Law

Now Or Never: Fight Back Against Fast Track

January 9, 2015 Larry Cohen, www.huffingtonpost.com Organize! Congress, Law, Obama, TPP

An unholy coalition of President Obama, Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Boehner, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable are working together to pass Fast Track authorization for the largest trade giveaway ever, the Trans Pacific Partnership, in the next 100 days. The president will focus on Fast Track, now known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), in his State of the Union address. McConnell will continue to announce that he will work with the White House. And make no mistake about it, the version of Fast Track or TPA that will pass the House will be Boehner Trade, acceptable to the Republican majority and its Speaker.

Protestors Disrupt Mo. Legislature Opening Ceremony

January 8, 2015 The St. Louis American, www.stlamerican.com Resist! Ferguson, Law, Missouri

Protestors disrupted the opening ceremony of the Missouri Legislature at noon today, after holding a die-in around the rotunda of the state capitol. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder quickly ordered the entire gallery, or public seating, to be cleared. While Missouri Highway Patrol officers escorted protestors out of the gallery, they chanted “no justice, no peace” and then started singing, “We shall overcome.” They continued to march and protest throughout the capitol building. In a news release earlier today, Don’t Shoot – a coalition of nearly 50 St. Louis-area organizations formed in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown –called on lawmakers to address systemic problems surrounding police practices in communities of color As the Missouri Legislature kicked off its 2015 session.

What Barrett Brown’s Charges Mean For Journalism

January 8, 2015 Sean Nevins, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Barret Brown, Journalism, Law, Media

On Jan. 22, journalist, activist and author Barrett Brown, 33, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay in Dallas for threatening an FBI agent, hiding evidence during an FBI raid, and attempting to negotiate on behalf of a person wanted by the FBI — two felonies and a misdemeanor, respectively. Facing a maximum sentence of eight-and-a-half years in prison, Brown’s predicament is the result of his work as a journalist and his connections to sources engaged in revealing surveillance activities by public and private intelligence agencies. In 2011, Brown started a website called Project PM, an encyclopedic website with data about the intelligence contracting industry, which likely made him a target of the federal government.

Drone Activists Cut Their Way Onto Base

January 7, 2015 John Queally, www.mintpressnews.com Resist! Drones, Law, Protest, United Kingdom (UK)

Four demonstrators opposed to Britain’s prolonged participation in foreign wars and use of armed drones were arrested on Monday after cutting through a fence at the Waddington Royal Air Force base near Lincolnshire, UK. According to the Guardian, RAF Waddington has been the growing focus of recent protests over Britain’s operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, which are controlled from the base. “Behind the rebranding, war is as brutal and deadly as it has always been with civilians killed, communities destroyed, and the next generation traumatized. And so we have come to RAF Waddington, the home of drone warfare here in the UK to say clearly and simply ‘End the Drone War’.”

Whistle-blower Officer Files Lawsuit Against Batts, BPD

January 7, 2015 Justin Fenton, www.baltimoresun.com Educate! Freedom of Speech, Law, Police

A former Baltimore police officer who blew the whistle on misconduct is suing the agency and its commissioner, alleging that they failed to protect him from retaliation. Detective Joseph Crystal, who resigned in August, came forward in 2012 and told prosecutors he had observed fellow officers assaulting a man. Crystal said word spread within the department that he was cooperating, and one morning he found a rat on the windshield of his car outside his home. When the incident became public, Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts vowed to protect Crystal and investigate.

Bar Complaint Filed Against McCulloch

January 7, 2015 Carol Daniel, www.facebook.com Resist! Ferguson, Law, Mike Brown, police brutality

A bar complaint against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley has been filed regarding the handling of the Ferguson grand jury. Attorney and former judge James R. Dowd and attorney Robert Ramsey reviewed the grand jury transcript – including evidence, witness interviews and testimony – before a group of seven citizens and attorneys – led by Christi Griffin, founder of the Ethics Project – filed an 11-page complaint with the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel in Jefferson City, Missouri. Griffin has said initial reports from the Ferguson police chief that Darren Wilson did not know Michael Brown was suspected in an earlier convenience store robbery were changed in testimony before the grand jury, and she believes that represents perjury.

OWS Protesters Score $142,500 Settlement From NYC

January 7, 2015 Lauren Evans, www.gothamist.com Educate! Law, Occupy Wall Street

Three Occupy Wall Street protesters have netted a sizable settlement from the city after filing a lawsuit saying they were brutalized by police officers. Sandra Fields, 68, and Sean McKeown, 33, were each holding one end of a banner on September 25, 2012, when Fields was apparently attacked by Lieutenant Stephen Latalardo. According to the suit, Latalardo slammed Fields from behind, causing her head to hit the ground. A video shot at the scene shows Latalardo smirkingly telling Fields that she was being arrested for "displaying a banner." “I was in shock,” Fields told the Daily News. “I was dumbfounded and really in pain.”

‘If You Organize, You Can Win’: Hopes Rise For Fracking Bans

January 7, 2015 Nadia Prupis, www.foreffectivegov.org Resist! Environmental Justice, Fracking, Law

In the wake of New York's victory against fracking, many regions in North America faced with growing climate threats seem ready to follow the state's lead and ban the drilling practice altogether. Just days after Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a moratorium on fracking following an intensive environmental activism campaign, the Canadian province of New Brunswick introduced its own temporary ban on the controversial method of drilling. New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant, who promised a moratorium on fracking during his campaign, saidthe halt would be lifted for companies who meet certain conditions, which include a consultation process with First Nations tribes, a plan for waste water disposal, and credible reports on the health and environmental impacts of the practice.

Protesters Stuck In Limbo By DA’s Office

January 7, 2015 Michael McLaughlin, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! California, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice

More than 200 people arrested after a protest in Berkeley last month may wait a year before the district attorney decides whether to prosecute them for misdemeanor offenses. The hallway outside a Superior Court of California courtroom was packed Tuesday morning with people, many of them college students, who'd been locked up Dec. 8 during a demonstration over the police killings of unarmed men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City. Many faced charges of being a public nuisance and obstructing a public place after shutting downpart of a freeway. They are free without bail and were told by defense attorneys that their cases remain under review by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors have 12 months to decide whether to drop charges.

Judge Could Decide To Release Eric Garner Grand Jury Documents

January 6, 2015 Jonathan Allen, www.Reuters.com Organize! Eric Garner, Law, New York City (NYC), NYPD, Racial Justice

A New York judge will hear arguments later this month whether to publicly release the records of a grand jury hearing in the case of an unarmed black man killed after a policeman put him in a chokehold while arresting him for peddling loose cigarettes. After an unusually lengthy session lasting nine weeks, the grand jury voted in December not to indict the police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, for his role in the asphyxiation death of Eric Garner on a Staten Island sidewalk last summer. Captured on video, Garner's repeated cries of "I can't breathe!" as Pantaleo holds him by his neck have become a slogan for protesters at rallies across the United States who accuse police forces of being hostile towards black citizens.

Activists Mobilize For Right To Counsel In Eviction

January 6, 2015 Eleanor J. Bader, www.truth-out.org Organize! Law, New York City (NYC), Real Estate

Indeed, the imperative to provide free legal representation to indigent and low-income tenants not only has the support of CASA, but also of dozens of community agencies and legal services providers - including the city and state bar associations and numerous judges - throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The effort was kick-started by a bill, pending before the City Council, called Intro 214, that is poised to make New York City the first municipality in the country to provide free legal counsel to every person at risk of eviction who needs it. "We are not going to bring about justice in the criminal justice system until we address social crises including homelessness and poverty," said City Council member Mark Levine, the legislation's coauthor, at a December press conference touting the bill. "The issues are inextricably linked."

Defiant On Witness Stand, Times Reporter Says Little

January 6, 2015 Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Resist! Freedom of Press, James Risen, Journalism, Law, Media

After losing a seven-year legal battle, James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, reluctantly took the witness stand in federal court here on Monday, but refused to answer any questions that could help the Justice Department identify his confidential sources. Mr. Risen said he would not say anything to help prosecutors bolster their case against Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former C.I.A.officer who is set to go on trial soon on charges of providing classified information to Mr. Risen for his 2006 book, “State of War.” The Justice Department first subpoenaed Mr. Risen to testify in the case against Mr. Sterling in 2008, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. authorized the subpoena again in 2011. The attempt to force Mr. Risen to disclose his sources has come to symbolize the Obama administration’s crackdown on government officials who talk to reporters about national security matters.

Michael Brown Case Grand Juror Sues St. Louis County Prosecutor

January 6, 2015 Robert Patrick & Joel Currier, www.stltoday.com Organize! Ferguson, Law, Missouri, St. Louis

A grand jury member’s lawsuit seeking a court order to speak out about the Michael Brown shooting investigation accuses Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch of publicly misrepresenting the panel’s viewpoint after it chose not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. In documents filed Monday in federal court in St. Louis, “Grand Juror Doe” wants freedom to challenge McCulloch’s comments, “especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges.” The filing says that the heavily redacted grand jury documents McCulloch released Nov. 24 “do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury.” McCulloch spoke publicly that night about the grand jury’s decision against charging Wilson.

Parliament Square Fence Crushes Protest Rights, Says Occupy Democracy

January 5, 2015 Mark Townsend, www.theguardian.com Resist! Democracy, Law, Occupy, Protest, United Kingdom (UK)

Boris Johnson has been accused of using Parliament Square as his “private back garden” in an attempt to crush the fledgling Occupy Democracy movement. Lawyers have written to London’s mayor threatening legal action after he sanctioned the construction of “unlawful” fences around the square, which campaigners claim are a deliberate attempt to stop them protesting peacefully. Parliament Square is considered to be one of the most important sites in the country for demonstrators and is maintained by Johnson’s Greater LondonAuthority (GLA). Protesters argue that the square was conceived as a place for public meetings, focusing particularly on issues that they believe are being ignored by MPs.

Gas Pipeline Faces Mountain Of Opposition In Western Virginia

January 5, 2015 Michael Martz, www.richmond.com Resist! Energy, Environment, Law, Oil & Gas

Wendy Little was home alone last fall when a vehicle with Texas license plates came up the driveway of her property here in western Augusta County. She watched a man wearing a “big ol’ cowboy hat” get out and come to the front door. She asked him if he was an agent for Dominion Transmission Inc., which had sought unsuccessfully to get permission from Little and her husband, William, to come onto their 5-acre parcel to survey for the potential route of a supersized, high-pressure natural gas pipeline proposed through the county from West Virginia to southeastern Virginia and North Carolina. She told him — again — they wouldn’t allow the pipeline surveyors on their land. “He threatened court and I said, ‘Fine, we’ll be happy to see you there,’ ” she said.

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