The Worm in the Apple
Peter Linebaugh | counterpunch.org | 2019-11-11
The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution reads "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Slavery remains a punishment for crime; imprisonment is a continuation of slavery. That is the…
counterpunch.org/2019/11/11/the-worm-in-the-apple/

US-backed Colombian military kills eight children in bombing, attempts cover-up
wsws.org | 2019-11-11
The brazenness of military repression to defend the highest levels of inequality in the world is the result of over a century of imperialist oppression.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/11/colo-n11.html

'When Will Someone Go to Jail?': New Report Shows Google Secretly Storing Health Data of Millions of Americans
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-11
According to The Wall Street Journal, neither patients nor doctors have been notified of the data collection and storage. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/google_3.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/when-will-someone-go-jail-new-report-shows-google-secretly-storing-health-data?cd-origin=rss

Lula As Opposition To Bolsonaro, Right Wants Him Back In Jail
telesurenglish.net | 2019-11-10
Former Brazilian President and leader of the Workers' Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing to lead the opposition to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government, while the right is already trying to articulate a constitutional amendment that could put him back in jail. | RELATED: | Brazil: Thousands Await Lula Da Silva's Speech Outside Union | Lula regained his freedom last Friday and his return to politics has already been an impulse for a lethargic opposition sin…
telesurenglish.net/news/lula-prepares-opposition-to-bolsonaro-right-wants-him-back-in-jail-20191110-0007.html

Soldiers Abduct Two Former Political Prisoners Near Hebron
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2019-11-10
Israeli soldiers invaded, early on Sunday morning, Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and abducted two former political prisoners. Local sources in Beit Ummar said the soldiers invaded and violently searched a few homes in the town, before abducting the two former political prisoners. …
imemc.org/article/soldiers-abduct-two-former-political-prisoners-near-hebron/

Three Administrative Detainees Continue Hunger Strike, One For 109 Days
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-11-09
Three Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails remain on hunger strike against their illegal incarceration without charge or trial, one of them for 109 days in a row, the Palestinian Prisoners Commission said Saturday. Ismail Ali, from the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike …
imemc.org/article/three-administrative-detainees-continue-hunger-strike-one-for-109-days/

The Criminal Justice System Is Not Broken. It's Doing What It Was Designed to Do
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-11-09
Alec Karakatsanis's book "Usual Cruelty" is a powerful takedown of the U.S. mass punishment bureaucracy, also known as the criminal justice system.
theintercept.com/2019/11/09/criminal-justice-mass-incarceration-book/

Why I'm Fighting for Menstrual Equity in Prison
Kimberly Haven | aclu.org | 2019-11-08
My name is Kimberly Haven. I am an activist, an advocate, and I have also been referred to as the "tampon queen." I got this moniker because, while I was incarcerated, I learned how to make my own tampons out of the subpar menstrual products I was "given" while incarcerated. | For those who do not have firsthand experience with it, incarcerated women are typically provided with a very limited number of subpar products you would never buy outside of the carceral system. Access to pads and / or tampons is not a given–they are closely restricted and sometimes run out, leaving women without any solutions ex…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/why-im-fighting-for-menstrual-equity-in-prison

Lula freed after surprise Brazilian Supreme Court ruling
Morning Star | peoplesworld.org | 2019-11-08
UPDATE: This story was first published just hours before former Brazilian President Lula was freed from prison. It has been updated to reflect this breaking news. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was released from prison today after a key Supreme Court ruling. The court ruled by six judges to five on Thursday …
peoplesworld.org/article/lula-could-be-freed-after-surprise-brazilian-supreme-court-ruling/

Egypt: 'Credible evidence' that 'brutal' prison conditions prompted Morsi's death, thousands more at risk
United Nations | un.org | 2019-11-08
A group of independent UN human rights experts said on Friday that there was "credible evidence" that inadequate prison conditions in which former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was held may have led "directly" to his death in June, and thousands of other detainees may be at "severe risk".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/11/1050941

Texas Prepares to Execute Rodney Reed Amid a Flood of New Evidence Pointing to His Innocence
Jordan Smith | theintercept.com | 2019-11-08
Deke Pierce was wearing civilian clothes as he took to the lectern in a narrow press room inside the Texas Capitol in Austin last month, but it was still obvious that he was a cop. He stood with his feet wide and his arms slightly away from his body, a stance molded by years in a uniform encumbered by heavy gear. He was there to make an extraordinary announcement: He and 12 other members of law enforcement with more than 250 years of combined experience had filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of a Texas death row prisoner named Rodney Reed, slated for execution on November 20.
theintercept.com/2019/11/08/rodney-reed-death-row-texas/

Remembering the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre When Police Shot Dead Three Unarmed Black Students
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-08
The 1968 Orangeburg massacre is one of the most violent and least remembered events of the civil rights movement. A crowd of students gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest segregation at Orangeburg's only bowling alley. After days of escalating tensions, students started a bonfire and held a vigil on the campus to protest. Dozens of police arrived on the scene, and state troopers fired live ammunition into the crowd. When the shooting stopped, three students were dead and 28 wounded. Although the tragedy predated the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings and it was the fir…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/8/remembering_orangeburg_massacre_1968_south_carolina

We Said We Would See Him in Court and We Did
David Cole | aclu.org | 2019-11-07
Several months into the Trump administration, my wife was | doing The New York Times crossword puzzle and came across this clue: "Group | that told President Trump, 'We'll see you in court.'" I'm not generally much use | when it comes to the crossword, but on that one I could help. She didn't really | need the assistance of course, as the ACLU is my employer, and she, The New | York Times crossword puzzle drafters, and much of the country already knew that | it was the ACLU who told the president we'd see him in court. | In fact, we told him that before he took office. Just days after | he improbably won t…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/we-said-we-would-see-him-in-court-and-we-did

'Terminator' warlord Bosco Ntaganda sentenced to 30 years in prison for DR Congo atrocities
United Nations | un.org | 2019-11-07
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday handed down a maximum 30-year prison sentence for mass murder and numerous other atrocities, to Bosco Ntaganda, the heaviest sanction yet imposed by judges at The Hague, in the Netherlands.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/11/1050841

Algerian Protesters Are Still in the Streets, Months After Pushing Out Longtime President Bouteflika
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-07
In Algeria, protests against corruption, the jailing of opposition leaders and the army's powerful role in national politics have entered their ninth month. Tens of thousands filled the streets of the capital Algiers last Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the war of independence from France and to demand a "new revolution" rather than an upcoming election they say will be rigged. Over 100 student protesters were arrested last night as the Algerian government intensified its crackdown on demonstrators ahead of the upcoming polls. Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah announced the country will hold a presiden…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/7/algerian_protests_enter_ninth_month_ahead

FRSO condemns wave of repression against trade unionists, progressive activists in Philippines
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-11-06
Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands in opposition to the wave of political repression that is being unleashed in the Philippines. The U.S.-backed regime of President Duterte has carried out a series of raids on homes and offices, jailing more than 60 participants in the progressive and national democratic movement. | According to reports, among those arrested in the raids were 40 members of the militant labor movement Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)/May First Movement. Leaders of the KMU have toured the U.S. in the past, speaking of their struggle for justice and a better way of life. They need our solidarity now.
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/11/6/frso-condemns-wave-repression-against-trade-unionists-progressive-activists-philippines

League of the South Resorts to Video Stunts as Membership Declines
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-11-05
The League of the South made a 25-second propaganda video over the weekend at the memorial of a civil rights icon in an apparent attempt to attract members to its neo-Confederate ideology.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/11/05/league-south-resorts-video-stunts-membership-declines

SPLC celebrates 30th anniversary of Civil Rights Memorial
splcenter.org | 2019-11-05
The first African American elected mayor of Montgomery, Alabama — a city known as both the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the "Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement" — urged those who gathered today to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Civil Rights Memorial to ask themselves how they can make an impact on the lives of others.
splcenter.org/news/2019/11/05/splc-celebrates-30th-anniversary-civil-rights-memorial

NYC protest demands release of activists, union members jailed in Philippines
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-11-05
New York, NY – Several dozen organizers and community members gathered outside the Philippine Consulate on 5th Avenue, November 4, to demand that the government of the Philippines release the 62 organizers of legal, mass organizations who were arrested Negros and Metro Manila. | The emergency rally was called as the Duterte Regime amped up its repression. On October 26, the military dropped 500-pound bombs on Samar Island to further crackdown on organizing. This was followed by raids on the regional offices of GABRIELA, BAYAN MUNA, and the National Federation of Sugar Workers on October 31. During these raids, 60…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/11/5/nyc-protest-demands-release-activists-union-members-jailed-philippines

Defend DACA, Stop Trump & other Bigots
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-11-05
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by from the Legalization for All Network. | November 12, 2019 the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral-arguments to determine if the Trump attack on DACA is lawful. Trump filed a lawsuit to rescind DACA in 2017 after Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas threatened to sue Trump. Paxton began with a coalition of 7 states countering DACA, but the 7 are now 10 — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, Kansas, Mississippi, and Maine. Since then, DACA has been under attack. | Trump and the coalition of 10 states have…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/11/5/defend-daca-stop-trump-other-bigots

"Release My Mother": A Yale Student Fights to Halt Deportation of His Mother with Stage IV Cancer
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-05
Tania Romero, an undocumented mother from Honduras and survivor of stage IV cancer, is fighting to remain in the United States with her four children. Two months ago, Romero was imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the privately owned Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, interrupting her life-saving medical treatments. In mid-August, Romero was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and arrested for not having a driver's license. Tania Romero's attorney requested a stay of deportation on humanitarian grounds because of her fragile health, but it was denied in September. Her son, Cristian…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/5/cancer_patient_tania_romero_ice_detention

Trump Wants to Allow Discrimination with Billions of Dollars of Federal Funding
Louise Melling | aclu.org | 2019-11-05
Last Friday, the Trump administration announced | an alarming new proposal that would strip away critical protections against discrimination | in grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. | Initially, we thought this proposal would serve to fulfill Trump's promise to give taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies a license to discriminate. This proposal does…
aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/trump-wants-to-allow-discrimination-with-billions-of-dollars-of-federal-funding

American Graffiti: Church, Cancer, and 'Hate Faith'
Kevin Powell | progressive.org | 2019-11-02
Spirituality is love. Religion, as often practiced now and through history, is a convenient partner of oppression, and can easily become what I call hate faith.
progressive.org/dispatches/american-graffiti-church-cancer-hate-faith-powell-191102/

Civil Rights Memorial commemorates 30 years
splcenter.org | 2019-11-01
Carolyn Wells Gee was in bed watching TV with her younger sister when she heard the shot that killed Medgar Evers.
splcenter.org/news/2019/11/01/civil-rights-memorial-commemorates-30-years

Abortion is Legal in All 50 States, and We Intend to Keep It That Way
Alexa Kolbi-Molinas | aclu.org | 2019-10-31
On | Tuesday, a federal court issued a decision in our challenge to Alabama's | near-total ban on abortion blocking the law from taking effect. The decision | comes on the heels of similar rulings blocking abortion bans in Arkansas, | Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah. In other words, the ACLU has an | undefeated, 7-0 record challenging state abortion bans in court. None of the state abortion bans passed | earlier this year will be permitted to take effect. Abortion is — and will | remain — legal in all 50 states. | The | Alabama ban, like all the others, is the anti-abortion movement's t…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/abortion-is-legal-in-all-50-states-and-we-intend-to-keep-it-that-way

The FBI is Tracking Our Faces in Secret. We're Suing
Kade Crockford | aclu.org | 2019-10-31
Many of us wear masks on Halloween for fun. But what about a world in which we have to wear a mask every single day to protect our privacy from the government's oppressive eye? | Face | recognition surveillance technology has already made that frightening world a | reality in Hong Kong, and it's quickly becoming a scary | possibility in the United States. | The FBI is currently collecting data about our faces, irises, walking patterns, and voices, permitting the government to pervasively identif…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/the-fbi-is-tracking-our-faces-in-secret-were-suing

Why Have a Forum on Reparations in Charleston and Why Now?
Jeffery Robinson | aclu.org | 2019-10-31
This year marks 400 years since enslaved, kidnapped people were purchased by the forefathers and — mothers of America. Are the events that began 400 years ago connected to today? William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." | On June 19, 2019, the National African American Reparations | Commission (NAARC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) held | a forum on H.R. 40 in the historic Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, | D.C. As a follow up to that…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/why-have-a-forum-on-reparations-in-charleston-and-why-now

Weekend Read: If your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't fight so hard to block it
splcenter.org | 2019-10-25
At the intersection of race and politics in the United States lies voter suppression — the array of laws and election practices intended to make it harder for people of color to vote.
splcenter.org/news/2019/10/26/weekend-read-if-your-vote-didnt-matter-they-wouldnt-fight-so-hard-block-it

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

'No rehabilitation,' just oppression, behind bars in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel | splcenter.org | 2019-10-23
splcenter.org/news/2019/10/29/no-rehabilitation-just-oppression-behind-bars-alabama

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