(2019-12-04). Immigrant rights activists protest ICE detention at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting. fightbacknews.org Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9: 00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail. | The Sherburne County Jail has a contract for 300 beds to detain immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it the la…
(2019-12-04). Consulting Giant McKinsey Suggested "Detention Savings Opportunities" That Even ICE Staff Viewed as Too Harsh on Immigrants. commondreams.org How McKinsey helped the Trump Administration detain and deport immigrants. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/trump_ice_0.jpg …
(2019-12-04). McKinsey Has Its Fingerprints All Over Trump's Immigration Policy. truthdig.com ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. | This article is co-published with The New York Times. | Just days after he took office in 2017, President Donald Trump set out to make good on his campaign pledge to halt illegal immigration. In a pair of executive orders, he ordered "all legally available resources" to be shifted to border detention facilities and called for hiring 10,000 new immigration officers. | The logistical challenges were daunting, but as luck w…
(2019-12-04). Julian Assange: An Appeal From International Lawyers. globalresearch.ca The ongoing proceedings against Australian citizen Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, presently held in Belmarsh Prison near London, display a grave erosion of time-honoured principles of human rights, the rule of law, and the democratic freedom to gather and …
(2019-12-04). Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Secretive ALEC Meeting. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-12-04). ALEC Is an Incubator for Efforts to Protect White Supremacy, Says New Report. truthout.org Ten years ago, a then-state senator with ties to white supremacists named Russell Pearce introduced model legislation to his…
(2019-12-04). UN Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Detention. truthout.org A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published…
(2019-12-04). America's Approach to Marijuana Is a Gateway to Misery. truthdig.com The so-called "gateway drug" is a gateway to pain relief for me. For others, its prohibition is a gateway to mass incarceration.
(2019-12-04). A3 Newsletter: Albert Woodfox in SF, Zulu Whitmore update and more. indybay.org Following a keynote speech at the Making and Unmaking Mass Incarceration Conference in Oxford, Mississippi this Wednesday, Albert Woodfox will travel to San Francisco to be a special guest at the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice Conference on Saturday, December 7. Next month, Albert will return with Robert King for the de Young Museum "Soul of the Nation" exhibit's free event on January 11.
(2019-12-04). Fishing and environmental groups sue Trump administration for violations of ESA. indybay.org The lawsuit was filed at a critical time for salmon, steelhead, Delta smelt and other ESA-listed species in the Central Valley rivers and San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
(2019-12-04). Fiat Chrysler workers face off against the UAW, an "FCA-controlled enterprise" wsws.org The concessions forced on GM and Ford workers were imposed by the United Auto Workers, which a lawsuit by GM describes as an organization that was "acquired" by Fiat Chrysler.
(2019-12-04). SPLC lawsuit seeks to restore Mississippi citizens' right to vote. splcenter.org When they were children, Herman Parker and his three sisters went to their grandparents' house every election day.
(2019-12-04). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Eleven Palestinians In West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Wednesday at dawn, at least eleven Palestinians from their homes, in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS said the soldiers stormed and ransacked dozens of homes and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards. The …
(2019-12-04). Australian coronial inquiry clears prison officers in death of young Aboriginal man. wsws.org References to the need for "greater training" are aimed at covering up the systemic character of state violence against working class, poor and indigenous people thrown into the prison system.
(2019-12-04). Palestinian Detainees In Asqalan Prison Declare Hunger Strike. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that 33 detainees, held by Israel in the infamous Asqalan Israeli Prison, have started a hunger strike, rejected a series of punitive measures against them. The PPS said that the detainees decided to start the strike to protest the bad living conditions, but …
(2019-12-04). U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention. democracynow.org 
A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…
(2019-12-04). Headlines for December 4, 2019. democracynow.org House Impeachment Report Accuses Trump of Soliciting Foreign Interference in 2020 Election, Report: Europe Could Face Annual Extreme Heat Waves Due to Climate Change, Kamala Harris Ends Her 2020 Presidential Campaign, ProPublica: McKinsey Helped Trump Speed Up Mass Deportation Program, Detained Asylum Seekers Protest in Winnfield, Louisiana, House Votes for Bill to Punish China over Mass Imprisonment of Muslims, ICC Begins Hearing over Alleged U.S. Military Torture in Afghanistan, Rikers Island Officers Stood By as Teenager Attempted to Hang Himself, Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Assassination of Fred Hampton…
(2019-12-03). Members of Argentine Delegation in Bolivia tell the horror they recorded (Coup Repression). mronline.org 
Disappearances, murders, arbitrary detentions, rapes, torture and hospitals that refuse to take care of those wounded by the repression were some of the events recorded during the first day of work. They were held and kicked at the airport by a pro-coup mob. Then the Minister of Government of Añez, Arturo Murillo, came out to […] | Source
(2019-12-03). Morales Accuses Bolivian Gov't of Blocking His Migratory Status. telesurenglish.net President Evo Morales accused the de facto government of Bolivia for creating obstacles to his immigration legal procedures and his vice president àÅlvaro García Linera before the Bolivian consulate in Mexico. | RELATED: | Morales Vows To Do What's Best for Bolivia, Not Afraid of Jail | Morales through his account on the social media network of Twitter said that for a week they began with the steps and have requested collections that did not exist. | "Last week we started…
(2019-12-03). Opposing NATO and Trump means fighting to free Julian Assange! wsws.org The aim of Trump and Boris Johnson is to either send Assange to the US, lock him up and throw away the key, or subject him to such psychological and physical cruelty that he dies in prison.
(2019-12-03). Congress Must Act to Protect the Right to Vote. aclu.org Read the ACLU's report to Congress on the importance of restoring the Voting Rights Act. | This week, the House is expected to vote on H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019. The bill would help ensure racial barriers to voting are removed from elections across the country. Passing the VRAA will advance needed protections for people whose right to vote is under attack based on the color of their skin. | This will be the first time Congress votes on a bill to restore and update the protections of the Voting Rights Act since the Supreme Court…
(2019-12-03). Talking About Ecuador's Political Prisoners: an Interview With Marcela Aguiñaga. counterpunch.org In October, eight protesters were killed during eleven days of demonstrations against a decree by Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno to eliminate fuel subsidies in order to comply with a structural adjustment loan he signed with the IMF. Other articles and interviews on Counterpunch have discussed how Moreno ditched his left wing campaign platform as soon More
(2019-12-03). Israel's Unfinished 'Coup'. counterpunch.org This time, nothing seems to work. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has tried every trick in the book to save his political career and to avoid possible prison time. But for Israel's longest-serving leader, the honeymoon is certainly almost over. It is an "attempted coup", is how Netanyahu described his indictment on charges of fraud, More
(2019-12-03). How do you like that, Elon Musk? Defamation trial over 'pedo guy' tweet kicks off in Los Angeles. rt.com 
High-profile defamation cases rarely go before US courts, but count on eccentric billionaire Elon Musk to find himself in just such a predicament. The suit was brought by a British man whom Musk called a "pedo guy" on Twitter. | The defamation trial kicked off on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, with jury selection. Questions that would-be jurors faced to determine their bias or lack thereof proved to be very detailed and quite unusual. | Among other things, they were asked about their attitude towards billionaires — of which Musk is one — and their views about people living…
(2019-12-03). Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights. democracynow.org 
December 3 is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. "Unfortunately, disability-based discrimination is still a global phenomenon," says Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and disability rights activist from Ethiopia who in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Nigussie is the director for advocacy and rights at Light for the World and the former chair of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind women's wing. She has been blind since the age of five. Yetnebersh Nigussie speaks with us in Stockholm. She is one of many former Right Livelihood Award recipie…
(2019-12-02). Israel's Unfinished "Coup" dissidentvoice.org This time, nothing seems to work. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has tried every trick in the book to save his political career and to avoid possible prison time. But for Israel's longest-serving leader, the honeymoon is certainly almost over. It is an "attempted coup", is how Netanyahu described his indictment on charges of fraud, …
(2019-12-01). How We Win via NVDA Campaigning. dissidentvoice.org 
Long-time peace, justice, democracy and lgbtq activist and trainer George Lakey has written a book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning, about the strategic centrality to movement-building of the approach of nonviolent direct action campaigning. Built upon his decades of organizing experience going back to the '60s civil rights movement, there …
(2019-12-01). Reducing HIV Transmission Requires Decriminalizing Sex Work. aclu.org Transgender people are criminalized for our bodies. | We are profiled, stereotyped, and presumed | guilty based on the way we look or for failing to meet gender expectations, and | it must stop. | Nearly one | in six transgender people has been incarcerated. For trans people of color, | the number is one in two. It's staggering, and it demonstrates the deep bias in | our current laws and criminal justice system. | This World AIDS Day, let's not forget that transgender | women —…
(2019-11-30). Visiting Britain's Political Prisoner. dissidentvoice.org 
I set out at dawn. Her Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is in the flat hinterland of south east London, a ribbon of walls and wire with no horizon. At what is called the visitors centre, I surrendered my passport, wallet, credit cards, medical cards, money, phone, keys, comb, pen, paper. I need two pairs of glasses. …
(2019-11-29). Fingerprint Analysis Is High-Stakes Work — but It Doesn't Take Much to Qualify as an Expert. theintercept.com 
One wrong fingerprint match could send an innocent person to prison or see a killer go free. But proficiency tests are frighteningly easy to pass.
(2019-11-27). "If I Could Just Look at Her" aclu.org 
Watch the journey of two separated parents trying to cross the border and reunite with their children.: | " data-whitelisted="false" data-domain="www.youtube.com"> | In October, the Trump administration admitted that in a 12-month period, beginning in July 2017, it separated 4,370 immigrant children from their parents at the border. Since then, over 1,000 more have been separated under a dubious loophole that all…
(2019-11-27). Did an American Billionaire Philanthropist Play a Role in the Imprisonment of Iranian Environmentalists? theintercept.com 
In September 2017, a group of Iranian environmentalists working on Asiatic cheetah preservation with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation felt a pang of alarm. Thomas S. Kaplan, a billionaire precious metals investor then best known for his fine art collection, had just made a surprise public appearance in New York at the annual conference of United Against Nuclear Iran. The Iranian environmentalists were concerned because their group had gotten aid from one of Kaplan's nonpolitical charities. Now, he was sp…
(2019-11-27). Political affiliation bias is the last type of discrimination society approves of — and study shows we're embracing it fervently. rt.com 
In an ultra-PC society where even the suggestion of racial, ethnic or gender bias can get a person fired or ostracized, another type of discrimination — a political affiliation-based one — is thriving, according to a new study. | Discrimination may have become taboo in US society, but it hasn't gone away. A new study shows discriminatory behavior thrives in the one area where it remains socially acceptable to judge people based on shared attributes: political affiliation. Politics remains one of the few pers…
(2019-11-26). It's Past Time Congress Reined in the President's Emergency Powers. aclu.org The full Senate could soon consider legislation that would rein in the | president's emergency powers and bolster the principle of separation of | powers that underpins American democracy. This legislation, the ARTICLE | ONE Act as amended by a Senate committee, contains sensible reforms of the | National Emergencies Act of 1976 (NEA), the flawed and outdated law that | governs the emergency declaration process. | Under | the current national emergencies declaration process, Congress must muster a | veto-proof two-thirds supermaj…
(2019-11-26). Chicago conference to relaunch National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression a huge success. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – More than a 1200 joined together for an historic gathering on the weekend of November 22 — 24, at the hall of the Chicago Teachers Union, to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The newly refounded Alliance will concentrate its efforts on building the fight against police crimes and for community control of the police, and it will campaign for the release of political prisoners and the wrongfully convicted. | Longtime leaders of the Black liberation movement Angela Davis and Frank Chapman, along with elected officials, trade unionists, and other progressive ac…
(2019-11-26). We're Grateful for the Constitution. aclu.org Thanksgiving is here: that time of year when we pause to take stock of all we're grateful for. At the ACLU, we're saying thanks for all the crucial wins from our legal teams — and for the Constitution. | In just the last few months, we've racked up many essential victories in the ongoing battle to protect civil liberties and civil rights. The scope of these victories is breathtaking: they span criminal justice, privacy, religious freedom, reproductive rights, due process for immigrants, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, and the right to protest the Keystone pipeline, among others. We've won crucial victories…
(2019-11-26). Headlines for November 26, 2019. democracynow.org Judge Rules Trump Can't Stop Officials from Testifying in Impeachment Inquiry, Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Disclosure of Trump's Financial Records, U.S. Troops Resume Combat Mission Against ISIS, U.N.: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Surged to Record-High Levels in 2018, 56 Killed in Landslides in Kenya, Leaked Documents Reveal China's "Brainwashing" of Uyghur Muslims, Duque Calls for "National Dialogue" as Protests Continue to Rock Colombia, Global Protests Mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Argentine Catholic Priests Sentenced to Prison for Raping Students, Water Protectors Block…
(2019-11-25). In Nicaragua, She Dodged Bullets. Now She's Stuck at the Border. aclu.org 
(Ciudad Juarez, Mexico) The sting of tear gas was still in Julia's eyes when she ran into a public park in the center of the Nicaraguan city of Estelí on June 20, 2018. Earlier that day, she'd wrapped her face in a blue-and-white bandanna — the colors of the Nicaraguan flag — and joined a student-led march against the government of President Daniel Ortega, whose proposed cuts to social benefits were sparking tense street demonstrations across the country. [Note: 'Julia' is a pseudonym; the ACLU is protecting her identity for her safety.] | As the students marched through the streets, paramilitary p…
(2019-11-25). The Trump Administration is Unlawfully Detaining a U.S. Resident Without Charge. aclu.org Adham | Hassoun completed his criminal sentence and was set to be released from prison almost | three years ago. But the government — now claiming unprecedented and | unconstitutional powers under the USA Patriot Act — continues to hold Adham in | detention, indefinitely and without charge. | We're | in court to secure his freedom. | Adham | has called the United States home for 30 years. Born in Lebanon to Palestinian | refugees, Adham and his family — like many other refugees — suffered…
(2019-11-25). Pope Francis Calls Nuclear Weapons Immoral as Catholic Activists Face Jail For U.S. Nuke Base Action. democracynow.org 
Over the weekend, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the United States dropped the first atomic bombs in 1945, killing more than 200,000 people. Pope Francis said, "A world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary." The leader of the Cathoilc Church met with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and declared the possession of nuclear weapons to be immoral. The Pope's visit comes as a group of seven Catholic peace activists are awaiting sentencing for breaking into the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia on April 4, 2018. The activists, known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7,…
(2019-11-21). Congress Just Temporarily Extended the Government's Spying Powers. aclu.org Congress today temporarily extended the NSA's spying powers that time and again have been used to violate our rights. Disturbingly, this three-month extension was snuck into a broader funding bill, forcing members of Congress to choose between extending this program and causing a government shutdown. The extension is an unnecessary lifeline to spying programs that are plagued with compliance violations, have no proven intelligence value, and violate our rights. | Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the spying | powers extended, the government believes it has the right to collect our | personal inform…
(2019-11-21). After parole, Alabama man gets life back on track, helps others. splcenter.org Chris "Champ" Napier started speaking to students and at-risk youth about his experience in prison before he knew he would ever regain his freedom.
(2019-11-20). The U.S. Government Tracked, Detained, and Interrogated Journalists. We're Suing on Their Behalf. aclu.org 
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…
(2019-11-13). Neo-Nazi Group NSM Faces New Upheaval After James Hart Stern's Death. splcenter.org 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.
(2019-11-07). After a hard-won sentence reduction, Huntsville man's court debt is another obstacle to freedom. splcenter.org 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.
(2019-11-05). League of the South Resorts to Video Stunts as Membership Declines. splcenter.org 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.
(2019-11-05). SPLC celebrates 30th anniversary of Civil Rights Memorial. splcenter.org 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.