Desieire Quintero Killed – Help her Son
Keith McHenry | indybay.org | 2019-10-31
Desieire Quintero was fatally crushed by a falling tree at her campsite in the Pogonip Park in Santa Cruz. She was the lead plaintiff in a historic civil rights lawsuit filed against the city of Santa Cruz.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/10/29/18827710.php

US detains record number of child migrants at the southwestern border
wsws.org | 2019-10-31
According to new figures released on Tuesday, the United States has detained over 76,000 minors attempting to make the dangerous crossing at the US-Mexico border. This is a new record, 52 percent more than the detentions last year.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/31/immi-o31.html

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

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

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 Unchecked Growth of Policing Makes Everyone a Criminal, Even Children
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-31
Despite a nationwide drop in crime the number of cops continues to grow. In this episode of The Police Accountability Report we examine some of the consequences of that growth and how it leads to unnecessary arrests and increased incarceration…
therealnews.com/stories/unchecked-growth-policing-makes-everyone-criminal-even-children

Convicted Anti-Nuclear Activists Speak Out: "Pentagon Has Brainwashed People"
Prof. Marjorie Cohn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-10-31
The seven Catholic peace activists who were convicted on October 24 for their symbolic protest against nuclear weapons at the Kings Bay Naval Base are now facing a two-to-three-month wait to hear their prison sentences. They could face more than …
globalresearch.ca/convicted-anti-nuclear-activists-speak-out-pentagon-brainwashed-people/5693566

Former Juul executive alleges e-cig behemoth resold EXPIRED products & knowingly shipped 1 million TAINTED pods
rt.com | 2019-10-31
Embattled e-cig giant Juul, now facing multiple lawsuits over health issues allegedly linked to vaping, has received a new blow from a former top employee, who accused the company of knowingly selling expired and tainted products. | The new lawsuit against the firm was filed by its former senior vice president of global finance, Siddharth Breja, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday. | The lawsuit alleges that former Juul CEO, Kevin Burns — who stepped down in September — ran t…
rt.com/usa/472208-juul-vaping-expired-tainted-lawsuit/

Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's California Fracking Plan
Center for Biological Diversity | indybay.org | 2019-10-31
Feds Aim to Open 725,500 Acres in Central Coast, Bay Area to Oil Industry…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/10/30/18827730.php

From Climate Denial to "Green" Petroleum: Massachusetts Accuses Exxon Mobil of Deceptive Messaging
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2019-10-31
Exxon Mobil's relationship with the New York Times is a case study in how the fossil fuel industry's climate denialism has evolved over the past 20 years. Beginning in the 1970s, Exxon Mobil published an "advertorial" every Thursday on the New York Times editorial page. The quarter-page, essay-style ads were designed to mimic a Times op-ed. Starting in the 1980s, doubt about the seriousness of human-driven climate change was a repeated theme. The ads came with titles including "Apocalypse no," "Reset the alarm," "Less heat, more light on climate change," and "Climate change: a degree of uncertainty." | According…
theintercept.com/2019/10/31/exxon-mobil-massachusetts-climate-change-lawsuit-greenwashing/

Starbucks fired manager 'because she was white,' lawsuit claims in wake of infamous Philadelphia store arrest of 2 black men
rt.com | 2019-10-31
A former regional manager has sued Starbucks for racial discrimination, claiming she was fired because she was white after two black men were arrested for "trespassing" at a Philadelphia location she oversaw. | Shannon Phillips, a 13-year Starbucks employee, has sued the chain, alleging she was fired for being white after video of a seemingly racially-biased arrest at one of the stores she managed went viral and triggered mass outrage against the coffee behemoth. If she was not white, Phillips charged in the suit filed in the US District Court of New Jersey earlier this week, she would still have her job, havi…
rt.com/usa/472336-starbucks-manager-fired-white-arrest/

Santa Rita Jail Strike!
IWOC Oakland | indybay.org | 2019-10-31
Prisoners Stage One-day Hungerstrike and Work Stoppage Within Santa Rita Jail to Protest Filthy Conditions, Price Gouging and Abuse…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/10/30/18827737.php

Violence in UK prisons continues to soar as self-harming hits new high
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-10-31
Self-harm incidents in jails have hit a record high, official figures show. There were 60,594 incidents of self-harm in the 12 months to June, up 22% from the same period in the previous year.The number of assaults shot up 5% to 34,112 in the year ending in June, in comparison to the same period the year before.The latest quarter showed numbers falling slightly by 1% when there were 8,360 incidents.Attacks on staff have jumped up 10% from the previous 12 months, with 10,424 assaults recorded, with the number of assaults increasing by 3% to 2,617 in the latest quarter, according to the figures from the Ministry of…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/10/31/violence-in-uk-prisons-continues-to-soar-as-self-harming-hits-new-high/

'A Stain on Our Democracy': Texas Democrats File Suit to Stop GOP Voter Suppression Efforts
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-10-31
"We need to fight back in the courts and at the ballot box." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/texas_vote.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/10/31/stain-our-democracy-texas-democrats-file-suit-stop-gop-voter-suppression-efforts?cd-origin=rss

As Rich Hire Private Firefighters, Housekeepers Go to Work in Fire Zone & Prisoners Fight CA Blazes
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-31
As climate-fueled fires rage across California, we look at how the blazes are disproportionately affecting some of the state's most vulnerable communities. As a growing number of wealthy homeowners hire private firefighters to protect their properties for up to $3,000 per day, domestic workers and gardeners who tend to some of the most opulent homes in Los Angeles attended work despite the Getty Fire evacuation order earlier this week. Many of their employers failed to even tell them not to come in. Meanwhile, of the more than 4,000 firefighters currently working across the state, at least 700 are California pris…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/california_fires_domestic_workers_prisoner_firefighters

The Presidential Town Hall on Mass Incarceration Was a Historic Moment and a Missed Opportunity
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-10-30
Collectively, the men and women in the room had hundreds of years of prison experience. The presidential town hall, the first ever to be hosted by formerly incarcerated people, was a unique opportunity for candidates to speak about the criminal justice system with those who know firsthand its devastating failures. But only three candidates showed up — and while the conversation delved into questions rarely tackled on the campaign trail, some of the candidates' answers left those in the audience disappointed. | The e…
theintercept.com/2019/10/30/criminal-justice-town-hall-democratic-candidates/

Spain: Communist groups defend imprisoned Catalan leaders
| workers.org | 2019-10-30
Below is a joint declaration in response to the sentences of 9-to-13 years each issued following the "trial" of nine Catalan political leaders and the massive protest in Catalonia on Oct. 18, endorsed by four communist groups that organize throughout the multinational Spanish state. Although pro-capitalist parties lead the Catalan . . . | Continue reading Spain: Communist groups defend imprisoned Catalan leaders at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/10/44192/

Bolsonaro Threatens to Cancel Brazil's Largest TV Network
telesurenglish.net | 2019-10-30
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Wednesday to cancel the license of Brazil's largest TV network, Globo, accusing it of "villainous journalism" after a report connecting him with a former police officer accused of killing a Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman last year. | RELATED: | Lula Turns 74 in Prison over Unjust Convictions | TV Globo reported on Tuesday that just hours before the March 2018 murder the suspect was alleged to have told a doorman he was going to Bolsonaro's ho…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bolsonaro-Threatens-to-Cancel-Brazils-Largest-TV-Network-20191030-0006.html

Chesa Boudin, Son of 1960s Radicals, Runs for San Francisco DA on Criminal Justice Reform Platform
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-30
Chesa Boudin is running for San Francisco district attorney as the latest candidate in a wave of decarceral prosecutors running for office across the United States. Bernie Sanders and other leading progressives have endorsed Boudin, who is a public defender and the child of Weather Underground activists Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert. His parents were imprisoned when Boudin was a toddler. These experiences have given him a first-hand view of "how broken our criminal justice system is," he says. "My earliest memories are going through steel gates and metal detectors just to see my parents, just to give them a hug.
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/30/chesa_boudin_san_francisco_district_attorney

Tribute To A Persistent Progressive — Rep. John Conyers
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-29
Jacqueline Luqman pays tribute to John Conyers, the longest-serving Black Democrat in Congress and co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, died over the weekend at age 90. His political career spanned more than 50 years, and included a remarkable legacy of civil rights activism, challenging the expanding US military global footprint, and consistent support for…
therealnews.com/stories/tribute-persistent-progressiev-john-conyers

Quebec Government Apologizes to Indigenous Peoples for 'Systemic Discrimination'
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-29
Marie-Claude Lacroix, two-row wampum liaison of the Kanienkehaka Traditional Council, says Quebec continues to treat indigenous peoples disrespectfully.
therealnews.com/stories/quebec-apologizes-indigenous-peoples-systemic-discrimination

The FBI Spends a Lot of Time Spying on Black Americans
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-10-29
The FBI has come under intense criticism after a 2017 leak exposed that its counterterrorism division had invented a new, unfounded domestic terrorism category it called " black identity extremism." Since then, legislators have pressured the bureau's leadership to be more transparent about its investigation of black activists, and a number of civil rights groups have filed publ…
theintercept.com/2019/10/29/fbi-surveillance-black-activists/

Accused of Treason and Imprisoned Without Trial: Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky Recounts His Harrowing Time in a Ukrainian Prison
Eva Bartlett | mintpressnews.com | 2019-10-28
Eva Bartlett sat down with recently released Ukrainian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky. Vyshinsky endured 15 months of appalling conditions in a Ukrainian prison after being falsely accused of treason.
mintpressnews.com/interview-journalist-kirill-vyshinsky-ukrainian-prison/262498/

Monday's Daily Brief: Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gender gap in Latin America, Syria talks in Geneva, human rights in Egypt, the future of digital telecommunications
United Nations | un.org | 2019-10-28
A recap of Monday's top stories: 'Multi-generational tragedy' in Israel and Palestine demands viable two-State solution; gender gap persists in Latin America's workforce; Syria envoy urges prisoner release ahead of talks in Geneva; Egypt urged to end repression of protesters and rights defenders; future of digital communications discussed at world conference.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/10/1050101

Long live the struggle of the working class and peoples of Chile!
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-10-27
Fight Back News Service is circulating following Oct. 24 statement from the Provisional Committee of International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) – Latin America and the Caribbean. | Since the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, there has never been an attack against the Chilean people like the one that President Sebastián Piñera has unleashed against the massive protests of the working class and peoples in that country. More than 18 dead, hundreds of disappeared, over 1500 political prisoners across Chile: these are the results of the repression by the armed forces and carabineros who took control of the count…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/10/27/long-live-struggle-working-class-and-peoples-chile

Is Rikers Island Really Closing? Or is De Blasio Misrepresenting the NYC Council Vote?
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-10-25
Eddie Conway spoke with organizer Albert Saint-Jean from Just Immigration about the impact of the NYC Council borough-based jail vote, about nonprofits that are funding more incarceration, and the misreporting of Rikers Jail closing.
therealnews.com/stories/rikers-closing-misrepresented-de-blasio

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

LGBTQ Issues Missing in Presidential Campaign Coverage
Julie Hollar | fair.org | 2019-10-25
LGBTQ people–and trans people in particular–have been under attack since the day Donald Trump took office and removed all mentions of LGBTQ people from several federal websites. Trump reversed federal guidance for the protection of transgender students in schools, banned trans people from military service, and has worked to exclude LGBTQ people from a variety of nondiscrimination protections. (For a full list of his administration's anti-LGBTQ actions, see here.) Trans wome…
fair.org/home/lgbtq-issues-missing-in-presidential-campaign-coverage/

"You Won't Take Down Lies or You Will?": AOC Grills Facebook's Zuckerberg on Lies in Political Ads
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-25
This week, as Facebook said it will not fact check political ads or hold politicians to its usual content standards, the social media giant's CEO Mark Zuckerberg was grilled for more than five hours by lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the company's policy of allowing politicians to lie in political advertisements, as well as its role in facilitating election interference and housing discrimination. We play highlights from New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ohio Congressmember Joyce Beatty, who asked Zuckerberg about Facebook's record on civil rights, which she called "appalling and disgusting." Bea…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/25/you_should_have_known_better_lawmakers

I Went to Mexico to Meet Asylum-Seekers Trapped at the Border. This Is What I Saw
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2019-10-24
Two weeks ago, I traveled to northern Mexico along with Mexican photographer Guillermo Arias to meet with asylum-seekers who've been trapped at the southern U.S. border by Trump Administration policies. Neither of us was prepared for what we saw there. | We visited two cities — Ciudad Juarez and Matamoros — to track down people who had been placed into the deceptively misnamed "Migrant Protection Protocols" that have slammed America's door shut to people fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries. Before we arrived, we wondered whether the stories we'd read of kidnappings, assaults,…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/i-went-to-mexico-to-meet-asylum-seekers-trapped-at-the-border-this-is-what-i-saw

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

Murdoch University seeks to silence whistleblowing academic
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-24
civil rights Pedro AlvarezIssue 1242 Australia Murdoch University PerthOctober 24, 2019Murdoch University is facing widespread criticism for its decision to seek potentially millions in compensation…
greenleft.org.au/content/murdoch-university-seeks-silence-whistleblowing-academic

Ending Endless War: Andrew Bacevich on How Reckless Use of U.S. Military Power Caused Today's Crisis
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-24
President Trump has announced sanctions will be lifted on Turkey as a ceasefire remains in place in northern Syria, where Turkey invaded earlier this month after Trump withdrew U.S. troops. On Tuesday Turkey reached an agreement with Russia that would force Syrian Kurdish forces to retreat from a wide swath of the Syrian-Turkish border. The United Nations is reporting Turkey's offensive in northern Syria has displaced over 176,000 people, including nearly 80,000 children. The Turkish assault also led to a number of former ISIS fighters escaping from jail in northern Syria. We speak with Andrew Bacevich, co-founde…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/24/trump_lifts_turkey_sanctions_syrian_kurds

Betty McCollum Is Pushing Congress to Stop Subsidizing the Torture of Palestinian Children
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2019-10-23
"The legislation I am introducing is expressly intended to end U.S. support and funding for Israel's systematic military detention, interrogation, abuse, torture, and prosecution of Palestinian children." – Betty McCollum…
mintpressnews.com/betty-mccollum-bill-military-aid-to-israel-human-rights/262462/

'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

The Charter-to-Prison Pipeline
Alexandria Millet | progressive.org | 2019-10-22
The charter system that often paints itself as a better option for black parents does not acknowledge the harm rigid disciplinary policies can impose on black students.
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/charter-to-prison-pipeline-millet-191022/

San Diego protest demands closure of migrant concentration camps
San Diego PSL | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-21
"The detention of migrants and refugees seeking asylum is a direct result of U.S. imperialism."
liberationnews.org/san-diego-protest-demands-closure-of-migrant-concentration-camps/

Longest-held Puerto Rican political prisoner sends support to Venezuela
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-10-20
Puerto Rico's longest-held political prisoner, Oscar López Rivera, who was incarcerated in the US for 36 years, sent a message…
thegrayzone.com/2019/10/20/us-political-prisoner-puerto-rico-venezuela-oscar-lopez-rivera/

Why is the Trump Administration Trying to Tear This 26-Year-Old DACA Recipient Away From Her Child?
Naureen Shah | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
Anahi Jaquez –Estrada is scared. As soon as Monday, she may be deported to a country she hardly knows: away from her 8-year-old daughter and her husband, both of whom are United States citizens. She has lived in the U.S. almost her entire life and is in the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident. Her story is at once exceptionally tragic and a paradigmatic example of how our immigration legal system is failing — and tearing families apart. | I met Anahi in late July at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention site in Aurora, Colorado, where she has spent the last year and a…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/why-is-the-trump-administration-trying-to-tear-this-26-year-old-daca-recipient-away-from-her-child

Unveiling a State-by-State Plan to End our Mass Incarceration Crisis
Udi Ofer | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
The United States locks up more of its people than | any other nation in the world. A whopping 2.2 million people are living behind | bars in this country on any given day. Our national incarceration rate is four | times that of Australia, five times that of the United Kingdom, and six times that | of Canada. | This uniquely American problem is not one crisis | — rather, mass incarceration is a series of state-based catastrophes, each one | different from the next. While much attention was paid | to the federal reforms passed last year through the First Step Act, of | the 2.2 million people locked up on…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/unveiling-a-state-by-state-plan-to-end-our-mass-incarceration-crisis

Patients' Needs, Not Personal Beliefs, Come First in Health Care
Lindsey Kaley | aclu.org | 2019-10-18
From the | start, the Trump administration has issued one regulation after another that uses | religion to deny people — particularly pregnant people, people with low-incomes, | and LGBTQ people — health care access and coverage. Today, we are asking | a federal district court in New York to strike down one of the most pernicious | of these regulations: the refusal of care rule. | The refusal | of care rule, issued by the Department of Health | and Human Services (…
aclu.org/news/religious-liberty/patients-needs-not-personal-beliefs-come-first-in-health-care

Newark protesters: Democratic Party machine an accomplice in Trump's war on immigrants
Esteban Guevara | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-16
Protesters gathered in Newark, New Jersey for a rally and 3-mile march up to the detention center organized by the Resist the Deportation Machine Network on Oct. 12 to demand the closure of the ICE concentration camp in Essex county.
liberationnews.org/newark-protesters-democratic-party-machine-an-accomplice-in-trumps-war-on-immigrants/

Leonard Peltier subjected to unjust lockdown in prison: Write to the warden now!
Liberation Staff | liberationnews.org | 2019-10-15
The Party for Socialism and Liberation urges its supporters to write the warden to demand an end to this brutal lockdown.
liberationnews.org/leonard-peltier-subjected-to-unjust-lockdown-in-prison-write-to-the-warden-now/

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

White Supremacist William Fears to Get Five Years in Prison
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-10-10
William Henry Fears IV, an avowed racist with a lengthy criminal record, has agreed to a plea deal of five years for choking his former girlfriend.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/11/white-supremacist-william-fears-get-five-years-prison

Beyond Bars: Life before and after incarceration in Alabama
splcenter.org | 2019-10-07
As criminal justice and prison reform take center stage in Alabama politics, Alabamians for Fair Justice, a broad coalition of advocates supported by the SPLC and other organizations, are working to lift up the voices of people directly affected by the criminal justice system.
splcenter.org/news/2019/10/15/beyond-bars-life-and-after-incarceration-alabama