Paying the Price for Defeating Chevron: an Interview with Steven Donziger
Joe Emersberger | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-05
U.S. attorney Steven Donziger has been in house arrest in Manhattan for almost eight months. His pre-trial detention stems from a judgement he and a team of Ecuadorian lawyers won over Chevron that could cost the company billions of dollars

The Case for Prison Abolition: Ruth Wilson Gilmore on COVID-19, Racial Capitalism & Decarceration
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-05
The spread of COVID-19 threatens the lives of more than 2.3 million people locked up in prisons and jails throughout the United States. We look at how the call to release prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic makes the case for prison abolition, with scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore, co-founder of California Prison Moratorium Project and Critical Resistance and the author of "Golden Gulag: Prison, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California." Her forthcoming book is "Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition."
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/5/ruth_wilson_gilmore_abolition_coronavirus

Calls Grow for Mass Release from Ohio's Marion Prison as 80% of Prisoners Test Positive for COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-05
We get an update on one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the United States, at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio, where 11 prisoners and one staff member have died, and at least 80% of prisoners and half of the prison staff tested positive. Despite growing calls to release thousands of Ohio's nearly 50,000 incarcerated people as the coronavirus spreads, Governor Mike DeWine has only approved the release of more than 100 people in the state's prisons. "We're seeing a few people being released … but not anywhere near the 20,000 [we are] demanding," says Azzurra Crispino, whose husband, James, is in…
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/5/marion_correctional_institution_coronavirus_outbreak_calls

Solitary Confinement Used For Children As Young As 11 After COVID-19 Exposure
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-05-05
Lawyers say Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services and the Department of Correctional Services aren't being transparent about conditions in juvenile detention centers.
therealnews.com/stories/solitary-confinement-juvenile-detention-eleven-coronavirus-exposure-maryland

COVID-19 and the Left: an Ignored Civil Rights Crisis; a Missed Opportunity
Michael Lesher | zcomm.org | 2020-05-05
The very last thing we should be doing is sitting back and watching while business elites manipulate working class protesters with appeals to their civil-rights concerns, steadily corralling all forms of pro-democracy resistance into the politics of the Republican right…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/covid-19-and-the-left-an-ignored-civil-rights-crisis-a-missed-opportunity/

Trump, Pence, G W Bush, Hannity and Sen. Rick Scott's best sheriff fried under DOJ investi
scott huminski | indybay.org | 2020-05-05
The Justice Department and Florida Department of Health are investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for civil rights abuses, human rights abuses, ADA violations and felony abuse of a disabled adult.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/01/18832772.php

SFPD Wore "Blue Lives Matter" Face Masks While Responding to Protests
Insult to Black Lives Matter, Insult to All | indybay.org | 2020-05-05
Photos of the scene at a May 1 housing protest in San Francisco show a row of police wearing face masks that depict the Blue Lives Matter flag. At least one policeman at a reopen rally the same day wore the same mask. Police regulation states that officers cannot alter their uniform. City Police Chief Bill Scott says he is seeking "neutral" face coverings for the city's rank and file.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/03/18832811.php

GOP Senate to hold stimulus hostage; demands coronavirus lawsuit immunity for bosses
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-05-05
WASHINGTON–If you go to work and get sick from coronavirus on the job, because of little protective gear and no social distancing, Mitch McConnell wants to make sure your boss walks, scot-free. That's his "line in the sand" in the next economic aid package to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its massive closures. The …
peoplesworld.org/article/gop-senate-to-hold-stimulus-hostage-demands-coronavirus-lawsuit-immunity-for-bosses/

May Day Caravan in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz News | indybay.org | 2020-05-05
#COLA4ALL activists in Santa Cruz organized a May Day Caravan to support those "striking and fighting for their right to live in this city". Beginning on the UC Santa Cruz campus to support the striking COLA graduate students, the caravan traveled downtown to the Santa Cruz Main Jail, and then on to support Food Not Bombs at Front and Laurel Streets. (Photos taken downtown by Keith McHenry of Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs.)…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/02/18832785.php

One year on, pilot of fatal Aeroflot Flight 1492 rejects all blame for deaths of 41 people
rt.com | 2020-05-05
It's a year to the day since Aeroflot Flight 1492 burst into flames upon landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, taking the lives of 41 people. Now facing prosecution and jail time, the plane's pilot wants to clear his name. | Speaking to Russian news outlet Lenta, pilot Denis Evdokimov explained his version of events. According to Evdokimov, the fault lies with the airplane's non-compliance with standards of airworthiness, and he rejects all personal blame. | On May 5, 2019, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane operating Aeroflot Flight 1492 was gaining altitude when it was hit by lightning. As a result, the plane s…
rt.com/russia/487837-aeroflot-pilot-rejects-blame-catastrophe/

Detainees put at high risk for COVID-19 at Madison, Wi., jail
Annika Lee | liberationnews.org | 2020-05-05
To protect them from COVID-19, incarcerated people must be freed.
liberationnews.org/detainees-put-at-high-risk-for-covid-19-at-madison-wi-jail/

We should never forget Bobby Sands, nor the brutality of the Thatcher government in Ireland
Peter Bolton | thecanary.co | 2020-05-05
Today marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands inside the H-blocks of Long Kesh internment camp. On 5 May 1981, Sands laid down his life for his and his comrades' right for recognition as political prisoners. On this day, we should remember the sacrifice he made for the cause of Irish freedom. But his struggle does not just provide an example that all anti-imperialists should follow. It also serve…
thecanary.co/opinion/2020/05/05/we-should-never-forget-bobby-sands-nor-the-brutality-of-the-thatcher-government-in-ireland/

Iran hands over prisoners to China, Indonesia
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-05
TEHRAN, May 05 (MNA)

80 Percent of People Held in Ohio's Marion Prison Test Positive for COVID-19
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-05
We get an update on one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the United States, at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio, where 11 prisoners and one staff member have died, and at least 80% of prisoners and half of the prison staff tested positive. Despite growing calls to release thousands of Ohio's nearly 50,000 incarcerated people as the coronavirus spreads, Governor Mike DeWine has only approved the release of more than 100 people in the state's prisons. "We're seeing a few people bein…
truthout.org/video/80-percent-of-people-held-in-ohios-marion-prison-test-positive-for-covid-19/

A united world must break out of prison
Robert Koehler | zcomm.org | 2020-05-05
The prison system doesn't work. To say this is not to shrug and advocate doing nothing at all, but to rethink the matter at a level deeper than the cynics believe is possible…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-united-world-must-break-out-of-prison/

Boyle Heights celebrates May Day for the 6th consecutive year
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-04
Los Angeles, CA – On Friday, May 1, a car protest of over 40 vehicles driven by workers, teachers and activists took to the streets for the sixth consecutive year to celebrate International Workers Day, May Day, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Organized by Centro CSO, this year's May Day protest focused on Trump's attacks on immigrants and called for free healthcare for COVID-19 patients, support for public education, jailing killer cops and community control over the police. | "The coronavirus pandemic has affected oppressed nationalities like African Americans, Chicanos and American Indians the most. Unsafe…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/5/4/boyle-heights-celebrates-may-day-6th-consecutive-year

Spy Plane Resumes Flights Over Baltimore Amid COVID-19
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-05-04
The expensive aerial surveillance program won't help heavily disinvested Baltimore, say Ceasefire co-founder Erricka Bridgeford and author Brandon Soderberg.
therealnews.com/stories/spy-plane-aerial-surveillance-baltimore-appeal-aclu

The COVID-19 Crisis Profoundly Exposes African Americans to the Scourge of Poverty and Racism
Azhar Azam | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-04
They live below the poverty level. They are prison inmates in large numbers. They are most likely to be killed by the police, a longstanding grievance that originated the Black Lives Matter (BTM) movement to protest against police killing and | …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-profoundly-exposes-african-americans-racism/5711687

Judge tosses out equal pay discrimination claims made by Women's soccer
Al Neal | peoplesworld.org | 2020-05-04
On International Workers' Day, May 1, a federal judge quietly tossed out part of the U.S. Women's National Team's pay discrimination lawsuit–the unequal pay argument–while allowing their allegations of discriminatory working conditions to proceed to trial. It was a shocking judgment and a loss for players. Led by Alex Morgan, players filed their lawsuit in March …
peoplesworld.org/article/judge-tosses-out-equal-pay-discrimination-claims-made-by-womens-soccer/

Return of Iranian scientist in US jail to country confirmed: MP
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-04
TEHRAN, May 04 (MNA)

24-year-old Egyptian filmmaker Shady Habash dies in prison
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-05-04
Habash was in a Cairo prison since 2018 after directing a music video which mocked and ridiculed Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and spoke out against government corruption…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/04/24-year-old-egyptian-filmmaker-shady-habash-dies-in-prison/

Venezuela: 45 Killed in Guanare Prison Riot
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-05-04
The government pledged to investigate the May 1 riot, which it described as an attempted breakout.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14863

Israeli Troops Abduct Eight Palestinians, Ransack Home of Former Prisoner
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-05-04
Israeli troops reportedly abducted, on Monday, eight Palestinian residents from different areas of the West Bank. Local Palestinian media sources said that those abducted were identified as Ziyad Abu Salem from the Abu Shkhaidem village, north of Ramallah city, Nawras Ferras from Markaba village, south of Jenin city. The sources …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-eight-palestinians-ransack-home-of-former-prisoner/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-troops-abduct-eight-palestinians-ransack-home-of-former-prisoner

Israeli Troops Abduct Twelve Palestinians, Including Former Prisoner
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-05-03
Israeli troops reportedly abducted, early on Sunday, a dozen Palestinians from different parts of the Palestinian territories, prisoners sources said. The Ramallah-based Palestinian prisoners forum said that Israeli troops invaded the al-"Isawiya neighborhood of the old city of Jerusalem, which is internationally-recognized as an Israeli-occupied Palestinian area. The forum added …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-twelve-palestinians-including-former-prisoner/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-troops-abduct-twelve-palestinians-including-former-prisoner

Louisiana prisons are 'death concentration camps'
a guest author | workers.org | 2020-05-02
By Quess Moore This slightly edited talk is by Quess Moore speaking at the April 9 Workers World Party webinar. Moore organizes with New Orleans Workers Group and Take 'Em Down NOLA, a group which has been working to take down symbols of white supremacy and slavery. View all the . . . | Continue reading Louisiana prisons are 'death concentration camps' at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/05/48121/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=louisiana-prisons-are-death-concentration-camps

New York caravan celebrates May Day
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-02
New York, NY – Dozens of cars gathered in different boroughs of New York City on Friday May 1 in honor of May Day, or International Workers Day. Due to the city being on pause, protesters used a caravan to display signs and drive through different neighborhoods in the city, showing solidarity with workers and other oppressed groups. A special focus was put on COVID-19 and how workers, prisoners and immigrants lack protection from COVID-19. | The three contingents started in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Their demands included cancel the rents, hazard pay and PPE, free healthcare and COVID testing, free them al…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/5/2/new-york-caravan-celebrates-may-day

[Editorial] COVID-19: remaking the social contract
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-05-02
"Allegiance, after all, has to work two ways; and one can grow weary of an allegiance which is not reciprocal." The British playwright David Hare quoted this line by the American writer James Baldwin in his recent reflections on the UK Government's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Baldwin's reminder and warning in the context of civil rights in the mid-20th century USA speak now in the pandemic to communities the world over who are unsure of their governments' allegiances to them.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30983-1/fulltext?rss=yes

Sudan bans female genital mutilation, UNICEF vows to help support new law
news.un.org | 2020-05-02
The United Nations Childen's Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the landmark move by Sudan's transitional government this week to criminalize female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), with a three-year jail sentence for offenders.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/05/1063122

Coronavirus-positive scientist to return home from U.S. jail: Tehran
Tehran Times | iranian.com | 2020-05-04
Sirous Asgari, an Iranian scientist imprisoned in the United States who has contracted the novel coronavirus, will return home soon, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry. During a press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the ministry is following up on Asgari's case both in Iran and in the U.S. Asgari, who has …
iranian.com/2020/05/04/coronavirus-positive-scientist-to-return-home-from-u-s-jail-tehran/

Iran Under Siege from Humanitarian Imperialism amid Pandemic
Daniel Haiphong | iranian.com | 2020-05-03
Iran is once again under siege from humanitarian imperialism. The United Nations (UN) has released multiple reports in recent weeks criticizing the Iranian government for supposed human rights violations in relation to the treatment of prisoners and its lockdown procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nazanin Boniadi, a board of director at the Center for Human …
iranian.com/2020/05/03/iran-under-siege-humanitarian-imperialism-amid-pandemic/

[World Report] Prisons are "in no way equipped" to deal with COVID-19
Talha Burki | thelancet.com | 2020-05-02
Prisons are a hotspot for COVID-19. In theory, prisoners have the same right to health as anyone else, but the reality is very different. Talha Burki reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30984-3/fulltext?rss=yes

PA prisoners tortured for protesting racist policies
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-05-02
Eric McGill was locked up in Lebanon County Correctional Facility in Lebanon, Pa., on Jan. 19, 2019. For 15 months now he has been held there, not because he has been convicted of a crime, but because he cannot afford the preposterous $1 million bail the judge set. And during . . . | Continue reading PA prisoners tortured for protesting racist policies at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/05/48116/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pa-prisoners-tortured-for-protesting-racist-policies

[Perspectives] Death of a courtier
Sarah Ditum | thelancet.com | 2020-05-02
A plague sweeps the nation, the head of state's health is threatened, and the business of government is rendered fragile and unsteady. It has been over a decade since Hilary Mantel began her Thomas Cromwell trilogy with Wolf Hall in 2009, and 8 years since 2012's Bring Up the Bodies, but what felt like an arduous wait now seems like nothing but impeccable timing. Cromwell even ends the novel under his own version of lockdown as a prisoner in the Tower of London. The world has been uncannily prepared for The Mirror & the Light.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30939-9/fulltext?rss=yes

A County Jail Battles COVID-19 and the Opioid Crisis–At the Same Time
Marcia Brown | progressive.org | 2020-05-01
The pandemic and an increase in immigration detainees create a double whammy for the rural Ohio jail.
progressive.org/dispatches/county-jail-battles-covid19-and-opioid-crisis-brown-200501/

What Happened When I Needed an Abortion During the Pandemic
Anonymous Mother in Tennessee | aclu.org | 2020-05-01
I am a 30-year-old woman and mother of three kids living in Tennessee. My oldest is just over two years old. My two girls are nine-month-old twins. Because the twins were born prematurely, they have significant medical needs. I have no family living nearby, and very little caregiving support. I tried to get my son into daycare earlier this year, but the childcare facility

How to Protest in a Pandemic
Emerson Sykes | aclu.org | 2020-05-01
For centuries, Americans have taken to the streets when they've had grievances to share. We've taken to the streets to make our voices heard, to effect change, and to feel and display the power and solidarity of mass gatherings. But with physical distancing and shelter in place orders prevalent throughout the U.S. and the world, how do we responsibly exercise our First Am…
aclu.org/news/free-speech/how-to-protest-in-a-pandemic

A COVID-19 Balancing Act: Public Health and Privacy
aclu.org | 2020-05-01
Some states are officially loosening their stay at home restrictions, and more will join in the coming months as Americans attempt to inch their way back to pre-COVID-19 life. Some of us will return to work, gather in small groups, and maybe even dine at a neighborhood restaurant. , , As we proceed, what will it take to keep us safe and prevent new spikes in infections? Many experts say we won't be out of the woods until there's a vaccine, but how would a national vaccination plan even work? At the same time, technological solutions are being proposed, especially related to contact tracing, the process b…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/a-covid-19-balancing-act-public-health-and-privacy

McDonald's Employees are Working through the COVID-19 Pandemic. So Why Don't They Have Access to Paid Sick and Family Leave?
Nicole Regalado | aclu.org | 2020-05-01
Essential workers are on the front-lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have suffered higher infection rates because of it. Yet too many of these workers do not have access to paid sick leave and family leave. That means that if an employee comes down with COVID-19, they must choose between safeguarding their own health and the health of others, and potentially losing their job. Nobody should have to make this choice. , , Essential businesses include ubiquitous fast-food chains like McDo…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/mcdonalds-employees-are-working-through-the-covid-19-pandemic-so-why-dont-they-have-access-to-paid-sick-and-family-leave

McConnell's Stimulus Scam: Vaccinate Businesses, Expose Workers
Elie Mystal | thenation.com | 2020-05-01
McConnell's Stimulus Scam: Vaccinate Businesses, Expose Workers…
thenation.com/article/politics/immunity-lawsuit-mcconnell/

Chicago Tribune lends its press to racism
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-01
Chicago, IL – The headline in the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, April 19 blared: "Two charities have bailed scores of felony defendants out of Cook County Jail. Some were soon charged with new crimes." The headline could have said, with equal validity, that "Millions of Chicagoans were not arrested last year. Some were charged with new crimes." | The article is filled with racist 'dog whistles' about [Black and brown] people with guns and hysteria regarding violent crime. In actual fact, in the past three years the rate of violent crime in Chicago has declined significantly. The Tribune is blowing the racist 'get to…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/5/1/chicago-tribune-lends-its-press-racism

How the ACLU is Responding to the Pandemic, Visualized
aclu.org | 2020-04-30
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the ACLU's work of defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights continues, essential as ever. At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on issues arising from the government's response

Utah's Shiny Surveillance Technology to Address COVID-19 Fails Miserably
Jason Stevenson | aclu.org | 2020-04-30
How many times have you failed to get a new digital device working properly the first time? While toddlers can (amazingly) master iPhones in minutes, some tech gadgets require many troubleshooting attempts to activate. And even then, they might fizzle., , Last month, the state of Utah learned that simple tech lesson in a very public way., , As part of a series of measures to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order requiring every adult crossing the Utah border to submit an electronic State of Utah Travel Self-Declaration Form with details about their contact info…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/utahs-shiny-surveillance-technology-to-address-covid-19-fails-miserably

Four Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked
Chase Strangio | aclu.org | 2020-04-30
For years state lawmakers have pushed legislation attempting to shut trans people out of public spaces. In 2020, lawmakers zeroed in on sports and introduced 20 bills seeking to ban trans people from participating in athletics. These statewide efforts have been supported through a coordinated campaign led by anti-LGBTQ groups that have long worked to attack our communities. , , Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most state legislatures, Idaho became the first state to pass a sweeping ban on trans people's participation in a…
aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked

Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2020-04-29
A month ago, Congress gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) increased authority to reduce the federal prison population. On March 29th, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ( CARES Act), providing DOJ and BOP with the ability to expand home confinement eligibility. Then, Attorney General William Barr "applaud[ed] the substantial steps ta…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/federal-bill-would-release-vulnerable-people-from-prisons-to-help-stop-spread-of-covid-19

Headlines for April 28, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-28
Known U.S. Deaths Top 56,000 as New Study Shows True Number Likely Much Higher, Trump Ignored Early Intelligence Reports as Coronavirus Spread, Trump Denies Responsibility for Spike in Disinfectant Poisonings, Texas Reopens Businesses, California Warns Against Violating Restrictions | , Trump's Plan to Give Commencement Address at West Point Could Bring Back 1,000 Cadets to Campus, NY Cancels Primary After Removing Bernie Sanders from the Ballot , U.N. Calls for Release of Immigrant Prisoners as San Diego Facility Refuses to Allow Face Mask Delivery, More Cases Reported at Prisons as New Study Shows 96% of Inmate…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/28/headlines

Trump attacks trans health access during a pandemic
Aviva Levine | liberationnews.org | 2020-04-28
Under an expected rewrite of part of the ACA, discrimination against trans people in health care would be legally permitted.
liberationnews.org/trump-attacks-trans-health-access-during-a-pandemic/

Long-Acting Injectable HIV Therapy Noninferior to Daily Pills
Slomski A. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-28
A pair of trials in the New England Journal of Medicine found that long-acting monthly injectable therapy for HIV-1 infection was noninferior to standard daily oral regimens for maintaining viral suppression.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2764996

White Collar Criminals, Celebrities, Wealthy Use Privilege For Early Release Amidst Pandemic
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-04-28
Michael Cohen and Michael Avenatti were released, and some Los Angeles prisons offer pay-to-stay rooms for celebrities. But a huge number of people are still imprisoned and at risk of COVID-19 just because they can't afford cash bail.
therealnews.com/stories/white-collar-celebrities-wealthy-privilege-release-prisons-pandemic-coronavirus-bail-parole

First person to die in Alabama's prisons with COVID-19 spent more than four decades behind bars
splcenter.org | 2020-04-22
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/22/first-person-die-alabamas-prisons-covid-19-spent-more-four-decades-behind-bars