(2019-11-25). Concerns of Medical Doctors About the Plight of Mr. Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca More than 60 eminent medical doctors have issued an open letter calling for urgent action to protect the life of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. | The doctors warn there may be serious consequences if Mr Assange is not moved …
(2019-11-24). Civil Rights Groups Demand Stephen Miller's Removal As Trump's Senior Advisor. indybay.org On November 18, 2019, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and its affiliates sent a letter to the abomination in the White House known as President Donald J. Trump, demanding the removal of Trump's senior advisor Stephen Miller!
(2019-11-23). Interviews with Alice Springs workers and youth about public meeting to defend Assange and Manning. wsws.org Popular support in Alice Springs for imprisoned journalist Julian Assange is matched by a deep distrust of government authorities and the major parliamentary parties.
(2019-11-23). GM bribery lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler fueling growing outrage among autoworkers over UAW corruption. wsws.org The lawsuit is part of a ruthless struggle over market share in the auto industry, under conditions of an accelerating global downturn and an escalation of the attack on autoworkers.
(2019-11-23). Documents: Giuliani, Pompeo Had Contacts Before Yovanovitch Ouster. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — Newly released documents show Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in contact with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the months before the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was abruptly recalled. | The State Department released the documents Friday to the group American Oversight in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. They show that Pompeo talked with Giuliani on March 26 and March 29. | Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, said the documents reveal "a clear paper trail from Rudy Giuliani to the Oval Office to Secretary Pompeo to facilitate Giuliani's smear…
(2019-11-23). Over 1200 rally in Chicago at relaunch of National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – More than a 1200 joined together November 22, at the hall of the Chicago Teachers Union, to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The newly refounded Alliance will center its efforts on building the fight against police crimes and for community control of the police, and it will campaign for the release of political prisoners and the wrongfully convicted. | Longtime leaders of the Black liberation movement, Angela Davis and Frank Chapman, along with elected officials, trade unionists, and other progressive activists addressed the packed rally that opened the confere…
(2019-11-23). Over 1200 rally in Chicago at relaunch of National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – More than a 1200 joined together November 22, at the hall of the Chicago Teachers Union, to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The newly refounded Alliance will center its efforts on building the fight against police crimes and for community control of the police, and it will campaign for the release of political prisoners and the wrongfully convicted. | Longtime leaders of the Black liberation movement, Angela Davis and Frank Chapman, along with elected officials, trade unionists, and other progressive activists addressed the packed rally that opened the confere…
(2019-11-23). Jeremy Corbyn offers a vision of 'hope' and builds support for a 'red Christmas'. thecanary.co Jeremy Corbyn has offered students a vision for "hope" as he unveiled a youth manifesto pledging £1 billion investment and votes at 16. | The Labour leader received huge applause when he told supporters at Loughborough University on Saturday of plans to end pay "discrimination" and give a £10 minimum wage to all. | And to energise his campaign further, he encouraged the crowd to hit the streets campaigning ahead of the election on 12 December in order to bring a "red Christmas". | Addressing the packed student union club lined with red neon lights, he said: This election is all about the future and hop…
(2019-11-23). Brazil's Lula Vows to Make Life 'Hell' for Bolsonaro Government. truthdig.com The ex-president, out of jail for charges he disputes, says at Workers' Party event he is more willing than ever to fight for the country.
(2019-11-23). 'We're in America': Latin American group up in arms after Texas teacher tells student to 'speak English' in class. rt.com 
A substitute teacher temping at a school in a Texas border town has come under fire for telling a Hispanic student to "speak English," prompting a heated response from a civil rights group calling for the teacher's dismissal. | A video of the incident posted online by a local news outlet on Thursday shows the teacher — then subbing at the predominantly Latino Socorro High School, located just a few miles from the border with Mexico — arguing with a student about his phone. | "Speak English, we're in America. Give me your phone," the teacher, who has not been named in press reports, is heard saying in…
(2019-11-22). Meet the Tucson 12: Under Trump, Protesters Are Being Hit With Felony Riot Charges. theintercept.com 
Illustration: Hanna Barczyk for The Intercept | On the night of August 14, a small group of around 20 Tucson, Arizona-based activists and community members stood outside the Pima County Adult Detention Complex, making noise. They sang, they chanted, they banged drums and pans loud enough to reach the ears of those caged behind the facility's beige concrete walls. Standing on a sidewalk, some lit small, handheld fireworks; others held up a large banner bearing the famed prison abolitionist refrain, "Fire to the prisons." The message to those inside, as with most every noise demonstration held outside a prison:…
(2019-11-22). Finding Peace Amid the New Opium Wars. counterpunch.org 
It was evening and we were in a windowless room in a Massachusetts jail. We had just finished a class — on job interview skills — and, with only a few minutes remaining, the women began voicing their shared fear. Upon their release, would someone really hire them? Beneath that concern lurked another one: Would More
(2019-11-22). David Harris, Presente! counterpunch.org David Harris is a hero, and he is one of my heroes. While this may sound maudlin to some, it was David Harris who was there at the beginning of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War and who preceded that era with his work in the civil rights movement in the US South. David Harris More
(2019-11-22). GM lawsuit: UAW engaged in criminal conspiracy with FCA to cut labor costs. wsws.org The extraordinary lawsuit filed by General Motors peels back the curtain on the "purchase" of the United Auto Workers by Fiat Chrysler and the other automakers.
(2019-11-22). JFK: What the CIA Hides. counterpunch.org My own JFK questions involve George Joannides, a decorated undercover officer who served as branch chief in the Miami station in 1963. He ran psychological warfare operations against Cuba. In 2003, I sued the CIA for Joannides' files. The lawsuit ended 15 years later in July 2018, when Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in his last opinion before ascending to the Supreme Court, tossed my case. Kavanaugh declared the agency deserved "deference upon deference" in its handling of Freedom of Information Act requests about JFK files. More
(2019-11-22). Trump overrides Navy's bid to evict war criminal from SEALS. wsws.org This was the fourth intervention by the US president in the case of Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL charged with shooting civilians and murdering a prisoner during the 2017 siege of Mosul.
(2019-11-22). Lula Defends PT's Candidacies for 2020 Municipal Elections. telesurenglish.net Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday promoted the candidates representing the Workers' Party (PT) of Brazil, of which he is a founder, ahead of the 2020 municipal elections, as well as a few dissenters. | RELATED: | Lula As Opposition To Bolsonaro, Right Wants Him Back In Jail | "Nobody is going to defend the PT like the PT itself," Lula stated in Sao Paulo, a day before the beginning of the seventh congress of the political party, which will close on Nove…
(2019-11-22). Bolivia: Ilegitimate Government Attempts to Sue Evo Morales. telesurenglish.net The illegitimate government of Bolivia introduced a criminal lawsuit against President Evo Morales, exiled in Mexico, for alleged sedition, terrorism and three other crimes. | RELATED: | Bolivia: Coup-Born Government Takes TeleSUR Spanish Off The Air | The accusation was filed by Arturo Murillo, appointed as Interior Minister by the coup-installed government. It is based on the recording of an alleged telephone conversation between Morales and a leader of the Tropic of Cochabam…
(2019-11-22). "In Defense of Julian Assange": Why WikiLeaks Founder's Case Threatens Press Freedom. democracynow.org 
This week Swedish prosecutors dropped an investigation into sexual assault allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, stemming from 2010. Assange, who has always denied the allegations, took refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden on the charges. British authorities dragged him out of the Ecuadorian embassy in April and he has since been jailed in London's Belmarsh prison on charges related to skipping of bail in 2012, when he first entered the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over the now-dropped sexual assault charges. The United States…
(2019-11-22). U.N. Rapporteur: Julian Assange Has Faced Psychological Torture; He Should Not Be Extradited to U.S. democracynow.org 
This week Swedish prosecutors dropped an investigation into sexual assault allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, stemming from 2010. Assange, who has always denied the allegations, took refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden on the charges. British authorities dragged him out of the Ecuadorian embassy in April and he has since been jailed in London's Belmarsh prison on charges related to skipping of bail in 2012, when he first entered the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over the now-dropped sexual assault charges. The United States…
(2019-11-21). Congress Just Temporarily Extended the Government's Spying Powers. aclu.org Congress today temporarily extended the NSA's spying powers that time and again have been used to violate our rights. Disturbingly, this three-month extension was snuck into a broader funding bill, forcing members of Congress to choose between extending this program and causing a government shutdown. The extension is an unnecessary lifeline to spying programs that are plagued with compliance violations, have no proven intelligence value, and violate our rights. | Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the spying | powers extended, the government believes it has the right to collect our | personal inform…
(2019-11-21). Australian Women Win Vaginal Mesh Landmark Class Action. telesurenglish.net More than 1,350 women who have suffered debilitating side effects of pelvic mesh implants won a landmark class-action lawsuit against multinational giant Johnson & Johnson on Thursday in Sydney. | RELATED: | Australia's Premier to Ban Climate Boycotts | The case, which began in 2012, has been described by the prosecution as the biggest class action concerning women's health in Australia's history. | The Federal Court of Australia held the behavior of the American mul…
(2019-11-21). If Prison Conditions Don't Improve, 'It Will Be Our Blood Running Through the Water'. thenation.com If Prison Conditions Don't Improve, 'It Will Be Our Blood Running Through the Water'
(2019-11-21). Thursday's Daily Brief: Deadly Syria violence, risks of working at sea, poor health in jail, concern over ISIL suspect, and her child. news.un.org A recap of Thursday's stories in brief: Syria's violence continues to strike children; governments must do more for human rights in business; poor health in Europe's prisons; rights experts' concern over Irish ISIL bride and her child in Turkey; Fishing workers face huge risks at sea.
(2019-11-21). Evo Denounces Set Up to Prosecute Him Internationally. telesurenglish.net President Evo Morales denounced the coup regime in Bolivia, headed by Jeanine Añez, for trying to create a set up with the intention of creating an international trial to discredit him, reported Prensa Latina. | RELATED: | Bolivia: Police Attack Protesters Carrying Coffins of Killed | In a tweet from his asylum in Mexico, the leader of Movement to Socialism said that they will appeal against judicial manipulation to imprison anti-imperialist, leftist and progressive figures, somet…
(2019-11-21). 'Humiliation and extreme distress': Jussie Smollett sues Chicago after faking hate crime. rt.com 
Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett is suing the city of Chicago for malicious prosecution, saying he was subjected to "humiliation and extreme distress" after having falsely claimed to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. | In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, lawyers for the 'Empire' actor also said that the Chicago police department "obtained false, self-serving and unreliable statements" from the Osundairo brothers — the two men Smollett paid to help with the hoax hate crime, who claim that the entire incident had been orchestrated by the actor. | Smollett's attorneys say that investigators ignored…
(2019-11-21). Inside Australia's refugee prison camp in PNG. greenleft.org.au 
refugee rights Chris SleeIssue 1246 Australia MelbourneNovember 21, 2019The Refugee Action Collective (RAC) Victoria held a forum on November 18 to discuss the situation facing asylum seekers in Bomana Immigration Centre, a detention centre attached to Bomana prison in…
(2019-11-21). Assange's case 'a threat to free speech worldwide'. greenleft.org.au 
civil liberties Jim McIlroyIssue 1246 Australia Julian Assange SydneyNovember 21, 2019Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer for imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, believes the United States' applicatio…
(2019-11-21). Media continues its smear campaign against Lula. greenleft.org.au 
media lies Brian MierIssue 1246 Brazil stitch upNovember 21, 2019The Brazilian Supreme Court reversed a 2018 ruling on November 7, upholding the principle of innocent until proven guilty in the 1988 Constitution and declaring it illegal to jail defendants before their appeals' proces…
(2019-11-20). The U.S. Government Tracked, Detained, and Interrogated Journalists. We're Suing on Their Behalf. aclu.org 
As part of a coordinated effort that undermined the freedom of the press, the U.S. government tracked, detained, and interrogated journalists who were reporting on conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, we're suing on their behalf to defend their First Amendment rights. | Together with the New York Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, we're representing five photojournalists who traveled to Mexico in late 2018 and early 2019 to document the experiences of people traveli…
(2019-11-19). Headlines for November 19, 2019. democracynow.org U.S. Claims Israeli Settlements Are Not Illegal Under International Law, Four Witnesses Slated to Testify in Public Impeachment Hearings, U.N. Condemns U.S. for World's Highest Rate of Children in Detention, Political Crisis in Bolivia Continues After Military Pressure Ousts Evo Morales, American Professor Freed in Prisoner Swap in Afghanistan, 1,000 Students Arrested in Police Siege of Hong Kong University, Coal Mine Blast in China Kills 15; Pipeline Explosion in Bangladesh Kills 7, Deforestation of Brazilian Amazon Skyrocketed Since Bolsonaro's Election, Syracuse Suspends All Fraternity Activities After String…
(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). 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). 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…
(2019-11-15). 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…
(2019-11-14). 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…
(2019-11-13). 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.
(2019-11-07). 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.
(2019-11-01). 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.