(2020-09-24). Assange's Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons. dissidentvoice.org September 23. Central Criminal Court, London. Following the script sheet of the previous day, the non sequitur, pop medical view of the prosecution was again in sharp evidence at the Old Bailey. In an effort to make the road for Julian Assange's extradition to the United States for 17 charges under the US Espionage Act …
(2020-09-24). #FreeAssange Campaign Targeted by Concerted Spambot Attack During Extradition Hearing. sputniknews.com WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who faces up to 175 years in prison for his role in obtaining and publishing classified US diplomatic cables, is now at the centre of a series of extradition hearings at London's Central Criminal Court.
(2020-09-24). The US is Using the Guardian to Justify Jailing Assange for Life. Why is the Paper So Silent? counterpunch.org 
Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of arrest and extradition to the United States. Assange faces 175 years in a US super-max prison on the basis of claims by Donald Trump's administration that his exposure of US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan amounts to "espionage".
(2020-09-24). An Indictment of the System: Protests Erupt as Cops Cleared for Killing Breonna Taylor in Her Home. democracynow.org 
We go to Louisville, where protests erupted after police officers who shot Breonna Taylor in her own home were not charged for her death. A grand jury indicted a third officer for "wanton endangerment" for shooting into an adjacent apartment during the fatal raid that killed Breonna Taylor in March. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country demanding justice for Taylor and defunding of police departments. "The lack of indictments in the grand jury process is an indictment on the system itself," says Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. "They have cr…
(2020-09-24). "Two Systems of Justice": Jacob Blake's Father on Son's Case, Breonna Taylor & Black Lives Matter. democracynow.org 
As outrage mounts over the grand jury ruling in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, we look at the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where an investigation is in its final stages. The case sparked renewed national protests in August after viral video showed Kenosha police shooting the Black father in the back seven times, paralyzing him. We speak with Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr. He says police shootings and killings of Black people reveal there are "two systems of justice" in the United States, and asks, "Why are our children scared to death of people that are supposed to protect and serve them…
(2020-09-24). Venezuelan President Maduro proposes new UN fund to support countries facing discrimination. news.un.org Venezuela has proposed creation of a "revolving public purchasing fund" within the United Nations system to guarantee access to food and health products, financed with public resources, to facilitate countries suffering "discrimination and economic blockade" acquire necessary goods and services.
(2020-09-24). Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (South Africa): Release U.S. political prisoners jailed for fighting in the anti-racist struggle! liberationnews.org 
Political repression in the USA continues against those leading the massive anti-racist protest movement, as seen in the recent arrests of four leaders of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the ongoing criminalization of the protest movement as a whole.
(2020-09-24). Three UK Labour MPs demoted over opposition to torture prosecution bill. middleeasteye.net 
Three UK Labour MPs demoted over opposition to torture prosecution bill | Nadia Whittome, Beth Winter and Olivia Blake defied a Labour Party whip to oppose Overseas Operations Bill against 'vexatious' lawsuits
| Thu, 09/24/2020 – 14: 31 | Kuwaiti and British soldiers take part in exercises about 40km north of Kuwait City (AFP) | Three Labour MPs have lost their roles in the United Kingdom shadow cabine…
(2020-09-24). Two paths before Latin America: democracy or dictatorship, Bolivian President declares. news.un.org The Latin American region is at a crossroads, with a choice not between the political left or the right; between socialism or capitalism, it is in fact between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and oppression, the President of Bolivia told world leaders, gathered virtually for the United Nations General Assembly.
(2020-09-24). Jacksonville demands People's Budget, stands in solidarity with the Tally 19. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL — On September 19, over 120 people showed up outside city hall in downtown Jacksonville demanding a people's budget and community control of the police. This action was in response to the call by the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression (NAARPR) national call to action. The Jacksonville Community Action Committee is an affiliate of NAARPR. | Speakers from Jacksonville Community Action Committee, University of North Florida SDS, Take 'Em Down Jax, Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, ACLU, Mount Sinai Baptist Church and other organizations participated. The demands have b…
(2020-09-24). When will DeSantis listen to his own voters on ex-felons' voting rights? aclu.org On Sept. 11, Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Republican leaders won their legal battle to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of people with prior felony convictions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit embraced Republican politicians' specious arguments that ex-felons should be required to pay all fines and fees before voting., , This decision dealt a blow to Floridians who care about racial justice and basic principles of democracy. The ruling also spited an unlikely and less discussed constituency: Republican voters., , This story starts in 2018, when DeSantis and Republican politicians camp…
(2020-09-24). Algerian journalist Belkacem Djir acquitted of all charges by Algiers court. peoplesdispatch.org 34-year-old Djir was accused of 'blackmail' and using a 'false identity' and sentenced to three years in prison in a common law case. He is now expected to be released soon after over a year in detention…
(2020-09-24). Wednesday 9/30: Capitalisms Patriarchal Prison System. indybay.org Zoom. Registration link: bit.ly/32vLSGI…
(2020-09-24). Thursday 9/24: "Capturing The Flag" Award Winning Film Screening & Discussion on Voter Suppression. indybay.org Online screening…
(2020-09-24). New campaign to free jailed Kurdish leader. greenleft.org.au …
(2020-09-23). Assange faces "very high risk of suicide," medical expert tells court. wsws.org Kopelman's evidence confirms the warnings made since November 2019 by Doctors for Assange that Assange is suffering "psychological torture" and "could die in prison."
(2020-09-23). No Más Bebés: ICE Hysterectomy Scandal Recalls 1970s LA, When a Hospital Sterilized Chicana Patients. democracynow.org 
As immigration authorities say they have stopped sending women to a Georgia gynecologist accused of sterilizing female prisoners without their consent, we continue our look at United States' disturbing history of forced sterilization with the producer and historian behind the 2016 documentary called "No Más Bebés," which tells the story of how a whistleblower doctor spoke out about a large number of tubal ligations performed on mostly Latinx patients at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center some 46 years ago. "Quite often they did not understand the terminology. They did not, in some cases, understand the lan…
(2020-09-23). The End Of The 'Rules Based International Order'. popularresistance.org The 'western' countries, i.e. the United States and its 'allies', love to speak of a 'rules based international order' which they say everyone should follow. That 'rules based order' is a way more vague concept than the actual rule of law: | The G7 is united by its shared values and commitment to a rules based international order. That order is being challenged by authoritarianism, serious violations of human rights, exclusion and discrimination, humanitarian and security crises, and the defiance of international law and standards. | As members of the G7, we are convinced that our societies and the world have rea…
(2020-09-23). How class oppression drives climate crises. workers.org 
Climate change refugees, Bangladesh. Climate emergencies and U.S. imperialism have quite a bit of overlap. Both are increasingly displacing the living at home and abroad on an almost unbelievable scale. These conditions are creating migrants and refugees who have to stay on the move to survive. To stave off climate . . . |
(2020-09-23). Reproductive Abuse is Rampant in the Immigration Detention System. aclu.org Last week, a hideous allegation emerged in a
(2020-09-23). Workers World Party demands "Stop Censoring Palestinian Resistance!" workers.org 
Sept. 23 — Today, three media platforms, Facebook, Zoom and YouTube, collaborated to censor a Palestinian program featuring Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled and U.S. political prisoners. Workers World Party condemns this censorship and expresses its solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and freedom. The WWP Facebook . . . |
(2020-09-23). American horror story of the 21st century: U.S. immigration detention centers. peoplesworld.org 
Halloween may be fast approaching, but you don't have to wait until Oct. 31 for a truly scary tale. Damning reports and allegations have come out detailing the nightmarish conditions at immigration detention camps in the United States. Things were already bad inside the centers, but the situation is now exacerbated by a deadly global …
(2020-09-23). Whistleblower exposes: ICE abuses detainees. workers.org 
EDITOR'S NOTES: As we go to press, a Sept. 21 press release from Georgia Detention Watch announced that Cipriano Chavez-Alvarez, 61, is the third detainee at the Stewart Detention Center located in Lumpkin, Georgia to die of COVID-19. Press conference on ICE abuse, Ocilla, Ga., Sept. 15. Whistleblower Dawn Wooten . . . |
(2020-09-23). Stop forced sterilizations! Shut down all detention centers! workers.org 
The Prisoner Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party commends the heroic action of Dawn Wooten, a licensed practical nurse, for exposing forced sterilizations at the Irwin County, Georgia ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) Detention Center operated by LaSalle Corrections, a private for-profit prison. Project South, one of the advocacy groups . . . |
(2020-09-23). Jail for misogyny? UK govt advised 'gender' should be added to 'protected characteristics' under hate crime laws. rt.com 
Sex or gender should be made legally "protected" characteristics in England and Wales, particularly to provide more protection to women, the Law Commission — a government advisory body — has said in a report. | Hate crime laws in England and Wales should be extended to ensure equal protections for all the existing "protected characteristics" and to include some new ones. The report issued on Wednesday proposed extending protection to women "for the first time" in history. | The Law Commission is an independent statutory body tasked with advising the government on legal reforms. It is set to hold pu…
(2020-09-23). For Justice Ginsburg, Abortion Was About Equality. aclu.org Justice Ginsburg is often quoted as having said, "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." She did exactly that when it came to reproductive rights and abortion in particular. Justice Ginsburg fought, she cast decisive votes, and she led in a way to bring others along by speaking the truth about why abortion matters: Abortion rights are about equality, restrictions on abortion about the forever story to treat women as second-class citizens. Her mark is in the jurisprudence, it's on our protest posters, and it's in our hearts., , Writing in dis…
(2020-09-23). Tuesday 9/29: Protect the Altar for Black Lives and Vigil for Tamario Smith. indybay.org Santa Cruz Town Clock, Pacific Avenue & Water Street, Santa Cruz…
(2020-09-23). At the Polls, Episode 2: How might changes to the Postal Service impact the election? aclu.org Did you know the U.S. Postal Office existed before the Declaration of Independence? The USPS' role in this country is so essential that it was written into the Constitution. This year, it's preparing for an unprecedented task: delivering millions of mail-in ballots for Election Day. , , In this week's episode of
(2020-09-23). Mourn Justice Ginsburg and Fight to Close Irwin Detention Center. commondreams.org An overview of Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Ga. (Photo: Google Maps) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-09-23_at_2.50.45_pm_0.png …
(2020-09-23). Mourn Justice GInsburg, Fight to Close Irwin Detention Center. commondreams.org An overview of Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Ga. (Photo: Google Maps) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-09-23_at_2.50.45_pm_0.png …
(2020-09-23). Grant Township Moves to Dismiss PA DEP Lawsuit. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-09-22). Trump Admin. Set to Continue 'Superspreader Executions' With Sixth State-Sanctioned Killing. commondreams.org "The government's rush to kill has caused senseless risk for incarcerated people, prison staff, and everyone who lives in Terre Haute, Indiana." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/anti_death_penalty_0.jpg …
(2020-09-22). The War on Assange Is a War on Truth. strategic-culture.org Ron PAUL | It is dangerous to reveal the truth about the illegal and immoral things our government does with our money and in our name, and the war on journalists who dare reveal such truths is very much a bipartisan affair. Just ask Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was relentlessly pursued first by the Obama Administration and now by the Trump Administration for the "crime" of reporting on the crimes perpetrated by the United States government. | Assange is now literally fighting for his life, as he tries to avoid being extradited to the United States where he faces 175 years in prison for violating the "Es…
(2020-09-22). Assange is at 'Very High Risk of Suicide' Should Extradition Occur, Neuropsychiatrist Tells Court. sputniknews.com The WikiLeaks publisher, who faces up to 175 years in prison for his role in obtaining and publishing classified US documents, has been kept at Belmarsh maximum-security prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on 11 April 2019.
(2020-09-22). The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. dissidentvoice.org 
Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of arrest and extradition to the United States. Assange faces 175 years in a US super-max prison on the basis of claims by Donald Trump's administration …
(2020-09-22). "Belly of the Beast": Survivors of Forced Sterilizations in California's Prisons Fight for Justice. democracynow.org 
Revelations about forced hysterectomies at an ICE facility in Georgia have forced a reckoning with the long history of sterilizations in the U.S. — particularly of Black, Brown, poor and disabled people — and the way this procedure has continued in jails and prisons to the present day. We speak with Kelli Dillon, who was sterilized at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla in 2001 and who is featured in the documentary "Belly of the Beast," which tells the stories of women subjected to unwanted sterilization behind bars in California. She says incarcerated women are "punished" for simpl…
(2020-09-22). Whistleblower Nurse in ICE Jail Alleges Forced Sterilization & Neglect Amid 8th COVID Death. democracynow.org 
As ICE confirms the 20th person to die in its detention in fiscal year 2020, making it one of the deadliest periods in the agency's history, we talk to the whistleblower at the center of an explosive complaint that accuses an ICE jail in Georgia of failing to adhere to coronavirus safety protocols and performing a large number of unwanted hysterectomies on detainees. The doctor who carried out the procedures became known to women inside the facility as "the uterus collector." Whistleblower Dawn Wooten, a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center, says the neglect and abuse at the facility was "jaw-dropping." We…
(2020-09-22). Headlines for September 22, 2020. democracynow.org GOP, Trump Charge Forward with Effort to Replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Supreme Court, DOJ Designates New York City, Seattle, Portland as "Anarchist" Cities, CDC Again Retracts Information About Coronavirus on Website; HHS Head Azar Exerts Control Over FDA, 150+ Countries, Not Including the U.S., Join U.N.'s Effort to Fairly Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine, House Report Finds Immigrant Prisoners Denied Access to Essential Care, Forced into Labor, Mexican National Dies in Georgia Immigration Prison, One Week into Peace Talks, Scores Killed in Bloody Day of Fighting Across Afghanistan, 6 People Killed in Colombian Mass…
(2020-09-22). Palestine is a 'bleeding wound of humanity': Turkey's Erdogan FUMES over Israel & 'collaborators' at UN General Assembly. rt.com 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Israeli government and its allies of supposedly making matters worse while addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. | Speaking before the UN's General Assembly on Tuesday, Erdogan called Israel's "occupation" of Palestine a "bleeding wound of humanity." He specifically condemned Israeli government for "policies of oppression, violence and intimidation" against Palestinians. | The president also derided the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by some members of the international community, most notably the United States. He called i…
(2020-09-22). Jailed Denver anti-racist leaders subjected to dangerous and degrading conditions in custody. liberationnews.org 
This is an outrage! They are still in jail. Almost six days after their arrest, three of the jailed organizers have not been brought before a judge yet. The following is a report from Ryan Hamby, a Party for Socialism and Liberation member and the long-time partner of Lillian House, one of the four PSL …
(2020-09-22). YouTube content moderator sues platform over PTSD & depression, hiring lawyers who got Facebook to cough up $52mn. rt.com 
A former YouTube mod has sued the Google-owned platform, claiming work exposure to child abuse, beheadings, and other vile content led to depression and PTSD. Her lawyers previously forced a large settlement out of Facebook. | The unnamed ex-YouTube moderator is demanding compensation and treatment for the trauma she said she suffered, claiming in a lawsuit filed on Monday that her work left her with depression and PTSD symptoms. According to the filing, she now experiences panic attacks, nightmares, and crippling anxiety, causing her to shun crowds and children and fear one day having kids herself. | Alleged…
(2020-09-22). Woman arrested over ricin poison mailed to White House is identified as Canadian deported for overstaying visa. rt.com 
US police have identified Pascale Ferrier as the person who they say mailed ricin poison to the White House. She was detained while trying to enter the US from Canada. | Ferrier is believed to have sent six other letters addressed to "federal government sites" in Texas, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. These are currently being investigated. | Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. 'Eddie' Guerra said he and three of his staff were sent packages containing ricin, but no one was harmed. | "I can confirm that envelopes containing the deadly toxin ricin [were] mailed to me and three of my detention staff.
(2020-09-22). Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1933—2020. aclu.org With the exception of Thurgood Marshall, no Supreme Court justice did more to realize the Constitution's promise of "equal protection of the law" than Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday. Where Marshall, as director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, succeeded in dismantling Jim Crow segregation, Ginsburg, as the first director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project, persuaded the Supreme Court that women and men, long treated differently under the law, must be accepted as equals., , Neither acted alone; they carried the torches of the civil rights and women's rights movements, respectively. Their courtr…
(2020-09-22). Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Fight for Gender Equity was for All of Us. aclu.org Ruth Bader Ginsburg recognized that dismantling patriarchy was necessary not only for women's liberation, but for all of us to have the freedom to thrive regardless of gender. That certainty drove her strategy during the eight years she spent as director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project, which she co-founded with Brenda Feigen in 1972., , No case better encapsulated Ginsburg's strategy in the 1970s than that of Charles Moritz. Moritz was solely responsible for the care of his elderly mother, but he had been denied a caregiving tax deduction because he was an unmarried man. By representing him, Ginsburg was a…
(2020-09-22). Survivors of Forced Sterilization in California Prisons Are Speaking Out. truthout.org Image Credit: Belly of the Beast | Revelations about forced hysterectomies at an ICE facility in Georgia have forced a reckoning with the long history of sterilizations in the U.S. — particularly of Black, Brown, poor and disabled people — and the way this procedure has continued in jails and prisons to the present day. We speak with Kelli Dillon, who was sterilized at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla in 2001 and who is featured in the documentary Belly of the Beast,…
(2020-09-22). Activists Fight Florida Proposal to Impose Harsh Penalties on Protesters. truthout.org The American Civil Liberties Union joined Florida Democrats on Monday in condemning a Flanked by Republican lawmakers and law enforcement officials at an afternoon press conference in Winter Haven, DeSantis referred to Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon as…
(2020-09-21). From Mass Incarceration to Plan Colombia: Biden's Role in the Failed War on Drugs. mintpressnews.com Former vice president Biden has a sordid history of opposing progressive criminal justice legislation, spearheading draconian police and immigration measures, and playing a central role in waging America's failed war on drugs.
(2020-09-21). Buffalo Detention Center/ Im/migrants work under slave labor conditions. workers.org 
By Tom Allia Buffalo, N.Y. Incarcerated im/migrants are suffering new punishments at the Buffalo Detention Center in Batavia, N.Y., where they are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security. In early April, BDC made national headlines with one of the highest rates of . . . |
(2020-09-21). COVID cases, deaths double in prisons. workers.org 
Since Workers World last reported on COVID behind bars in June, case numbers and deaths have more than doubled. Current numbers show at least 125,730 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among prisoners in the U.S. The data suggest that these numbers are most likely underreported. Philadelphia, March 30. WW . . . |
(2020-09-21). Australian-Egyptian man jailed in Egypt for liking a Facebook post. middleeasteye.net 
Australian-Egyptian man jailed in Egypt for liking a Facebook post | Waled Youssef was visiting his sick mother in Egypt when he was arrested in January, lawyers and family said | Mon, 09/21/2020 – 13: 45 | 'Get Waled Home' is a petition launched by Waled Youssef's supporters to call on the Australian government to secure his release from Cairo's notorious Tora prison (Change.org) | An Egyptian man from Sydney…