Law

Five States Voted To Overturn Citizens United

November 7, 2014 Move To Amend, www.movetoamend.org Organize! Campaign Finance, Citizens United, Law

In Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida, citizens voted overwhelmingly yesterday for their legislators to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and declare that only human beings – not corporations – are entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not speech and campaign spending can be regulated. Residents in dozens of cities had the opportunity to vote on measures calling for an end to the doctrines of corporate constitutional rights and money as free speech, and in every single town the vote was supportive. Often by an overwhelming margin. In WI where all eyes were on Republican Scott Walker's victory, twelve communities voted in support of an amendment. Walker and Burke voters alike support amending the Constitution, as not a single measure garnered less that 70% support.

State, Local Marijuana Legalization Measures Win Big On Election Day

November 6, 2014 NORML, www.norml.org Organize! Elections, Law, Marijuana

Voters in Oregon and Alaska legalized and regulated the commercial production and sale of marijuana for adults, while voters residing in the nation's capitol and in numerous other cities nationwide similarly decided this Election Day to eliminate marijuana possession penalties. Alaska and Oregon voters decided in favor of a pair of statewide measures to regulate the commercial production, retail sale, and personal use of marijuana by adults. Alaska and Oregon are the third and fourth states to enact regulations on the licensed production and sale of cannabis, joining Colorado and Washington. All four states have enacted their marijuana legalization laws via voter initiative.

90-Year-Old And Ministers Arrested For Feeding The Hungry

November 5, 2014 Mike Clary, www.sun-sentinel.com Resist! Food and Agriculture, Homeless, Law, Police the Police, Religion

Uniformed police shut down an effort to provide lunch to scores of homeless in Stranahan Park on Sunday, enforcing a law passed recently that puts new limits on outdoor feeding sites. At least three people were cited for violating the new ordinance, including two members of the clergy and a 90-year-old advocate who has handed out food to the homeless for more than 20 years. Arnold Abbott, who heads the group Love Thy Neighbor, said he had served only three or four of about 300 meals he had prepared when police ordered him to stop. Abbott, the Rev. Mark Sims, of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, and the Rev. Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, were each cited for willfully violating a city ordinance. Police issued them notices to appear in court, where they could be asked to explain their actions.

Canada Accused Of Failing To Prevent Overseas Mining Abuses

November 3, 2014 Carey L. Biron, www.ipsnews.net Organize! Canada, Energy, Environment, Latin America, Law, Mining

The Canadian government is failing either to investigate or to hold the country’s massive extractives sector accountable for rights abuses committed in Latin American countries, according to petitioners who testified here Tuesday before an international tribunal. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also heard concerns that the Canadian government is not making the country’s legal system available to victims of these abuses. “Far too often, extractive companies have double-standards in how they behave at home versus abroad.” -- Alex Blair of Oxfam America

Secret Tape Exposes Fracking Industry Playing Dirty

November 1, 2014 Anastasia Pantsios, www.ecowatch.com Educate! Environment, Law

Right-wing public relations consultant/astroturf king Richard Berman probably wasn’t very happy when he saw yesterday’s New York Times. Like the now infamous American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Berman’s success depends in large part on anonymity. He is known for his use of what’s called “astroturf” groups—organizations that appear to be community or citizen advocacy groups with names like “Center for Consumer Freedom” but are really shell groups for untraceable corporate donations—to attack labor unions, environmental laws, attempts to regulate the food industry and anti-smoking measures. Lately, he’s been a conduit for fossil fuel interests with his Big Green Radicals campaign, based on the mockery and personal destruction of those who advocate for the environment.

NY Inmates Sue Rikers Over Solitary Confinement Rollover Minutes

November 1, 2014 RYOT, www.ryot.org Resist! Law, Mass Incarceration, Solitary Confinement

NEW YORK (AP) — Inmates held in solitary confinement at Rikers Island as punishment for violations during previous stints in jail are suing to stop the practice, known as owed time. A class action lawsuit filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court says inmates are unduly placed in 23-hour confinement for breaking jailhouse rules in previous detentions, sometimes years earlier. For example, if an inmate is sentenced to a month in solitary confinement but is released or transferred before completing it, he can be forced to serve the remaining time during his next incarceration. The practice, which experts say is unique to New York City, is described in the lawsuit as arbitrary and unfair because it doesn’t allow for a hearing or other rights normally afforded under the internal disciplinary process.

Record Number Of Anti-Fracking Measures On Ballot

November 1, 2014 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.com Organize! Energy, Environment, Fracking, Law, Vote

Eight towns and counties across the country are taking their health and environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to the ballot boxes next week. That's apparently a record number for a single election day, according to experts who spoke to InsideClimate News. Fracking is "the number one political issue" related to energy this election, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego. The controversial process, which involves pumping a slurry of water, chemicals and sand down a well to crack open shale bedrock and extract oil and gas, has driven a surge in U.S. energy production, enriched property owners and created local jobs. But there's a growing backlash against the industry: Opponents are concerned about air, water, waste, noise and light pollution, and they argue that regulations are too weak.

EFF: Patriot Act Warrants Intended For Terrorism Used More Broadly

October 31, 2014 Mark Jaycox, www.eff.org Educate! FBI, Law, Surveillance

The Patriot Act continues to wreak its havoc on civil liberties. Section 213 was included in the Patriot Act over the protests of privacy advocates and granted law enforcement the power to conduct a search while delaying notice to the suspect of the search. Known as a “sneak and peek” warrant, law enforcement was adamant Section 213 was needed to protect against terrorism. But the latest government report detailing the numbers of “sneak and peek” warrants reveals that out of a total of over 11,000 sneak and peek requests, only 51 were used for terrorism. Yet again, terrorism concerns appear to be trampling our civil liberties. Throughout the Patriot Act debate the Department of Justice urged Congress to pass Section 213 because it needed the sneak and peak power to help investigate and prosecute terrorism crimes “without tipping off terrorists.”

Friends Of The Earth Sues NRC Over Hiding Earthquake Vulnerability

October 30, 2014 Friends of the Earth, www.foe.org Organize! Energy, Environment, Law, Nuclear Energy, Oil & Gas

Friends of the Earth has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a secret decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to illegally alter the operating license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant allowing Pacific Gas and Electric to hide the fact that the reactors are vulnerable to earthquakes stronger than it was meant to withstand. The secret revision of Diablo Canyon’s license was revealed in NRC documents rejecting a dissent by the plant’s former senior resident inspector. The inspector, Dr. Michael Peck, defied his superiors in saying that Diablo Canyon was operating in violation of its license and should be shut down unless and until new seismic information was addressed.

A Dozen Wisconsin Communities Challenge Corporate Personhood

October 30, 2014 Deirdre Fulton, www.commondreams.org Organize! Campaign Finance, Citizens United, Law, Wisconsin

Wisconsin residents in 12 communities will vote next week on whether to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United, end corporate personhood, and get big money out of politics. In Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court found that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of elections. In Milwaukee County, Dunn County, Green Bay, Appleton, Fond du Lac, Neenah, Menasha, Ripon, Stoughton, Oregon, Wausau, and the Village of Park Ridge, voters will cast their ballots on a proposed amendment that would essentially reverse the Court's 2010 decision by stating that corporations are not people and money is not speech.

Parliament Square Protest Law Is Too Restrictive

October 30, 2014 Various, www.theguardian.com Resist! Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Law, London, Occupy, police brutality

The appalling treatment of protesters occupying Parliament Square last week (Occupy protesters forced to hand over pizza boxes and tarpaulin, 24 October, theguardian.com) calls for an urgent review of current legislation governing protest there. For 10 days, until Sunday, Occupy Democracy campaigners hosted a daily programme of assemblies and workshops outside parliament to address what they say is “a huge democratic deficit” in Britain today. Using the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (PRSRA), which bans any “structure designed for staying” along with any “amplified sound”, police responded by kettling protesters and confiscating a wide range of items including umbrellas and sleeping bags which protesters were using to keep dry and warm.

Felony Trial For Greenpeace Protesters In Cincinnati Delayed

October 30, 2014 Barrett J. Brunsman, www.bizjournals.com Resist! Corporatism, Environment, Greenpeace, Law

The trial of Greenpeace activists who face charges of burglary and vandalism related to a protest at the Cincinnati headquarters of Procter & Gamble Co. has been delayed until next year. Eight of the nine activists were expected to stand trial Oct. 27 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, but the start of the jury trial has been rescheduled for Jan. 20. One of the activists, Tyler Wilkerson, 27, died Oct. 6 of an undisclosed cause. An Oct. 16 filing asked that the charges be dropped against Wilkerson, a former Marine who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and was working in California as an organic farmer. "There is no connection between the new trial date and Tyler's death," Greenpeace spokeswoman Kat Clark said today.

Time Served For Barrett Brown

October 30, 2014 Free Barrett Brown, www.freebarrettbrown.com Organize! Journalism, Law, Mass Incarceration, political prisoners

We’re making an appeal to Judge Lindsay to apply leniency and sentence Barrett Brown to time served, and we could use your help. Brown is a talented journalist who accepts responsibility for his charged conduct. He was originally charged with sharing a hyperlink to stolen information, and after that was dropped, he pled guilty to hiding his laptops, transmitting a threat, and accessory after the fact to an unauthorized access to a protected computer. He is now facing 8.5 years maximum in prison. When he is sentencedon November 24th, he will have already spent over two years in jail. Given the nature of his crimes and the lack of tangible harm resulting from them, we feel that it’s past time to let him go.

Two SEC Officials Saying ‘No’ To Bank Of America

October 29, 2014 David Dayen, www.salon.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Law, SEC

In August, the Justice Department announced a $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America over the fraudulent sale of mortgage-backed securities (in reality, the cost to the bank is significantly lower). But two months later, one small part of the settlement has not been finalized in federal court: a $135.84 million cash distribution to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reason for the holdup could raise the stakes for financial institutions that commit fraud, and over time stabilize the system as a whole, simply because two SEC commissioners have dared to try to maintain the consequences for misconduct. Under current SEC rules, financial firms that settle fraud investigations automatically incur a number of additional penalties. Many of these mandatory actions date back to the creation of the SEC during the Great Depression. The SEC can ban institutions from managing mutual funds, prevent them from working with private companies to find investors, and force SEC approval for any stocks or bonds that the firm issues on its own behalf. These penalties and disqualifications cut into profits, and in many ways can be as damaging as the settlements themselves.

St. Louis Businesses Warned Of Unrest After Grand Jury Verdict

October 29, 2014 Curtis Kalin, www.cnsnews.com Organize! Business, Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Police the Police

A St. Louis property manager is warning businesses near the St. Louis County courthouse to prepare for “civil unrest” in the wake of the imminent grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting. Public demonstrations and random acts of violence have plagued the St. Louis area since August, when a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed, black teenager in the North St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, MO. The warning to businesses came by way of a letter, dated October 21, addressed to “all tenants” in The Boulevard shopping center in Richmond Heights, MO. The shopping center is less than a mile and a half from the site of the grand jury proceeding in Clayton, MO.

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