Monthly Archives: March 2021

2021-03-23: News Headlines

Staff (2021-03-23). The unending COVID-19 disaster in Maryland prisons. therealnews.com As COVID-19 variants reach the state's prisons and jails, where testing of guards and inmates is woefully inadequate, the situation in Maryland is only getting worse.

Alexander Rubinstein (2021-03-23). CIA Pressured Yemen to Release al-Qaeda Leader From Prison. mintpressnews.com WASHINGTON (Substack // The Moral Guidance Department, a branch of the Yemeni Armed Forces of the revolutionary Houthi government of Yemen published last week a number of secret documents and phone calls from the former regime of longtime president Ali…

Fight Back (2021-03-23). Michigan people's march in Lansing. fightbacknews.org Lansing, MI – On Saturday, March 20, hundreds of protesters gathered in southwest Lansing to unite against police crimes, eviction, ICE detention centers, military intervention and capitalism. 17 groups hosted the event in Risdale Park. | The overarching theme of protest speakers was that workers and oppressed people's struggles are united. The speaker from Movimiento Cosecha, Soleada Pauli, stated, "We used to say, 'your struggle is my struggle,'" adding, "It's our struggle. Workers against this capitalist, patriarchal, racist system." | This attitude of collective struggle was echoed by Tristan Taylor of Detroi…

Mumia Abu-Jamal recorded by Prison Radio (2021-03-23). Mumia Abu-Jamal's Thank You Message to Supporters. indybay.org Mumia Abu-Jamal's COVID symptoms have improved but the severe debilitating skin condition persists. Mumia is now back in general population and he does not currently require hospitalization. However, Mumia needs continued monitoring, and he must not be shackled during future hospitalization.

Betsey Piette (2021-03-23). New court filings for Abu-Jamal's appeal. workers.org As his 67th birthday nears, and Pennsylvania political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal faces challenging and potentially fatal health crises, his legal case is still slowly winding its way through the arduous appellate court system. "Free Mumia" signs at the March 20 Harlem rally in solidarity with Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala., . . . |

Jay Stanley (2021-03-23). Amazon Drivers Placed Under Robot Surveillance Microscope. aclu.org Last month we learned that Amazon is The device Amazon is installing (called "Driveri," pronounced "driver eye") has cameras pointing in four directions, one of which is tow…

2021-03-22: News Headlines

Kristen Lee (2021-03-22). Lack of Full Statehood Rights Continues to Cause Harm to D.C. Residents. aclu.org Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is holding a hearing on a bill to establish statehood for Washington, D.C. Since the last congressional hearing on statehood in September 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic, protests in D.C. after the killing of George Floyd, and the insurrection attempt at the U.S. Capitol building have all highlighted how the lack of full statehood rights continues to cause serious harm to the health and safety of D.C. residents. These events underscore the urgency with which our country must grant full and equal rights to the 712,000 residents of D.C. | Historically, Congress has tre…

Editor (2021-03-22). [rewind] Janet Yang on the Power and Pain of Being Asian American During the Coronavirus Crisis. scheerpost.com In this week's installment of "Scheer Intelligence," host Robert Scheer speaks with Janet Yang, the legendary film producer of "The Joy Luck Club" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt," among many other films, about the appalling onslaught of racism people of Asian descent are currently facing. Yang, who was born in the U.S. and has experienced discrimination since her childhood, notes the difference between what she faced her whole life and the terrifying shape racism is taking today amid the unprecedented crisis.

Frank Knaack (2021-03-22). Sheriff Kristin Graziano and the New Movement for Public Safety. aclu.org Sheriff Kristin Graziano's historic election showed widespread community support for the need to reimagine public safety in Charleston County, South Carolina — including the need to invest in people and communities instead of police and incarceration. Sheriff Graziano is moving forward with her commitments to reduce the size, scope, and role of the Charleston County Sheriff's Department, starting with

Andrew Emett (2021-03-22). Former correctional officer pleads guilty to drug smuggling. nationofchange.org Kenneth Farr received several payments from inmates and their associates in cash or via a mobile application for smuggling contraband into the prison on at least six separate occasions.

commondreams (2021-03-22). Private Prison Company Poisoned Immigrants at Adelanto for A Decade. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Amanda Holpuch (2021-03-22). Omar urges end to prison contracts to fix 'abuse-ridden' immigration detention system. zcomm.org Representative calls on Biden administration to phase out contracts between ICE and local jails and prisons…

WSWS (2021-03-22). Sturgeon's future in jeopardy as Scottish National Party civil war intensifies. wsws.org The attempt by Nicola Sturgeon's close allies to railroad former SNP leader and Alex Salmond to jail on MeToo-inspired sex charges is backfiring spectacularly.

Not to Be Missed (2021-03-22). SF Judge Rules School District Must Vacate Renaming. indybay.org On March 18, 2021, Judge Ethan Schulman issued an Alternative Writ of Mandate in a lawsuit ordering the SF School District to either vacate the Board Resolution of January 26, 2021, the school renaming resolution, and dissolve the Renaming Committee, or show up in court on May 6, 2021 and explain why it has not complied with the order. See www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SFSchoolNaming-ORDER.pdf