(2020-03-16). The Statue of Liberty's Torch. counterpunch.org 
The Statue of Liberty's Torch The Statue of Liberty wears a crown And is armed with a torch To burn things down Jails and prisons Gas and logging Enterprises' offices — the capitalists, and all their accomplices LAPD, NYPD, CPB And ICE That's simple self-defense/ Defense of others, right? We see, the danger's clear It's
(2020-03-16). I Reject Using My Unjust Conviction Against Julian Assange. counterpunch.org 
In 2015 I was wrongfully convicted of, and imprisoned for, violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Now, while there is no question that I stand in solidarity with WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in a British court as he fights extradition, little did I know that my presence is also there as fodder to support extradition. If
(2020-03-16). California senior citizens are on lock-down due to coronavirus. indybay.org One can only wonder how long it will be before California becomes like the film called Wild In The Streets, where everyone 30 and older were locked up in prison camps, or like the film called Logan's Run, where people 30 and older are hunted down and executed to make room for younger people!
(2020-03-16). Fund drive to pay Chelsea Manning's court fines raises $267,000 in two days. wsws.org Within two days of Manning's release from jail, a GoFundMe campaign organized by her supporters raised more than enough to pay the punitive fines imposed on her for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
(2020-03-16). Santa Cruz City Council Committee Advances Surveillance Oversight Ordinance. indybay.org SANTA CRUZ, March 12, 2020 — On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Public Safety Committee voted to approve a Surveillance Technology Ordinance that would prevent the government from using any surveillance technology without public debate, clear use policies, and mechanisms of oversight and accountability. The law also prohibits government use of facial recognition, and in what would be a national first, bans government use of predictive policing technology as well.
(2020-03-16). Iranian Hails New UK Stance on Arrested Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe & Repayment Of Debt. iranian.com Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who possesses both British and Iranian passports, has been under arrest in Iran since April 2016 over allegations that she plotted against the government, claims that she has consistently denied. She was sentenced to five years in an Iranian jail. The Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, welcomed a new approach …
(2020-03-15). Detainee Bilal Ekmail Enters 15 Years of Imprisonment. imemc.org Palestinian detainee, Bilal Ekmail, has entered 15 years of imprisonment, under very strict detention conditions, imposed by Israeli authorities. Montaser Sammour, director of the Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in northern West Bank, said that Ekmail is serving a 20-year prison sentence, and has been frequently held …
(2020-03-15). Immediate steps are required to avert mass casualties in prisons and jails. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 14 statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. | The Illinois Department of Corrections has declared that all civilian visits to Illinois prison will be suspended indefinitely starting Saturday, March 14, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for which a national emergency has been declared. New prison inmates arriving from any of the four "Reception and Classification Centers" are reportedly being held in quarantine. | These are minimal steps not based on science. Depriving prisoners of contact with their families only aggravates…
(2020-03-14). CIVIL RIGHTS MEMORIAL CENTER, SPLC OFFICES CLOSE. splcenter.org Our work continues…
(2020-03-14). Former City Council president indicted on fraud, bribery, and extortion charges. nationofchange.org If convicted of all charges, Tamaya Dennard could face a maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison.
(2020-03-13). Soccer prez: "I resign…but the blatant sexism wasn't my fault." peoplesworld.org 
My, my, how quickly the mighty fall. Three days after the U.S. Soccer Federation sparked a massive backlash when its legal filings—in a gender discrimination lawsuit no less—argued: "male soccer players are more skilled than female soccer players," Carlos Cordeiro resigned as head of the organization. Cordeiro announced his resignation via Twitter Thursday night, apparently not even information …
(2020-03-13). Chelsea Manning showed 'moral strength' by choosing imprisonment over collaboration with US govt — Snowden. rt.com 
Chelsea Manning's decision to sit in jail rather than cooperate with the US government's prosecution of WikiLeaks is a testament to her character and unwavering principles, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has said. | Commenting on Manning's newly-won freedom, Snowden noted that the former Army analyst-turned-whistleblower had been "cast into a dungeon" by the United States for refusing to work with the government to criminalize the publication of classified materials. | They offered to let her out in exchange for collaboration, but she chose her principles instead. | For Snowden, Manning's unwillingness to ex…
(2020-03-13). Chelsea Manning Is Free From Jail, Faces Exorbitant Fines. dissidentvoice.org 
Manning speaking outside of the grand jury in Alexandria VA before being incarcerated Alexandria — Today, March 12, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia ended the grand jury of Julian Assange and Wikileaks in which Chelsea Manning refused to testify. As a result, US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga ordered the immediate release of Chelsea …
(2020-03-13). Headlines for March 13, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus Infections Around the Globe Reach 135,000 People, Nearly 5,000 Dead, U.S. Coronavirus Infections Rise to 1,650 as Actual Number Believed to Be Higher | , Dow Jones Plummets 10% in Biggest Drop Since 1987 | , Trump Administration Faces Backlash for Handling of Coronavirus Outbreak, Testing | , Brazilian President Bolsonaro's Aide Tests Positive for COVID-19 Days After Meeting with Trump, Philippines President Duterte Orders Lockdown in Manila Amid Coronavirus Pandemic | , Advocates Afraid of Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Immigration Jails Plagued by Medical Neglect, Democratic Presidential Debate Relo…
(2020-03-12). Elite Media Dismiss Voter Suppression on Grounds That It's 'Complicated'. fair.org 
Some voters—disproportionately black and brown ones—waited in line for several hours on Super Tuesday to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary, and media paid attention. But their love for a good visual doesn't always correspond with a love for connecting the dots, and so most of the coverage downplayed any suggestion that there might be voter suppression going on in 2020. The New York Times ( "Why Did It…
(2020-03-12). The Government Has a Secret Plan to Track Everyone's Faces at Airports. We're Suing. aclu.org U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration are putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance. But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We're
(2020-03-12). This Law Makes Voting Nearly Impossible for Native Americans in Montana. aclu.org Voting has never been easy for In a state where the majority of individuals vote | by mail, rural tribal communities often work with get-out-the-vote organizer…
(2020-03-11). Keep Calm and Carry on Voting: How to Vote By Mail During the Coronavirus Outbreak. aclu.org Coronavirus should not be a political issue, but with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. We should protect not only our health, but our civil liberties at this time — and one of those civil liberties is our fundamental right to vote. , , For many, the best way to vote while safeguarding your health during this time may be to vote by mail. It's easy to request an absentee ballot and there's still enough time to do so for most states with upcoming primaries. While some states limit who can vote absentee — for example, to people with…
(2020-03-10). Prisons Worldwide Face Coronavirus Crisis: Overcrowding, Lack of Sanitation & Labor at Slave Wages. democracynow.org 
As Italy went on lockdown, nearly 30 prisons across the country broke into riots Sunday and Monday after visitation rights were suspended in response to the outbreak. In a prison in southern Italy, a riot left at least six incarcerated people dead and caused 50 people to escape. Prisoners have reportedly lit fires, charged guards and even escaped at multiple facilities. This comes as the United Nations confirmed that coronavirus had reached Iran's prisons, as the number of cases there continues to soar. Iran has temporarily freed some 70,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus. And concerns are growing about…
(2020-03-10). Immigrants in WA Detention Center Demand Protection from Coronavirus, Not Posters in English. democracynow.org 
As the world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, we look at how the Trump administration's immigration policies may put everyone at risk. We go to Seattle, Washington, not far from the Life Care Center in the suburb of Kirkland, which was the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In nearby Tacoma, Washington, our guest says she saw posters in English only when she went to visit immigrants held in the Northwest Detention Center, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. We speak with Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the groups La Resistencia and Mijente, who issued a…
(2020-03-10). Civil Rights Memorial Center closed through March. splcenter.org The Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC) in Montgomery, Alabama, is closed and will remain closed through the end of March 2020.
(2020-03-10). San Diego Police Stop Black People at a Rate 219 Percent Higher Than White People. aclu.org "They did what human beings looking for | freedom, throughout history, have often done. They left." | These | are the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson in her book, "The | Warmth of Other Suns." The book | follows the story of three Black Southerners and their journey escaping racial | violence — a sharecropper's wife who | left Mississippi in the 1930s for Chicago, an agricultural | worker who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s, and a doctor who left Louisiana in the early 1950s. | Their | journey was part of the Great Migration that occurred between 1916 and 1970,…
(2020-03-06). Are Our Prisons and Jails Ready for COVID-19? aclu.org The | country and the world face a public health emergency in the new coronavirus | causing COVID-19. The media is filled with concerns about how we will respond. | Will we close schools? Cancel sporting events and other large gatherings? Work | from home? Avoid public transportation? | But | little has been said about one of the most vulnerable sectors of our | population: the people in our prisons and jails. Although people often think of | prisons and jails as closed environments, they are not. Medical staff, correctional | staff, and visitors come from the community into the facilities every day and | then…
(2020-03-05). Trump is Sending Special Forces-style Agents into Pro-Immigrant Cities. aclu.org As part of its governments that choose not to collaborate with Immigration and Customs | Enforcement (ICE), Trump administration officials have confirmed plans for two new tactics in their anti-immigrant | agenda. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will deploy Border Patrol's | special forces-style unit, known as BORTAC, and other Customs and Border | Protection (CBP) agents — dressed in plainclothes [m…
(2020-03-03). TRAP Laws are the Threat to Abortion Rights You Don't Know About. aclu.org This week, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case | that will have wide-reaching consequences for reproductive freedom and abortion | rights in America. It's the first time the Court has weighed those rights since | gaining a new conservative majority with the appointments of Justices Neil | Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. And the stakes are high. | The case that the court will | hear, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, | is being argued by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CCR), and it involves a | law in Louisiana known as a "TRAP" — Targeted Restriction on Abortion | Providers. The detai…
(2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
(2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org Media…
(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.
(2020-02-21). Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes. splcenter.org …
(2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>