Law

Bad, Bad Barrett Brown

January 26, 2015 Gabriella Coleman, www.slate.com Educate! Barret Brown, Journalism, Law, Media, NSA

Among both American and British law-enforcement communities, the temptation runs strong to treat hackers and hacktivists in simplistic terms. The public was offered a rare glimpse of this reductive tendency by a published cache of leaked NSA and GCHQ documents. In a presentation slide evaluating various uses of the anonymizing tool Tor, hacktivists like Anonymous are slotted firmly and unambiguously into the “bad” category—immediately adjacent to both pedophiles and criminals. Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 6.42.35 AM On Thursday, this moral binary was once again rehashed in a Dallas courthouse, when Judge Samuel Lindsay handed down a stiff sentence to journalist and rabble-rousing activist Barrett Brown.

Pipelines Prompt Discussion Of Property Rights Law

January 24, 2015 Duncan Adams, www.roanoke.com Resist! Law, Property Rights, Senate

A self-described conservative, business-friendly Republican in the Virginia Senate hopes colleagues in the General Assembly will repeal an increasingly controversial state law that grants natural gas companies the right to access private property without an owner’s permission to study and survey the property, without compensation, for a possible pipeline route. Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, emphasized that he supports the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and believes it could add vital natural gas infrastructure. But he said the companies currently proposing two interstate natural gas transmission pipelines whose paths would travel through Virginia should be able to define routes without having to survey property without an owner’s permission — or, later, turn to eminent domain to purchase pipeline easements.

Dem Rep Cites Sony Hack As Rationale For Reintroducing Bill

January 24, 2015 Barry Donegan, www.benswann.com Resist! Law, NSA, Surveillance

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is a controversial bill, promoted by supporters as a cyber-security solution and decried by detractors as a threat to online privacy, which has failed in two previous federal-level legislative sessions. The 112th and 113th congresses considered the bill, but pushback from civil rights groups and tech giants ultimately stopped CISPA in its tracks. Now, in the wake of a widely-publicized hack targeting employees at Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Hill is reporting that Maryland Democratic Representative Dutch Ruppersberger has revived the legislation and reintroduced it before the US House of Representatives last Friday.

The Price Of Free Speech: Two Cases Of Restitution

January 24, 2015 Steven Wishna, www.defendingdissent.org Resist! Environment, Fracking, Law

Prosecutors getting people arrested in political protests to pay restitution is rare—but it has happened at least twice in the last three years. In November 2012, an Ohio woman who’d blocked access to a fracking-wastewater dump by chaining her hands into 55-gallon barrels of cement agreed to pay about $1,500 as part of a plea bargain. And last January, a federal judge in Tennessee ordered three Catholic pacifists to pay $52,953, after they’d marred the walls of a nuclear-weapons facility in Oak Ridge with human blood and peace graffiti and been convicted of two felony charges for it. In the Ohio case, Madeline ffitch of Appalachia Resist, then 31, was initially charged with “inducing panic,” a felony, after she blocked the road into a site near Athens where toxic fracking wastewater is injected into the ground.

Penokee Mine Activist Sentenced To 9 Months Jail

January 23, 2015 Revolution News, www.revolution-news.com Resist! Activism, Environment, Law, Mining

Katie Kloth, aka Krow, is an activist, artist, forager, sustainable farmer, and biologist who has been committed to struggles to protect the environment and liberate all life for many years, and has spent the last several years organizing against the proposed Penokee mine in the north woods of Wisconsin, USA. On June 11th, 2013, she was cited by the Iron County Sheriff for theft due to her alleged involvement in a rowdy protest earlier that day that disrupted bore hole drilling on the Penokee Range. Since it was considered such a minor crime, she was neither arrested nor detained that day. On June 21st, it was announced that the Iron County District Attorney increased the charges to robbery with use of force (a class E felony), two counts of criminal damage to property and one charge of theft of movable property (<=$2500).

Rev. Billy Sues For False Arrest At Grand Central Station Vigil

January 23, 2015 Marnie Glickman, www.revbilly.com Resist! Faith, Law, police brutality

In the midst of a 24-hour vigil honoring 170 unarmed civilians killed by police, activist-performer William Talen, also known as “Reverend Billy,” was arrested by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police while delivering a sermon in Grand Central Terminal. Talen has been charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration.   In the wake of his arrest, the MTA, through spokespersons, alleged that Talen "got physical with police commanders" and was "physically trying to block police officers." Video of the interactions between Talen and MTA police show that Talen did not "get physical" with police officers.

The World Is Watching Our Net Neutrality Debate

January 23, 2015 Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda, www.wired.com Educate! Internet, Law, Net Neutrality

The U.S. government is working hard to preserve and protect the open internet, ensuring that it remains an engine for innovation, economic growth, and free expression. But we can’t take the open internet for granted in America. We need to ensure that internet service providers cannot abuse their control over internet infrastructure to block or throttle traffic, or improperly extract additional payments for access based on content, nationality, or the targeted end users. Some opponents of network neutrality have argued that any possible classification of broadband access as a telecommunications service will undermine our ability to push back against efforts to assert more government control of the internet at the international level, including at the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union.

DOJ Settles With Woman They Impersonated On Facebook

January 22, 2015 Adi Robertson, www.theverge.com Resist! Law, Media, Police, Surveillance

The Department of Justice has agreed to a settlement with a woman it impersonated with a fake Facebook profile in 2010. According to the Associated Press, the agency has reached a $134,000 settlement with Sondra Arquiett, who sued after learning that the Drug Enforcement Agency had used her name and pictures from her cellphone to set up a profile to communicate with suspects in an investigation. The Justice Department initially argued that Arquiett, who was arrested and ultimately sentenced to probation for drug offenses, had consented by giving officers access to data on her cellphone and letting them use it for investigative purposes. But it also said it would be "launching a review" of the incident, and it's now apparently agreed to a settlement that's just over half of the $250,000 Arquiett reportedly asked for in her complaint.

Settlement Reached In Surveillance Suit Filed By Anti-Fracking Group

January 22, 2015 Jerry Lynott, www.timesleader.com Resist! Fracking, Law, Oil & Gas, Pennsylvania

A settlement has been reached in the civil rights suit filed by the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition over surveillance of the group as a potential terrorist threat. Notice of the settlement was filed Friday with U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson in Harrisburg, but the terms were not disclosed by attorneys in the suit, dating back more than four years. Dr. Al Rodriguez, president of GDAC, said Sunday the group will hold press conferences later in the week to discuss the notice. “Right now we can’t give any statement,” he said. In status reports to the court, attorney Paul Rossi, representing the GDAC, and Deputy Attorney General Lindsey Bierzonski indicated the agreement covered injunctive relief and payment of attorney’s fees.

Nationwide Actions Mark Fifth Anniversary Of Citizens United

January 21, 2015 Eleanor Goldfield, www.occupy.com Organize! Campaign Finance, Democracy, Law, Politics

The corporate money machine has been snaking its way through our government for much longer than five years. However, this Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of the moment when that snake went from insidious slithering to a boa constrictor-like tightening on our feeble and fragile democracy. Five years ago, the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission allowed corporations and unions the right to spend as much money as they want to influence elections. It gave rise to dark money spending and Super PACs where donors remain hidden from public view while funneling millions of dollars into state and federal elections.

$75K Settlement In “I Can’t Breathe” Suit In NYC

January 21, 2015 Rocco Parascandola, www.nydailynews.com Resist! Law, NYPD, police brutality

A Brooklyn dad who says cops put him into a chokehold has settled his lawsuit against the city for $75,000, the Daily News has learned. “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” Kevin Dennis-Palmer said he gasped in the Feb. 9, 2013 incident — more than a year before Staten Island dad Eric Garner died with those same last words after being put in a chokehold. “It makes you realize how truly blessed you are to get out of that situation,” Dennis-Palmer said of Garner,whose death last July touched off waves of demonstrations across the city. The NYPD banned chokeholds in 1993. Dennis-Palmer, 28, said Sgt. Burt Antoine and Officer Ryan Monteleone pulled up in their police cruiser, lights flashing, as he was attempting to parallel-park near his Brownsville home, after working his job as a first responder for National Grid.

Barrett Brown, Guilty Of Satire, To Be Sentenced Jan 22nd

January 21, 2015 Kevin Gallagher, www.observer.com Educate! Anonymous, Barrett Brown, FBI, Law

On January 22, jailed American journalist Barrett Brown will finally learn his sentence. This had been expected to happen last month, on December 16, but the government unleashed a torrent of exhibits, supposedly to demonstrate “relevant conduct”, and wasted the day with testimony from an FBI agent, eventually leading the judge, Sam A. Lindsay, to decide that he needed more time to make his decision. Judge Lindsay should sentence Mr. Brown to time served. The man has been in jail for 28 months now, and I’ve been advocating for him at each step of the way. By now, many people have heard his name, and much has been written about him. The popular perception of Mr. Brown is based on his work with Anonymous and his crowd-sourced research outfit Project PM.

Mining Company Sues Environmental Activists For Defamation

January 21, 2015 Tamsyn Burgmann, www.huffingtonpost.ca Organize! Canada, Energy, Environment, Law

Criticism of a proposed mine by an environmental group and allegations of defamation by the project's owner have landed both parties in British Columbia Supreme Court. Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) launched the lawsuit after the Wilderness Committee made claims during a 2012 public comment period that the New Prosperity mine could destroy Fish Lake. The proposed gold and copper mine, 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, was undergoing a federal environmental assessment when the statements were made. Taseko lawyer Roger McConchie told court on Monday the company's civil complaint is based on five articles published by the non-profit organization, which were emailed to supporters and posted online starting in January 2012.

Cuomo Considers Mandatory Review Of Police Brutality Cases

January 21, 2015 Kenneth Lovett, www.nydailynews.com Organize! Law, New York (NY), police brutality

Gov. Cuomo is considering requiring automatic state reviews when grand juries fail to indict in police brutality cases, the Daily News has learned. Under a scenario being discussed with interested parties, once a grand jury decides not to indict, the district attorney would be required to transmit all records from the case — including grand jury transcripts — to the state entity doing the review, sources say. Cuomo is considering including the measure in a justice reform package he is set to unveil on Wednesday in his State of the State/budget address. Cuomo spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa said that "discussions are ongoing about a range of options (but) nothing has been finalized."

Injustice At The Intersection

January 20, 2015 Benjamin Ross, www.dissentmagazine.org Create! Criminal Justice, Law, Mass Incarceration, Racial Justice

Raquel Nelson’s troubles didn’t end there. In the wake of her son’s death, she was charged with vehicular homicide because, with three young children and an armful of groceries, she chose not to walk a third of a mile to the nearest marked crosswalk. A jury whose members never ride local buses found Nelson guilty of a crime whose true perpetrators were poverty and traffic engineering. She nearly went to jail, but after a national outcry, the judge reversed her conviction. She ultimately paid a $200 fine for jaywalking. The death of another young black man this summer has made the setting of these events familiar. Like Ferguson, Missouri, the run-down corner of Cobb County, Georgia, where A.J. Newman was killed is a declining inner suburb.

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