2020-03-02: News Headlines

Ben Norton (2020-03-02). Contra-supporting CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for corrupt right-wing Latin American governments. thegrayzone.com Bernie-bashing "Never Trump conservative" CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for El Salvador's right-wing government, whose president was imprisoned for corruption,…

WSWS (2020-03-02). Afghanistan peace deal begins to unravel as Kabul rejects prisoner swap. wsws.org The signing of the accord is an unmistakable admission by Washington that the nearly 19-year-long war it has waged in Afghanistan has produced a debacle.

WSWS (2020-03-02). US federal appeals court rules that private technology conglomerates are not bound by First Amendment. wsws.org A federal appeals court in California upheld the dismissal of a 2017 lawsuit brought by the right-wing video publisher PragerU based on claims that YouTube was biased and was violating First Amendment freedoms.

pip.hinman (2020-03-02). Refugee rights supporters rally for freedom outside detention hotel. greenleft.org.au

RT (2020-03-01). Why are 1000s of Americans Being Detained for Dissent? dissidentvoice.org Author and civil rights attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the enduring effects of the PATRIOT Act and erosion of civil liberties in the US. He also explains "Operation Vigilant Eagle," a surveillance program to keep tabs on US veterans and track what they say online.

Andrew Emett (2020-02-29). Former correctional officers sentenced after assaulting handcuffed inmate. nationofchange.org "Through the Kentucky Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force, FBI Louisville will continue to aggressively investigate any public official that abuses those they have been sworn to protect."

teleSUR (2020-02-29). 'We Won't Stop and They Won't Stop Us' Catalonia's Leader Says. telesurenglish.net Tens of thousands of people Saturday gathered in Perpignan, France, to demonstrate their support for the independence of Catalonia and to demand the release of Catalan political prisoners. | RELATED: | One of the protagonists of this impressive rally was

Fight Back (2020-02-29). Protest demands reversal of decision in Chicago police torture survivor case. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – In an attack on the human rights movement to stop police torture in Chicago, a Cook County judge ordered a torture survivor back to prison for life on February 14. In doing so, Judge Thomas Hennelly ignored irrefutable X-ray evidence of Gerald Reed's torture at the hands of the infamous Jon Burge "midnight crew," flouted the findings of the governor-appointed Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission — which affirmed Gerald's claim of torture — and overturned the ruling of the judge formerly assigned to the case, who vacated Reed's original conviction before retiring. | In response to Hennel…

news.un (2020-02-29). Fighting discrimination against women is key to beating AIDS. news.un.org "The struggle to beat AIDS is inseparable from the struggle for women's rights and from the struggle against all forms of discrimination". This is the message from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, on Zero Discrimination Day, which falls on Sunday March 1. The theme of this year's Day is the fight against discrimination faced by women and girls, and the organization aims to raise awareness, mobilize action, and promote equality.

CounterSpin (2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org Media…

RT (2020-02-28). 100s of DEAD voters still registered for 2020 election in Pennsylvania — lawsuit. rt.com An Indiana-based law firm is suing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in federal court for having hundreds of dead people registered to vote in the upcoming 2020 election, among other bizarre irregularities. | The lawsuit alleges that some 1,600 dead people are registered to vote in the 2020 election, while almost 1,200 people are registered to vote without a date of birth listed, and some have even listed the 1800s as their birth years, all violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. | "One registrant is stated as being born in 'June 1800,' the same year Thomas Jefferson won eight of Pennsylvania's…

Ben Norton (2020-02-28). US and OAS lobby for Nicaraguan 'political prisoners' who butcher their pregnant girlfriends. thegrayzone.com Ben Norton reports from Nicaragua, where the US embassy and OAS successfully lobbied for the release of violent criminals who…

news.un (2020-02-28). Connecticut prison warning: Prolonged solitary confinement may 'amount to torture', UN expert warns. news.un.org The "excessive use" of solitary confinement by the prison service in the US state of Connecticut, prompted an independent UN human rights expert to voice alarm on Friday.

Ahmed bin Qasim (2020-02-28). Delhi Is On Fire, and My Kashmiri Parents Are in Prison. thenation.com Delhi Is On Fire, and My Kashmiri Parents Are in Prison…

Eva Lopez (2020-02-27). Defending Immigrants' Rights and Reproductive Freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases this term that will have a crucial impact on civil rights and civil liberties — from LGBTQ equality to reproductive freedom and immigrants' rights. Earlier in the term, the ACLU had two cases asking whether workers can be fired for being LGBTQ. On March 2, we will be arguing a case on immigrants' rights, and we have filed or will file friend-of-the-court briefs in major cases involving reproductive freedom, contraceptive access, and religious freedom. | We sat down with David | Cole, the ACLU's national legal director, to discuss what's in store for the…

Leila Rafei (2020-02-26). Family Separation, Two Years After Ms. L. aclu.org When the ACLU filed

Anjali Salvador (2020-02-26). Stopping the Anti-Abortion Ordinances of East Texas. aclu.org Waskom. | Naples. Joaquin. Tenaha. Rusk. Gary. Wells. These names might sound unfamiliar | now, but you'll be hearing more about them soon enough. | They | are seven cities in East Texas that, within the last several months, each | passed so-called "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances — moves that are | blatantly unconstitutional. | Waskom, Texas was the

splcenter (2020-02-26). As Alabama primary nears, voter suppression is alive and well. splcenter.org All across this country, the right to vote is under attack. But with your support, we're fighting back in Southern courts and state legislatures with a newly formed team of legal, policy, and grassroots advocates.

Staff (2020-02-25). Headlines for February 25, 2020. democracynow.org Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Rape, 2020 Democratic Candidates Gear Up for Debate as More Damning Comments by Bloomberg Surface, Bernie Sanders Defends Praise for Fidel Castro's Literacy Program, Protests in India Kill At Least 7 as Trump Continues Visit, Former Egyptian Dictator Hosni Mubarak Dies, U.K. Court Opens Deliberations on Julian Assange's Extradition Case, As Coronavirus Spreads Around the Globe, White House Requests Emergency Funding, China Sentences Bookseller Critical of Chinese Government to 10 Years in Prison, Clashes Between Haitian Police and Soldiers Leave One Dead as Anti-Gov't Protests Rag…

Staff (2020-02-25). "It's a Beginning": Rosanna Arquette on Weinstein Rape Conviction & How He Assaulted, Spied on Her. democracynow.org A jury has found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault, following a seven-week trial in Manhattan. The jurors convicted the disgraced Hollywood producer Monday of raping then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel room in 2013 and of sexually assaulting production assistant Miriam Haley at his apartment in 2006 by forcibly performing oral sex on her. Weinstein was convicted of first-degree commission of a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. But he was acquitted of two more serious charges of predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape. He faces a total sentence of up to 29 years in prison…

Ashoka Mukpo (2020-02-24). From Being Tortured in Sri Lanka to the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org On a frigid day in early February, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam | stands under an awning on a street corner in lower Manhattan along with one of | his attorneys, Celso Perez of the ACLU. Both are bundled in heavy winter | jackets. Perez is holding his phone up and squinting as he concentrates on the | tinny voice of a translator emanating from its speaker. | "I want them to be aware that you're traveling," Perez says | into the phone. | The voice on the other line translates what Perez said into | Tamil, the native language of Sri Lanka's largest ethnic minority. Thuraissigiam, | heavyset in his late 40s with a…

Jeffery Robinson (2020-02-24). Honoring Black History Month Means Respecting the Foundation That it Stands On. aclu.org Black History Month is meant to be a | celebration of the achievements of Black Americans, in spite of our country's | history of blatant, intentional racism. Despite that intention, the American | narrative surrounding the enslaving of Black Americans has always attempted to | rewrite our past, generating a kinder, gentler image of slavery. | President Trump and his appointees are | the embodiment of that attempt to rewrite Black history. Recently, President | Trump and his appointee, Philadelphia U. S. Attorney William McSwain, mocked | the history that serves as the foundation for Black History Month. Whil…

Staff (2020-02-21). Malcolm X's Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz on Her Father's Legacy & the New Series "Who Killed Malcolm X?" democracynow.org Fifty-five years ago today, Malcolm X was assassinated. The civil rights leader was shot to death on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was only 39 years old. Details of his assassination remain disputed to this day. Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said he was considering reopening the investigation, just days after a new documentary series about the assassination was released on Netflix called "Who Killed Malcolm X?" It makes the case that two of the three men who were convicted for Malcolm X's murder are actually innocent and that his uncaught killers wer…

Staff (2020-02-21). Headlines for February 21, 2020. democracynow.org Roger Stone Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term, Trump Lashed at Intel Chief over Warning of Russian Meddling in 2020 Election, Germany Mourns Victims of Right-Wing Terror Attacks, Suspect Arrested in Stabbing at London Mosque, U.K. to Close Borders to "Unskilled" and Non-English-Speaking Immigrants, Protests Erupt as Acting ICE Director Challenges New York Pro-Immigrant Laws, Mexican Radio Journalist Murdered in Ciudad Juárez, February Flowers Bloom in Moscow Amid Record-High Winter Temperatures, 28 Arrested in Seattle Protesting Chase Bank Fossil Fuel Ties, Rail Blockades Continue as Protests Grow Against Coastal…

splcenter (2020-02-21). Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes. splcenter.org

Ezekiel Edwards (2020-02-21). Racist Drug Laws Lead to Racist Enforcement in Cities Across the Country. aclu.org The way which America enforces its drug laws has been Across racial and ethnic groups, Americans use and sell drugs at rates, but law enforcement has targeted Black and brown people for stops, arrests, prosecution, and | imprisonment at wildly disproportionate rates. | This race-…

Jonathan Hafetz (2020-02-20). U.S. Resident Indefinitely Detained Without Charge Secures His Day In Court. aclu.org Adham Hassoun will | finally have his day in court. A federal judge has rejected the government's sweeping | claim that it can, on its own say-so, indefinitely imprison him without charge | and without a fair trial. | Adham is a long-time U.S. resident and a father of three. As we previously his criminal sentence and was set to be released from prison almost three years | ago. But the government — claiming unprecedented and unconstitutional…

splcenter (2020-02-14). Weekend Read: Department of Justice may force Mississippi to fix deadly prison system. splcenter.org

splcenter (2020-02-11). Desperate asylum seekers 'starving for justice' in immigrant prison hunger strikes across Louisiana. splcenter.org Guards shackled Sai Mahad to a chair, placed a mask over his mouth and snaked a long tube through one of his nostrils.

Tyler Durden (2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>

splcenter (2020-02-02). SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund Hire Internationally Renowned Human and Civil Rights Leader as New President and CEO. splcenter.org Margaret Huang brings 25 years of experience advocating against discrimination and oppression around the world.