(2020-04-11). 'I only saw him once': NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal distances himself from Joe Exotic but discusses deal with Tiger King star. rt.com 
Despite previously namechecking television's most notorious current figure, Shaquille O'Neal has responded to ribbing by insisting that he only met Joe Exotic once and did not accept animals from the prolific tiger breeder. | Historic footage of O'Neal visiting Greater Wynnewood, the Oklahoma exotic animal park that was run by Exotic before he was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2019, has added to the story of Tiger King, the documentary that has shocked the world and become the most talked-about show on Netflix in recent weeks. | O'Neal can be seen leading a tour of the zoo in a YouTube video posted last y…
(2020-04-11). Assange's Extradition: Incarceration in the Time of Covid-19 Threatens His Life. commondreams.org Demonstrators protest outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London on October 21, 2019. (Photo: Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/assange_coronavirus.jpg …
(2020-04-11). Reporting Your Neighbors for Violating Stay-At-Home Orders. indybay.org David Cole, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated: "All kinds of constitutional liberties are being constrained right now. They are restricted because there's a reason to restrict them. In a time like this, you have to defer substantially to public health experts." But does this mean that we should be ratting-out our neighbors for violating COVID-19 stay-at-home orders?>
(2020-04-11). Testimony from US and Canadian inmates exposes deadly conditions inside prisons. wsws.org Many harrowing accounts have emerged in the form of videos and written testimony from prisoners outlining the conditions they face in the last two weeks.
(2020-04-11). IMN urges Nigeria to free Sheikh Zakzaky amid outbreak. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 11 (MNA) — The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has called on the country's authorities to free Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, who is already suffering from health problems, from imprisonment given the risks of COVID-19 outbreak.
(2020-04-10). Covid-19 'mass graves' on New York's Hart Island spark frenzy of fake news amid grim reality. rt.com 
Photos of a 'mass grave' for coronavirus casualties on New York City's Hart Island sent the media into overdrive overnight, even launching calls to dig up President Trump's properties instead. The truth, while grim, was different. | Drone imagery from the island showing a dozen undertakers — some in full white protective suits — stacking coffins in a trench has spread around the world, with tabloids from London to New York itself latching on to them as an iconic shot depicting New York City's struggle with Covid-19. | Prisoners wearing full hazmat suits bury caskets in mass grave on New York's Hart I…
(2020-04-10). Coronavirus threatens to spread 'like wildfire' through U.S. prisons. peoplesworld.org 
"It's fixin' to be a mass grave site in these prisons," said a terrified prisoner in an Alabama state prison. "Once (coronavirus) is in it will spread like wildfire," said another. "It's a death sentence," said a third, for many older prisoners like himself. "We need help!" he cried. The prisoners, forced to live in …
(2020-04-10). Belmarsh 'barely functioning': Assange tells friend Covid-19 is raging through British prison. rt.com 
Julian Assange has revealed to a friend the harrowing details of his life in Belmarsh. WikiLeaks founder is still confined at the UK maximum security prison, despite it being stricken with the novel coronavirus. | Covid-19 has spread around Belmarsh to such an extent that the prison is "barely functioning" any more at all, British freelance video journalist Vaughan Smith has As many as 150 prison staff member…
(2020-04-10). Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic. aclu.org The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the work of preserving civil liberties and civil rights continues, as essential as ever. Reports of courts closing down can be misleading. While public trials that require jurors and in-person testimony have been suspended, most courts and lawyers can do their work remotely. The filing of legal briefs continues, and oral arguments and hearings are being held remotely. The work of securing justice continues., , At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on civil liberties and civil rights issues arising from the government's response (or lack thereo…
(2020-04-10). ACLU Comment on Apple/Google COVID-19 Contact Tracing App. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-04-10). Headlines for April 10, 2020. democracynow.org COVID-19 Patients Dying Every Minute in the United States, Epicenter of the Pandemic, 17 Million U.S. Workers File Unemployment Claims in Just Three Weeks, New York City Workers Dig Mass Graves Amid Surge of COVID-19 Deaths, President Trump Pushes to Reopen U.S. Economy Despite Severe Shortage of Tests, California Nursing Home with COVID-19 Cases Evacuated After Workers' No-Show, Kansas Governor Sues to Halt Church Congregations Ahead of Easter, Chicago Prisoners Post Signs in Jail Windows: "Help, No Supply" and "We're Dying", NYC Cathedral Won't Partner with Christian Fundamentalist Field Hospital Group over LGB…
(2020-04-10). High-security Siberian prison ON FIRE after inmates riot (VIDEO). rt.com 
A fire broke out on Friday night at a strict penal colony in eastern Siberia, over 4,000km east of Moscow. According to officials, multiple buildings were set alight by prisoners. | Media reports coming from the Irkutsk region suggest about 300 people have been injured. REN TV reports that the fire began when inmates burned the prison's woodworking shop. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) reported that the situation is now under control. Videos and photos depicting the burning prison have flooded the internet. | On Thursday, it was reported that unrest began in the prison at lights-out when one pr…
(2020-04-09). ACLU Lawsuit Over Baltimore Spy Planes Sets Up Historic Surveillance Battle. aclu.org Imagine a day in the future when everyone, from the moment they step outside their home, has to live with the knowledge that their every movement is being recorded by powerful cameras circling in the skies above. Not just where they work, shop, eat and drink, and whose homes they visit, but details about their political, religious, sexual, and medical lives — all captured and stored in databases without a warrant and available to law enforcement upon request., , That day is here., , The city of Baltimore is about to deploy a new program that, if allowed to move forward, would do just that. It would be…
(2020-04-09). What Will Feds Do About Corporate Bailout Bill Corruption? Look to Walmart's Opioid Case. cepr.net Talking Points Memo See article on original site Here is a simple question: if a heroin dealer sells a product that oftentimes leads to death, should the Justice Department try to put them in jail? Here, it seems, is the Trump administration's answer: Not if they are a large enough corporation. ProPublica published a walloping …
(2020-04-09). I'm Queer and I've Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn't Experiencing What I Did. aclu.org On Monday, I ended a 12-hour day returning emails to incarcerated queer folks, providing direct aid for housing to folks living with HIV & AIDS who have been incarcerated and challenging the state of Nebraska to provide humane conditions for incarcerated individuals and decided to mindlessly scroll on Twitter. , , I found the quote from the show Ellen DeGeneres filmed from her multimillion-dollar, multi-room mansion: "One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people — this is like being in jail, is what it is," she said. "It's mostly because I've be…
(2020-04-08). Albert Woodfox: COVID-19 Offers Public a "Small Window" into What Prisoners Face in Solitary Confinement. democracynow.org 
As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solit…
(2020-04-08). "A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths. democracynow.org 
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States [mdas…
(2020-04-08). "They Don't Care if You Die": Immigrants in ICE Detention Fear the Spread of COVID-19. aclu.org 
Mario Rodas, Sr. first found out there was a deadly virus spreading through the country while he was watching television at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts. In early March, Rodas had been pulled over and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while driving to the supermarket with his wife, a legal resident and the mother of his three U.S. citizen children. Since then, he'd been in the custody of ICE, mostly at Plymouth. | The more Rodas heard about the disease, the more fearful the 59-year-old became. | "I was scared for my health," he told the ACLU. "I was worr…
(2020-04-08). Chicago: Over 200 cars join protest demanding mass release from jails, detention centers. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people took their cars to Chicago's jails and detention centers on Tuesday morning, April 7, to demand a mass release of incarcerated people in the city. Isolated from each other in their cars, they were united in their message: Jails, prisons and detention centers must be depopulated before the spread of COVID-19 turns them into death camps. | Nearly 300 protesters in 200 cars targeted three locations: ICE headquarters, the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Cook County Jail. Cars carried banners with slogans such as "Free them all" and "Mass release now." Organizers also gave spee…
(2020-04-08). Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat. splcenter.org Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
(2020-04-08). If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates? aclu.org COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the
(2020-04-08). Headlines for April 8, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Daily Death Toll Nears 2,000 as Hundreds of COVID-19 Deaths Go Uncounted, Trump Threatens to Withhold U.S. Funding for World Health Organization, New WH Press Secretary Said Recently, "We Will Not See Diseases Like the Coronavirus Come Here", Trump Fires Inspector General Tasked with Overseeing $2 Trillion Stimulus, China Lifts Lockdown in Wuhan, Where Coronavirus Pandemic Began, EU Coronavirus Stimulus Talks Fail as Deaths Surge in Spain and France, Libyan Rebels Attack Hospital for COVID-19 Patients; Chadian Ex-Dictator Released from Prison, International Labour Organization: Pandemic Could Wipe Out 195 Mi…
(2020-04-08). 3 Palestinians Detained by Israeli Forces, Including 2 Former Prisoners. imemc.org Israeli forces on Wednesday, detained two Palestinians after invading the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, according to Days of Palestine. Israeli soldiers reportedly invaded the town and ransacked the homes of the 2 unidentified Palestinian men, before abducting them. The two men are former prisoners, one serving fifteen …
(2020-04-07). Calls for urgent action to protect prison staff and inmates from coronavirus. thecanary.co 
Failure to reduce the number of prisoners behind bars drastically and urgently to protect them and others from coronavirus "will have a devastating impact", campaigners have warned.The comments came after it emerged the death toll of inmates who had died after contracting the virus had risen to 10.Three were inmates at HMP Littlehey, Cambridgeshire, with others being held at Birmingham, Manchester, Altcourse in Merseyside, Belmarsh in south east London, Whatton in Nottinghamshire, Sudbury in Derbyshire, and a female prisoner at Low Newton, County Durham.A total of 116 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 in…
(2020-04-07). Louisiana's Suspension of Due Process Could Be a COVID-19 Catastrophe in Jails and Prisons. aclu.org , Louisiana has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot, with
(2020-04-07). Police are Enforcing Public Health Orders, but that Doesn't Make them Public Health Experts. aclu.org , In a desperate effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, state and local officials are following the advice of public health experts to impose severe restrictions on American life, such as social distancing and shelter-at-home orders. Unfortunately, the institutions that have the most resources available to carry out this task are not public health, medical, or housing authorities. They are our law enforcement and criminal legal systems, which typically operate by criminalization and punishment. , , There's a bitter irony to this: The tactics that law enforcement officials frequently use to protect people [mda…
(2020-04-06). "Leaving Us in Here to Die": Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infections. democracynow.org 
U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis. This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. We look at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed. We speak to…
(2020-04-06). Everyone Must be Counted in the 2020 Census. aclu.org Every 10 years, the federal government conducts a census to count everyone living in the United States. For people of color, especially Black people, the census has traditionally been exclusionary and deeply flawed. | Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution was intentionally designed to protect the institution of slavery by immorally reducing those enslaved to three-fifths of a human being. It remains the only reference to slavery in the Constitution and was the law when the first census was completed in 1790 and for 75 years thereafter until the 14th Amendment was passed. Two hundred thirty years later, Bla…
(2020-04-03). Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails. democracynow.org 
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
(2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.
(2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were
(2020-04-02). Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk. splcenter.org More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.
(2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care — mo…
(2020-04-01). [Correspondence] Racism and discrimination in COVID-19 responses. thelancet.com Outbreaks create fear, and fear is a key ingredient for racism and xenophobia to thrive. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered social and political fractures within communities, with racialised and discriminatory responses to fear, disproportionately affecting marginalised groups.
(2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
(2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org …
(2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
(2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>