(2019-06-01). Trump's Anti-LGBTQ Agenda Will Keep Foster Children From Having a Loving Home. commondreams.org The Trump administration's agenda will ultimately cause the most harm to children in foster care who are in need of a loving home. (Photo: ACLU) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/kiddos_0.jpg…
(2019-06-01). Fifty-five inmates killed in Brazilian prisons. wsws.org This escalating slaughter has been caused by a 300 percent increase in the prison population in the last two decades.
(2019-06-01). US watchdog finds 900 immigrants jammed into jail designed for 125. wsws.org The inspector general found detainees "standing on toilets in the cells to make room and gain breathing space, thus limiting access to the toilets."
(2019-06-01). There's a Simple Explanation for Racial Disparities in Terrorism Prosecutions: Racism. commondreams.org A Black Lives Matter protest, November 2015. (Photo: Johnny Silvercloud, Flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/blm_3.jpg…
(2019-06-01). 'Beyond Barbaric': Internal Government Report Reveals Migrants Forced to Stand on Toilets for Breathing Space at Overcrowded US Detention Center. globalresearch.ca "This is insane. Not only can they not move, they can't breathe, they can't eat, they can't do anything like this. Children have died and will continue to die if this is not stopped now." | *** | A federal immigrant detention …
(2019-06-01). 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…
(2019-06-01). Reggae Artist Macka B Releases Song To "Kick Racism Out Of Football" In England And Europe. blackstarnews.com 
Reggae artist Macka B above with Rap legend Fredro Starr, of Onyx, in Los Angeles, in 2018… | Reggae artist Macka B has joined the fight against racism in European soccer [also called football] with his recently released single entitled "Kick Racism Out Of Football." | Macka B's song was inspired by Manchester City soccer player Raheem Sterling who stood firm against the racist verbal taunts fans of the Chelsea soccer team spewed his way during a game last December. Sterling was previously physically attacked and kicked in December 2017, outside the Manchester City training facility. Sterling, then 23, was call…
(2019-05-31). Turkey: Leyla Gàºven ends hunger strike. greenleft.org.au 
Peoples Democratic Party MP, Leyla Gàºven ended her 200-day hunger strike on May 26. Gàºven had been consuming only sugar and salt solutions and vitamins. | Gàºven, a member of the Turkish parliament, began her hunger strike in prison. She was arrested for criticising the Turkish invasion of Afrin, a predominantly Kurdish area of northern Syria. | Gàºven's hunger strike was a protest against the isolation of imprisoned PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) leader Abdullah àñcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999 and has not been allowed visitors, including family members and lawyers, f…
(2019-05-31). UN expert criticizes States for 'ganging up' on Wikileaks' Assange; warns against extradition, fearing 'serious' rights violations. un.org After visiting Julian Assange in a London prison, an independent UN human rights expert expressed urgent concern on Friday, for the Wikileaks co-founder's well-being, accusing "a group of democratic States" of "ganging up" on the prisoner to "isolate, demonize and abuse" him and warned against extraditing the controversial publisher to the United States.
(2019-05-31). Victorian budget: Billions for prisons but nothing for housing. greenleft.org.au 
The Andrews' Labor government allocated $1.8 billion in the state budget on May 27, to build 1600 new prison cells in Victoria and less than one sixth of that amount — $209 million — for 1000 social housing units. | But the capital expenditure is just the tip of the iceberg. The annual recurrent cost of imprisoning a person in a Victoria is about $125,000, while housing a family in a public housing dwelling costs about $6400. | Victoria is in an acute housing crisis with more than 24,000 people homeless and 84,000 on waiting lists for social housing. At the same time, prisons are bursting at the seams…
(2019-05-31). Assange Hospitalized, "dagger in journalist hearts" — George Galloway. dissidentvoice.org The attorney of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange's has revealed that he was too ill to appear in a video chat for his extradition hearing. Assange has spent the past seven weeks at Belmarsh prison, where his health has continued to deteriorate. The WikiLeaks founder faces extradition to the US over "espionage" charges dating …
(2019-05-31). WikiLeaks: Assange indictments 'the gravest attack on press freedom'. greenleft.org.au 
In response to the news on May 24 that the United States government is seeking to lay multiple espionage charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the organisation accused US President Donald Trump's administration of launching "an unprecedented attack on the global free press". | The unsealed Espionage Act charges carry combined sentences of 175 years in prison and relate to disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government, including the groundbreaking Collateral Murder video, Iraq War Logs, Afghan War Diaries, Cablegate, and the Guantanamo Bay Detainee Manuals, published in 2010 an…
(2019-05-31). Assange Too Sick to Appear at His Own Extradition Hearing. theantimedia.com (ANTIWAR.COM) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was unable to attend a court hearing in London on US attempts to extradite him, with his lawyer saying he is simply too ill to make an appearance, and has been relocated to his prison's medical ward. A statement from WikiLeaks reported Assange's health had "significantly deteriorated" from his seven years …
(2019-05-31). Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Jail Guards Pepper-Spray Black Woman Strapped to Torture Chamber Restraint Chair. blackstarnews.com 
Chantelle Glass is being victimized above by guards inside Cuyahoga County Jail torture chamber… | A newly released video shows a Black Ohio woman being pepper-sprayed and assaulted by corrections officers inside Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Jail—while she was strapped to a restraint chair, in July 2018. | The Cuyahoga County Jail has been in the news recently because of the suspicious deaths of nine inmates over the past year. Two corrections officers have been arrested and charged in connection with one of those deaths–that of inmate Joseph Arquillo. Several others have also been arrested and charged wi…
(2019-05-31). 'Beyond Barbaric': Internal Govt Report Reveals Migrants Forced to Stand on Toilets for Breathing Space at Overcrowded US Detention Center. commondreams.org "This is insane. Not only can they not move, they can't breathe, they can't eat, they can't do anything like this. Children have died and will continue to die if this is not stopped now." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/detention_center_cruelty1.jpg…
(2019-05-31). U.N. Special Rapporteur Calls for Julian Assange to Be Freed, Citing "Psychological Torture" democracynow.org 
The United Nations special rapporteur on torture is warning that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is suffering from the effects of "psychological torture" due to his ongoing detention and threats of possible extradition to the United States. The U.N. expert, Nils Melzer, also warned that Assange would likely face a "politicized show trial" if he were to be extradited to the United States. Melzer writes, "In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a lo…
(2019-05-31). Chelsea Manning's Legal Team Challenge Harsh Fines Levied Against Her By Federal Court. shadowproof.com The legal team for Chelsea Manning requested a hearing to challenge the harsh fines levied to force her to testify before the grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. | On May 16, Judge Anthony Trenga held Manning in civil contempt and ordered her to be sent back to the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria. The court also imposed a fine of $500 per day after 30 days, and then a fine of $1000 per day after 60 days. | If Manning "persists in her refusal" for the next 16 months, her legal team points out she will face a total amount of fines that is over $440,000. This excessive amount may violate he…
(2019-05-31). Call to Refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. | We issue this Call in a sense of outrage in the face of increasing racist violence and political repression towards working class and Black and Brown communities. | We are currently facing a national epidemic of state-sponsored violence perpetrated by police and vigilantes targeting the oppressed Black, Latinx, immigrant, indigenous, LGBTQ, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and gender fluid communities. Black Trans women are also being harassed and killed at record rates. | We are…
(2019-05-31). The fight against the racist Ramsay Centre continues. greenleft.org.au 
Eighty people gathered at Sydney University on May 23 for a forum "Ramsay and the new academic racism", to hear speakers condemn the Ramsay Centre's proposed Western Civilisation degree. | Chaired by Robert Boncardo (lecturer at Sydney University's School of Languages and Cultures), the speakers included Layla Mkhayber (undergraduate student, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), Dr Nesrine Basheer (Arabic Language and Cultures) and Jeff Sparrow (Guardian Australia columnist and author) | The Ramsay Centre is a right-wing think tank, established by the wealthy philanthropist Paul Ramsay. It is chaired by former…
(2019-05-30). 3 white women sue 'totalitarian' diversity-obsessed NYC school system for discrimination. rt.com 
Three white New York City school administrators are suing the Department of Education, claiming they were demoted and replaced with less-qualified but racially-diverse colleagues as part of a crusade against "toxic whiteness."
(2019-05-30). NAACP President: "Mueller's Statement Confirms Integrity of Our Democracy Continues to be at Risk" naacp.org NAACP president and CEO, Derrick Johnson, released the following statement: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's statement on the Russia investigation confirms that the integrity and security of our democracy continues to be at risk. Mueller reminded us that '[t]here were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of …
(2019-05-30). WikiLeaks expresses 'grave concerns' as Julian Assange's health deteriorates further. thecanary.co Julian Assange was unable to appear in court via videolink for his US extradition hearing on 30 May amid "grave concerns" for the WikiLeaks founder's health. This news is a predictable result of the UK's wilful neglect of Assange's well-being. | "Grave concerns": | On 28 May, Reuters reported that Assan…
(2019-05-30). SPLC lawsuit: ICE illegally denying parole to asylum seekers in Southeast. splcenter.org The SPLC and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed suit today against the Trump administration for categorically denying release to hundreds of people who are languishing in immigration prisons after lawfully seeking asylum in the United States.
(2019-05-30). US Welcomes Turkey's Decision to Free Former NASA Scientist From Prison. theantimedia.com (MEE) — Turkey has freed a dual US-Turkish citizen Serkan Golge from prison, the US State Department confirmed, in the latest conciliatory gesture that may help ease some ongoing tensions between the two countries. The US State Department welcomed the news of Golge's release on Wednesday, almost three years after the former NASA scientist was rounded …
(2019-05-30). As Cleveland jail deaths continue, protesters demand justice. workers.org 
On May 10, Nicholas Colbert became the latest person to die in the Cuyahoga County Jail, the ninth in less than a year. The 36-year-old Army National Guard veteran was arrested for drug possession less than 48 hours prior to his death, which jail authorities have called a suicide. Colbert's . . . | Continue reading As Cleveland jail deaths continue, protesters demand justice at Workers.org
(2019-05-30). Rally vows to defend refugees' rights. greenleft.org.au 
Three hundred people rallied on May 24 to show solidarity with refugees, who face increasing attacks following the re-election of the Coalition government. | Lucy Honan, representing the Refugee Action Collective which called the rally, said the election result had been "bruising" for refugees and their supporters. Even though Labor and the Coalition shared bipartisan policies of offshore detention and boat turnbacks, refugees had hoped for some changes from a Labor government. | Labor had promised to accept New Zealand's offer to take 150 refugees a year from Manus and Nauru. This had raised the hopes of th…
(2019-05-30). Trump Admin's Move to Delay Placing Harriet Tubman on $20 Bill Is "Rooted in Misogyny & Racism" democracynow.org 
The Trump administration is under fire for delaying plans to replace Andrew Jackson's portrait on the $20 bill with abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the announcement last week, saying Tubman won't appear on the bill until at least 2026. Under a 2016 Obama initiative, Tubman was originally scheduled to replace Andrew Jackson by 2020—the 100th anniversary of women being granted the right to vote. She will be the first woman in over a century and the first African American to appear on the front of a U.S. banknote. Andrew Jackson was a slaveholder who in 1830 signed th…
(2019-05-29). Call both your US Senators! The Violence Against Women Act needs to be updated and strengthened. naacp.org On 4-4-19, the House passed, by a bipartisan margin of 263 yeas to 158 nays, H.R. 1585, a bill to reauthorize, or update, and strengthen the NAACP-supported and very successful Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Despite its huge successes, the current law establishing VAWA expired on February 15, 2019. We must now let the Senate know …
(2019-05-29). The Government Needs to Get a Warrant if It Wants Access to Our Private Health Information. aclu.org Choosing between obtaining health care and giving up one's privacy rights is no choice at all. | The Drug Enforcement Administration is once again trying to access private prescription records of patients — this time in New Hampshire — without a warrant, despite a state law to the contrary. Today the ACLU filed a brief in support of the state of New Hampshire's fight to defend the privacy of our sensitive medical information against unwarranted searches by law enforcement. | New Hampshire — like 48 other states, the…
(2019-05-29). Six Children Have Died While in ICE Custody — Why? therealnews.com 
Undocumented immigrants seeking asylum are being separated from their children and detained in prison camps as more restrictive racist policies are being imposed by Trump. We discuss the policy with the Border Rights Center Director of ACLU Texas, Astrid Dominguez…
(2019-05-29). ACLU Lawyer: "Abortion Today Is Still Legal in All 50 States" Despite Draconian Anti-Choice Bills. democracynow.org 
As states around the country ramp up their attacks on reproductive rights, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to rule on an Indiana law that would bar abortions based on the sex, race or disability of the fetus. The decision will keep in place a lower court's injunction on the measure. However, the Supreme Court decided to allow Indiana's so-called fetal burial law to go into effect, which stipulates that abortion clinics must dispose of fetal remains either through burial or cremation. The measure was signed into law by then-Governor Mike Pence in 2016. We speak with Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, senior staff attorney…
(2019-05-29). Scott Warren Provided Food & Water to Migrants in Arizona; He Now Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison. democracynow.org 
An Arizona humanitarian aid volunteer goes to trial today for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. If convicted, Scott Warren could spend up to 20 years in prison. Warren, an activist with the Tucson-based No More Deaths, is charged with three felony counts of allegedly "harboring" undocumented immigrants. For years, No More Deaths and other humanitarian aid groups in southern Arizona have left water and food in the harsh Sonoran Desert, where the temperature often reaches three digits during summer, to help refugees and migran…
(2019-05-29). Baltimore Cop Charged with Perjury, Misconduct. therealnews.com 
Baltimore police officer Michael O'Sullivan was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury for falsely accusing a city resident of committing a crime. The charges allege the officer perjured himself when he testified that a Baltimore youth possessed a gun, despite body camera footage that allegedly contradicts his testimony. | O'Sullivan was indicted on one count of perjury and one count of misconduct in office. | The charges stem from testimony against a Baltimore resident, who O'Sullivan accused of possessing a handgun during a district court trial last year. The Baltimore resident spent several months in jail before pro…
(2019-05-29). Delay of Harriet Tubman $20 bill undergirded by racism, misogyny. splcenter.org Throughout my life, Harriet Tubman symbolized strength, courage, and determination.
(2019-05-29). Dayton: KKK rally vastly outnumbered by anti-racist protest. liberationnews.org 
Message sent: broadest masses of workers reject all forms of divisiveness and bigotry.
(2019-05-29). Corbyn-supporting Labour members like me have tried to make Brexit work, but it's time to dump it completely. thecanary.co This article is one of three Opinion pieces looking at what's next for Brexit in the aftermath of the EU elections. You can also read Tracy Keeling argue why Labour mustn't support a second referendum and Frea Lockley on how racism has been the biggest winner from Brexit. | You don't hear much about people like…
(2019-05-29). Here's how much the democrat-when-it-suits-us Remainers have now fu*ked up Britain. thecanary.co This article is one of three Opinion pieces looking at what's next for Brexit in the aftermath of the EU elections. You can also read Josh Funnell argue why Labour must now campaign fully to Remain and Frea Lockley on how racism has been the biggest winner from Brexit. | Nigel Farage's…
(2019-05-29). The only certainty of Brexit is rising racism in the UK. thecanary.co This article is one of three Opinion pieces looking at what's next for Brexit in the aftermath of the EU elections. You can also read Josh Funnell argue why Labour must now campaign fully to Remain and Tracy Keeling on why Labour mustn't support a second referen…
(2019-05-28). What's Trending: Black News Recap. naacp.org 
The Root: Did You Know Lady Liberty Was a Monument to Slavery Abolition, Not Immigration? The new Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened Thursday in New York Harbor, brings to light a little-spoken-of aspect of the statue's history: Lady Liberty was originally intended celebrate the end of slavery, not the arrival of immigrants. …
(2019-05-28). DeJaun Davis-Correia & Ben Jealous on Billionaire's Pledge to Pay Debt of Morehouse Graduating Class. democracynow.org 
Earlier this month, the billionaire investor Robert Smith stunned many when he offered to pay off the student loans of the 2019 graduating class at the historically black Morehouse College. The average student debt is now $32,000. Nationwide, 44 million people owe nearly $1.5 trillion. Student debt is expected to increase to $2 trillion by 2022. We speak with Ben Jealous, former national president of the NAACP, and De'Jaun Davis-Correia, a 2019 Morehouse graduate who will benefit from Smith's donation.
(2019-05-28). Marijuana Activist Faces 10 Years in Prison for Using Facebook Live. therealnews.com 
A 20-year-old student activist was charged with felony wiretapping for using Facebook Live while in the office of Rep. Andy Harris, known for pushing back against the legalization of marijuana in DC…
(2019-05-25). Philippines: Expect the people's resistance to rise further. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 22 statement by Jose Maria Sison, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant. | Expect the people's resistance to rise further against the escalation of oppression and exploitation | As a result of his rigging the May 13 elections, Duterte has more than two-thirds majority in the Senate and is in a position to dictate the realization of his fascist dictatorship through charter change to bogus federalism and declare martial law nationwide at his whim. | Foreign monopoly capitalism, domestic feudalism and bureaucratic c…
(2019-05-24). Alabama Is Trying to Ban Abortion. Today We Filed Suit to Stop Them. aclu.org Abortion is a right and this attack on abortion rights won't succeed. | Last week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation banning nearly all abortions. The law, which threatens doctors with up to 99 years in prison for performing abortions, is the anti-abortion opposition's true agenda on display: ban abortion, jail doctors, and push this essential health care out of reach. | These are undoubtedly dark times in the fight for reproductive freedom as Alabama and states across the South and Midwest aggressively push to place such onerous restrictions on abortion so that the procedure is all but rendered inaccessib…
(2019-05-24). DHS Is Locking Immigrants in Solitary Confinement. aclu.org As ICE detention numbers reach record high, new reports are extremely troubling. | In 2012, I visited the federal supermax prison ADX Florence in Colorado and spoke with men living in solitary confinement. I listened closely to their stories of anguish, but I could not understand how they survived it. They told me of the horror of being trapped in a small room, without access to fresh air or sunlight, for at least 22 hours a day — alone, afraid, and not knowing when it would end. I learned that people in solitary confinement talk to the walls, to themselves, to no one — sometimes they stop talking alt…
(2019-05-24). When President Trump Rejects Congressional Subpoenas, He Rejects the Constitution and the Powers It Gave Congress. aclu.org What President Trump objects to so strenuously is nothing more than a system of accountability. | President Trump really, really doesn't like the fact that congressional committees are investigating him. On Wednesday, he was so mad that he stormed out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about critically needed infrastructure legislation after only three minutes, much like the proverbial boy who takes the football home if he loses a disputed call. | Trump's tantrum reflects the fact that the American people and their representatives are getting closer to seeing behind the curtain of secrecy that Trump has…
(2019-05-24). Daniel Ellsberg: Espionage Charges Against Assange Are Most Significant Attack on Press in Decades. democracynow.org 
As the Justice Department charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, we speak to Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. In 1971, he was charged with violating the Espionage Act for leaking a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications. At the time, Ellsberg faced over 100 years in prison. He tells Democracy Now!, "There hasn't actually been such a significant attack on the freedom of the press … since my case in 1971."
(2019-05-24). Jeremy Scahill: New Indictment of Assange Is Part of a Broader War on Journalism & Whistleblowers. democracynow.org 
The Espionage Act charges filed against Julian Assange mark just the latest attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize journalism and whistleblowers. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is back in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury. Two weeks ago, drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was arrested in Tennessee. We air a new video by The Intercept titled "Why You Should Care About Trump's War on Whistleblowers," featuring Jeremy Scahill. We also speak to Scahill and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg about how the corporate media has failed to stand up for Assange and others.
(2019-05-23). An Outright Reversal of Roe V. Wade Isn't All We Should Fear. aclu.org The anti-abortion movement can decimate the right to abortion even without getting it overturned. | Across the country, people are talking about abortion as legislatures in the South and Midwest mount a full-scale attack on our reproductive freedom. Naturally, people are stressed and angry. I am too. I've been fighting to protect abortion access for more than 25 years. | I'm worried about the future of Roe v. Wade — deeply worried. But I'm worried about more than that. I'm worried that the courts will gut the right to abortion and that there won't be an ou…
(2019-05-22). CONTACT YOUR HOUSE MEMBER TO "VOTE YEA" FOR H.R. 1500, THE "CONSUMERS FIRST ACT" TODAY! naacp.org The NAACP worked with friends, colleagues, the Obama Administration and coalition partners on Capitol Hill, to create The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It was crafted to help consumers navigate the often-complicated world of finances; to ensure that high-cost, unsustainable loans of …
(2019-05-22). We're Suing Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to Release the Records He's Hiding From Arizonans. aclu.org Prosecutorial transparency serves everyone. But in Maricopa County, Arizona, secrecy trumps transparency, and the people suffer for it. | Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery claims to be a big believer in data. As reported last year, Montgomery has blocked effective, commonsense criminal justice reform proposals from becoming law in part by criticizing them as having "no data to support" them, and as being "pet projects" "base…