Law

The Fight Over Eric Garner Grand Jury Records Continues

June 17, 2015 Christopher Mathias, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Eric Garner, Law, NYPD, police brutality

By Christopher Mathias in Huffington Post - Nearly a year after Eric Garner died at the hands of police, an appeals court Tuesday heard oral arguments over whether to unseal records from the grand jury investigation into his death. A panel of four justices with the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court grilled lawyers from three civil rights groups, as well as a lawyer from the office of New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, over why there might be a “compelling and particularized” need to release the records. Despite video evidence showing New York Police officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner into a prohibited chokehold during an arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island last July, a grand jury in December declined to indict Pantaleo.

Should A Secret Security Court Make Freedom Of Speech Decisions?

June 16, 2015 Hannah Bloch-Wehba and Bruce Brown, www.theguardian.com Educate! Freedom of Speech, Law, Surveillance, Twitter

By Hannah Bloch-Wehba and Bruce Brown in The Guardian - Can a case about the freedom of speech be resolved in a secret court? In a widely publicized case, Twitter sued the Obama administration in a federal district court in California. The company wished to release a transparency report relating to the user information it is forced to turn over to the government under various surveillance collection programs, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) and the National Security Letter statutes. The government’s preferred venue for resolving Twitter’s First Amendment claim, though, resembles a black box more than an American court. According to the government, the Fisa court in Washington, DC should adjudicate Twitter’s constitutional claim about its right to speak.

The Triumph Of Occupy, & The Costs To The Occupiers

June 15, 2015 Jay Elias, www.dailykos.com Strategize! Criminal Justice, Law, Occupy, Surveillance

By Jay Elias in Daily Kos - What took a lot longer to reach the public eye, and did so after the cameras were largely off the Occupy movement, was the lengths, many of which were illegal, that the Federal and local governments went to spy on the Occupy movement, to use anti-terrorism powers against them, and to share information about their activities with those whom Occupy was protesting. In 2012, Rolling Stone reported on the Department of Homeland Security’s surveillance of the Occupy movement, which began no less than a month after the protests began in 2011. The DHS report stated that the NYPD was sharing information on the protesters and their plans with landlords and business owners, including according to the DHS memo “large banks”. Rolling Stone also reported that information about the locations and times of protests and gatherings nationwide was “borrowed, improbably enough, from the lefty blog Daily Kos.”

Civil Rights Advocates Oppose House Bill To Block Net Neutrality

June 12, 2015 Pitch Engine, www.pitchengine.com Resist! FCC, Law, Media, Net Neutrality

By Pitch Engine - Today, just one day before recently passed Federal Communications Commission Net Neutrality rules were set to go into effect, the House Appropriations subcommittee passed legislation that would defund the FCC budget by $25 million while eliminating vital provisions and consumer protections. The full committee is expected to vote on the proposal next week. More than 175 community based organizations of the Media Action Grassroots Network strongly oppose the legislative proposal, and are concerned that the last-minute legislative push by the House subcommittee guts the rules that prevent online discrimination and undermines the civil rights of communities of color in a digital age.

Judge Finds Cause To Prosecute Police Who Killed Tamar Rice

June 12, 2015 Ben Mathis-Lilley, www.slate.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice, Tamar Rice

By Ben Mathis-Lilley in Slate - Cleveland activists and civic leaders have formally asked a judge to arrest the police officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, taking advantage of an Ohio law that allows citizens to file requests for prosecution. "Ohio law allows anyone with 'knowledge of the facts' to file a court affidavit and ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant," the New York Times writes. "If approved, the arrest would be followed by a public hearing." Per Cleveland.com, the activists' approach would expedite the process by which the case is brought before a grand jury; county prosecutors reportedly plan to eventually take such an action, but at the moment say they are continuing to investigate Rice's death.

The Plight Of Guantánamo’s Best-Selling Author Worsens

June 11, 2015 Hina Shamsi, www.aclu.org Resist! Guantanamo, Law, Mass Incarceration, Political Prisoner, Wars and Militarism

By Hina Shamsi in ACLU - Mohamedou Ould Slahi's 13th year of captivity in Guantánamo has been remarkable in many ways. "Guantánamo Diary," his story of torture and unlawful detention by the United States, was finally published and has become a best-seller, earning rave reviews around the world and a Hollywood movie deal. Readers continue to marvel at a book that's been called a "masterpiece" and "literary magic," written by a man whose "unfailing humanity is the constant thread throughout." Celebrities like Jude Law and Benedict Cumberbatch are reading Mohamedou's work for a global audience. Almost 50,000 people have signed the ACLU's petition calling for his freedom. But Mohamedou's despair only grows, because the Obama administration is still denying this innocent man what he most urgently needs: freedom.

Clinics To Close As Court Upholds Texas Abortion Restrictions

June 11, 2015 Samantha Lachman, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Abortion, Court, Law, Texas, War on women

By Samantha Lachman in The Huffington Post - A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld some of the most onerous parts of a Texas abortion law, which is likely to cause most of the state's abortion clinics to close. The ruling, released Tuesday, allowed provisions requiring clinics to meet hospital-level operating standards and requiring providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals to go into effect. It did exempt the last open clinic in the state's Rio Grande Valley from the provisions, which were passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed by former Gov. Rick Perry (R) two years ago. In court, attorneys opposing the law said it could close all but eight clinics in Texas.

Debt Resistors Protests Dept Of Education Debt Relief Program

June 10, 2015 Debt Collective, www.blog.debtcollective.org Resist! Education, Law, Student Activism, Student Debt

By Debt Collective - Just as Corinthian Colleges portrayed its programs as a path to a better life when they were in fact debt traps, the Department of Education is portraying a process that re-victimizes students as a solution to a problem they created. If Education Secretary Arne Duncan was truly “committed to making sure students receive every penny of relief they are entitled to under law” he would sign the “Order for Discharge of Federal Student Loan Debts” the Debt Collective sent him last week, immediately and automatically discharging Corinthian students' debts. Students are entitled to receive full relief under law.

Former US Attorney General Files Brief In Lawsuit Against Iraq War

June 10, 2015 Michael Eisenscher, www.uslaboragainstwar.org Resist! Criminal Justice, Iraq War, Law, Wars and Militarism

By Michael Eisenscher in US Labor Against War - An Iraqi single mother has assembled an international team of lawyers who are now asking the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit to hear her claim that the Iraq War was illegal under laws set down at the Nuremberg Trials, which govern when and how a country can go to war. Sundus Shaker Saleh, through her pro bono counsel Comar Law, filed papers last Wednesday, May 27, 2015 urging the Ninth Circuit to review facts and statements made by high-ranking Bush Administration officials—including former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard Cheney, and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—in the run-up to the Iraq War. On Tuesday, June 2, 2015, an international group of lawyers—including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark—filed an amicus brief in support of her claims.

40+ Charged W/ Murder For Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse

June 8, 2015 Beenish Ahmed, www.thinkprogress.org Resist! Bangladesh, Criminal Justice, Law, Worker Rights and Jobs

By Beenish Ahmed in Think Progress - The owner of a collapsed garment factory building in Bangladesh that’s 2013 collapse killed more than 1,100 people has been charged with murder. Sohel Rana is among 42 people who face criminal charges for ignoring warnings not to allow workers into the Rana Plaza building the day before it collapsed. Government officials responsible for safety inspections were charged with murder alongside various factory stakeholders. They all face the death penalty if convicted. “It is the biggest industrial disaster in Bangladesh’s history,” lead investigator Bijoy Krishna Kar told AFP. “They [the factory owners] discussed and decided to keep the factory open,” Kar said. “They sent the workers to their deaths with cool heads.”

Why These Kansas Ob-Gyns Are Suing To Stop New Abortion Ban

June 8, 2015 Samantha Lachman, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Abortion, health, Law, Oklahoma, Women’s health

By Samantha Lachman in Huffington Post - Hodes and Nauser are serving as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against a new law that could block them from using the most common method for second-trimester abortions, called dilation and evacuation (D&E). The suit, filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, seeks to have the legislation blocked before it takes effect July 1. A hearing for the suit hasn't yet been scheduled. The law in question bans what the anti-abortion advocates behind it describe as "dismemberment abortion" by prohibiting doctors from using forceps, clamps, scissors or other instruments to remove a fetus from the womb. Reproductive rights advocates say the measure is a public relations stunt, aimed at using graphic language to turn people against the procedure altogether.

Why Oakland’s Crackdown On Protest Is Sure To Fail

June 6, 2015 Rachel Lederman, www.truth-out.org Resist! Law, Oakland, police brutality, Property

By Rachel Lederman in Truthout - Under pressure from business after a large May Day demonstration, in which dozens of new cars and bank windows were smashed, Oakland's new mayor, Libby Schaaf, has instituted a ban on nighttime street marches, which has outraged the Oakland activist community. The mayor's directive violates a federal court order and has escalated ongoing tension between police and protesters - while doing nothing to address the serious issues of state-sponsored racism, extrajudicial killings and police impunity, targets of the growing movement. Banning protests doesn't work as a way to stop property damage or squelch popular anger. Across the Bay, San Francisco tried it in response to vandalism during protests over the 1992 acquittals of the Los Angeles police officers who beat Rodney King.

Brelo Decision Presents Crucial Moment For Clevelanders

June 6, 2015 Austin C. McCoy, www.truth-out.org Resist! Cleveland, Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality

By Austin C. McCoy in Truthout - Many expected the city of Cleveland to erupt after watching Judge John O'Donnell pronounce Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo "not guilty" in the November 29, 2014, killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams with 137 gunshots. Seeking to prevent Cleveland from becoming the next city to explode, Mayor Frank Jackson released a public letter in late April assuring residents that he and the police were prepared to address any scenario. Several days before O'Donnell's May 23 decision from his Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court bench, The Washington Post published a story with a headline that asked, "Will Cleveland riot if a police officer is found not guilty?"

Fracking Returns, But Denton Vows To Keep Fighting

June 6, 2015 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Denton, Environment, Fracking, Law, Oil & Gas

By Zahra Hirji in Inside Climate News - Two weeks after Denton's fracking ban was rendered illegal by a sweeping new state law restricting local control of oil-and-gas activities, residents of the north Texas town are frustrated, upset and conflicted about how best to respond. Emotions were on display at this week's Denton City Council meeting, where more than 30 people weighed in on whether the city should repeal the ban. Following the public's advice, the seven-member council decided against repealing the ban—for now—after more than five hours of testimony and discussion. "Fracking is happening right now in our community, again, and it's pretty clear that in our community, people do not want fracking to happen," said Ron Seifert, a Denton resident and environmental activist, to the council. "So my question is: What is the city prepared to do to follow through with the will of the people here?"

Oregon Farmers Defeat Monsanto In Court Win Against GMO’s

June 5, 2015 Steven Rosenfeld, www.occupy.com Resist! Agirculture, Food and Agriculture, Law, Monsanto

By Steven Rosenfeld in Occupy - On Friday, Mark D. Clarke, a federal magistrate judge, dismissed a legal challenge brought by commercial farmers who use Monsanto's genetically modified alfalfa seeds. The non-organic farms sought to overturn a 2014 ordinance passed by Jackson County voters that banned the use of such seed stock, claiming that the anti-GMO ordinance violated their right to farm. However Judge Clarke concluded that exactly the opposite was the case. He held that the county's no-GMO seed ordinance could take effect next week, citing earlier state legislation that protected commercial farms—in this case organic farmers—from harm from other commercial enterprises, such as the commercial farms whose GMO-laced alfalfa pollen gets carried by the wind and can't be stopped from tainting organic crops.

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