(2019-11-18). "Narco country": AMLO's battle for Mexico's north. peoplesworld.org 
In this Feb. 22, 2014 file photo, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture in the beach resort town of Mazatlan, Mexico. | Eduardo Verdugo / AP | With "El Chapo" now in prison in the U.S., the head of the Sinaloa rattlesnake has been severed, but the body remains. A volatile power vacuum for control of prime narcotics real estate has opened up, a vacuum that has been filled by a cast of ruthless characters including Guzmán's sons—"Los Chapitos"—jostling for position with long-serving former lieutenants. | In 2017,…
(2019-11-18). Comcast Willing to Gut Civil Rights Law to Stop Byron Allen Lawsuit. therealnews.com 
Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African-American Owned Media might seem like a simple David and Goliath story of a Black entrepreneur fighting white-owned corporate power. But the implications of the pending SCOTUS ruling reach further than many realize.
(2019-11-18). Students Told They Would Be Better Off 'If They Had Jesus in Their Life'. aclu.org 
The ACLU and the ACLU of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the Smith County School System for violating the separation of church and state on Monday. According to the lawsuit, four students who are atheists have had to contend with school officials promoting Christianity through official prayers, Bible distributions, religious posters, and even a giant cross painted in one of the school's athletic facilities. | We asked our three high school clients in this case — Harleigh, | Leyna and Pyper — to tell us about their e…
(2019-11-18). Don't Suppress Votes of New Citizens. progressive.org A new kind of voter suppression is being perpetrated by the federal government and flying largely under the radar: a multi-faceted effort to prevent legal immigrants from becoming citizens in time to vote.
(2019-11-18). An Arizona Sheriff Deputy's Abuse of a Quadruple Amputee Teen Highlights a Policing Culture That Must Change. aclu.org Inhumane. Cruel. Abusive. What other words could possibly describe a Pima County, Arizona Sheriff Deputy placing a 15-year-old quadruple amputee who posed no threat into a headlock and then pinning him to the ground at a group home? What if the Deputy then screamed at another teenager videotaping the abuse and yelled at him repeatedly "shut the hell up" and, "Am I your bitch?" before slamming the teenager's head into the wall while handcuffed? | This is not another example…
(2019-11-18). Bloomberg Apologizes for 'Stop-and-Frisk' Police Practice. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — Michael Bloomberg on Sunday apologized for his longstanding support of the controversial "stop-and-frisk" police strategy ahead of a potential Democratic presidential run, a practice that he embraced as New York's mayor and continued to defend despite its disproportionate impact on people of color. | Addressing a black church in Brooklyn, Bloomberg said he was "sorry" and acknowledged it often led to the detention of blacks and Latinos. | "I can't change history," Bloomberg told the congregation. "However today, I want you to know that I realize back then I was wrong." | Bloomberg's reversal is…
(2019-11-18). Federal court strips citizenship from US-born woman held in Syrian detention camp. wsws.org Handing a victory to the far-right campaign to undermine the Fourteenth Amendment, a federal judge found that Hoda Muthana is not a citizen despite the fact that the State Department twice issued a passport listing her nationality as "United States of America."
(2019-11-18). Soldiers Abduct A Palestinian Merchant At Erez Terminal. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Sunday at night, a Palestinian merchant while trying to cross the Erez Terminal with the besieged Gaza Strip. Media sources in Gaza said the merchant, identified as Adel Mohammad Hussein, headed to Erez and was interrogated for some hours before he was taken prisoner. They added …
(2019-11-18). Baby Shark Coup. dissidentvoice.org I also write from time to time, and if any sweet breath fills my soul, it's the light of memory … Oh the memory in prison! How it gets here and falls upon the heart, which it oils with melancholy already so decomposed … In short, I don't know what these people will do. We …
(2019-11-18). Seriously Ailing Detainee Moved From Hospital To Ramla Prison Clinic. imemc.org Despite his serious medical condition, the Israeli authorities moved Palestinian political prisoner, Sami Abu Diak, 36, from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center to the clinic in Ramla prison, which lacks specialists and adequate medical supplies. The Palestinian Detainees Committee has reported that the detainee was rushed to the hospital two days …
(2019-11-18). With His Execution Blocked, Rodney Reed Has a Chance to Prove Innocence. truthout.org In a stunning decision handed down Friday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Rodney Reed, an African-American death row prisoner who was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for a murder he says he did not commit. The appeals court ordered a review of the case to examine claims of prosecutorial misconduct. Millions of people around the country had joined Reed's cause in recent weeks amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stit…
(2019-11-18). Anti-terror measures against youngsters' online posts 'linked to spike in child detention globally'. un.org More than 5.4 million children are detained around the world, rights experts said on Monday, highlighting "aggressive" State counterterrorism measures for the spike in youngsters held for alleged links with armed conflict or national security concerns based on their social media posts.
(2019-11-18). After Texas Court Blocks Execution, Rodney Reed Has a Chance to Prove His Innocence in 1996 Murder. democracynow.org 
In a stunning decision handed down Friday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Rodney Reed, an African-American death row prisoner who was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for a murder he says he did not commit. The appeals court ordered a review of the case to examine claims of prosecutorial misconduct. Millions of people around the country had joined Reed's cause in recent weeks amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. In 1998, an all-white jury sentenced Reed to die for Stites's murder after his DNA…
(2019-11-17). Protesters demand end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. fightbacknews.org NY, New York – On the evening of November 15, over 150 people gathered on 42nd and Broadway to demand that Israel, backed by the United States government, stop the murder and occupation of Palestinians. | The emergency rally was called by several different organizations in New York City in response to Israel murdering 34 people, including eight children in Gaza. The organizations were Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, Labor for Palestine, Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, NY4Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, American Muslims for Palesti…
(2019-11-17). Russia to Return Ukraine Captured Naval Ships. telesurenglish.net Russia will return three captured naval ships to Ukraine Monday and has already moved them to a handover location agreed with Kiev, Russian news agencies cited Crimea's border guard service Sunday. | RELATED: | Russia, Ukraine Swap Prisoners In First Step To Settle Conflict | "In accordance with agreements concluded with the Ukrainian side, three Ukrainian ships … are being towed from the port of Kerch to an approved transfer point," border officials with the Russian secret s…
(2019-11-17). Democrats Not Headed Too Far Left, Says Ocasio-Cortez, 'We Are Bringing the Party Home'. commondreams.org "I want to be the party of the New Deal again," says the progressive congresswoman from New York. "The party of the Civil Rights Act, the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/aoc_fdr_bernie_democratic_party.jpg …
(2019-11-16). UN film festival encourages young people to promote peace, dialogue and empathy. un.org Demonstrating empathy, humour and intelligence, a group of young film-makers have been recognized for their short videos, which tackle the weighty issues of discrimination, intolerance and misogyny in a creative and entertaining way, at a ceremony held at UN Headquarters.
(2019-11-15). The Coup That Ousted Bolivia's Evo Morales Is Another Setback for Latin American Socialism. theintercept.com 
A socialist president from Bolivia is sent into exile as another member of the Latin American left is freed from prison in Brazil.
(2019-11-15). The Size of Your Wallet Should Never Determine Your Freedom. aclu.org Lea Allison is a 30-year-old Alamance County | resident and mother to a 6-year-old daughter. She has been living with | relatives because she cannot afford to live on her own, but was about to start | a new job that she hoped would provide her and her daughter with financial | stability. | Lea's plans came to an abrupt halt when she was arrested and locked in an Alamance County, North Carolina jail on a $3,500 bond. Although she has not been found guilty of a crime, she will remain behind bars because she cannot afford to pay for her freedom. Instead of starting her new job, Lea is sitting in the Alamance Coun…
(2019-11-15). Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California. aclu.org This is a cross-post from the ACLU of Northern California. | There is a story we tell ourselves about being American. Much of it is a lie. Two dates that students throughout the country are required to memorize to inform an American identity are 1492, when Columbus supposedly "discovered" America, and 1776, when the United States claimed sovereignty from England and through the Declaration of Independence declared: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." If we're honest, we'll admit that the "all men" in that catchphrase didn't include African Americans, Native Americans, and…
(2019-11-15). Whistleblowers Are Public Servants. We Must Protect Them. aclu.org President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine spoke on the phone. The president insists the call was " perfect." Others are concerned that, during the call, the president intimated he would withhold financial aid appropriated to Ukraine unless the Ukrainian president agreed to investigate former-Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival of the president. | How do we even know about any of this? A…
(2019-11-15). "This Is My Home": Meet the Lead Plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case to Save DACA. democracynow.org 
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from three lawsuits demanding the Trump administration preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The Obama-era program has granted protection from deportation and a work permit to at least 700,000 undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. The court's conservative majority appeared poised to side with President Trump in ending the program, while some of the court's liberal justices seemed skeptical of Trump's efforts. In September 2017, the Trump administration announced it planned to terminate DACA, arguing the program…
(2019-11-15). Justice for Rodney Reed: Millions Urge Texas to Halt Execution Amid New Evidence of His Innocence. democracynow.org 
The Supreme Court considers Friday whether to take up the case of Rodney Reed, an African-American death row prisoner in Texas who is scheduled to be executed in less than a week for a murder he says he did not commit. On Thursday, Reed's family braved the cold to camp outside the Supreme Court for a vigil asking the justices to help halt the execution. Millions of people around the country have joined their cause in recent weeks amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. In 1998, an all-white jury sentenced Reed to die for Stites's…
(2019-11-15). Disruptive protests don't justify police violence. greenleft.org.au 
civil rights Sue BoltonIssue 1245 Australia police MelbourneNovember 15, 2019It is unusual for the Police Union or Victoria Police chiefs to condemn the actions of any officer. But they have been forced to crit…
(2019-11-14). New Senate Bill Would Curtail ICE's "Unnecessary Overuse of Solitary Confinement" theintercept.com A group of prominent U.S. senators introduced legislation Thursday that would dramatically curtail the use of solitary confinement inside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. | The bill, sponsored by Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, takes aim at a range of practices identified in Solitary Voices, an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Intercept investigation into the heavy use of solitary confinement by ICE. | Press releases from …
(2019-11-14). Trump Administration Forgoes Petition to Supreme Court in Jane Doe Case. aclu.org For more | than two years, the ACLU has been fighting a Trump administration policy that | prevents unaccompanied immigrant minors in federal care from accessing | abortion. We had previously won in the lower court, securing a preliminary block on | the policy. And last week, the Trump administration chose not to challenge that | ruling and ask the Supreme Court to review the case—a real victory in our fight | for justice for the Janes. | We first filed | the case in Octobe…
(2019-11-14). Three Common Privacy Misconceptions That Companies Love. aclu.org A significant number of Americans hold significant misconceptions about their privacy, according to opinion research — misconceptions that privacy-invading companies love. That's according to research on American understandings of privacy carried out over the past couple decades by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, lead by Prof. Joseph Turow, whom I recently heard give a talk summarizing these studies. | Misconceptio…
(2019-11-14). Human rights experts call for 'paradigm shift' on arbitrary detention in Qatar. un.org A group of independent UN human rights experts is calling for a "paradigm shift" in Qatar to protect people in the Gulf State from arbitrary detention.
(2019-11-14). A Lesson for the Palestinian Leadership: Real Reasons Behind Israel's Arrest and Release of Labadi, Mi'ri. dissidentvoice.org The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi'ri from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of hardships at the hands …
(2019-11-13). The Real Reasons Behind Israel's Arrest of Two Jordanian Nationals. mintpressnews.com 
The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi'ri from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of hardships at the hands of their Israeli jailers. | Despite the jubilant return of the two prisoners, celebrated in Jordan, Palestine and throughout the Arab world, several compelling questions remain unanswered: why were they held in the first place? Why were they released and what ca…
(2019-11-13). Federal Court Rules That Border Officers Can't Arbitrarily Search Our Electronic Devices. aclu.org 
In a major victory for privacy rights, a federal court | has held that the federal government's suspicionless searches of smartphones, laptops, | and other electronic devices at airports or other U.S. ports of entry are | unconstitutional. The ruling in our | case is a recognition that the Constitution protects us even at the border, | and that traveling to or from the United States doesn't mean we give the g…
(2019-11-13). Neo-Nazi Group NSM Faces New Upheaval After James Hart Stern's Death. splcenter.org The leadership of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) has been thrown into chaos again following the death of self-described civil rights activist James Hart Stern.
(2019-11-13). Oklahomans Just Made History — and They Can Do it Again. aclu.org Last | week in Oklahoma, the largest single-day mass | commutation of prison sentences in U.S. history took place. When all is said and | done, nearly 600 people will be released from prison. This may seem like a | surprise coming from a state that's also home to the highest per-capita | incarceration rate in the nation. But these commutations follow the | will of the people: 58 percent of Oklahomans made clear at th…
(2019-11-12). The Edge of Democracy: Lula Is Freed in Brazil in Victory for Movement to Resist Bolsonaro. democracynow.org 
In Brazil, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was freed from prison Friday after 580 days behind bars. Lula's surprise release came after the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled to end the mandatory imprisonment of people convicted of crimes who are appealing their cases. He was serving a 12-year sentence over a disputed corruption and money laundering conviction handed down by conservative Judge Sérgio Moro, an ally of current far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and has long maintained his innocence. Lula has vowed to challenge Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections. At the time of his imprisonment in April…
(2019-11-12). Headlines for November 12, 2019. democracynow.org Longtime Bolivian President Evo Morales Takes Asylum in Mexico, Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on DACA Cases, Televised Impeachment Hearings to Start Tomorrow, Former MA Gov. Deval Patrick May Jump Into 2020 Race, NY Republican Congressman Peter King Retires, Donald Trump Jr. Heckled Off Stage by His Own Supporters, EPA to Restrict Scientific Research Used to Write Public Health Regulations, Israeli Military Kills Palestinian Commander in Targeted Assassination in Gaza, Afghan Government & Taliban Agree on Prisoner Exchange, Chilean Government Bows to Protests & Agrees to Rewrite Constitution, 260 Arrested in…
(2019-11-12). Black deaths in the custody of the settler colonial state must end. greenleft.org.au 
Indigenous rights Paul GregoireIssue 1245 AustraliaNovember 12, 2019Key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody assert that in dealing with First Nations peoples, the criminal justice system should apply both arrest and imprisonment as sanctions of "last resort". Sparked by suspicious deaths like t…
(2019-11-11). Headlines for November 11, 2019. democracynow.org Longtime Bolivian President Evo Morales Resigns, Brazilian Former President Lula Freed from Prison, Haley Said Kelly and Tillerson Told Her to Work Against Trump, Syria: 8 Killed in Bombing in Tel Abyad, Iraq: Death Toll in Anti-Government Protests Rise to 319, Hong Kong: Police Shoot Student Protester at Close Range | , Cyclone Kills 20 in Bangladesh & India; Wildfires Rage in Australia | , Germans Mark 30th Anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall | , Hundreds Protest Construction of Trump's Border Wall in Sonoran Desert | , Kshama Sawant Declares Victory in Seattle City Council Race | , Chesa Boudin Wins San Francis…
(2019-11-10). Brazil's Ex-President Lula Freed, Promises to Continue Fight for Justice. therealnews.com 
After spending 19 months in jail on a 12-year prison sentence, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that Lula had to be freed until his appeals are exhausted. Supporters greeted him enthusiastically and Lula promised to fight the unjust case against him and for social justice in Brazil.
(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). After a hard-won sentence reduction, Huntsville man's court debt is another obstacle to freedom. splcenter.org Fresh out of prison after nearly 23 years, Archie "Jody" Hamlett appeared at his mother's door in Huntsville, Ala., one fall day in 2017.
(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.
(2019-11-02). 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.