Law

Michael Brown’s Family To Sue Darren Wilson

March 6, 2015 Breanna Edwards, www.theroot.com Resist! Ferguson, Law, Michael Brown, police brutality

A day after the Justice Department confirmed that federal charges would not be filed against former Ferguson, Mo., Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown, Brown’s family lawyer has announced plans for the family to file a lawsuit of its own, Vox reports. According to the site, family attorney Anthony Gray announced at a press conference Thursday morning plans to file a civil suit against the former cop and the city of Ferguson. The family’s legal team underscored the difference in the standard of proof between a federal civil rights suit and a personal civil suit, suggesting that it might be able to succeed in its case.

General Petraeus: Too Big To Jail

March 6, 2015 Ray McGovern, www.consortiumnews.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Law, Wars and Militarism

The leniency shown former CIA Director (and retired General) David Petraeus by the Justice Department in sparing him prison time for the serious crimes that he has committed puts him in the same preferential, immune-from-incarceration category as those running the financial institutions of Wall Street, where, incidentally, Petraeus now makes millions. By contrast, “lesser” folks – and particularly the brave men and women who disclose government crimes – get to serve time, even decades, in jail. Petraeus is now a partner at KKR, a firm specializing in large leveraged buyouts, and his hand-slap guilty plea to a misdemeanor for mishandling government secrets should not interfere with his continued service at the firm.

Students Occupy Clegg’s Office While At Prime Minister’s Questions

March 5, 2015 Mikey Smith, www.mirror.co.uk Resist! Law, Parliament, Student Activism, Student Loans, United Kingdom (UK)

Police broke up a student protest occupying Nick Clegg's constituency office today. Around 15 student activists from the Free University of Sheffield group piled into theLib Dem leader's office in Sheffield Hallam, wearing Nick Clegg masks. The protesters demanded the scrapping of university tuition fees, unfurling banners both inside and outside the office. One banner read "Nick Clegg betrayed us, we want revenge." Police were made aware of the protest shortly after 11.30am and arrived shortly after to break up the protest, but they say no arrests were made. According to Sheffield student newspaper Forge Press , one protester said: "This is retribution for Nick Clegg’s student betrayal. We want to inspire students to act on their ideals."

Judge May Consider Necessity Defense In Flood Wall Street Case

March 4, 2015 Alex Elefson, www.indypendent.org Resist! Capitalism, Flood Wall St., Law, People's Climate March

The group of protestors called the Flood Wall Street 11 may soon be able to argue in court that their acts of civil disobedience were legally justified due to the imminent threat that global warming poses to the safety of the planet. During the first day of the trial in Manhattan criminal court on Monday, the judge signaled that he might consider hearing their argument. The group plans to use the necessity defense, which provides justification for breaking the law in order to avoid imminent harm. The defendants pled not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct for participating in the Flood Wall Street demonstrations that occurred in Lower Manhattan on September 22, the day after the historic People’s Climate March. Thousands of people occupied the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street to protest the financial institutions bankrolling projects that contribute to global warming.

Fast-Track Trade Bill Unlikely To Come To Congress Before April

March 4, 2015 Krista Hughes, www.reuters.com Resist! fast track, Law, Senate, TPP, Trade

The chairman of the U.S. Senate committee responsible for trade said on Tuesday it is unlikely that a fast-track trade bill will come before lawmakers for consideration before April. Senator Hatch had hoped to introduce Fast Track last week, then this week while the Obama administration said they hoped it would be passed in March. Protests have been mounting. Popular Resistance is holding a “Toast-In” to emphasize his career is toast if he co-sponsors Fast Track because 73% of Oregonians oppose Fast Track. "It does not look like it will come up before April at this point because of all the work that has to be done on budget and such in March," Republican Orrin Hatch said, in reply to a question about when the bill would fit in the legislative calendar. The panel's top Democrat, Ron Wyden, said negotiators are continuing to find common ground.

Petraeus Gets Slap On Wrist For Sharing Classified Documents

March 4, 2015 Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Educate! CIA, Law, Obama, Wars and Militarism

David H. Petraeus, the best-known military commander of his generation, has reached a plea deal with the Justice Department and admitted providing his highly classified journals to a mistress when he was the director of the C.I.A. Mr. Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. He is eligible for up to one year in prison, but prosecutors will recommend a sentence of probation for two years and a $40,000 fine. The plea deal completes a spectacular fall for Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who was once discussed as a possible candidate for vice president or even president. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the architect of a counterinsurgency strategy that at one time seemed a model for future warfare.

Obama Task Force Urges Significant Changes In US Policing

March 3, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Educate! Law, Obama, police brutality, Police the Police

Rights groups and others are welcoming the release of a report by the president's policing task force on Monday, saying that the policy recommendations are the best chance the White House has for improving the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are meant to protect and serve. The President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing was established in the wake of recent police killings of people of color in an attempt to build trust between citizens and law enforcement. The Interim Report (pdf) calls for increased transparency around incidents of police brutality, an emphasis on de-escalation, and policies that prohibit police profiling and discrimination of any kind, among other things.

DOJ Finds Racial Bias In Ferguson Traffic Stops

March 3, 2015 Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Educate! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice

The Justice Department has nearly completed a highly critical report accusing the police in Ferguson, Mo., of making discriminatory traffic stops of African-Americans that created years of racial animosity leading up to an officer’s shooting of a black teenager last summer, law enforcement officials said. According to several officials who have been briefed on the report’s conclusions, the report criticizes the city for disproportionately ticketing and arresting African-Americans and relying on the fines to balance the city’s budget. The report, which is expected to be released as early as this week, will force Ferguson officials to either negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department or face being sued by it on civil rights charges. Either way, the result is likely to be significant changes inside the Ferguson Police Department, which is at the center of a national debate over race and policing.

More Than 125 Groups Call For Protection Of Bees

March 3, 2015 Pesticide Action Network, www.panna.org Resist! Animal Rights, Environment, Law

More than 125 conservation, beekeeping, food safety, religious, ethnic and farming advocacy groups today urged President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to take swift and meaningful action to protect honey bees and other pollinators from toxic pesticides. “It’s time to stop pesticides from killing our bees,” said Lori Ann Burd, Environmental Health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If bees and other pollinators are going to have a real future in this country, President Obama needs to take concrete steps to protect them from these toxic substances.” The letter urges the president to take action against a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, systemic poisons that are devastating bee populations.

Cleveland Claims Tamir Rice’s Own Actions Caused His Death

March 2, 2015 Stephanie McNeal, www.buzzfeed.com Resist! Cleveland, Corruption, Law, police brutality, Racism

The city of Cleveland is claiming that Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy shot dead by a police officer in November while holding a toy gun, died because of the actions and choices of him and his family. The city made the argument on Friday in a response to a lawsuit on behalf of the boy’s parents and sister, Tajai. The lawsuit lists Timothy Loehmann, the officer who shot Tamir; his partner Frank Garmback; and the city of Cleveland as defendants. It lists 27 counts including negligence, civil rights violations, and battery against Tamir and Tajai. The Rice family is asking for damages and a jury trial. Cleveland officials stated they could not fully respond to most of the counts because of an ongoing investigation into the incident by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office. However, the city claims in its defense that Tamir’s death was caused by his own failure to properly exercise caution.

Five Important Questions About DEA’s Vehicle Surveillance Program

February 28, 2015 Rachel Levinson-Waldman, www.brennancenter.org Educate! Law, Surveillance, Transportation

With each week, we seem to learn about a new government location tracking program. This time, it’s the expanded use of license plate readers. According to The Wall Street Journal, relying on interviews with officials and documents obtained by the ACLU through a FOIA request, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been collecting hundreds of millions of records about cars traveling on U.S. roads. The uses for the data sound compelling: combating drug and weapons trafficking and finding suspects in serious crimes. But as usual, the devil is in the details, and plenty of important questions remain about those details. First, who approved the program, and under what circumstances? We don’t know. The DEA is an arm of the Department of Justice, so presumably the Attorney General’s office has been involved, but details aren’t yet available. Also unknown is whether there has been any judicial oversight.

Iraq War Resister Dealt Blow By European Court

February 28, 2015 Connection e.V. and PRO ASYL, www.connection-ev.com Resist! Europe, Iraq, Law, Wars and Militarism

The network for conscientious objection Connection e.V. and PRO ASYL criticize today’s decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the case of U.S. AWOL soldier André Shepherd (37) as insufficient and in part quite incomprehensible in its argumentation. “The ruling by the ECJ does not strengthen the position of conscientious objectors and deserters in political-asylum proceedings. The Court avoided some fundamental questions, and answered others unacceptably, contrary to the opinion submitted by the Advocate-General.” said Rudi Friedrich of Connection e.V. The Court’s statements regarding wars that are mandated by a resolution of the U.N. Security Council are especially dubious. Bernd Mesovic of PRO ASYL said, “It is scandalous that the Court more-or-less decrees for such cases that no war crimes ‘are committed’ in such wars, and that this also applies to operations about which there is some other international consensus. Reality is turned on its head by an assertion of fact here.”

Congress Ready To Introduce Fast Track: Act Now

February 28, 2015 Maira Sutton, www.eff.org Resist! Congress, Free Trade, Law, TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are stalling while the White House assures its trading partners that this secret trade agreement won't be amended when it comes back to Congress for ratification after the President signs the deal. That's why the Executive is scrambling to get its allies in Congress to pass Fast Track. If they succeed, the U.S. Trade Representative can block remaining opportunities for the examination of the TPP's provisions by lawmakers who could ensure that this secret deal does not contain expansive copyright rules that would lock the U.S. into broken copyright rules that are already in bad need of reform. The Fast Track bill is likely going to be introduced as early as next week—so it's time to speak out now. Congress needs to hear from their constituents that we expect them to hold the White House accountable for the TPP's restrictive digital policies.

Coalition Urges Congress To Rein In Sweeping 2001 War Authorization

February 27, 2015 Jennifer Bendery, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Human Rights, ISIS, Law, Wars and Militarism

As Congress turns its attention to President Barack Obama's request to use military force against the Islamic State, more than a dozen groups are urging lawmakers to rein in a sweeping 2001 war authorization that never expired and is being used to justify open-ended military operations. The American Civil Liberties Union, National Security Network and Constitution Project are among 16 groups that sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday demanding that they revise Obama's war authorization request to explicitly state that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force does not apply to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Obama opted not to address the 2001 AUMF in his proposal, which he sent to Congress this month. The request seeks limits on levels of U.S. ground troops and duration of the campaign.

Rev. Billy Rejects Plea Deal Goes To Trial Over Grand Central Arrest

February 27, 2015 Katie Toth, www.blogs.villagevoice.com Resist! Faith, Law, police brutality

Earth-worshipping, honeybee-loving professional rabble-rouser "Reverend Billy" Talen is headed to trial. At an appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 26, in front of Judge Ann Scherzer, Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Hippolyte requested an "ACD," or adjournment to contemplate dismissal, for the oft-arrested Earth-loving activist. Talen faced charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration stemming from a January anti-racism protest at Grand Central Terminal. Adjournments to contemplate dismissal involve setting aside the case for six months. As long as the defendant does not get arrested in that time, then the case is dismissed and sealed and the defendant has no criminal record. Sometimes the rulings also include a requirement to perform community service.

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