Criminal Justice and Prisons

Trials Highlight Racism

November 10, 2021 Monica Moorehead, Workers World. Educate! Black America, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Legal System, Racism

Two high-profile murder trials are taking place simultaneously in the U.S. – one in the Deep South and the other in the Midwest. Despite the obvious distance in miles, both trials have two main political themes in common: The first is the prevalence of white supremacy and the second is the Black Lives Matter struggle. These two important societal issues loom large over the individuals on trial. The first trial involves three white men – two who had openly voiced Klan-like opinions – who are accused of fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old son of African immigrants, on Feb. 23, 2020. Arbery was jogging in a majority white suburb of Brunswick, Georgia, when he was chased down by a pickup truck driven by Greg McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael.

US ‘Justice’ Dismisses 7 Of 8 Charges Against Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab

November 3, 2021 Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Alex Saab, Criminal Justice and Prisons, US Sanctions, Venezuela

On Monday, November 1, the US Department of Justice dismissed seven charges of money laundering against Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, leaving only one charge of conspiracy to commit that crime. The motion was presented by the prosecutor Kurt Lunkenheimer, the day a hearing was scheduled in which the eight charges were to be read to Saab, a procedure that was postponed to next November 15, reported EFE news agency. The request was issued because the prosecution could not find sufficient evidence to prove the accusations, as Saab’s defense team had argued. The decision aligns with the fact that the Swiss Prosecutor’s Office dismissed its own investigation early this year for lack of evidence to support Washington’s fabricated case.

Justice For Assange Is Justice For All

November 3, 2021 John Pilger, Green Left. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

When I first saw Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison, in 2019, shortly after he had been dragged from his refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy, he said, “I think I am losing my mind”. He was gaunt and emaciated, his eyes hollow and the thinness of his arms was emphasised by a yellow identifying cloth tied around his left arm, an evocative symbol of institutional control. For all but the two hours of my visit, he was confined to a solitary cell in a wing known as “healthcare”, an Orwellian name. In the cell next to him a deeply disturbed man screamed through the night. Another occupant suffered from terminal cancer. Another was seriously disabled. “One day we were allowed to play Monopoly,” he said, “as therapy. That was our healthcare!” “This is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” I said.

Daniel Hale And America’s Unending Persecution Of Whistleblowers

November 3, 2021 John Kiriakou, Scheer Post. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Daniel Hale, Drones, Whistleblowers

Struggling with the moral injury of taking part in America’s expanding drone wars, Daniel Hale took it as his civic duty to tell his fellow Americans the truth about what was being done in their name. In 2014, the former Air Force member and National Security Agency intelligence analyst leaked 17 documents to The Intercept that provided the basis for a series of articles detailing the full scope of the civilian deaths caused by U.S. drone strikes. Despite being billed by President Barack Obama, whose administration greatly expanded the drone wars, as “exceptionally surgical and precise,” what Hale’s leaks revealed was that not only was that not the case, but that what the U.S. was doing in the Middle East amounted to war crimes.

Dear President Biden: Release Leonard Peltier

November 1, 2021 Last Real Indians. Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Florida, health, Leonard Peltier

We write to request the expedited release of American Indian elder Leonard Peltier, who is 77 years old and who has served more than 44 years in federal prison, some in solitary confinement, in numerous prisons across the United States. He suffers from severe health conditions, such as diabetes and an abdominal aortic aneurysm that can be lethal if ruptured. The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a national response to the COVID-19 pandemic authorizing the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to release elderly inmates and those with underlying health conditions from federal prisons. Mr. Peltier is currently imprisoned at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida. Given his underlying health conditions and age, we ask he be granted clemency and immediate action be taken to release him from federal custody.

US Military Jurors Decry Guantanamo Detainee Torture

November 1, 2021 Al Jazeera. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights, Torture

Seven United States military officers have written a letter urging clemency for Guantanamo Bay detainee Majid Khan, calling his account of torture at so-called CIA black sites a “stain on the moral fiber of America”. The seven officers were part of an eight-member military jury that on Friday issued a sentence of 26 years in prison to Khan for his support of al-Qaeda in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Khan had previously pleaded guilty in 2012 to serving as a courier for the group and helping to plan attacks. The letter from the officers, which was sent to a senior official reviewing the case, was published by the New York Times on Sunday. They were identified only by their juror numbers.

US Lawyers Argue Assange Healthy Enough To Be Sent To His Death

October 30, 2021 Richard Medhurst’s Newsletter. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Whistleblowers

Some background information first: Assange’s extradition battle with the United States continued at the appeal hearing on October 27-28 at the High Court in London. The first day was largely the prosecution’s, with half an hour at the end for the defense. The second day was given to the defense to expand on its responses to the prosecution’s arguments. Equally, the US’ prosecutors were also given a brief moment at the end to counter. The High Court judges overseeing the hearing were Lord Justice Holroyde and Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett. Holroyde ruled in the United States’ favor on August 11th, allowing them to appeal on all five grounds, including Assange’s health. Burnett previously presided over Lauri Love’s case, blocking his extradition to the United States.

Russell ‘Maroon’ Shoatz Is Free, But Other Political Prisoners Languish

October 30, 2021 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Mass Incarceration, political prisoners

Russell “Maroon” Shoatz has been granted compassionate release after 50 years in prison. The length of his sentence is outrageous but it is hardly unique. The United States not only has the dubious distinction of being the country with the largest population of incarcerated people, but it also has political prisoners held longer than anywhere else in the world. Shoatz is now 78-years old and suffering from cancer. To be blunt, he is being released so that he can die outside of prison walls. Of course there is deeply felt happiness that Shoatz will be freed for whatever time remains in his life, but no one should forget the tortures he suffered, including 22 years in solitary confinement. No one should forget the other prisoners such as Mumia Abu Jamal, Ruchell Magee, Sundiata Acoli, and Dr. Mutulu Shakur.

USA Vs. Assange Day Two: ‘CIA Tried To Kill Assange’

October 29, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Press Freedom

The United States vowed that only a “moderately depressed” Julian Assange would serve time in a humane U.S. prison if he is extradited, while lawyers for Assange told the High Court that the Central Intelligence Agency plotted to assassinate him, as a two-day U.S. appeal hearing came to a close on Thursday in London. The U.S. is seeking to overturn a lower court decision in January not to extradite the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher on the grounds that he is at high risk of suicide if he faced time isolated in a harsh American prison. A prosecutor for the U.S. set out over the course of the hearing to convince the two High Court justices to reject that ruling, arguing that Assange is not seriously ill and would not be placed in solitary confinement should he be sent to the U.S.

CIA’s War On Assange, Their ‘Most Prominent Critic’ Takes Center Stage

October 29, 2021 Kevin Gosztola And Mohamed Elmaazi, The Dissenter. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Journalism, Julian Assange, Media, Whistleblowers

The Central Intelligence Agency's record of retaliation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, including reported plans to kidnap or assassinate him, was focused on during the second day of the United States government's appeal hearing. It was part of the Assange legal team's effort to convince the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom of the gravity of the risks, which Assange would face if they overturn a district judge's decision and allow extradition. Mark Summers QC, one of Assange's attorneys, contended this was the "first time the U.S. had sought the assistance of a U.K. court in obtaining jurisdiction" over a person that a U.S. government agency had planned to poison or assassinate. "That is worthy of an investigation in relation to the assurances," Summers added, referring to the pledges involving how they would treat Assange.

Julian Assange Extradition Appeal: Day One

October 28, 2021 Assange Defense. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Whistleblowers

Julian Assange’s extradition appeal hearing, which will turn in part on determinations about his health and risk of suicide, commenced with the news that Julian was too ill to even follow the proceedings by remote video link from Belmarsh prison. Julian did enter the viewing box about midway through the morning’s session, but he appeared thin and unwell, and he could be seen leaving the room about an hour later. Assange’s extradition was denied in January of this year when District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that ordering his extradition would put him at such high risk of suicide so as to be “oppressive.” The U.S. is appealing that ruling to the UK’s High Court on the grounds that, it argues, the judge misapplied evidence as to Assange’s mental health, and the U.S. government can assure the court that Assange wouldn’t be held under the worst and most isolating conditions if sentenced to a U.S. prison.

The Whistleblowers Who Challenged Mass Surveillance After 9/11

October 27, 2021 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Edward Snowden, Mark Klein, Patriot Act, Whistleblowers

Mark Klein worked for over twenty years as a technician for the AT&T Corporation. He blew the whistle on the AT&T’s collaboration with the National Security Agency, which allowed for warrantless wiretapping of phone and internet communications. In 2006, Klein came to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with documents of AT&T’s involvement in the United States’ domestic spying program. His whistleblowing became the basis of the organization’s lawsuit against the NSA. According to Kevin Bankston [PDF], who was an EFF staff attorney, Klein described the “technology behind AT&T’s participation in the program, whereby the NSA had been given complete access to the Internet traffic transiting through at least one, and probably more, AT&T Internet facilities.”

Court Should Deny Extradition Because CIA Planned To Assassinate Assange

October 27, 2021 Marjorie Cohn, Truthout. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Whistleblowers

Why is Joe Biden’s Department of Justice continuing Donald Trump’s persecution of WikiLeaks founder, publisher and journalist Julian Assange? Barack Obama, concerned about threats to the First Amendment freedom of the press, decided against indicting Assange for exposing U.S. war crimes. Trump did indict Assange, under Espionage Act charges that could garner him 175 years in prison. A British district judge denied Trump’s request for Assange’s extradition from the U.K. to the United States because of the extremely high likelihood that it would lead Assange to commit suicide. Trump appealed the denial of extradition. Instead of dropping Trump’s extradition request, Biden is vigorously pursuing his predecessor’s appeal against Assange, which the U.K. High Court will hear on October 27 and 28.

The Julian Assange Case

October 24, 2021 Chris Hedges, RT. Resistance Report Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Whistleblowers

The most recent revelations, coupled with the numerous legal anomalies of the Assange case, including leaks that show that the Spanish security firm at Ecuador’s Embassy in London, where Assange sought refuge for seven years, turned over recordings of his meetings with his lawyers to the CIA, amply illustrate that the judicial pantomime carried out against Assange is a political persecution led by the US government and the CIA because of embarrassing and damaging revelations about the inner workings of the US military, intelligence agencies, and the political class repeatedly exposed by Assange and WikiLeaks. The goal of the US government is to shut down WikiLeaks and organizations like it, and to make an example of Assange, who, if he is extradited to the United States, faces 175 years in prison, to dissuade others who might consider replicating his courageous reporting. The upcoming appeals hearing is on October 27 and 28 at Britain’s High Court, London.

Chief Justice Of England And Wales Joins Bench For Assange Hearing

October 23, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Extradition, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

Ian Duncan Burnett, the most powerful judge in England and Wales, will join Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde on the bench next week for the two-day U.S. appeal in the extradition case of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange at the High Court in London, according to a spokesman at the Royal Courts of Justice. Burnett, known as Baron Burnett of Maldon, was the High Court justice who on humanitarian grounds overturned a lower court ruling that British activist Lauri Love should be extradited to the United States. Burnett ruled in February 2018 that Love’s extradition would be “oppressive by reason of his physical and mental condition.” Burnett and Mr. Justice Duncan Ouseley said in their decision that, “We accept that the evidence shows that the fact of extradition would bring on severe depression, and that Mr. Love would probably be determined to commit suicide, here or in America.”

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