-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-new-supreme-court-term/
Just Trying to Get It
Gerry Mohan | zcomm.org | 2019-11-24
Front page of the Guardian Review I'm trying to get it: a US president who waged war against 7 Muslim countries; droned, murdered and terrorized thousands of civilians in some of the poorest countries on earth; just by the way got rid of habeas corpus; spent a trillion dollars on "modernizing" the US military and Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/just-trying-to-get-it/
After parole, Alabama man gets life back on track, helps others
Kathryn Casteel | splcenter.org | 2019-11-21
Chris "Champ" Napier started speaking to students and at-risk youth about his experience in prison before he knew he would ever regain his freedom.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/03/after-parole-alabama-man-gets-life-back-track-helps-others