I Went to Mexico to Meet Asylum-Seekers Trapped at the Border. This Is What I Saw
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2019-10-24
Two weeks ago, I traveled to northern Mexico along with Mexican photographer Guillermo Arias to meet with asylum-seekers who've been trapped at the southern U.S. border by Trump Administration policies. Neither of us was prepared for what we saw there. | We visited two cities — Ciudad Juarez and Matamoros — to track down people who had been placed into the deceptively misnamed "Migrant Protection Protocols" that have slammed America's door shut to people fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries. Before we arrived, we wondered whether the stories we'd read of kidnappings, assaults,…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/i-went-to-mexico-to-meet-asylum-seekers-trapped-at-the-border-this-is-what-i-saw

Why is Missouri So Afraid of Finding out Whether Lamar Johnson is Innocent of Murder?
Somil Trivedi | aclu.org | 2019-10-24
In 1994, the St. Louis | Circuit Attorney's Office committed gross prosecutorial misconduct in order to convict Lamar Johnson of murder. | They knowingly presented perjured testimony, fabricated facts to negate | Johnson's strongly corroborated alibi, and buried the fact that a prime witness | against him was a paid jailhouse informant. Twenty-five years later, that same | Circuit Attorney's Office, now led by Kim Gardner, is doing everything it can | to get Johnson a new trial so the truth can vind…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/why-is-missouri-so-afraid-of-finding-out-whether-lamar-johnson-is-innocent-of-murder

South Dakota Governor Drops Anti-Protest Laws in Settlement Agreement With ACLU
commondreams.org | 2019-10-24
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2019/10/24/south-dakota-governor-drops-anti-protest-laws-settlement-agreement-aclu?cd-origin=rss

Death row families lead march to end executions
Gloria Rubac | workers.org | 2019-10-24
Supporters of death row prisoner Rodney Reed. Lydia Garza and 16 family members drove in a rented van almost seven hours from the Rio Grande Valley to the Texas Capitol here on Saturday, Oct. 19, without even stopping to eat. It was so they could stand up for her innocent . . . | Continue reading Death row families lead march to end executions at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/10/44125/

'Forgiveness and mercy' — for whom?
Mr. Tranzerious Anderson | workers.org | 2019-10-24
The writer of the following letter is imprisoned in Massachusetts. As the month of October began, an extraordinary event was unfurling in a Texas courtroom. At least that's how the mainstream media was reporting it. However, for people of color and other oppressed individuals, this was a familiar scene. In . . . | Continue reading 'Forgiveness and mercy' — for whom? at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/10/44141/

Barcelona, Catalonia: Massive general strike demands 'Free political prisoners'
Nelson Marinelli | workers.org | 2019-10-24
Marinelli writes often for Prensaobrera.com on Catalonia. This article was published Oct. 19 on redroja.org and translated by John Catalinotto. Some background on the events is included in a Note at the end of the article. Oct. 18 — More than a half-million people overflowed the streets of Barcelona today, . . . | Continue reading Barcelona, Catalonia: Massive general strike demands 'Free political prisoners' at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/10/44148/

Fired New York police officer implicated in death of Eric Garner sues to get job back at department
rt.com | 2019-10-24
The NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner (a suspect accused of selling loose cigarettes) with a chokehold in 2014 and was later fired for lying about the incident has filed a lawsuit in hopes of being re-hired. | Ex-officer Daniel Pantaleo brought the suit on Wednesday, arguing his termination was "arbitrary and capricious," after a disciplinary hearing in June determined his use of a chokehold maneuver prohibited by his department was "reckless" and recommended he be fired. | Under New York's civil code, which gives public employees means of redress for government rulings, Pantaleo has the right to appeal his…
rt.com/usa/471693-officer-killed-eric-garner-lawsuit-reinstated/

Tesla driver burned to death because first responders couldn't open doors, lawsuit claims
rt.com | 2019-10-24
A family is suing Tesla for the wrongful death of a man who suffocated and burned to death after he crashed his Model S, alleging that the car's hi-tech features trapped the victim in the vehicle. | First responders in south Florida allegedly couldn't reach Omar Awan, 48, because the vehicle's retractable door handles failed to "auto present" after he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a palm tree, at which point the car's lithium ion battery caught fire. | Awan had reportedly leased the Model S, which Tesla boasted had one of the highest safety ratings of any automobile tested at the time, because o…
rt.com/usa/471711-tesla-crash-fatal-fire-doors/

Murdoch University seeks to silence whistleblowing academic
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-24
civil rights Pedro AlvarezIssue 1242 Australia Murdoch University PerthOctober 24, 2019Murdoch University is facing widespread criticism for its decision to seek potentially millions in compensation…
greenleft.org.au/content/murdoch-university-seeks-silence-whistleblowing-academic

Ending Endless War: Andrew Bacevich on How Reckless Use of U.S. Military Power Caused Today's Crisis
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-24
President Trump has announced sanctions will be lifted on Turkey as a ceasefire remains in place in northern Syria, where Turkey invaded earlier this month after Trump withdrew U.S. troops. On Tuesday Turkey reached an agreement with Russia that would force Syrian Kurdish forces to retreat from a wide swath of the Syrian-Turkish border. The United Nations is reporting Turkey's offensive in northern Syria has displaced over 176,000 people, including nearly 80,000 children. The Turkish assault also led to a number of former ISIS fighters escaping from jail in northern Syria. We speak with Andrew Bacevich, co-founde…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/24/trump_lifts_turkey_sanctions_syrian_kurds

Selected Articles: 5G Cell Phone Radiation is Not Safe
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-10-24
Online independent analysis of US-led wars, rampant corruption, corporate greed, civil rights and fraudulent monetary transactions is invariably relegated to the bottom rung of search engine results. | As a result we presently do not cover our monthly running costs which …
globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-we-have-no-reason-believe-5g-safe/5692989

ACLU Celebrates Settlement Ending Unconstitutional Efforts to Silence Pipeline Protesters in South Dakota
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-10-24
The ACLU and environmental activists celebrated Thursday after reaching a settlement agreement with South Dakota's Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and state Attorney General Jason Ravnesborg to end what critics called "their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/keystone_xl_trump_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/10/24/aclu-celebrates-settlement-ending-unconstitutional-efforts-silence-pipeline?cd-origin=rss

Chile Protests: Military Officer Detained for Alleged Homicide
telesurenglish.net | 2019-10-23
The Chilean National Prosecutor's Office reported Tuesday the indictment and preventive detention of a military officer over the charge of the homicide of a protester on Sunday during a protest in the northern city of Coquimbo. | RELATED: | Abuses and Police Violence in Chile, Live on Social Networks | The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security said in a statement that the victim is one of 15 people killed since the protests started in the South American country on Oct. 18.
telesurenglish.net/news/Chile-Protests-Military-Officer-Detained-for-Alleged-Homicide–20191023-0011.html

Betty McCollum Is Pushing Congress to Stop Subsidizing the Torture of Palestinian Children
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2019-10-23
"The legislation I am introducing is expressly intended to end U.S. support and funding for Israel's systematic military detention, interrogation, abuse, torture, and prosecution of Palestinian children." – Betty McCollum…
mintpressnews.com/betty-mccollum-bill-military-aid-to-israel-human-rights/262462/

She Deserves Our Support: Betty McCollum Wants US to Stop Subsidizing Torture of Palestinian Children
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-10-23
In December 2018, 17-year-old Palestinian teen, Ayham Sabah, was sentenced by an Israeli military court to 35 years in prison for his alleged role in a stabbing attack targeting an Israeli soldier in an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Sabah was only 14 years old when the alleged attack took place. Another alleged attacker, Omar …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/10/she-deserves-our-support-betty-mccollum-wants-us-to-stop-subsidizing-torture-of-palestinian-children/

A Presidential Town Hall on Mass Incarceration — Who Will Show Up?
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-10-22
A group of formerly incarcerated men and women will moderate a presidential town hall for the first time ever next week, questioning candidates about their positions on the U.S. justice system before an audience made up exclusively of people with firsthand experience of the country's prisons and jails. | The event, to be held on October 28 at the Eastern State Penitentiary, a historic former prison in Philadelphia, aims to put questions of mass incarceration, broken courts, and racist policing at the forefront of the debate in an election season that has largely seen them eclipsed by other issues. So far, only Se…
theintercept.com/2019/10/22/mass-incarceration-presidential-town-hall/

Trump and the Retreat of the American Empire
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2019-10-22
In days gone by, I used to compare the Trump presidency with the Arab dictatorships. He took preposterous pleasure in the company of Egypt's Sisi (60,000 political prisoners) and his inane ramblings had much in common with those of Muammar Gaddafi, who also "authored" a book he never wrote but whom Trump never met (albeit that Tony Blair and Gaddafi kissed each other on the cheek). But over the past week, I've begun to realise that the crackpot in the White House has much more in common with ancient Rome.
counterpunch.org/2019/10/22/trump-and-the-retreat-of-the-american-empire/

The Charter-to-Prison Pipeline
Alexandria Millet | progressive.org | 2019-10-22
The charter system that often paints itself as a better option for black parents does not acknowledge the harm rigid disciplinary policies can impose on black students.
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/charter-to-prison-pipeline-millet-191022/

Minnesota: Patriotic Chinese students oppose turmoil in Hong Kong
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-10-22
Minneapolis, MN – On October 18, the five-starred flag of the People's Republic of China fluttered in the wind, as a group of patriotic Chinese international students marched in opposition to a reactionary demonstration billed as the "Liberty for Hong Kong March." | The reactionaries made their way through the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus "in solidarity with Hong Kong people against oppression on democracy and human rights." Many of the 'liberators' wore black, and the leaders of the demonstration donned yellow armbands and face masks. Their demonstration coincided with the House of Representatives…
fightbacknews.org/2019/10/22/minnesota-patriotic-chinese-students-oppose-turmoil-hong-kong

Race for Profit: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on How Banks & Real Estate Biz Undermined Black Homeowners
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-22
Recent U.S. census data reveals the homeownership rate for African Americans has fallen to its lowest level since before the civil rights movement. In the second quarter of this year, the rate fell to just 40% — the lowest level since 1950. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor's new book, "Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Home Ownership," examines the roots of this crisis. The book has just come out and has been longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award. From Philadelphia, we speak with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor at Princeton University.
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/22/keeanga_yamahtta_taylor_race_for_profit

San Diego protest demands closure of migrant concentration camps
San Diego PSL | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-21
"The detention of migrants and refugees seeking asylum is a direct result of U.S. imperialism."
liberationnews.org/san-diego-protest-demands-closure-of-migrant-concentration-camps/

Kings Bay Plowshares 7: Trial Begins for Liz McAlister & Others for Breaking Into Nuke Sub Base
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-21
Seven Catholic peace activists are going on trial in Georgia today for breaking into the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base on April 4, 2018. The activists, who are known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. The activists entered the base armed with just hammers, crime scene tape, baby bottles containing their own blood and an indictment charging the U.S. government with crimes against peace. Over the past four decades activists in the Plowshares movement have taken part in about 100 similar actions at nuclear arms facilities, beginning in 1980 at the General Electric nuclear mis…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/21/kingsbay_plowshares_seven_activists_trial

Longest-held Puerto Rican political prisoner sends support to Venezuela
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-10-20
Puerto Rico's longest-held political prisoner, Oscar López Rivera, who was incarcerated in the US for 36 years, sent a message…
thegrayzone.com/2019/10/20/us-political-prisoner-puerto-rico-venezuela-oscar-lopez-rivera/

News and resources: Catalonia's struggle for self-determination
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-19
international solidarity Dick NicholsIssue 1241 Catalonia BarcelonaOctober 19, 2019After the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine political and social Catalan leaders on October 14 to a total of 99.5 years jail for organising the October 1, 2017 independence…
greenleft.org.au/content/catalonia-news-and-resources

Why is the Trump Administration Trying to Tear This 26-Year-Old DACA Recipient Away From Her Child?
Naureen Shah | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
Anahi Jaquez –Estrada is scared. As soon as Monday, she may be deported to a country she hardly knows: away from her 8-year-old daughter and her husband, both of whom are United States citizens. She has lived in the U.S. almost her entire life and is in the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident. Her story is at once exceptionally tragic and a paradigmatic example of how our immigration legal system is failing — and tearing families apart. | I met Anahi in late July at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention site in Aurora, Colorado, where she has spent the last year and a…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/why-is-the-trump-administration-trying-to-tear-this-26-year-old-daca-recipient-away-from-her-child

Unveiling a State-by-State Plan to End our Mass Incarceration Crisis
Udi Ofer | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
The United States locks up more of its people than | any other nation in the world. A whopping 2.2 million people are living behind | bars in this country on any given day. Our national incarceration rate is four | times that of Australia, five times that of the United Kingdom, and six times that | of Canada. | This uniquely American problem is not one crisis | — rather, mass incarceration is a series of state-based catastrophes, each one | different from the next. While much attention was paid | to the federal reforms passed last year through the First Step Act, of | the 2.2 million people locked up on…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/unveiling-a-state-by-state-plan-to-end-our-mass-incarceration-crisis

NYC Council Votes to Build More Jails, Continue Mass Incarceration
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-18
Eddie Conway speaks with No New Jails organizer Pilar Maschi ahead of the NYC Council jail vote about what grassroots activists can do to continue the fight to keep new jails out of New York City.
therealnews.com/stories/new-york-city-votes-rikers-jails-mass-incarceration

Spain Sentences Catalan Leaders in Contradictory Ruling
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-18
Police and protesters clash in Barcelona for a fourth consecutive day over a problematic, contradictory 9-13 year prison sentence for Catalan independence leaders.
therealnews.com/stories/spain-sentences-catalan-leaders-contradictory-ruling

Sentenced to Life in Prison as a Teen, How Cyntoia Brown Survived Sex Trafficking & Won Her Freedom
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-18
At the age of 16, she was arrested for killing a man who had picked her up for sex, after she had been forced into sexual slavery as a child. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for shooting the man who bought her for sex when she feared for her life. Today Cyntoia Brown-Long joins us to share her experience, what has happened in the 15 years she was incarcerated, and how she won her release. In an incredible development, after a years-long campaign to win her freedom, Cyntoia was granted clemency in January after former Tennessee Governor Bill Ha…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/18/cyntoia_brown_long_sex_trafficking_survivor

Patients' Needs, Not Personal Beliefs, Come First in Health Care
Lindsey Kaley | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
From the | start, the Trump administration has issued one regulation after another that uses | religion to deny people — particularly pregnant people, people with low-incomes, | and LGBTQ people — health care access and coverage. Today, we are asking | a federal district court in New York to strike down one of the most pernicious | of these regulations: the refusal of care rule. | The refusal | of care rule, issued by the Department of Health | and Human Services (…
aclu.org/news/religious-liberty/patients-needs-not-personal-beliefs-come-first-in-health-care

The Real News' Marc Steiner Remembers Rep. Elijah Cummings
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-17
Cummings was a civil rights leader, a political powerhouse, and, most recently, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump.
therealnews.com/stories/marc-steiner-remembers-elijah-cummings

Nebraskans Aim to End Predatory Lending with a Ballot Proposal to Slash Payday Interest Rates
Jennifer Bellamy | aclu.org | 2019-10-17
Nebraskans | for Responsible Lending announced this week that they will begin gathering | signatures to reduce the amount that payday lenders may charge to a maximum | annual interest rate of 36 percent. For loans with higher rates made in | violation of this rate cap, the payday lenders would be banned from collecting | principal, interest, or other charges. | Currently, | payday lenders in Nebraska, also known as delayed deposit lenders, can charge | predatory rates with an average annual percentage rate (APR) of 404 percent and | in some cases as high as 461 percent. To put this in context, this means | fa…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/nebraskans-aim-to-end-predatory-lending-with-a-ballot-proposal-to-slash-payday-interest-rates

He Died in Jail From Dehydration. His Family Says a Leaked Video Shows it Was Murder
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-17
On this episode of the Police Accountability Report we examine the case of Shali Tilson, who died after he was jailed during a mental health crisis. But a leaked video shows he was denied water and medical treatment by GA prison authorities for a week–mistreatment his family says was criminal.
therealnews.com/stories/he-died-jail-dehydration-his-family-says-leaked-video-shows-murder

Amber Guyger's Sentence Doesn't Highlight a More Empathetic Criminal Legal System
Jeffery Robinson | aclu.org | 2019-10-16
"I'm sorry, | I can't explain that." | That's | what prosecutor Jason Hermus said to Botham Jean's parents after the jury gave | Amber Guyger a 10-year sentence for intentionally murdering their son. Jean's | father shook Hermus' hand and said, "You fought a good fight." | Jean's | brother hugged Guyger, saying he did not want her to go to jail. The judge also | embraced Guyger and gave her a Bible. Is this a sign of a new wave of racial | healing in the criminal legal system? Could it be the beginning of the end of | excessive sentences in America or a step down the road to prison abolition? | Unfortunately,…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/amber-guygers-sentence-doesnt-highlight-a-more-empathetic-criminal-legal-system

Trump Cabinet Officials Double Down on Religious Favoritism
Heather L. Weaver | aclu.org | 2019-10-16
Last Friday was a banner day for religious favoritism in the Trump administration. | In | Nashville, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a "speech" that was — for | all intents and purposes — a Christian sermon. Addressing an association of | Christian counselors, Secretary Pompeo discussed how to be a good Christian | leader, quoting scripture and urging audience members to conduct themselves in | accordance with his interpretation of biblical tenets. He also commandeered | State Department resources to advertise his sermon in advance, broadcast it live, | and disseminate a video of it after…
aclu.org/news/religious-liberty/trump-cabinet-officials-double-down-on-religious-favoritism

Newark protesters: Democratic Party machine an accomplice in Trump's war on immigrants
Esteban Guevara | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-16
Protesters gathered in Newark, New Jersey for a rally and 3-mile march up to the detention center organized by the Resist the Deportation Machine Network on Oct. 12 to demand the closure of the ICE concentration camp in Essex county.
liberationnews.org/newark-protesters-democratic-party-machine-an-accomplice-in-trumps-war-on-immigrants/

Leonard Peltier subjected to unjust lockdown in prison: Write to the warden now!
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-15
The Party for Socialism and Liberation urges its supporters to write the warden to demand an end to this brutal lockdown.
liberationnews.org/leonard-peltier-subjected-to-unjust-lockdown-in-prison-write-to-the-warden-now/

Creative writing class in prison was 'light' in the darkness
Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2019-10-11
splcenter.org/news/2019/10/15/creative-writing-class-prison-was-light-darkness

The Supreme Court Needs to Protect Trans People from Discrimination
Robin Savannah Carver | progressive.org | 2019-10-10
progressive.org/dispatches/SCOTUS-trans-people-deserve-job-protection-carver-191010/

White Supremacist William Fears to Get Five Years in Prison
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-10-10
William Henry Fears IV, an avowed racist with a lengthy criminal record, has agreed to a plea deal of five years for choking his former girlfriend.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/11/white-supremacist-william-fears-get-five-years-prison

Beyond Bars: Life before and after incarceration in Alabama
splcenter.org | 2019-10-07
As criminal justice and prison reform take center stage in Alabama politics, Alabamians for Fair Justice, a broad coalition of advocates supported by the SPLC and other organizations, are working to lift up the voices of people directly affected by the criminal justice system.
splcenter.org/news/2019/10/15/beyond-bars-life-and-after-incarceration-alabama