Law

Facebook Fights Broad Search By Government

June 28, 2014 Vindu Goel and James C. McKinley Jr., www.nytimes.com Resist! ACLU, Facebook, Law, New York City (NYC), Privacy

Facebook and the Manhattan district attorney’s office are in a bitter fight over the government’s demand for the contents of hundreds of Facebook accounts. In confidential legal documents unsealed on Wednesday, Facebook argues that Manhattan prosecutors last summer violated the constitutional right of its users to be free of unreasonable searches by demanding nearly complete account data on 381 people, ranging from pages they had liked to photos and private messages. When the social networking company fought the data demands, a New York judge ruled that Facebook had no standing to contest the search warrants since it was simply an online repository of data, not a target of the criminal investigation. To protect the secrecy of the investigation, the judge also barred the company from informing the affected users, a decision that prevented the individuals from fighting the data requests themselves. The case, which is now on appeal, pits the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches by the government against the needs of prosecutors to seek evidence from the digital sources where people increasingly store their most sensitive data.

SWAT Teams Claim ‘Corporate’ Exemption From Public Scrutiny

June 28, 2014 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Educate! ACLU, Law, Racism, SWAT, Wars and Militarism

Operators of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams comprised of tax payer-funded police and sheriffs in Massachusetts claim they are immune to public records requests about deadly force, incident reports, and more because they are private "corporations." In addition to SWAT teams run by individual towns, many of these military-style domestic policing units are operated by regional "law enforcement councils," which are bankrolled by tax-payer money and comprised of publicly-funded police and sheriffs. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, approximately 240 of the 351 police departments in Massachusetts belong to these LECs. Some of these LECs have become incorporated with 501(c)(3) status—a classification they say makes them exempt from public records requests. Jessie Rossman, staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, told Common Dreams that her organization issued records requests to "a couple of LECs" to obtain information about their policies for a recent report on the militarization of local police. "We got responses from individuals claiming to speak on behalf of the LECs saying they would not be responding because they do not believe they are subject to public records law," she explained.

Documentary: The Color Of Lawlessness

June 27, 2014 Taylor C. Hall, www.hatchfund.org Educate! Abuse, Documentary, Law, police brutality

Thru the eyes of victimized communities this documentary will provide an in-depth view to the misconduct of law enforcement agencies. The Color of Lawlessness is based off of the United States law "Color of Law" (42 U.S.C.A. Section 1983) which is "the appearance of an act being performed based upon legal right or enforcement of statute, when in reality no such right exists." Since the advent of the first state-sponsored police forces in the U.S. – slave patrols; radicalized policing has been a feature of the American landscape. It is no surprise that the U.S. government has failed to uphold any type of constitutional laws that pertain to the American public due to so many violations by law enforcement officials. This documentary (hopefully with your support) will bring to the light the excessive force, sexual assaults, torture and other cruel inhuman and degrading tactics used by law enforcements reckless and unapologetic ways. As an independent journalist and an African-American male I've been in multiple situations where the police tried to intimidate, hurt and/or degrade me. My reason behind making this documentary is to first educate the unknowledgeable, unify globally by common interest; the abuse of power and to hopefully help change the thought process of these individuals who are apart of these agencies.

Showing Solidarity With Whistleblowers, Defending Our Right To Know

June 27, 2014 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.truth-out.org Educate! Edward Snowden, Law, Organization, Whistleblowers

Sarah Harrison is a British journalist, legal researcher and WikiLeaks investigation editor. She works with WikiLeaks and is a close adviser to Julian Assange. Harrison accompanied National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden on a high-profile flight from Hong Kong to Moscow while he was sought by the United States government. She is director of the new Courage Foundation, which seeks to defend whistleblowers as well as our right to know. Kevin Zeese: Sarah, tell us what the Courage Foundation is and what the goals of the organization are. Sarah Harrison: The Courage Foundation was born from the idea that whistleblowers need protection from prosecution. When we first started to help Edward Snowden, there were many other NGOs and organizations around the world that should have been able to help him; but, when it comes to high risk people with huge persecution from places like the United States, the reality is that to move quickly and robustly to provide the support they need is actually very difficult. So after we helped Snowden, we realized that there was a need for an organization that was able to do this for future Snowdens as well. So we set up Courage on that basis. In addition, Courage will be fighting for policy and legal changes to give whistleblowers the protections they deserve. I'm very pleased that you accepted to be on our advisory board Kevin.

High Court Rejects Final Appeal Of Utah Tar Sands Mine

June 27, 2014 Brian Maffly, www.sltrib.com Educate! Environment, Law, Tar Sands, Utah, Water

Without considering the merits of the case, the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an environmental challenge to a tar sands mine set to be dug on state trust lands on the Tavaputs Plateau. Living Rivers, a Moab-based group, was too late when it appealed the state groundwater permit issued to U.S. Oil Sands, according to the unanimous decision penned by Justice Thomas Lee. Because the petition was not filed within 30 days, the 2008 decision by the Utah Division of Water Quality "became final and immune from collateral attack." But lawyers for Living Rivers said DWQ gave no notice of that decision. "We didn’t find out about it until we challenged the permit before the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining," said Rob Dubuc of Western Resource Advocates. "It was impossible for any party to comment within that 30-day window." The appeal was the project’s last legal obstacle and Calgary-based U.S. Oil Sands plans to begin preparing the 213-acre mine site and bitumen-processing facility this summer. Production of 2,000 barrels of oil a day is expected by fall 2015, according to company president Glen Snarr.

Obama Uses ISRAELI Supreme Court Decision To Justify Drone Killing

June 25, 2014 Rania Khalek, www.electronicintifada.net Educate! Barack Obama, Drones, Israel, Law, Terrorism

Almost three years have passed since the United States government extrajudicially murdered American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki with a drone strike in Yemen. Al-Awlaki, although described by the government as a “terrorist” mastermind, had never been charged with any crime. The Obama adminstration refused to disclose the legal reasoning behind the killing. But thanks to Freedom Information Act lawsuits by The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a redacted version of the Department of Justice memo which outlines the Obama administration’s rationale for killing American citizens abroad without trial is now public. Authored by David Barron — former chief of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, who has since been appointed by Obama to a federal judgeship — the 41-page document seeks to legitimize so-called targeted killings, a practice Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, vigorously condemned Israel for using against Palestinians during the second intifada.

Lawmakers Back Amendment Overturning Citizens United

June 25, 2014 Mollie Reilly, www.huffingtonpost.com Organize! California, Citizens United, Law, Organize

California's state Senate voted Monday in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to curb the influence of money in politics. Assembly Joint Resolution 1, first introduced by state Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) in late 2012, would call for a constitutional convention with the purpose of amending the Constitution to "limit corporate personhood for purposes of campaign finance and political speech" and "further declare that money does not constitute speech and may be legislatively limited." The measure is aimed at overturning the Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United decision, which opened the door for the creation of super PACs, a new type of independent political committee that can raise and spend unlimited cash on campaigns. The state assembly voted in favor of the bill in January. The resolution passed the state Senate in a 23-11 vote, making California the second state to call for constitutional convention geared at overturning the landmark court ruling. (Vermont's legislature passed a similar measure earlier this year.)

Peter Van Buren, RIP, The Bill of Rights

June 18, 2014 Peter Van Buren, www.tomdispatch.com Educate! Journalism, Law, Supreme Court, Whistleblowers

Here’s what passes for good news when it comes to a free press these days: two weeks ago, the Supreme Court refused without comment to hear a case involving New York Times reporter James Risen. It concerned his unwillingness to testify before a grand jury under subpoena and reveal a confidential source of information in his book State of War on the secret U.S. campaign against the Iranian nuclear program. The case will now go back to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which has already ordered him to testify. He says he will instead go to jail, if necessary. That’s the bad news, right? Really bad news! The Supremes, the highest court in the land, refused to protect a reporter protecting a source at a moment when the Obama administration is in the midst of a wide-ranging crackdown on leakers and whistleblowers of all sorts (and those in the media considered to be aiding and abetting them). Actually, in a world in which Congress has not yet managed to pass a federal shield law that would protect reporters, it turns out that that’s actually the good news -- or so at least various media commentators say. Follow the logic here (and it is logic of a sort). Right now the Richmond, Virginia-based Appeals court decision applies only to courts in states under its jurisdiction. Had the Supremes agreed to take on the case, given their conservative and generally government-friendly bent on matters of executive power and what passes for national security, they would likely have ruled against Risen and that ruling would have applied nationally.

Five Strategies To Stop The Northern Gateway Pipeline

June 17, 2014 Brent Patterson, www.canadians.org Strategize! Canada, First Nations, Law, Pipeline, Protest

The Harper government must announce its decision on the 525,000 barrels per day Northern Gateway tar sands export pipeline by midnight tomorrow. On CTV's Question Period yesterday, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said, "We fully expected the Harper government to make every effort to ram this project through. But…there's enormous solidarity here in British Columbia between First Nations people, British Columbians, Canadians, and we'll do what's necessary and whatever it takes to stop this project." Even if the Harper government approves the pipeline today or tomorrow, a range of strategies are being proposed to ensure the pipeline is never built: BLOCKADE The Unist’ot’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en people have set up a resistance camp on their traditional and unceded territory on the pathway of the pipeline. With the support of allies they are building and living in homes and structures to block the pipeline. Given the mountainous terrain of the area south of Houston in northern British Columbia, the pipeline cannot be rerouted to avoid the Unist’ot’en camp.

Then They Came For The Revolutionaries

June 17, 2014 Bel Trew, www.foreignpolicy.com Strategize! Activists, Egypt, Law, Military, Police, Prison, Revolution

Every night when Egyptian activist Mohamed Kamel goes home, there is a man outside his building who follows him until he enters the doorway. The figure doesn't speak; he doesn't leave his post. He just keeps watch. "I smile at him and tell him, 'Please do come up and have dinner with me,'" said the 38-year-old, Cairo-based high school manager. "What else can I do?" Kamel is part of April 6 Youth Movement, a revolutionary group founded in 2008 to support striking industrial workers. Its members, estimated by the organization to number in the tens of thousands, were also a driving force behind the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. But now, despite having supported the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the group finds itself under fire from the military-backed government in Cairo. Last week, an Egyptian court outlawed the movement after a lawsuit accused it of espionage and tainting the image of the state. The group's most prominent voices, meanwhile, have been thrown in jail. In December, founder Ahmed Maher, 32, and Mohamed Adel, 25, were sentenced to three years in prison for participating in an illegal rally and allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Teachers Sound Alarm Over ‘Anti-Public Education’ Ruling

June 14, 2014 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.com Educate! Education, Labor, Law, Privatization

In a ruling with broad implications for public education across the United States, a California court on Tuesday struck down key workplace protections for the state's public school teachers by siding with student plaintiffs—backed by powerful political forces— who claimed such policies negatively impacted the quality of their learning. Issued by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu, the decision sparked outrage from teachers unions and public education advocates across the country. "Like the lawsuit itself, today’s ruling is deeply flawed," said Dean Vogel, president of the California Teacher's Association, in a statement about the decision. "This lawsuit has nothing to do with what’s best for kids, but was manufactured by a Silicon Valley millionaire and a corporate PR firm to undermine the teaching profession and push their agenda on our schools.” "This suit is not pro-student. It is fundamentally anti-public education, scapegoating teachers for problems originating in underfunding, poverty, and economic inequality.” —Joshua Pechthalt, CFT president

Court Rules In Favor Of Occupy Encampments

June 13, 2014 Laura Zuckerman, www.businessinsider.com Resist! Idaho, Law, Occupy

The Occupy movement, which withered after clampdowns on protest encampments in U.S. cities, may now legally erect a tent city in Idaho after a federal court order barred the state from enforcing a ban, citing free speech rights, an attorney for protesters said on Thursday. The ruling by a U.S. judge in Boise on Wednesday caps a two-year fight between Idaho officials and Occupy Boise protesters over a tent encampment they created near the state capitol in 2012 before being evicted under a hastily crafted measure approved by lawmakers that barred camping on state property. The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Republican Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and others on behalf of Occupy Boise, contending the camping measure and another rule limiting protests to seven days were unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill last year found the camping ban violated constitutional guarantees of free speech and on Wednesday issued a permanent injunction blocking the state from removing protest tents because such an action “targets political speech for suppression.” The state had argued unsuccessfully that Occupy Boise’s request for the injunction on enforcement of the camping ban was moot since the legislature had earlier this year retracted the seven-day limit on protests and other restrictions.

US Would Prefer To Pay $1 Billion In Settlements

June 13, 2014 Marsha Coleman, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Law, Racism, Whistleblowers

Last Wednesday the No FEAR Coalition announced its ﬁnding that approximately $1 billion has been spent in the decade since the enactment of the No FEAR Act to settle cases of abuse or to pay court judgments. This revelation came at an Institute for Public Accuracy press conference to announce the launch of its new whistleblower- friendly website ExposeFacts.org. I sit on the ExposeFacts advisory board and was a featured speaker. My message was simple: Instead of ﬁring abusive and discriminatory managers, the government has preferred to settle discrimination cases—to protect the status quo.In retrospect I am honored to think that I was the ﬁrst ever whistleblower to engage ExposeFacts with a new public revelation. The ExposeFacts.org site will feature the “SecureDrop” whistleblower submission system, that will provide an electronic alternative for whistleblowers to disclose information important for public safety without exposing themselves to government reprisals as so often happens to whistleblowers working within the status quo. $1 Billion protecting the status quo is an unconscionable example of governmental fraud, waste and abuse given the range of domestic problems beset by budgetary pressures including run-down schools, veterans denied medical care, dilapidated urban infrastructure and city dwellers suffocating under the burden of cancer causing pollutants.

Uranium Mine Clean-up Movement Claims Victory, Vows To Go National

June 12, 2014 Talli Nauman, www.cipamericas.com Resist! Congress, Law, Protest, Uranium

With the imminent release of a congressionally mandated report on the legacy of abandoned uranium mines in the United States, peace and environmental justice advocates are rallying for a nationwide clean-up. Nearly 100 people from both grassroots and high-profile environmental groups across the country gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 1-5 to strategize about reducing the devastating role of uranium mining in the nuclear energy cycle and to challenge the growth of other non-renewable energy industries. Taking part in the Third Extreme Energy Extraction Summit, activists from throughout the uranium mining territory of the Inter-Mountain West linked up to inform themselves of opportunities for working together on a shared agenda. Chief among prospects for progress they discussed was the recent $5.15 billion settlement of a landmark lawsuit against Kerr-McGee and its parent Anadarko Petroleum Corp., for fraud in the abandonment of some 2,700 uranium and other hazardous and mining sites in 47 states. The U.S. Justice Department, lead plaintiff in the case, announced the settlement on April 3, noting that $4.4 billion of it will go to fund environmental recovery and related claims, in what it called “the largest payment ever for the clean-up of environmental contamination.”

Federal Court Allows Coal Ash Litigation To Continue Against Duke Energy

June 12, 2014 Waterkeeper Alliance, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Coal, Law, pollution, Water

Conservation groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center won a major victory Monday night when a federal court ruled that they may go forward with challenges to coal ash pollution contaminating an important public fishery near Wilmington, NC and drinking water supplies for a nearby community. The court rejected numerous arguments by Duke Energy seeking to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Cape Fear River Watch, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance. “This ruling is a major step towards protecting people who depend on nearby drinking wells for clean water and on fish from Sutton Lake for their next meal,” said Frank Holleman, the senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center who represented the groups in court. “The court said Sutton Lake belongs to North Carolinians and rejected Duke Energy’s attempt to avoid its responsibility for polluting groundwater and drinking water supplies and convert Sutton Lake into its wastewater dump.” The state drew national press when it stepped in at the last minute to try to block the citizens groups’ Clean Water Act lawsuit by filing an enforcement action in state court.

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