40th Anniversary of San Jose Remembrance Day of Japanese Descent Imprisonments WWII
San Jose Nihonmachi Outreach Committee | indybay.org | 2020-01-10
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, 640 North Fifth Street, San Jose, CA…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/10/18829612.php

Attack on UK Prison Officers at High Security Jail Now Being Treated as 'Terrorist Attack'
sputniknews.com | 2020-01-10
In recent years there have been numerous reports warning that inmates in British prisons are being converted to radical Islam while behind bars. Last month a Muslim terrorist killed two people at London Bridge after being released from jail.
sputniknews.com/uk/202001101077999274-muslim-terrorist-was-responsible-for-attack-on-uk-prison-officers-at-high-security-jail—reports/

Female Journalists Still Bear the Brunt of Cyberattacks
Katharine Quarmby | truthdig.com | 2020-01-10
About 10 years ago, I was forced to contend with a cyberstalker. He had written an online novel and posted excerpts on his blog that included threats to rape me and burn my house down. He hoped to kill not only me but my two young children. I still remember the shock I felt as I read his words. My fingers felt as if they had swollen to the size of sausages; I could hardly dial for help. | But I was one of the lucky ones. My cyberstalker was arrested, questioned and finally convicted. Not only did he do jail time, he was put under a restraining order forbidding him from contacting me or visiting my address. | Othe…
truthdig.com/articles/female-journalists-continue-to-bear-brunt-of-internet-troll-attacks/

Sri Lankan president outlines big business, communalist policy to parliament
wsws.org | 2020-01-10
Rajapakse's demagogy about fighting terrorism, extremism and disruptions to public order are aimed at justifying state suppression of inevitable struggles against his government by workers and the poor.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/10/sril-j10.html

'Harvard has the money to pay us livable wages'
Eric Coles | zcomm.org | 2020-01-10
Harvard graduate students are on strike demanding fairer wages, adequate healthcare, and protections from discrimination…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/harvard-has-the-money-to-pay-us-livable-wages/

After 68 Days, Hunger Strikers in ICE Custody Are on the Brink of Death
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-09
New Orleans, Louisiana — With hunger strikes sweeping immigration jails across the country, two Indian asylum seekers protesting their incarceration at a remote Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jail in Louisiana are reportedly on the brink of death after refusing to eat or drink for 68 days, according to a volunteer who regularly visits the two men. | The hunger strikers have a clear demand: to be released so they can pursue their asylum cases outside of jail. | Medical staff at the…
truthout.org/articles/after-68-days-hunger-strikers-in-ice-custody-are-on-the-brink-of-death/

Unions, civil rights groups join mass NYC march against anti-Semitism
PAI | peoplesworld.org | 2020-01-09
NEW YORK (PAI)–The Teachers, AFSCME members, and the Jewish Labor Committee teamed up with civil rights groups and a raft of Jewish organizations to lead a mass march on Jan. 5 in New York against anti-Semitism. At least 25,000 people turned out to march from Foley Square in downtown Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, to …
peoplesworld.org/article/unions-civil-rights-groups-join-mass-nyc-march-against-anti-semitism/

"Clemency:" Exposing the Machinery of Death
Stephen Rohde | aclu.org | 2020-01-09
People on death | row are the direct object of a deeply flawed system of state killing that is infected | by racial and economic disparities and riddled with fatal errors. We currently | know of at least 166 | innocent people who were wrongfully condemned to die. | "Clemency," a new film starring Alfre Woodard as a prison | warden, explores the brutalizing effect the death penalty has on everyone else | in the system — the wardens, prison guards, chaplains, defense lawyers, and | their families, as well as the families of the victims…
aclu.org/news/capital-punishment/clemency-exposing-the-machinery-of-death

Democrats Need to Rip Off the Mask of Timidity and Impeach Trump on All Counts
Ralph Nader | commondreams.org | 2020-01-09
A child participant seen during the rally. Dozens of protesters take part in a rally called "Swarm the Senate" in the Hart Senate Office Building urging action to "impeach, remove, indict and jail" President Trump. (Photo: Michael Brochstein / Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/impeach_trump_for_all_of_it.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/01/09/democrats-need-rip-mask-timidity-and-impeach-trump-all-counts?cd-origin=rss

International Criminal Court Prepares to Try Israelis over War Crimes
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-09
Shawan Jabarin of the Al-Haq human rights organization discusses the International Criminal Court decision to prepare a lawsuit against the state of Israel regarding war crimes committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities are already panicking.
therealnews.com/stories/international-criminal-court-prepares-israel-war-crimes

Palestinian Prisoner Continues to Suffer Torture in Israeli Prison
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-01-09
The Committee of Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs said that Samer Arbid, 44, from Ramallah suffers from signs of extreme torture, to which he was subjected during interrogation in Israeli jails, Quds News Network reported. The committee said in a statement on Wednesday that Arbid is held now in the …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-prisoner-continues-to-suffer-torture-in-israeli-prison/

PPS: Israeli Forces Arrest Fifteen Palestinians Including Mother of Prisoner
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-01-09
Israeli forces detained fifteen Palestinians, on Wednesday, from across the West Bank, including a woman from occupied Jerusalem and a senior member of Fatah movement, the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported. A statement released by the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said that Israeli forces detained Sana Rajabi, from …
imemc.org/article/pps-israeli-forces-arrest-fifteen-palestinians-including-mother-of-prisoner/

Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Groups Call for Closure of Guant√°namo Prison on 18th Anniversary
commondreams.org | 2020-01-09
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/01/09/amnesty-international-usa-human-rights-groups-call-closure-guantanamo-prison?cd-origin=rss

Updated: "Soldiers Abduct Eight Palestinians, Including One Child, In West Bank"
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-01-09
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, at least eight Palestinians, including one child and two former political prisoners, from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS said the soldiers invaded and ransacked dozens of homes across the …
imemc.org/article/soldiers-abduct-seven-palestinians-including-one-child-in-west-bank/

Iranian Americans Have Rights, Too — No Matter What's Happening Abroad
Abdi Soltani | aclu.org | 2020-01-08
Like most Iranian Americans, my family immigrated to the United States in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution in Iran, hoping to find safety and acceptance in a country that prides itself on diversity and freedom of expression. We learned and embraced the principles of the Constitution, including freedom of speech and religion, due process, and equal protection — protections that apply to every person, citizen and non-citizen alike. But what happened at the U.S. border this past weekend was a painful reminder that sometimes, we are still considered outsiders. | In the state of Washington this weekend,…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/iranian-americans-have-rights-too-no-matter-whats-happening-abroad

'Multiple calls' in hunt for more victims of serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-01-08
Police are investigating further potential victims of Britain's worst serial rapist as Reynhard Sinaga's father said his son's punishment "fits his crimes". | The Indonesian student was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years on Monday after being convicted of drugging 48 men and filming himself sexually violating them in his Manchester city centre apartment after picking them up outside nightclubs near his home. | The 36-year-old was a "perpetual student", studying for a PhD in Manchester, thanks to his rich family — his father, reportedly a devout Catholic, is a wealthy banker in his home country…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/01/08/multiple-calls-in-hunt-for-more-victims-of-serial-rapist-reynhard-sinaga/

It Is Time for a New Way Forward
Madhuri Grewal | aclu.org | 2020-01-07
In 1996, at the height of the "tough on crime" era, President Bill Clinton signed two laws that dramatically changed the criminal legal system and radically altered the U.S. immigration system. Just as the 1994 crime bill instituted unjust mandatory minimum sentences and ballooned the prison population, the immigration bills of that same era led to similarly disastrous consequences for immigrants — an explosion in the growth of detention and unfairly harsh punishments for immigrants, including mandatory deportations for minor…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/it-is-time-for-a-new-way-forward

'This Is a Moment to Be Really Vigilant Against All Forms of Oppression' – CounterSpin interview with Audrey Sasson on antisemitism
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2020-01-07
Janine Jackson interviewed Jews for Racial and Economic Justice's Audrey Sasson about antisemitism for the January 3, 2020, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/this-is-a-moment-to-be-really-vigilant-against-all-forms-of-oppression/

Former Head of Identity Evropa Taken Into Custody for Contempt of Court
splcenter.org | 2020-01-06
Elliott Kline, the onetime leader of Identity Evropa, is in federal custody after being found in contempt of court for failing to cooperate in a civil lawsuit stemming from the violent "Unite the Right" rally.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/01/06/former-head-identity-evropa-taken-custody-contempt-court

Venezuelan Government and Opposition Fraction Announce Release of 14 'Political Prisoners'
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-01-06
The National Roundtable for Peaceful Dialogue also offered its backing to the new National Assembly president, Luis Parra.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14757

Trump Order Aimed at Palestine Solidarity, Not Antisemitism
Gregory Shupak | fair.org | 2020-01-04
Antisemitism is a very real problem–which Donald Trump is exploiting to advance an anti-Palestinian agenda. | President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to deny funding to post-secondary schools that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Jewish people. The order notes that such bigotry is rooted in antisemitism, and says that it will determine whether discrimination has occurred by using the non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism adopted by the…
fair.org/home/trump-order-aimed-at-palestine-solidarity-not-antisemitism/

Boston anti-prison organizers oppose $50 million project
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2020-01-03
Liberation News reports from the final 2019 meeting of the Panel on Justice-Involved Women in Boston.
liberationnews.org/boston-abolitionists-oppose-50-million-prison-project/

Prison gave me a greater will to fight
Luiz ignacio lula Da silva | zcomm.org | 2019-12-28
Interview on the reality that Brazil is experiencing and the social protests that have occurred in several Latin American countries…
zcomm.org/zvideo/prison-gave-me-a-greater-will-to-fight/

Across the Country Harsh Sentencing Laws are Tearing Apart Families and Communities
Nicole Zayas Fortier | aclu.org | 2019-12-24
During the holiday season, in the picturesque town of Petoskey, Michigan, Kimiko Uyeda, and her son Marshall celebrate with an annual tradition of selecting a new ornament to add to their tree. Year after year, Kimiko and Marshall add to their collection of ornaments as a part of their tradition. | For years, however, they were separated from one another and unable to enjoy this holiday tradition together. It all began in 2013 when Kimiko was arrested for filing what the local sheriff believed to be a false police report. Because of broken sentencing laws, the prosecutor in the case was able to add four additi…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/across-the-country-harsh-sentencing-laws-are-tearing-apart-families-and-communities

Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
It isn't news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories–from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration's attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few. | Here are some of our attorneys' takes on 2019 and the year ahead–what's changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will a…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/four-lawyers-four-projects-one-non-stop-year

A Fair Chance at Opportunity: The U.S. Government Bans the Box
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
When Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) reintroduced the Fair Chance Act earlier this year, he | said: "This bill would give individuals who are reentering society from prison | a fair chance at truly achieving the American dream." The Fair Chance Act would | ban the box that employers use to ask about arrest and conviction history on | job applications. It also requires that federal agencies and contr…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/a-fair-chance-at-opportunity-the-u-s-government-bans-the-box

A Secret CBP Team is Targeting and Detaining Innocent Travelers. We're Suing
Tarek Ismail | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is deploying secret teams that target, detain, and interrogate innocent travelers. We're suing to expose their activities. | In November 2018, three CBP officers detained Andreas | Gal, a former chief | technology officer at Mozilla Corporation and current Apple employee, at San | Francisco International Airport after he landed from a business trip to Sweden. | Andr…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/a-secret-cbp-team-is-targeting-and-detaining-innocent-travelers-were-suing

A Tennessee City Banned Surgical Abortion Within the City Limits. We're Taking Them to Court
Melissa Grant | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
For 30 years, I have | worked in reproductive health care. In my current role as Chief Operating | Officer of carafem, a nonprofit with a national network of health centers, I | know the difference compassionate and comprehensive reproductive health care | makes in the lives of our clients. I have witnessed the personal impact when | people who have the legal right to have a child or to have an abortion are denied | those rights due to outrageous societal barriers. Abortion providers are used | to opposition, but we've never experienced the kind of explicit targeting we | received from politicians in the city…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/a-tennessee-city-banned-surgical-abortion-within-the-city-limits-were-taking-them-to-court

He spent 36 years in prison because he stole $100 in cash and $4 in food stamps. Now Willie Parker is free
Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2019-12-16
It was pouring rain the day Willie Parker left William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility after 36 years in prison.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/17/he-spent-36-years-prison-because-he-stole-100-cash-and-4-food-stamps-now-willie-parker-free

Weekend Read: Amid Alabama's prison crisis, the voices of the people living through it should be heard
splcenter.org | 2019-12-13
For years, Alabama's prison system has been under a microscope. Harsh sentencing laws coupled with chronic underfunding have led to horrific conditions for people behind bars.
splcenter.org/news/2019/12/13/weekend-read-amid-alabamas-prison-crisis-voices-people-living-through-it-should-be-heard