(2019-08-11). I'm in Prison, and I Need More Than a Vote to Participate in Democracy. truthout.org | | I am well aware that, for years, activists have engaged in political and ideological disagreements about how far the new suffrage movement should go in fighting for the voting rights of people with felony convictions. I've been in prison for 25 years, following all the ups and downs. However, it is time to bring some hard-headed realism to bear on this longstanding contradiction in U.S. democracy. | Let's take a mental leap: Even if politicians eventually conclude that no one of voting age in…
(2019-08-11). Kashmir: 'The Pakistan left and Indian left are united in condemning this bill.'. greenleft.org.au 
Farooq Tariq, spokeperson for the Awami Workers' Party, Pakistan spoke to Green Left Weekly on August 6 about the situation in Kashmir: | "Yesterday was the darkest day for Kashmir's history, as the bifurcation of Kashmir was made a constitutional step by the Modi government, without any basis, just to promote Hindu chauvinism and the dua. This is an act against the Muslim minority. This was done without any consultation. | "There was no discussion at Kashmir Assembly. There has been a curfew imposed. Most of the activists are in jail. Schools are closed, universities are closed, Section 144 is imposed where…
(2019-08-11). UK PM Vows 10,000 New Prison Places, More Stop-and-Search. telesurenglish.net British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given support to the police's "stop-and-search powers" while also pledging to create "another 10,000 spaces" in U.K. prisons meaning new jails while also expanding the existing ones. | RELATED: | #NotMyPM Goes Viral as UK Reacts to Boris Johnson's Victory | "… I am announcing today that in all 43 police authorities in England and Wales, we are making clear that the police can and should make use of their stop-and-search powers," Johnson wrote in the…
(2019-08-10). Anti-prison campaigners successfully stopped work on a new 'mega-prison'. thecanary.co Anti-prison campaigners are fighting the creation of a new 'mega-prison' in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. And yesterday they stepped up their campaign by bringing work to a halt. | Disproportionate harm: | On 9 August, members of Community Action on Prison Expansion (CAPE) entered HMP Wellingborough's building site. They successfully occupied the site and said they shut operations down for six hours. In a press release, CAPE member Caren said the group was protestin…
(2019-08-10). Weekend Read: Neo-Nazi leader must pay more than $14 million in damages. splcenter.org 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.
(2019-08-10). Disablement, oppression, and political economy. mronline.org 
It is often claimed that disabled persons are invisible, disregarded by mainstream society, and irrelevant to the workings of society. | Source
(2019-08-09). The Mississippi raid: Trump's attack on immigrants and his Democratic enablers. wsws.org Hundreds of children have been traumatized by having their parents ripped away from them and, in many cases, shipped to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement prison 150 miles away.
(2019-08-09). Headlines for August 9, 2019. democracynow.org Mitch McConnell Says Senate Will Take Up Gun Bills, But Not Until September, President and First Lady Pose with Infant Orphaned in El Paso Massacre, Man with Guns and Body Armor Sparks Panic at Missouri Walmart, Home of Interracial Couple in Ohio Torched in Apparent Hate Crime, Over 100 Immigrant Hunger Strikers Tear-Gassed Inside ICE Jail, ICE Releases Some of the 680 Immigrants Swept Up in Massive Mississippi Raid, Mentally Ill Michigan Man with Diabetes Dies After Deportation to Iraq, ICE Agents, Lacking Warrant, Denied Entry to Brooklyn Homeless Shelter, Hundreds of Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protesters Occupy A…
(2019-08-09). John Pilger warns: "Do not forget Assange. Or you will lose him" wsws.org The well-known journalist outlined the WikiLeaks founder's deteriorating health, and the draconian conditions in which he is being held in a British prison.
(2019-08-09). Chelsea Manning faces $441,000 in fines and another year in jail for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks. wsws.org A federal judge rejected Manning's motion to reconsider daily fines, which will bankrupt her as she refuses to testify before a grand jury impaneled to bring frame-up charges against WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange.
(2019-08-09). A Federal Court Sounds the Alarm on the Privacy Harms of Face Recognition Technology. aclu.org The court ruled that a lawsuit alleging that Facebook is violating Illinois' biometric privacy law can proceed | On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first appellate court in the nation to directly address the privacy harms posed by face recognition technology. The decision is a significant advance in the fight against the threats of face surveillance, sounding the alarm on the potential for this technology to seriously violate people's privacy. | In Patel v. Facebook, a group of Facebook users from Illin…
(2019-08-09). Mass-Shootings as Expressions of U.S. Racism. counterpunch.org Nineteenth century U.S. racism, resting in part on biblical myth (the curse of Ham) and Social Darwinist notions of racial hierarchies, focused on the defense of slavery and suppression of uppity blacks. Its cruelest, most terrorist tool was the lynching. Twenty-first century racism rests on the myth of a lost golden era of white ("White") More
(2019-08-09). We have Until Aug 13 to Oppose Trump's Anti-Trans Health Care Plan. aclu.org 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 an…
(2019-08-09). Justice for David Dungay Jnr campaign hits Kempsey. greenleft.org.au 
Relatives and supporters of David Dungay Jnr took over the town of Kempsey, in north coast New South Wales, to speak out against a corrective services system that claimed the life of the 26-year-old Dunghutti man. | Dungay, who was from Kempsey, died while in police custody in 2015 after being pinned down by prison officers and injected with strong sedatives for refusing to stop eating biscuits. He was due to be released three weeks later. | The protest was co-ordinated by David's mother, Leetona, his family and the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA). It was part of a series of efforts to shed light on…
(2019-08-09). One rule for some, jail for the rest. greenleft.org.au 
You could be forgiven for thinking theft is suddenly socially acceptable given recent events — provided you act remorsefully after being caught. However, that acceptance only extends so far. | The Fair Work Ombudsman fined celebrity chef George Calombaris $200,000 for underpaying staff $7.8 million in wages. | In 2017 it was estimated that Calombaris's wealth sat at $4.5 million, making him the sixth-richest chef in Australia at the time. | Most of the media focused on a fragile, contrite Calombaris talking about how much he loved his staff. Very little attention was paid to the employees who had their wage…
(2019-08-08). Why Do We Hate Immigrants? thenation.com Why Do We Hate Immigrants?
(2019-08-08). Headlines for August 8, 2019. democracynow.org U.N. Scientists Warn Rapid Global Warming Threatens Food Supply, 680 Mississippi Poultry Workers Arrested in Massive Immigration Raid, ICE Raids Targeted Company Whose Workers Won Discrimination Lawsuit, Trump Visits Dayton and El Paso, Sites of Weekend Mass Shootings, El Paso Protesters Link Trump's Racist Rhetoric to Gunman's Manifesto, Trump Supporter with Loaded Pistol, Knife Arrested Outside El Paso Immigrant Center, Trump Suggests Antifa Shares Equal Blame for Deadly Violence, Democratic Presidential Candidates Say Trump Enables White Supremacists, SPLC: State Department Employee Secretly Worked as White Na…
(2019-08-08). Denver's City Council, Led by Democratic Socialist, Stuns For-Profit Prison Operators by Nuking Contracts. theintercept.com It wasn't about pulling money from the halfway houses but from "organizations that put kids in cages, run concentration camps," said one council member.
(2019-08-08). The hidden refugee 'hell' in Melbourne. greenleft.org.au 
Located in the suburb of Broadmeadows, Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) has been described as a "hidden hell for refugees". | Addressing a forum organised by the Refugee Action Collective (RAC) on August 5 by video message, Iraqi refugee Ali Yousuf, who was previously in MITA and is now in an Adelaide detention centre, said MITA guards regularly provoke people, seeking any reaction as an excuse to attack them. Yousuf suffered a broken hand when assaulted by a guard. | Yousuf said that detention is a waste of money that could be spent on helping the sick and people with disabilities. | He said th…
(2019-08-07). Headlines for August 7, 2019. democracynow.org Dems and Grieving Communities Voice Resistance to Trump Visits to El Paso and Dayton, FBI Investigating Gilroy Mass Shooting as Domestic Terror, Dems Call on Congressional Leaders to Pass Bills Addressing White Supremacy, Civil Rights Groups Rally Against Gun Violence and White Supremacy at White House, Walmart Workers Plan Walkout to Protest Gun Sales, Toni Morrison, Visionary Author and Nobel Laureate, Dies at 88, Nigerian Journalist and Political Activist Omoyele Sowore Arrested After Calling for Revolution, U.S Warns Turkey Against Syria Attacking Kurdish Forces in Syria, 25% of World's Population Under "Extr…
(2019-08-07). UN Security Council 'utterly failed' Syrian detainees; a victim voices her plea to 'end impunity and stop this horror'. un.org The Security Council has "utterly failed Syrian detainees and their families", Amina Khoulani, Co-founder of Families for Freedom, told the Security Council on Wednesday, during a meeting focussed on those who have been jailed or gone missing across Syria, during years of brutal conflict.
(2019-08-06). All States have 'primary responsibility' to protect against hate attacks. un.org The UN's top rights official has added her voice to condemnation of the weekend mass-shootings in the cities of El Paso and Dayton, insisting on Tuesday that "not just the US, but all States" should do more to stop discrimination.
(2019-08-05). New Civil Rights Memorial to be installed on 54th anniversary of Voting Rights Act. splcenter.org Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18, 1965.
(2019-08-03). 'You don't have any rights': CBP agents interrogate US citizen and seize his phone after Venezuela solidarity trip. thegrayzone.com The detention of a US citizen returning from Venezuela was an apparent extension of the US government's efforts to punish…
(2019-08-02). "You're Gonna Kill Me": Bodycam Video Shows Dallas Officers Mocking Man as He Died Pinned to Ground. democracynow.org 
In August 2016, 32-year-old Tony Timpa called 911 to ask for help. Timpa had schizophrenia and depression, and was off his medication for schizophrenia. Timpa told the Dallas dispatcher that he was scared. The police responded, and within 20 minutes Timpa was dead. For the past three years, the city of Dallas has fought efforts to release police bodycam footage showing what happened, but the video was finally released this week after a prolonged legal battle. The shocking video contains disturbing footage, with officers arriving on the scene where Timpa was already handcuffed by a private security guard. In the v…
(2019-08-01). Inside the Hive Mind. progressive.org After several years submerged in violent prison racism, I became a fascist.
(2019-07-31). Los Angeles demands justice for Anthony Vargas — #JailKillerCops! liberationnews.org 
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.
(2019-07-31). Oklahoma Victims Compensation Program Disproportionately Denies Funds for Black Victims. aclu.org 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…
(2019-07-29). Supreme Court Order No 'Big Victory' For Trump's Border Wall. The Fight Continues. aclu.org 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…
(2019-07-26). Family of Herbert Lee to visit Civil Rights Memorial that honors his sacrifice. splcenter.org Clifton Franklin was a high school football running back who — at 16 — wanted to play in a big game between Louisiana rivals. His mother, however, had other plans.
(2019-07-26). When Kicking Around an Orange Gets You On Probation. aclu.org 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,…
(2019-07-25). Hawaiians are Taking to the Streets and Exercising their First Amendment Rights. aclu.org We're ensuring the right to protest and cultural access at the world's tallest mountain. | Driving up Daniel K. Inouye Highway on the Big Island of Hawai'i at 4: 30 in the morning is a sight few will forget: a silent, pitch-black road, with black lava and sparse trees. The dark air is a chilly 50 degrees. In our backpacks are packaged tuna, crackers, water, walkie talkies, and a voice recorder. However, the most important items are without a doubt our blue ACLU of Hawai'i legal observer vests and first aid kit, which is stocked with goods like antacid (to rinse our eyes of pepper spray) and earbuds. Sitting in the…
(2019-07-25). This County Criminalized Students for Bad Grades — Until Now. aclu.org 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…
(2019-07-25). SPLC: Resuming barbaric practice of federal executions serves no useful purpose. splcenter.org The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it plans to resume the executions of people who are awaiting the death penalty in federal prisons, ending nearly two decades in which the federal government had not imposed capital punishment.
(2019-07-24). Trans People Led the Fight Against HB2 in North Carolina. And We're Winning. aclu.org Transgender people in North Carolina cannot be banned from facilities based on their gender under H.B. 2 replacement law. | It's been more than three years since North Carolina lawmakers passed House Bill 2, the hateful North Carolina law that compromised the ability of transgender people like me to safely navigate our daily lives. | As the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit the ACLU and Lambda Legal filed to stop this measure, I've spent the last three years fighting alongside LGBTQ North Carolinians and others to mitigate the harm caused by H.B. 2…
(2019-07-19). BDS Movement welcomes U.S. Congress resolution affirming right to boycott. bdsmovement.net 
BDS Movement welcomes U.S. Congress resolution affirming right to boycott: UpdateIn a historic move, Congress members Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and US civil rights veteran John Lewis introduce resolution affirming the right to boycott. | Right To BoycottJuly 19, 2019 | By: | | Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
(2019-06-21). Brian Mier on Brazilian Political Scandal. fair.org 
The Brazilian anti-corruption crusade, called Car Wash or Lava Jato, that put popular ex-president Lula da Silva in prison and paved the way for fascist president Jair Bolsanaro—all while being celebrated in the US corporate press—was actually, as critics contended, less interested in corruption than in keeping Lula's Workers Party out of power.
