(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). 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). Chris Hedges: The Cost Of Resistance. popularresistance.org Two of the rebels I admire most, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher, and Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, are in jail in Britain. That should not be surprising. You can measure the effectiveness of resistance by the fury of the response. Julian courageously exposed the lies, deceit, war crimes and corruption of the ruling imperial elites. Roger has helped organized the largest acts of mass civil disobedience in British history, shutting down parts of London for weeks, in a bid to wrest power from a ruling class that has done nothing, and will do nothing, to halt the climate emergency and…
(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). "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). The Politics of Portland's Protests. counterpunch.org Portland entered the 100th straight day of protests connected to the Black Lives Matter movement this month, and finally Portland's mayor joined hands with the governor to solve the crisis. Not by taking action to address the widely-shared grievances against law enforcement, but to deliver a movement deathblow aimed at protestors. The quietly coordinated move
(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). 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). "A National Tragedy": Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Friend & "Favorite Client" Remembers the Legal Icon. democracynow.org 
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg first gained fame in the 1970s when she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and argued six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court. One of those cases was Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, which centered on a widower who was refused Social Security benefits after his wife died during childbirth. We speak with Stephen Wiesenfeld, who was told his gender made him ineligible and that only women were entitled to survivor's benefits. Ginsburg argued in the Supreme Court that denying fathers benefits because of their sex was unc…
(2020-09-21). At Irwin Detention Center, Ga., Dawn Wooten is a hero — A statement from FIRE on migrant abuse. workers.org 
This statement was released by FIRE on Sept. 18. For more information about FIRE and the fight for migrants around the world, go to fightformigrants.org or email info@fightformigrants.org. FIRE (Fight for Im/migrants & Refugees Everywhere) commends the heroic action of Dawn Wooten, a licensed practical nurse who worked at the . . . |
(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). Algeria probes lobbying deal between jailed businessman and firm linked to Trump. middleeasteye.net 
Algeria probes lobbying deal between jailed businessman and firm linked to Trump | Ali Haddad hired the services of the Sonoran Policy Group in July, a month after he was sentenced to 18 years on corruption charges | Mon, 09/21/2020 – 21: 19 | Ali Haddad is the founder and CEO of construction firm ETRHB (Road, Hydraulic and Building Works Company in English (AFP/File photo) | Authorities in Alge…
(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). The Lekra spirit lives: Martin Aleida on Indonesia's revolutionary cultural group. peoplesdispatch.org 
Literature that defends victims, not power. | Martin Aleida gives a testimony at the International People ¥s Tribunal in The Hague in November, 2015 | "It was the worst when I was released. That's the biggest prison I had to face." | Martin Aleida recalls the moment he was released from prison at the end of 1966. The then 22-year-old writer emerged from nearly a year behind bars to a Jakarta where his friends could not be found. His workplace, Harian Rakyat ('The People's Daily'), the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was no longer. His Party and cultural organization, Lekra, was ba…
(2020-09-21). Progressive and socialist organizations condemn attack on Denver anti-racist leaders. liberationnews.org 
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network supports the six anti-racist organizers, including four members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, targeted for arrest and prosecution in the Denver, Colorado area in the United States, and urges broad mobilization in their defense. Police across the region arrested the six in a coordinated sweep on Wednesday, …
(2020-09-21). Tourists & expats in Oman could face JAIL and steep fines for wearing clothes that expose shoulders, chest or knees. rt.com 
Tourists and expats in Oman's capital Muscat could be thrown in jail for three months and face fines of $780 for wearing clothes that expose their shoulders, knees or chest, under new decency laws. | The draconian new restrictions will apply to both men and women, and tourists and residents of the Gulf state will have to observe them, along with native Omanis. | The chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of the Municipal Council in the Governorate of Muscat explained that clothes must not be revealing and must "properly cover required parts of the body." Qais bin Mohammed Al-Ma'shari added that clothing with…
(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…
(2020-09-21). Police Operation Arrests Anti-Racist Organizers. popularresistance.org Aurora, CO – Police agencies in the Denver area arrested anti-racist organizers in a coordinated assault today. People were arrested in a Home Depot parking lot, at their homes, and after they were pulled over while driving. Those arrested were the leaders to demand justice for Elijah McClain, who was brutally murdered by the Aurora Police Department. They are still in jail, with the exception of one person. They are facing multiple felony charges and years in prison in an obvious frame-up aimed at stopping the movement for justice for Elijah McClain.
(2020-09-21). Sentencing of prominent artists by Sudanese court causes uproar. peoplesdispatch.org Five out of the 11 artists who were physically attacked by an Islamist mob, were sentenced to two months imprisonment and a fine of USD 90 on September 17…
(2020-09-21). The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America. aclu.org No one expected their words to be enlightening or their tone harmonious. Hatred rarely comes in such flavors. It spills out as an ugly, incoherent mess infused with the rotten odor of willful ignorance. And so it was with the Nazi wannabes — self-styled white supremacists determined to make their mark on the world, committed to convincing anyone who might listen that their superiority was both evident and inevitable., , The setting was downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, August 2017. Their mission was unity — of like-minded hate mongers. Their leader, Jason Kessler, was a 33-year-old who lived with…
(2020-09-21). 'Sledgehammer to Permanently Silence Opposing Voices': Outrage Over Florida Gov. DeSantis' Proposed Anti-Protest Bill. commondreams.org "This effort has one goal: silence, criminalize, and penalize Floridians who want to see justice for Black lives," said ACLU of Florida executive director Micah Kubic. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/flblm.jpg …
(2020-09-21). ACLU Statement on Record-Breaking Number of Deaths in ICE Custody. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-09-20). Activists call jailing of Long Island homeless activists a political arrest. liberationnews.org 
Protests planned for Sept. 22 and Sept. 25…
(2020-09-20). Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg 1933-2020. indybay.org By now, we have seen the TV tributes and read the many thoughts on the Internet regarding Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who died today at age 87. My favorite is from the ACLU at www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/in-memory-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-1933-2020/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=200919_rbg_obit_tw&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=rbg&utm_content=200919_obit&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=200919_rbg_obit_tw…
(2020-09-20). Dallas Alliance marches again for Black lives. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – On September 19, the Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, together with a number of other groups, held a march for Black lives. The group met at a downtown Dallas park before marching to city hall. According to the group's social media, a main demand of the march was that the Dallas City Council, which is now finalizing the budget, "redirect a significant portion of the police budget to community needs." | Before the march, the group held a rally in the park. One speaker was DAARPR chair Sydney Loving, who condemned the recent arrests of Black Lives Matter protesters in Color…
(2020-09-20). Mutual Aid Response During Fires Shows Black Lives Matter Is Building Community. zcomm.org "We have come together efficiently and quickly because we know each other."
(2020-09-20). Frame-up in Aurora, Colorado of Black Lives Matter Protesters. indybay.org Once again, as done in labor history and in the black liberation struggle, the State of Colorado is framing at least 4 organizers of protests on behalf of Elijah McClain, a black violinist, murdered by the police in Aurora, Colorado. See www.pscp.tv/w/1PlJQNLoPYXxE…
(2020-09-20). I'm Living in Fear of COVID as New People Get Transferred Into the Prison I'm In. truthout.org Washington State's Department of Corrections (WDOC) is continuing to transfer prisoners between facilities during COVID-19 outbreaks, a practice that public health experts warn dramatically increases the risk of the virus spreading. It matters to me because as an incarcerated individual, the WDOC is responsible for my health and well-being, and it should matter to you, because prisoners can't protect themselves from the spread of the virus and the impact of infected prisoners goes far beyon…
(2020-09-20). Labor Must Make Defense Of Black Lives Its Own Imperative. popularresistance.org Black trade unionists across the U.S. are calling on the labor movement to defend Black Lives Matter protesters and to fight racism in their own ranks. The attacks by police and increasingly violent armed racist militias evoke the memory of many such violent incidents against Black people in earlier periods, from slavery to segregation to the civil rights era. | For Labor Day 2020, Truthout reached out to Christopher Silvera, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 808 in Long Island City, NY; Elise Bryant, executive director of Labor Heritage Foundation and president of the Communication Workers of America's Coal…
(2020-09-20). Irish republican prisoners in Belfast go on hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian activist. thecanary.co As
(2020-09-19). RBG Death Means Two-Headed Uniparty Will Threaten Americans With Removal Of Civil Rights. thealtworld.com US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg The opportunistic galvanization process has already begun before Ginsburg's body is even cold, with liberal influencers calling Democrats to rally to a November win for "the notoriou…
(2020-09-19). Kafka On Acid: The Trial Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Julian Assange needs to wake before dawn to get from Belmarsh Prison to the Old Bailey courthouse, where his extradition hearing resumed on 7 September, for four weeks. He gets dressed for court only to be strip-searched before being placed in a ventilated coffin Serco van for a 90-minute trip across London in peak-hour traffic. After waiting handcuffed in the holding cells, he is placed in a glass box at the back of the courtroom. Then he is forced back into the Serco van to be strip-searched back at Belmarsh to face another night alone in his cell.
(2020-09-19). Campus workers in Georgia defend Black and Brown lives. workers.org 
Atlanta This is a slightly edited version of a talk given at the Workers World Party Sept. 10 webinar, "Workers Defend Black Lives." View webinar at tinyurl.com/y6m9z593. In and around Atlanta, labor unions have been connecting the issues of labor to racial justice. Unions are recognizing that issues of labor . . . |
(2020-09-19). A Kenosha activist demands justice. workers.org 
By Katrina Miller This slightly edited talk was given at the Workers World Party Sept. 10 webinar, "Workers Defend Black Lives." View webinar at tinyurl.com/y6m9z593. Hello, everyone! I'm an activist in Kenosha, Wisconsin — a town that wouldn't be where it is without United Auto Workers Local 72. I'm a . . . |
(2020-09-19). Talib Williams/ 'Imagine a world without prisons'. workers.org 
By Talib Williams Talib Williams spoke from Soledad prison Aug. 29 via a recording, introduced by his spouse Tasha Williams, at the webinar "Black Lives Matter: Justice for Peaceful Black Soledad Prisoners." Williams blows the whistle on injustice inside Soledad and reaches beyond the walls to report the truth, suffering . . . |
(2020-09-19). 'You will see another angle of life here' — stories from refugees in Calais. thecanary.co 
Video project 'People of Calais' tells stories of refugees in northern France waiting to come to the UK | By | Mohamed is talented a writer, poet and rapper. He lives in desperate conditions in Calais, waiting to cross to the UK. He is one of thousands of refugees who have travelled from war-torn countries and settled in northern France."You will see another angle of life here," the 34-year-old says in a new video.Mohamed fled Sudan after being arrested for political writings. He travelled to Slovenia, where he was imprisoned, stripped and beat…
(2020-09-19). In Memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020). aclu.org Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who first rose to national prominence as an ACLU lawyer fighting for equal rights for women, has died at 87 years old., , She began Harvard Law School as a young mother and one of only nine women in her class, and became the architect of a legal strategy to eradicate gender discrimination in the United States. She modeled her approach after that of Thurgood Marshall on race discrimination, planning for a series of cases at the Supreme Court, each precedent paving the way for the next that would further expand rights and protections. In 1993, she joined the court a…
(2020-09-19). Why We Need an Antiracist Education System. progressive.org In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests this summer, there's a growing movement for antiracist education across all subjects—especially history.
(2020-09-19). Workers vs. the Coronavirus Depression. zcomm.org This summer has seen two significant national strike actions—for Black Lives and for safe reopening of schools. These are hardly conventional strikes—indeed, they represent historically unprecedented forms of protest…
(2020-09-19). [Correspondence] Mistreatment during childbirth — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Maria Helena da Silva Bastos and colleagues, Natasha Housseine and colleagues, and Caitlin Williams and José Belizán for their interest in our Article,1 in which we described how more than a third of women experienced mistreatment during childbirth, including physical and verbal abuse, discrimination, and non-consented procedures in four countries.
(2020-09-19). GOP's Strategy for 2020 Election Looks Like an All-Out Assault on Voting Rights. truthout.org The Republican Party and its allies have relied on voter suppression tactics for decades, but this year they are pulling out all the stops. | "
(2020-09-19). Anti-police crimes group demands Green Bay Packers honor memory of Jonathon Tubby. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement issued by the Wisconsin Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (WAARPR) in conjunction with the Tubby family. | Green Bay, WI – The resurgent movement for Black lives and against police crimes, sparked by the public execution of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, is maintaining momentum as summer draws to a close. This is because the police continue to kill Black men and other people. 288 people have been killed by police since Floyd's murder. | Like many other aspects of life in the U.S., sports have been impacted by…
(2020-09-18). Sudan filmmaker Hajooj Kuka one of five artists jailed in Khartoum. middleeasteye.net 
Sudan filmmaker Hajooj Kuka one of five artists jailed in Khartoum | Authorities accused of 'criminalising artists' after group rehearsing play sentenced to two months and fined for causing a public nuisance | Fri, 09/18/2020 – 14: 02 | Filmmaker Hajooj Kuka, one of the sentenced artists, won the People's Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival (AFP) | Five Sudanese artists, including an intern…
(2020-09-18). Facebook sued for allegedly spying on Instagram users through phone cameras. rt.com 
Social media giant Facebook secretly used iPhone cameras to obtain "extremely private and intimate" information about the uses of its Instagram picture and video sharing app, a new US lawsuit claims. | The legal action follows Instagram users reporting in July that they had noticed the FaceTime symbol, which indicates that an iPhone camera is on, was showing up when they scrolled their feeds. | At the time, Facebook denied spying accusations and blamed the issue on a bug, which, it said, triggered false notifications that Instagram was accessing cameras. | However, now a lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Sa…
