Citing White Nationalist Emails, Over 100 Democratic Lawmakers Sign Letter Demanding Stephen Miller's Resignation
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-21
More than 100 Democratic lawmakers joined dozens of civil rights groups and other critics of President Donald Trump in demanding the resignation of senior policy adviser Stephen Miller a week after emails displaying the depth of his racist ideology surfaced. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/trump_stephen_miller_2.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/21/citing-white-nationalist-emails-over-100-democratic-lawmakers-sign-letter-demanding?cd-origin=rss

'Targeted by My Own Government': Journalists Sue Trump DHS Over 'Coordinated Attack' on Press Freedom
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-11-21
Five journalists who were tracked, detained, and interrogated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for reporting on conditions at the southern border in 2018 and 2019 brought a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday for what the ACLU called an "unprecedented, coordinated attack on the freedom of the press." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/database.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/11/21/targeted-my-own-government-journalists-sue-trump-dhs-over-coordinated-attack-press?cd-origin=rss

Inside Australia's refugee prison camp in PNG
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-21
refugee rights Chris SleeIssue 1246 Australia MelbourneNovember 21, 2019The Refugee Action Collective (RAC) Victoria held a forum on November 18 to discuss the situation facing asylum seekers in Bomana Immigration Centre, a detention centre attached to Bomana prison in…
greenleft.org.au/content/inside-australia-refugee-prison-camp-png

Assange's case 'a threat to free speech worldwide'
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-21
civil liberties Jim McIlroyIssue 1246 Australia Julian Assange SydneyNovember 21, 2019Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer for imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, believes the United States' applicatio…
greenleft.org.au/content/assange-case-threat-free-speech-worldwide

Media continues its smear campaign against Lula
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-21
media lies Brian MierIssue 1246 Brazil stitch upNovember 21, 2019The Brazilian Supreme Court reversed a 2018 ruling on November 7, upholding the principle of innocent until proven guilty in the 1988 Constitution and declaring it illegal to jail defendants before their appeals' proces…
greenleft.org.au/content/media-continues-its-smear-campaign-against-lula

The U.S. Government Tracked, Detained, and Interrogated Journalists. We're Suing on Their Behalf
Scarlet Kim | aclu.org | 2019-11-20
As part of a coordinated effort that undermined the freedom of the press, the U.S. government tracked, detained, and interrogated journalists who were reporting on conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, we're suing on their behalf to defend their First Amendment rights. | Together with the New York Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, we're representing five photojournalists who traveled to Mexico in late 2018 and early 2019 to document the experiences of people traveli…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/the-u-s-government-tracked-detained-and-interrogated-journalists-were-suing

Soldiers Abduct Eight Palestinians in West Bank
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2019-11-20
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Wednesday at dawn, eight Palestinians from several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS office in Hebron, in southern West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and ransacked several homes in the al-'Arroub refugee camp, north of the city, …
imemc.org/article/soldiers-abduct-eight-palestinians-in-west-bank/

Palestinians resist Israeli renewed attack on Gaza
Minnie Bruce Pratt | workers.org | 2019-11-20
Israel began pounding the Palestinian area of Gaza on Nov. 12 with scores of air raids and artillery attacks. The assaults renewed an ongoing Israeli military campaign against Gaza that had been in a lull in recent months. Gaza has been described as the largest open-air prison in the world, . . . | Continue reading Palestinians resist Israeli renewed attack on Gaza at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/11/44477/

Saving Julian Assange is Saving Ourselves
Kim Petersen | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-11-19
The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a statement based on special-rapporteur-on-torture Nils Melzer's fact-finding mission into the incarceration of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange. The facts were a scathing indictment of those nations behind the targeting of Assange. 'The evidence is overwhelming and clear,' the expert said. 'Mr. Assange …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/11/saving-julian-assange-is-saving-ourselves/

Don't Suppress Votes of New Citizens
Terri Gerstein | progressive.org | 2019-11-18
A new kind of voter suppression is being perpetrated by the federal government and flying largely under the radar: a multi-faceted effort to prevent legal immigrants from becoming citizens in time to vote.
progressive.org/op-eds/dont-suppress-votes-of-new-citizens-gerstein-191118/

An Arizona Sheriff Deputy's Abuse of a Quadruple Amputee Teen Highlights a Policing Culture That Must Change
Ezekiel Edwards | aclu.org | 2019-11-18
Inhumane. Cruel. Abusive. What other words could possibly describe a Pima County, Arizona Sheriff Deputy placing a 15-year-old quadruple amputee who posed no threat into a headlock and then pinning him to the ground at a group home? What if the Deputy then screamed at another teenager videotaping the abuse and yelled at him repeatedly "shut the hell up" and, "Am I your bitch?" before slamming the teenager's head into the wall while handcuffed? | This is not another example…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/an-arizona-sheriffs-deputy-abuse-of-a-quadruple-amputee-teen-highlights-a-policing-culture-that-must-change

Students Told They Would Be Better Off 'If They Had Jesus in Their Life'
Heather L. Weaver | aclu.org | 2019-11-18
The ACLU and the ACLU of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the Smith County School System for violating the separation of church and state on Monday. According to the lawsuit, four students who are atheists have had to contend with school officials promoting Christianity through official prayers, Bible distributions, religious posters, and even a giant cross painted in one of the school's athletic facilities. | We asked our three high school clients in this case — Harleigh, | Leyna and Pyper — to tell us about their e…
aclu.org/news/religious-liberty/students-told-they-would-be-better-off-if-they-had-jesus-in-their-life

Monday's Daily Brief: Progress and pitfalls in child rights, millions of Afghans acutely food insecure, Middle East nuclear-free zone, social media and child detention
United Nations | un.org | 2019-11-18
A recap of Monday's stories in brief: Uneven child rights progress; over 10 million Afghans severely food insecure; Middle East nuclear weapons conference gets underway; Social media posts increasing child detention cases; UN and partners commit to universal health.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/11/1051631

Baby Shark Coup
John Steppling | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-11-18
I also write from time to time, and if any sweet breath fills my soul, it's the light of memory … Oh the memory in prison! How it gets here and falls upon the heart, which it oils with melancholy already so decomposed … In short, I don't know what these people will do. We …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/11/baby-shark-coup/

After Texas Court Blocks Execution, Rodney Reed Has a Chance to Prove His Innocence in 1996 Murder
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-18
In a stunning decision handed down Friday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Rodney Reed, an African-American death row prisoner who was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for a murder he says he did not commit. The appeals court ordered a review of the case to examine claims of prosecutorial misconduct. Millions of people around the country had joined Reed's cause in recent weeks amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. In 1998, an all-white jury sentenced Reed to die for Stites's murder after his DNA…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/18/rodney_reed_scheduled_execution_in_texas

Protesters demand end to Israeli attacks on Gaza
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-11-17
NY, New York – On the evening of November 15, over 150 people gathered on 42nd and Broadway to demand that Israel, backed by the United States government, stop the murder and occupation of Palestinians. | The emergency rally was called by several different organizations in New York City in response to Israel murdering 34 people, including eight children in Gaza. The organizations were Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, Labor for Palestine, Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, NY4Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, American Muslims for Palesti…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/11/16/protesters-demand-end-israeli-attacks-gaza

The Size of Your Wallet Should Never Determine Your Freedom
Twyla Carter | aclu.org | 2019-11-15
Lea Allison is a 30-year-old Alamance County | resident and mother to a 6-year-old daughter. She has been living with | relatives because she cannot afford to live on her own, but was about to start | a new job that she hoped would provide her and her daughter with financial | stability. | Lea's plans came to an abrupt halt when she was arrested and locked in an Alamance County, North Carolina jail on a $3,500 bond. Although she has not been found guilty of a crime, she will remain behind bars because she cannot afford to pay for her freedom. Instead of starting her new job, Lea is sitting in the Alamance Coun…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/the-size-of-your-wallet-should-never-determine-your-freedom

Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California
Candice Francis | aclu.org | 2019-11-15
This is a cross-post from the ACLU of Northern California. | There is a story we tell ourselves about being American. Much of it is a lie. Two dates that students throughout the country are required to memorize to inform an American identity are 1492, when Columbus supposedly "discovered" America, and 1776, when the United States claimed sovereignty from England and through the Declaration of Independence declared: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." If we're honest, we'll admit that the "all men" in that catchphrase didn't include African Americans, Native Americans, and…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/gold-chains-the-hidden-history-of-slavery-in-california

Whistleblowers Are Public Servants. We Must Protect Them
Kate Ruane | aclu.org | 2019-11-15
President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine spoke on the phone. The president insists the call was "perfect." Others are concerned that, during the call, the president intimated he would withhold financial aid appropriated to Ukraine unless the Ukrainian president agreed to investigate former-Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival of the president. | How do we even know about any of this? A…
aclu.org/news/free-speech/whistleblowers-are-public-servants-we-must-protect-them

Disruptive protests don't justify police violence
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-11-15
civil rights Sue BoltonIssue 1245 Australia police MelbourneNovember 15, 2019It is unusual for the Police Union or Victoria Police chiefs to condemn the actions of any officer. But they have been forced to crit…
greenleft.org.au/content/disruptive-protests-dont-justify-police-violence

Justice for Rodney Reed: Millions Urge Texas to Halt Execution Amid New Evidence of His Innocence
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-15
The Supreme Court considers Friday whether to take up the case of Rodney Reed, an African-American death row prisoner in Texas who is scheduled to be executed in less than a week for a murder he says he did not commit. On Thursday, Reed's family braved the cold to camp outside the Supreme Court for a vigil asking the justices to help halt the execution. Millions of people around the country have joined their cause in recent weeks amid mounting evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. In 1998, an all-white jury sentenced Reed to die for Stites's…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/15/rodney_reed_death_row_scheduled_execution

"This Is My Home": Meet the Lead Plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case to Save DACA
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-11-15
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from three lawsuits demanding the Trump administration preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The Obama-era program has granted protection from deportation and a work permit to at least 700,000 undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. The court's conservative majority appeared poised to side with President Trump in ending the program, while some of the court's liberal justices seemed skeptical of Trump's efforts. In September 2017, the Trump administration announced it planned to terminate DACA, arguing the program…
www.democracynow.org/2019/11/15/daca_supreme_court_oral_arguments_lead

Trump Administration Forgoes Petition to Supreme Court in Jane Doe Case
Meagan Burrows | aclu.org | 2019-11-14
For more | than two years, the ACLU has been fighting a Trump administration policy that | prevents unaccompanied immigrant minors in federal care from accessing | abortion. We had previously won in the lower court, securing a preliminary block on | the policy. And last week, the Trump administration chose not to challenge that | ruling and ask the Supreme Court to review the case–a real victory in our fight | for justice for the Janes. | We first filed | the case in Octobe…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/trump-administration-forgoes-petition-to-supreme-court-in-jane-doe-case

Three Common Privacy Misconceptions That Companies Love
Jay Stanley | aclu.org | 2019-11-14
A significant number of Americans hold significant misconceptions about their privacy, according to opinion research — misconceptions that privacy-invading companies love. That's according to research on American understandings of privacy carried out over the past couple decades by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, lead by Prof. Joseph Turow, whom I recently heard give a talk summarizing these studies. | Misconceptio…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/three-common-privacy-misconceptions-that-companies-love

Neo-Nazi Group NSM Faces New Upheaval After James Hart Stern's Death
Hatewatch Staff and Brett Barrouquere | splcenter.org | 2019-11-13
The leadership of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) has been thrown into chaos again following the death of self-described civil rights activist James Hart Stern.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/11/13/neo-nazi-group-nsm-faces-new-upheaval-after-james-hart-sterns-death

The Real Reasons Behind Israel's Arrest of Two Jordanian Nationals
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2019-11-13
The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi'ri from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of hardships at the hands of their Israeli jailers. | Despite the jubilant return of the two prisoners, celebrated in Jordan, Palestine and throughout the Arab world, several compelling questions remain unanswered: why were they held in the first place? Why were they released and what ca…
mintpressnews.com/real-reasons-israel-arrest-two-jordanian-nationals/262833/

After a hard-won sentence reduction, Huntsville man's court debt is another obstacle to freedom
Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2019-11-07
Fresh out of prison after nearly 23 years, Archie "Jody" Hamlett appeared at his mother's door in Huntsville, Ala., one fall day in 2017.
splcenter.org/news/2019/11/12/after-hard-won-sentence-reduction-huntsville-mans-court-debt-another-obstacle-freedom

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

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