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Criminal Justice and Prisons

UK High Court Allows US To Appeal Ban On Assange Extradition

July 7, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News , ,
Baraitser had ruled that Assange’s physical and mental health put him at high risk of suicide if he should be sent to a U.S. prison to stand trial on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and of espionage in his work as a journalist publishing government secrets revealing evidence of state crimes.

The Twisted Case Of Craig Murray

July 6, 2021 Alexander Mercouris, Consortium News. , , ,
The recent decision of the High Court of Judiciary in Edinburgh arguing that the journalist and whistleblower Craig Murray should not appeal his conviction and sentence for contempt of court to the United Kingdom Supreme Court was not unexpected.

Julian Assange Spends 50th Birthday In Prison

July 4, 2021 Ben Norton And Anya Parampil, The Grayzone , , ,
Protesters Demand Freedom For WikiLeaks Journalist. Julian Assange Turns 50 On July 3. Protesters Rallied Outside The US Department Of Justice In Washington, DC, Demanding The Release Of The Imprisoned WikiLeaks Journalist.

Lawmakers Are ‘Horrified’ And Calling For Action On Prison Abuse

July 4, 2021 Shannon Heffernan, WBEZ. , , ,
Lawmakers and advocates are calling for outside oversight of the Illinois Department of Corrections after a WBEZ investigation revealed a pattern of alleged beatings by guards in an area of Western Illinois Correctional Center where there was no video camera coverage. The investigation documented nine people who separately accused a group of officers of beating them in the same area. Prison records show staff were aware of a blind spot that lacked cameras and of repeated accusations of violence, but the violence persisted until guards allegedly beat a prisoner named Larry Earvin to death in that same location. Federal prosecutors have charged three guards for the beating. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has declined multiple requests to comment on WBEZ’s investigation or the repeated allegations of abuse. Pritzker’s silence continues a pattern in which his director of prisons has refused to do an interview about staff abuse and accountability despite requests over 2 1/2 years.

US High Court Sides With Corporate Giants Nestle And Cargill

June 18, 2021 Julia Conley, Common Dreams. , , ,
Human rights advocates Thursday denounced a Supreme Court decision in favor of the U.S. corporate giants Nestlé USA and Cargill, which were sued more than a decade ago by six men who say the two companies were complicit in child trafficking and profited when the men were enslaved on cocoa farms as children. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against the plaintiffs, saying they had not proven the companies' activities in the U.S. were sufficiently tied to the alleged child trafficking. The companies had argued that they could not be sued in the U.S. for activities that took place in West Africa. Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general under the Obama administration, represented the two companies and also argued that they could not be sued for complicity in child trafficking because they are corporations, not individuals.

Alta Mesa Executives Ignored Their Engineers And Mislead Investors

June 16, 2021 Justin Mikulka, DeSmog Blog. , , ,
In April, a judge ruled that a lawsuit filed by former investors in the shale oil company Alta Mesa could proceed. Their case alleges multiple instances of fraud and reveals that not only did engineers in the company warn executives that they were lying to investors about oil production estimates but that executives went on to ignore those warnings. Alta Mesa is among a string of oil and gas companies that in recent years have either been accused or found guilty of fraud, including ExxonMobil and Miller Energy. Many of these emerging fraud cases show a consistent pattern of employees warning leadership that they were misleading investors about how much oil the companies could reasonably produce in the future, but rather than changing course the employees were ignored or fired.

Driver Plows Into Protesters In Uptown Minneapolis

June 15, 2021 Matt Sepic, Tim Nelson, and Jon Collins , MPR News. , ,
One person was killed and three injured Sunday night after the driver of an SUV drove into a crowd of protesters in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, near the site where Winston Smith was shot by sheriff's deputies earlier this month. A witness said the eastbound SUV was moving at a high rate of speed as it approached just before midnight, and that the driver appeared to accelerate as they got closer to demonstrators who had blocked off Lake Street near Girard Avenue. The driver struck a vehicle parked across one of the traffic lanes on Lake Street, apparently positioned to protect the crowd. That second vehicle then hit people.

Craig Murray’s Trial: What Happens Next

June 5, 2021 Kirsten MacDonald, CraigMurray.org.uk. , , ,
On Monday morning, Lady Dorrian and two supporting judges will hear the application from Roddy Dunlop QC for Craig Murray to be allowed to appeal to the UK Supreme Court against both their verdict of contempt of court for jigsaw identification, and against the disproportionate sentence. It is widely expected, given the obvious animus against Murray she has shown throughout the proceedings, that leave to appeal will be refused and Lady Dorrian will commit Craig Murray to jail, probably from Wednesday 9 June. At that stage, Murray’s legal team will have to apply direct to the UK Supreme Court to grant him an appeal, but his eight month sentence will likely be served before the Supreme Court even looks at whether to consider it.

Duping A Whistleblower

May 23, 2021 John Kiriakou, Consortium News. , ,
What has happened to whistleblower Daniel Hale is very troubling. A former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer,  he was arrested on May 4 in advance of his July 13 sentencing for blowing the whistle on the U.S. government’s deadly and illegal drone program. Justice Department prosecutors maintain that Hale had “violated the terms of his bail.”  In court, his attorneys maintained “there were no violations committed by the defendant as alleged.”  They’re right.  The government is lying.  Daniel explained what happened to me in a phone call from jail.  And what happened is yet another injustice against this hero.  For the record, Daniel is permitting me to make these details public. Like any whistleblower facing years, or possibly decades, in prison, he is depressed. 

50 Years Of Struggle From Black August To Black Lives Matter

August 5, 2020 Judy Greenspan, Workers.org. , , , ,
This Aug. 7 marks the 50th anniversary of the heroic attempt by Jonathan Jackson, younger brother of George Jackson, to free three Black revolutionaries from the clutches of the California state prison system. The fact that this bold attempt failed has no bearing on its historical and revolutionary significance to the movements for Black Liberation and prison abolition in this country and around the world. Jonathan Jackson was only 17 years old when, armed with a rifle, he burst into a Marin County courtroom while a hearing was in session.

Impact Of COVID-19 On Prisons

April 5, 2020 the Prison Policy Initiative. , , , ,
Prisons and jails are amplifiers of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, because the conditions that can keep diseases from spreading - such as social distancing - are nearly impossible to achieve in correctional facilities. So what should criminal justice agencies be doing to protect public health? On this page, we're tracking examples of state and local agencies taking meaningful steps to slow the spread of COVID-19. (So far, however, no state or municipality has implemented all of our five key policy ideas, nor met the demands issued by various organizations nationwide.) Can't find what you're looking for here? See our list of other webpages aggregating information about the criminal justice system and COVID-19.

July 3 – Take Action For Mumia Abu-Jamal

July 2, 2019 Mobilization for Mumia. , ,
July 3 has traditionally been a day of action calling for the release of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.  On the anniversary of the day he was originally sentenced to death row, we have filled the streets of Philadelphia with rallies and marches. This July 3, on the 37th anniversary of his incarceration we are asking your participation in a different type of mass action.  In recent weeks the focus of Mobilization4Mumia.com has been to raise awareness of the medical crisis Mumia currently faces as the PA Department of Corrections (DOC) has delayed his access to cataract surgery.  The petition below calls not only for this medically necessary procedure to be performed without delay, but also for the release of Mumia, a factually innocent man. On July 3, 2019 please take time to make calls to the numbers below.

Asylum Seekers Are Being “Disappeared” in Private Louisiana Jails

May 18, 2019 Mike Ludwig, Truthout ,
(Some names in this story have been changed to protect those criminalized for migration.) There isn’t much to see around

Protests Support Prisoners Living Without Heat

February 3, 2019 Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance , ,
Protests continue inside and outside of the MDC Federal Detention Center in New York where prisoners do not have heat. Prisoners can be heard by people on the outside banging on windows and walls from all over the building. The New York Justice League is outside during the day and night showing prisoners that people on the outside support them. People are bringing warm drinks and food to support Justice League activists. Holding people in prisons without heat in freezing cold weather violates their basic human rights. Protesters are demanding the people being held are treated with dignity and respect as well as treated humanely.

Man Sentenced To Eight Years For Legally-Purchased Medical Marijuana

October 28, 2018 Ezekial Edwards, ACLU. , ,
Patrick Beadle, a 46-year-old father and musician, received an eight-year prison sentence in Mississippi for possessing 2.89 pounds of marijuana. If his sentence stands, he would spend nearly a decade behind bars for possessing a substance that is legal in nine states and now all of Canada. Such a severe, inhumane sentence speaks volumes about the inanity and heartlessness of our criminal justice system. But this story gets worse. Mr. Beadle says he bought the marijuana legally in Oregon, where he is a resident and a medical marijuana patient.
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