What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Do?
Keith McHenry | indybay.org | 2020-01-19
Chief Andy Mills is pushing a series of cruel civil rights violations against those without housing and is sponsoring the MLK March in Santa Cruz.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/18/18829842.php

20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day
Michael Harris | indybay.org | 2020-01-19
20 years later the struggle continues in the City of Sacramento to honor the "Patron Saint" of the Women's Political Council who later became the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." Thankfully, Attorney Fred Gray, Esq. is still on the case and preparing to join us MLK 50 Anniversary – Sacramento Public Library.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/17/18829822.php

Salma Hayek Claims Harvey Weinstein Tried To 'Sink' Her Film After She Refused to be 'Sexier'
sputniknews.com | 2020-01-19
Her statement comes as the famous Hollywood producer, who worked on more than 300 films and won an Oscar in 1999, prepares to appear in court on 22 January. Weinstein faces five charges, including rape and sexual assault. He denies all the accusations and said encounters were consensual. If convicted he could face life in prison.
sputniknews.com/society/202001191078077472-salma-hayek-claims-harvey-weinstein-tried-to-sink-her-film-after-she-refused-to-be-sexier/

All Anadolu Agency staffers released after detention in Egypt
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-19
All of Anadolu Agency staffers, who were detained by Egyptian police earlier this week, were released, said the agency head on Sunday."All our staff members, detained in Egypt on Jan. 14 have been released," Anadolu Agency Director General Senol Kazanci said.On Tuesday evening, Egyptian police raided the Cairo office of Anadolu Agency and detained four employees.Hilmi Balci, one of four detained in Egypt, was released last Thursday and he came to Turkey.Kazanci said three Egyptian citizens of Anadolu Agency staff were released on Sunday for some $600 bail on each.Turkey and the international community had condemn…
yenisafak.com/en/world/all-anadolu-agency-staffers-released-after-detention-in-egypt-3509972

Pompeo expresses outrage to Sisi over death of US citizen
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-19
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed outrage during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over the "pointless and tragic death" of detained U.S. citizen Moustafa Kassem in Egypt, a U.S. official said on Sunday.The United States on Monday confirmed the death of Egyptian-American Kassem in a prison in Egypt, where he had been in custody since 2013, and vowed to continue to raise concerns over Cairo's human rights record.A Egyptian presidency statement on the meeting made no mention of Kassem's case.
yenisafak.com/en/news/pompeo-expresses-outrage-to-sisi-over-death-of-us-citizen-3509974

Hunger Striker Nearing Death in ICE Custody: "I Just Want Freedom"
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-18
Doctors and advocates for incarcerated immigrants are demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) release five South Asian asylum seekers on hunger strike at a remote ICE jail in Louisiana, where at least three strikers are being force-hydrated and at least two are being force-fed after refusing to eat and drink for over 75 days. | When a hunger striker's health fails, ICE may obtain a court order to restrain the striker and force fluids and nutrients into their body with tubes, a process hum…
truthout.org/articles/hunger-striker-nearing-death-in-ice-custody-i-just-want-freedom/

AFL-CIO to the nation: Make King's dream America's reality
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-01-18
WASHINGTON–Faced with the renewed and rising right-wing onslaught against women, workers, immigrants and people of color, unionists at the AFL-CIO's annual Martin Luther King Civil and Human Rights Conference spent their two days in D.C. focusing on reclaiming voting rights, battling voter suppression and educating and empowering workers to ensure they can vote this year …
peoplesworld.org/article/afl-cio-to-the-nation-make-kings-dream-americas-reality/

Former correctional officers plead guilty to causing woman's death in custody
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2020-01-18
"The FBI New Orleans Field Office, in coordination with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney's Office, remain committed to protecting the rights of all Americans, to include those incarcerated."
nationofchange.org/2020/01/18/former-correctional-officers-plead-guilty-to-causing-womans-death-in-custody/

Three Palestinians Detained Near Bethlehem, Including a Former Prisoner
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-01-18
Israeli soldiers, on Friday, detained at least three Palestinians from the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem, the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported. Security sources confirmed that Israeli forces conducted an invasion into Bethlehem city, resulting in the detention of two Palestinians, including a former prisoner. Soldiers also …
imemc.org/article/three-palestinians-detained-near-bethlehem-including-a-former-prisoner/

Trump's loosening of pork inspection regulations fails to protect consumers from illness and death new lawsuit claims
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2020-01-18
"Food safety is one of the most important protections in our country and gifting the slaughter industry self-regulation powers will mean pork eaters in this country will be facing higher threats of disease."
nationofchange.org/2020/01/18/trumps-loosening-of-pork-inspection-regulations-fails-to-protect-consumers-from-illness-and-death-new-lawsuit-claims/

'I thought it was a terrorist attack': California teachers sue Delta after plane showers school children with jet fuel
rt.com | 2020-01-18
Four southern California teachers have filed a lawsuit against Delta Airlines after a Boeing 777 jettisoned its fuel over several schools near Los Angeles, drenching staff and scores of children with the volatile liquid. | Filed on Friday by attorney Gloria Allred, the suit alleges that the crew of Delta Flight 89 was negligent in dumping the fuel when and where it did, arguing the toxic substance led teachers and students to become "sick, dizzy and nauseated," producing "a lasting and severe irritation and a lasting and noxious taste and smell." | "A Delta Airlines pilot flying at a relatively low altitude an…
rt.com/usa/478569-california-teachers-due-delta/

Delbert Africa, MOVE 9 member, FREE at last after 41 years of unjust imprisonment
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-01-18
Delbert Orr Africa has survived more attempts on his life than arguably any other living revolutionary. For over 50 years, the United States government has tried to kill him, beat him, break him down and silence him. And now at the dawn of a new decade, he has bested . . . | Continue reading Delbert Africa, MOVE 9 member, FREE at last after 41 years of unjust imprisonment at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/01/45608/

Dilma Rousseff: "Torture is about pain and death. They want you to lose your dignity"
Brasil de Fato | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-18
Fifty years ago today, on Jan. 16, 1970, the 22-year-old militant Dilma Rousseff was arrested by agents of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 and 1985, a period when the country faced a crack down on civil liberties and freedom of speech. The regime persecuted political activists and anyone whose behavior was deemed to deviate from the norm. | "Torture is an extremely complex thing. I think that everyone who went through prison will always bear that mark. I don't like to watch movies where there is torture, for example. It's not that I don't like them. I just don't watch them. I don't want to w…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/18/dilma-rousseff-torture-is-about-pain-and-death-they-want-you-to-lose-your-dignity/

Palestinians Benefit From China-Funded Desalination Plants
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-18
Abdul-Rahim Abu Gouda, a Palestinian living in a small village in the Gaza Strip's southern border town of Rafah, breathed a sigh of relief after two China-funded water desalination plants opened this month in his impoverished al-Naser village. | RELATED: | Israel Breaches Law, Transfers 34 Palestinian Minors From Prisons | "This is a joyful day for my family and we can now get drinking water instantly and for free. We no longer need to wait for trucks selling filtered drinki…
telesurenglish.net/news/Palestinians-Benefit-From-China-Funded-Desalination-Plants-20200118-0007.html

Detroit, Michigan man declared innocent and released after nearly 30 years of wrongful imprisonment
wsws.org | 2020-01-18
Gerry Thomas, exonerated after spending close to three decades in prison, is one of thousands who have and are currently spending time in US prisons for crimes they did not commit.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/18/inno-j18.html

2019 Proved We Can Stop Face Recognition Surveillance
Abdullah Hasan | aclu.org | 2020-01-17
This piece originally appeared on Fast Company. | In 2019, we proved face recognition surveillance isn't | inevitable. Now, it's time for Congress to rein in the technology once and for | all. | Last year, communities banded together to prove that they | can

The Cruelty of US Justice System Exposed in a Single Video
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-17
A 19-year-old girl was punished with 9 months in a men's jail for spitting at an officer during a mental health crisis. Video reveals the extreme treatment she received and her exclusive interview reveals how law enforcement officers are badly equipped to treat the mentally ill.
therealnews.com/stories/cruelty-us-justice-system-exposed-video

TC Energy Files Pre-Construction Plan for KXL Despite Ongoing Lawsuits
commondreams.org | 2020-01-17
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/01/17/tc-energy-files-pre-construction-plan-kxl-despite-ongoing-lawsuits?cd-origin=rss

Arkansas Legislators' Attack on Abortion is Unconstitutional
Michele Goodwin | aclu.org | 2020-01-16
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled time and again that | reproductive privacy is "central to personal dignity and autonomy, [which] are | central to the liberty protected by" the Constitution. The Court has made | eminently clear that under the Constitution, the right of a pregnant person to | terminate a pregnancy prior to viability is a right so essential to our freedom | that our government cannot ban or impose an undue burden on its exercise. But | despite the long-standing clarity of this principle, reproductive health and rights | continue to come under blistering, unrelenting attack. | Nowhere is this cl…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/arkansas-legislators-attack-on-abortion-is-unconstitutional

The White House's Dangerously Expansive Views on Trump's Powers That You Can't See
Kate Oh | aclu.org | 2020-01-16
A basic legal consensus about our democracy is that the Constitution assigns the " power of the purse" to Congress. Turning this edict on its head, White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) lawyers reportedly concocted a legal theory that President Trump can override Congress's foreign policy spending decisions enshrined in law. If such a dangerously expansive proposal exists as a full legal opinion, it…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/the-white-houses-dangerously-expansive-views-on-trumps-powers-that-you-cant-see

Why Israel's So-Called "Occupation" of "Palestinian Territories" is a Farce
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-15
The root cause of oppression and violence that Palestinians experience is not "the occupation" of 1967 as many people claim it to be. It is something much older and seemingly more benign.
mintpressnews.com/israel-called-occupation-palestinian-territories-farce/264114/

Pennsylvania prisoners resist media censorship
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-01-15
When Vol. 61 No. 48 of Workers World newspaper came across the desk of the prison staff at State Correctional Institution Frackville in December, censors seized on an article that criticized the Pennsylvania facility's administration for a variety of offenses. In direct violation of the inmates' First Amendment rights, staff . . . | Continue reading Pennsylvania prisoners resist media censorship at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/01/45549/

The Trump Administration Weakens Standards for ICE Detention Facilities
Eunice Cho | aclu.org | 2020-01-14
Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially released a new version of its National Detention Standards (NDS), which govern the treatment of immigrant detainees held in almost 140 facilities in 44 states. These facilities include local and state jails and prisons

Coercive Plea Bargaining Has Poisoned the Criminal Justice System. It's Time to Suck the Venom Out
Somil Trivedi | aclu.org | 2020-01-13
In 2006, George Alvarez was charged with assaulting a prison guard while awaiting trial on public intoxication. He knew he didn't do it

The Critical Role Auditing Plays in the Battle Against Police Surveillance
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-10
Auditors across the country are turning the tables on police surveillance. The Police Accountability Report spoke to an auditor who was arrested to understand how filming cops ultimately preserves our civil rights.
therealnews.com/stories/auditing-battle-against-police-surveillance

Pregnant Workers Are Still Fighting for the Right to Work
Vania Leveille | aclu.org | 2020-01-10
In 2015, | Michelle Durham, an ACLU client, was faced with an impossible choice: | continue working and risk the health of her pregnancy or give up her paycheck. | She was working | as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for Rural/Metro Corporation, a company | in Alabama that provides emergency medical care to people living in areas that | lack basic medical services. Shortly after joining Rural/Metro Corporation in | Alabama, Michelle learned she was pregnant with her first child and was advised | by her health professional not to lift more than 50 pounds. She was confident | the company would grant her a…
aclu.org/news/womens-rights/pregnant-workers-are-still-fighting-for-the-right-to-work

Weekend Read: SPLC sues Trump administration over family separation policy
splcenter.org | 2020-01-10
The SPLC and its allies have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration policy that has separated and traumatized thousands of migrant families.
splcenter.org/news/2020/01/11/weekend-read-splc-sues-trump-administration-over-family-separation-policy

Despite horrific prison stay, a mother comes to understand her addiction
splcenter.org | 2020-01-09
When Shanna Rainey was a mother to two young children, she began using methamphetamine.
splcenter.org/news/2020/01/15/despite-horrific-prison-stay-mother-comes-understand-her-addiction

Former Head of Identity Evropa Taken Into Custody for Contempt of Court
splcenter.org | 2020-01-06
Elliott Kline, the onetime leader of Identity Evropa, is in federal custody after being found in contempt of court for failing to cooperate in a civil lawsuit stemming from the violent "Unite the Right" rally.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/01/06/former-head-identity-evropa-taken-custody-contempt-court

Venezuelan Government and Opposition Fraction Announce Release of 14 'Political Prisoners'
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-01-06
The National Roundtable for Peaceful Dialogue also offered its backing to the new National Assembly president, Luis Parra.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14757

Boston anti-prison organizers oppose $50 million project
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2020-01-03
Liberation News reports from the final 2019 meeting of the Panel on Justice-Involved Women in Boston.
liberationnews.org/boston-abolitionists-oppose-50-million-prison-project/

Prison gave me a greater will to fight
Luiz ignacio lula Da silva | zcomm.org | 2019-12-28
Interview on the reality that Brazil is experiencing and the social protests that have occurred in several Latin American countries…
zcomm.org/zvideo/prison-gave-me-a-greater-will-to-fight/