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Criminal Justice and Prisons

Ruby Montoya Seeks To Withdraw Guilty Plea

September 4, 2021 Ryan Fatica, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
On August 26, admitted Dakota Access Pipeline saboteur Ruby Montoya filed a motion in federal court seeking to withdraw her guilty plea, claiming she was coerced into signing it by her previous attorneys, movement “leaders”, and her abusive father. The motion also claims that government agents may have taught Montoya to use a welder and encouraged her to use it for pipeline sabotage, indicating a possible entrapment defense.

Ex-Prosecutor Indicted For Misconduct In Ahmaud Arbery Death

September 3, 2021 Russ Bynum, Associated Press. , , ,
Savannah, Ga. — A former Georgia prosecutor was indicted Thursday on misconduct charges alleging she used her position to shield the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery from being charged with crimes immediately after the shootings. A grand jury in coastal Glynn County indicted former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson on a felony count of violating her oath of office and hindering a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor. The indictment resulted from an investigation Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr requested last year into local prosecutors’ handling of Arbery’s slaying after a cellphone video of the shooting and a delay in charges sparked a national outcry. “While an indictment was returned today, our file is not closed, and we will continue to investigate in order to pursue justice,” Carr, a Republican, said in a statement.

Massachusetts Lawyers Are Challenging Law Enforcement Seizures

August 30, 2021 Shannon Dooling And Saurabh Datar, ProPublica. , , ,
Lawmakers and criminal justice advocates in Massachusetts are calling for changes to the laws that govern how law enforcement seizes, and keeps, cash and property confiscated in suspected drug crimes. The push follows a WBUR and ProPublica investigation that found a top prosecutor stockpiling people’s money for years, even when they weren’t charged with a drug offense or their cases were dismissed.

Only Those Taking Action Against Climate Violence Are Labeled ‘Terrorist’

August 28, 2021 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. , ,
Floods, fires, ice caps melting, hurricanes—all attest to the violence of human-caused climate disruption. It’s undeniable and undeniably fatal, and the only question for historians will be not what mysterious “factors” prevented humans from responding, but which political structures prevented the humans that wanted to respond meaningfully from doing so. When those books are written, at least a chapter will be devoted to cases like that of Jessica Reznicek, the activist now facing eight years in federal prison for damaging equipment at the Dakota Access Pipeline in Iowa. In 2016, Reznicek, with fellow activist Ruby Montoya, set fire to heavy machinery, delaying construction for weeks on the pipeline that would move a half-million barrels of crude oil a day under the Missouri River and Lake Oahe, the reservoir that is the primary water source for the Standing Rock Reservation.

Actors For Assange: Julian Assange’s Defence Statement, Acted Out

August 25, 2021 Tayo Aluko and Friends. , ,
Julian Assange's defence team were prevented from delivering his defence statement verbally in court, so it was submitted only for the record, to maintain the secrecy surrounding the case. 49 actors from around the world recorded an abridged version (55 minutes) of explosive testimony.

First Trial From Treaty People Gathering Ends In Acquittal

August 25, 2021 Sean Parsons, Unicorn Riot. , ,
The first person arrested during this summer’s Treaty People Gathering to take her case to trial was acquitted Wednesday on one gross misdemeanor charge in Hubbard County District Court, marking the first ruling in dozens of cases to be brought from the occupation of the Two Inlets pump station.

Ag-Gag Law Suppressing Whistleblowers Is Defeated

August 24, 2021 Kevin Gosztola,  The Dissenter. , , ,
Laws intended to suppress journalism, whistleblowing, and speech on the food and agriculture industry continue to experience defeats in the United States court system. Known as “ag-gag” laws, the Tenth Circuit Court Of Appeals ruled [PDF] against the ag-gag law in Kansas, which became the first state to pass such a law in 1990. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled [PDF] on August 9 that a coalition of organizations proved they could be targeted by the ag-gag law in Arkansas and may proceed with their lawsuit. It also ruled [PDF] on August 10 that Iowa’s 2012 ag-gag law was partly unconstitutional. In all three states, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) was one of the plaintiffs challenging the manner in which these laws threaten freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

North Carolina: More Felony Offenders Can Now Vote

August 24, 2021 Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press. , , ,
Raleigh, NC — Tens of thousands of North Carolina residents convicted of felonies but whose current punishments don’t include prison time can register to vote and cast ballots, a judicial panel declared Monday. Several civil rights groups and ex-offenders who sued legislative leaders and state officials in 2019 argue the current 1973 law is unconstitutional by denying the right vote to people who have completed their active sentences or received no such sentence, such as people on probation. They said the rules disproportionately affect Black residents and originated from an era of white supremacy in the 19th century. In a brief hearing following a trial last week challenging the state’s voting restrictions upon felons, Superior Court Judge Lisa Bell said two judges on the three-judge panel have agreed they would issue a formal order soon allowing more felony offenders to register.

Truth Is National Security

August 23, 2021 Jeffrey Sterling, Reader Supported News. , ,
Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was sentenced to spend 45 months in federal prison. Once again, so-called justice in this country will subject a person of truth to the desolate confines of prison, not because of the rule of law and justice, but out of a continuing desire to retaliate against those who dare stand up for truth and accountability in our government.

National Shut’Em Down Demonstrations Kick Off August 21

August 20, 2021 It's Going Down. , ,
The purpose of the call is to center the 10 demands that Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and other inside formations have been pushing since the historic 2016 prison strike, encourage people to get involved in local abolitionist organizing, and also gain steam, while building towards the 2022 prison strike that JLS has just announced. So far, people have responded to the call by organizing everything from marches to free political prisoners, film showings, block parties, and noise demonstrations outside of ICE detention facilities, jails, and prisons.

Movement For Black Lives: Feds Targeted BLM Protesters

August 19, 2021 Kat Stafford, Associated Press. , , ,
The federal government deliberately targeted Black Lives Matter protesters via heavy-handed criminal prosecutions in an attempt to disrupt and discourage the global movement that swept the nation last summer in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, according to a new report released Wednesday by The Movement for Black Lives. Movement leaders and experts said the prosecution of protesters over the past year continues a century-long practice by the federal government, rooted in structural racism, to suppress Black social movements via the use of surveillance tactics and other mechanisms. “The empirical data and findings in this report largely corroborate what Black organizers have long known intellectually, intuitively, and from lived experience about the federal government’s disparate policing and prosecution of racial justice protests and related activity,” the report stated.

A Day In The Death Of British Justice

August 14, 2021 John Pilger, Consortium News. , , ,
I sat in Court 4 in the Royal Courts of Justice in London Wednesday with Stella Moris, Julian Assange’s partner. I have known Stella for as long as I have known Julian. She, too, is a voice of freedom, coming from a family that fought the fascism of Apartheid. Today, her name was uttered in court by a barrister and a judge, forgettable people were it not for the power of their endowed privilege. The barrister, Clair Dobbin, is in the pay of the regime in Washington, first Trump’s then Biden’s. She is America’s hired gun, or “silk”, as she would prefer. Her target is Julian Assange, who has committed no crime and has performed an historic public service by exposing the criminal actions and secrets on which governments, especially those claiming to be democracies, base their authority.

In Florida, Protesting Can Cost You Your Right To Vote

August 14, 2021 Sierra Lyons, Scalawag Magazine. , , ,
Delilah Pierre first got involved with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) in 2019, during a campaign to stop the capital city from building a new police headquarters in the same shopping center as the only grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Today, as Vice President of the grassroots organization, she has her sights set on taking down larger forces: A state law that levels felony and misdemeanor charges against protesters like her, and prevents them from posting bail until their first court appearance. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida House Bill 1, the Combating Public Disorder Act—also known as the "anti-riot" bill—into law in April, following Senate approval along party lines.

US Wins Right To Appeal Health Grounds On Assange Extradition

August 12, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , ,
Two judges at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday sided with the United States to allow it to appeal the judgement by District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in January that Julian Assange was at too high a risk of suicide to be extradited to the United States. The U.S. on July 5 was granted the right to appeal the decision not to extradite but not on the grounds of Assange’s health. That was reversed on Wednesday. The U.S. now has the right to argue that the testimony of the defense’s key expert witness on suicide, Prof. Michael Kopelman, should be deemed inadmissible or granted little weight because Kopelman concealed from the court that he knew Assange had had two children with his partner, the lawyer Stella Moris.

Midwest Connections: A Regional Fight For Abolition

August 12, 2021 Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
A wave of prison abolition actions and demands have swept the United States every August since 1979 from inside the walls to outside. New groups in the Midwest such as Abolition Is a Practice and Community Not Cages (CNC) are carrying on the Black August traditions. With a proposed new county jail in Winona, Minnesota, slated to cost taxpayers at least $28 million, we heard from abolitionists opposed to the project about their efforts. With a population of ~27,000 in southeastern Minnesota, Winona is the seat of Winona County and a town that sits on the western edge of the Mississippi River across from Wisconsin. The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) inspected the Winona County Jail in 2018 and after finding the building wasn’t up to standards, the DOC gave the jail a closing date of September 30, 2021, unless a plan is in place for a new facility.
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