(2020-01-22). Mexico Begins Flying, Busing Migrants Back to Honduras. truthdig.com 
CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico — Hundreds of Central American migrants who entered southern Mexico in recent days have either been pushed back into Guatemala by Mexican troops, shipped to detention centers or returned to Honduras, officials said Tuesday. An unknown number slipped past Mexican authorities and continued north. | The latest migrant caravan provided a public platform for Mexico to show the U.S. government and migrants thinking of making the trip that it has refined its strategy and produced its desired result: This caravan will not advance past its southern border. | What remained unclear was the treat…
(2020-01-22). Migrant caravan shrinks at Guatemala-Mexico border amid deportations. rt.com 
The number of migrants stuck at the Guatemala-Mexico border continues to dwindle as detentions chip away at what remains of the latest caravan, AP reports. | The first buses of migrants left Tecun Uman, Guatemala overnight to repatriate migrants to their countries. On Tuesday, Mexico began flying and busing hundreds of migrants who had crossed into the country back to Honduras. | Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recognized the success of his government's strategy on Wednesday, noting that many of the migrants had begun to voluntarily return to their countries. | US Department of Homeland Security…
(2020-01-22). 'Obvious malicious intent': Tulsi Gabbard hits Clinton with defamation suit over 'Russian asset' smear. rt.com 
Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard is suing two-time White House runner-up Hillary Clinton over her claim that Gabbard was a "Russian asset," alleging that the lie hurt not just her campaign but the entire election. | Clinton "lied about her perceived rival Tulsi Gabbard… publicly, unambiguously, and with obvious malicious intent" when she claimed Gabbard was "the favorite of the Russians," the campaign alleges in the
(2020-01-22). The Trump Administration Just Opened a New Immigrant Prison in Rural Michigan. truthout.org From his office at the Cristo Rey Church in Lansing, Mich., Oscar Castañeda runs a campaign against a new federal immigrant prison, part of President Donald Trump's escalation of immigration enforcement. | In May 2019, the Trump administration awarded a
(2020-01-22). Brazil's Bolsonaro government charges journalist Glenn Greenwald with "cybercrimes" wsws.org The trumped-up charges against Greenwald by Bolsonaro's fascistic government are of a piece with the global assault on free speech and democratic rights and the jailing of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.
(2020-01-22). Egypt and the Destruction of Civil Liberties in America. counterpunch.org There are lots of things wrong with the conviction and incarceration of 54-year-old Mustafa Kassem, who died last week in Egypt. Kassen was an American citizen who drove a taxi in New York City. He had two children. In 2013, the Egyptian military ousted the democratically elected president of the country, which reestablished its omnipotent
(2020-01-22). Tulsi Gabbard Files Defamation Suit Against Hillary Clinton. truthdig.com NEW YORK — Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton on Wednesday over an interview in which Clinton appeared to call Gabbard "the favorite of the Russians." | Gabbard, a Hawaii congresswoman, said in her lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan that Clinton's comments in a podcast last year in which she suggested that Gabbard was being groomed by Russia to be a third-party candidate were based on either her own imagination or "extremely dubious conspiracy theories" that any reasonable person would know to be "inherently and objectively unreliable.
(2020-01-22). Guantanamo: An Enduring Symbol of US Islamophobia. globalresearch.ca Nothing hits you harder than realising you've been singled out for differential treatment. | This is how I felt as a Muslim American when I learned about the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. It was 2002, and what would …
(2020-01-22). SF Treasure Island Former Residents File Suit For Contamination /Injuries & For Shutdown. indybay.org Former residents of San Francisco Treasure Island filed a lawsuit for their contamination by radioactive and other chemicals on them and their families and for the shutdown of the development project. They also charged there was collusion by government agencies and City, State. and National politicians to push ahead with the multi-billion dollar condo/hotel development.
(2020-01-21). Voting Rights Advocate: The Impeachment of Trump Is Needed to Protect Our Elections & Democracy. democracynow.org 
The impeachment trial begins its proceedings in the Senate today amid accusations of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attempting to rush the impeachment process. Senators will have 16 hours for questions and four hours for debate, after 24 hours for opening arguments on each side. We speak with Rick Perlstein, historian and author, and Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Clarke says that thanks to the rules set by McConnell, Trump's impeachment trial could be over within a week, with much of the debate taking place in the evening. The proces…
(2020-01-21). China court sentences former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei to 13 years in prison for bribery. rt.com 
Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was detained on a visit to China in 2018, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 13 years in prison for bribery. The case shook the international police organization. | Meng — a former vice minister of public security — is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in China's anti-graft campaign. He vanished during a visit to China from France, where Interpol is based, and was later accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party. His wife was granted political asylum in France last year. | Meng was sentenced to 13 years and six months…
(2020-01-21). 'What? Is this a joke?' UK govt suffer online backlash after saying terrorists will face lie detector tests under new plans. rt.com 
New legislation that will include terrorists having to undertake lie detector tests has provoked anger on social media with accusations the government isn't taking the issue seriously. | The new measures which will be published by the Home Secretary Priti Patel in a new bill over the next two months, and also include a 14-year jail term for convicted terrorists, come in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack last November that left two people dead. | The 'polygraph testing' on offenders could be used on terrorists once they have been released, as part of a whole range of monitoring procedures. Lie detecto…
(2020-01-21). CBP Deported an Iranian Student With Valid Visa, Defying Court Order. aclu.org Last night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deported an Iranian student with a valid visa, despite a federal court order prohibiting his removal. | Shahab Dehghani arrived at Boston Logan Airport on Sunday, January 19 to study at Northeastern University, where he was enrolled. Customs officials detained him and questioned him for hours, abruptly revoking his student visa, which the State Department granted after a year of intense vetting. | As CBP tried to put Shahab on the next available flight, supporters and friends gathered at night in the arrivals hall at Logan to demand that CBP stop deporting…
(2020-01-21). Citizens United at 10: Why Fighting Corruption Is a Racial Justice Issue. commondreams.org Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) speaks in favor of the For the People Act, a sweeping, pro-democracy bill passed by the House in 2019 that combines measures to protect voting rights, curb Big Money influence, and strengthen ethics rules. (Photo: Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-john_lewis_for_the_people.jpeg …
(2020-01-21). Martin Luther King Jr. Day. peoplesdispatch.org January 20, 2020, marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. It is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. He was the most ardent spokesperson and leader of the civil rights movement. King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, a protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It began after, after Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person.
(2020-01-21). "Fight of the Century" Looks at 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases. aclu.org Liberty and equality are everywhere under attack. And that's why the work of the American Civil Liberties Union feels more precious to us than ever before. The ACLU lawyers and staff are the brave souls who suit up, blast off, and do what they can to divert and repel all those incoming meteors, or blow them right out of the sky. We admire them. We admire them the way you must admire people who devote themselves to doing, to the utmost of their ability, any thankless, impossible, and absolutely essential job. | Liberty and justice for all. We used to stand up with our classmates | every morning and timelessly…
(2020-01-21). Following mutiny by al-Bashir loyalists, Sudan appoints new intelligence chief. peoplesdispatch.org The resignation of Sudan's intelligence chief Abu Bakr Mustafa was accepted on January 16, Thursday, after the suppression of the mutiny led by military officers of the country's General Intelligence Service (GIS). The GIS was previously known as the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) under the regime of ousted president Omar al-Bashir. | Lt-Gen Jamal Abdel-Majeed Qasim Alsayed, the head of military intelligence since October 29, 2019, was appointed as the new director of GIS on the same day. Alsayed was a major general in the army when he was removed from the security force by Omar al-Bashir, who…
(2020-01-21). We Want a World Without Police. These Organizers Are Charting the Way. truthout.org What does working toward a world without prisons look like? How would we address harm without calling police or relying on imprisonment? | Those are the questions that longtime anti-violence organizers Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ejeris Dixon are exploring in their new anthology, Beyond Survival is not a "how-to" manual.
(2020-01-21). If Democrats Want to Honor Legacy of Dr. King, Says Ocasio-Cortez, "We Have to Be Dangerous Too" commondreams.org At a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event at Riverside Church in Harlem, New York Monday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez urged her audience to recognize the Democratic Party is closer to "a center-conservative party" than a progressive one—something that must change if the civil rights icon's legacy is truly to be honored. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-01-21_at_11.11.07_am.jpg …
(2020-01-20). SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words. democracynow.org 
Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, which he delivered at New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, "I've Been to…
(2020-01-20). The MLK Lesson America Needs Most in 2020. truthdig.com 
Before he died, the civil rights leader joined a campaign to unify working people of all races. Today, nothing could be more powerful.
(2020-01-20). Embassy Protectors speak out in Fort Lauderdale. fightbacknews.org Fort Lauderdale, FL — Over 60 people from South Florida's tri-county area gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church of Fort Lauderdale to hear a panel and question-and-answer session featuring anti-war activists Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Zeese and Flowers are two of the four Embassy Protector activists who spent 37 days protecting international law and peace within the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. They are currently facing bogus federal charges brought by the Trump administration that, if convicted, would mean up to one year in prison and $100,000 fines each. | Also on th…
(2020-01-20). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words. zcomm.org While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice…
(2020-01-20). Top 10 Civil Rights Songs. thenation.com Top 10 Civil Rights Songs…
(2020-01-20). Severe Torture in Israeli Prisons Targets Palestinian Steadfastness: Walid Hanatsheh, Samer Arbeed, Mays Abu Ghosh and More. imemc.org Photo: Walid Hanatsheh after his interrogation. | In the last months of 2019 and early 2020, a growing number of cases of severe physical torture against Palestinian detainees carried out by Israeli Shin Bet interrogators have been documented.
(2020-01-20). PPS: "Israeli Soldiers Abduct fifteen Palestinians In West Bank" imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Monday at dawn, at least fifteen Palestinians, from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS said the army brought with them two imprisoned Palestinians, identified as Miqdad al-Qawasmi and Mo'tasem Natsha, and violently searched …
(2020-01-20). Former NY Congressman sentenced to prison for insider trading. nationofchange.org Former Rep. Chris Collins was sentenced Friday to 26 months in prison after pleading guilty to insider trading and lying to federal investigators.
(2020-01-20). Israeli Court Doubles Prison Sentence Of Detained Palestinian Teen. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported, last Thursday, that an Israeli appellate court has accepted an appeal filed by the prosecutor's office demanding to raise the prison sentence of a detained Palestinian teen from the 18 years to life in prison. The PPS stated that the ruling was part …
(2020-01-20). Countering Annual Whitewash of His Legacy, Progressives Remember the 'Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Imperialist' Martin Luther King Jr. commondreams.org While the likes of President Donald Trump, right-wing Republicans, and Pentagon officials—in addition to many liberals—marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with selective quotes and messages, progressives aimed to challenge their whitewashed narrative of the civil rights leader's legacy with detailed reminders of King's scathing critique of not only racism but also capitalism, militarism, and imperialism. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/mlk_2.jpeg …
(2020-01-20). The Power of Righteousness. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/further/mlk_tease_best_jail_1920.jpg …
(2020-01-20). The ‚ÄãJuliana ‚Äã21 continue to fight for justice in the biggest climate lawsuit in America. mronline.org 
Decision of Divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals finds primarily for Juliana ‚Äãplaintiffs, but holds Federal Judiciary can do nothing to stop the U.S. Government in causing climate change and harming children. |
(2020-01-19). MOVE 9 member welcomed home. workers.org 
Philadelphia Very early in the morning of Jan. 18, three carloads of supporters made the two-hour trip from Philadelphia to SCI Dallas, near Wilkes Barre, Pa., to bring MOVE 9 member Delbert Africa home from prison. They waited from 8: 15 until 9: 30, when Delbert was finally released — after 41 . . . |
(2020-01-18). AFL-CIO to the nation: Make King's dream America's reality. peoplesworld.org 
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 …
(2020-01-18). Delbert Africa, MOVE 9 member, released at last after 41 years of unjust imprisonment. workers.org 
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 . . . |
(2020-01-18). 'I thought it was a terrorist attack': California teachers sue Delta after plane showers school children with jet fuel. rt.com 
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…
(2020-01-17). The Cruelty of US Justice System Exposed in a Single Video. therealnews.com 
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.
(2020-01-17). 2019 Proved We Can Stop Face Recognition Surveillance. aclu.org This piece originally appeared on 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 — and will — defend their privacy rights. As part of ACLU-led campaigns, three | California cities — Francisco,…
(2020-01-17). The Supreme Court Takes Up the Issue of Birth Control Coverage — Again. aclu.org The Supreme Court just announced that it will hear | yet another case about the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) birth control coverage | requirement. If you are experiencing déjà vu, you are not alone. Court battles | over the birth control coverage requirement have been raging for almost a | decade. How did we get here? | 2012: | The Birth Control Benefit is Established | Congress passed the Women's Health Amendment to the | ACA to try to close the disparity in health care costs that women have | historically experienced. In 2012, the independent, nonpartisan Institute of | Medicine was tasked with determining wh…
(2020-01-16). Headlines for January 16, 2020. democracynow.org House Lawmakers Deliver Articles of Impeachment to Senate, Ex-Giuliani Associate Says Trump Knew of Ukraine Pressure Campaign, U.S. Troops Resume Iraq Operations Despite Parliament's Expulsion Order, Afghan Reconstruction Watchdog Tells Congress of U.S. "Mendacity" and "Lies", Trump Signs "Phase 1" Agreement with China, Easing Trade War, Russian Government Resigns as Vladimir Putin Seeks to Retain Power Beyond 2024, At Least 21 Killed in Idlib Amid Syrian, Russian Airstrikes, Court Blocks Trump Order Allowing Local Leaders to Refuse Refugees, ACLU Sues to End Trump's Policy of Sending Asylum Seekers to Guatemala,…
(2020-01-16). Arkansas Legislators' Attack on Abortion is Unconstitutional. aclu.org 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…
(2020-01-16). The White House's Dangerously Expansive Views on Trump's Powers That You Can't See. aclu.org A basic legal consensus about our democracy is that the Constitution assigns the "
(2020-01-15). Headlines for January 15, 2020. democracynow.org House to Vote to Send Impeachment Articles to Senate, WaPo: Threatening Text Messages Show Yovanovitch Was Under Surveillance, War Powers Resolution Limiting Trump on Iran Could Pass Senate | , Six Democratic Candidates Took Stage in Des Moines, Iowa, 5,000 Puerto Ricans Still Homeless After 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake, HRW Blasts China for Human Rights Violations Against Uyghurs & Protesters | , 15 Women Murdered in Honduras in First 2 Weeks of This Year, American Citizen Moustafa Kassem Dies in Egyptian Prison After Hunger Strike, Seattle Bans Foreign-Influenced Companies from Political Spending, "Jeopardy!" Apolo…
(2020-01-14). The Trump Administration Weakens Standards for ICE Detention Facilities. aclu.org Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially released a new version of its ICE describes its…
(2020-01-13). Coercive Plea Bargaining Has Poisoned the Criminal Justice System. It's Time to Suck the Venom Out. aclu.org 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 guards actually jumped him — but the ten year mandatory minimum sentence at trial scared him so much that he pled guilty. Little did he know that the government had a video proving his innocence, but they
(2020-01-10). Pregnant Workers Are Still Fighting for the Right to Work. aclu.org 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…
(2020-01-10). Weekend Read: SPLC sues Trump administration over family separation policy. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration policy that has separated and traumatized thousands of migrant families.
(2020-01-09). Despite horrific prison stay, a mother comes to understand her addiction. splcenter.org When Shanna Rainey was a mother to two young children, she began using methamphetamine.
(2020-01-06). Venezuelan Government and Opposition Fraction Announce Release of 14 'Political Prisoners'. venezuelanalysis.com The National Roundtable for Peaceful Dialogue also offered its backing to the new National Assembly president, Luis Parra.
(2020-01-06). Former Head of Identity Evropa Taken Into Custody for Contempt of Court. splcenter.org 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.
(2020-01-03). Boston anti-prison organizers oppose $50 million project. liberationnews.org 
Liberation News reports from the final 2019 meeting of the Panel on Justice-Involved Women in Boston.
