Law

The Rights Of Nature: Indigenous Philosophies Reframing Law

January 18, 2017 Kiana Herold, www.intercontinentalcry.org Create! Indigenous Peoples, Law, Nature, Rights of Nature

By Kiana Herold for IC - Indigenous battles to defend nature have taken to the streets, leading to powerful mobilizations like the gathering at Standing Rock. They have also taken to the courts, through the development of innovative legal ways of protecting nature. In Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand, indigenous activism has helped spur the creation of a novel legal phenomenon—the idea that nature itself can have rights. The 2008 constitution of Ecuador was the first national constitution to establish rights of nature. In this legal paradigm shift, nature changed from being held as property to a rights-bearing entity. Rights are typically given to actors who can claim them—humans—but they have expanded especially in recent years to non-human entities such as corporations, animals and the natural environment.

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Intends To Break Law To Finish Project

November 12, 2016 John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! #NoDAPL, Dakota Access Pipeline, Law

By John Zangas for DC Media Group - The Obama Administration is presently considering a reroute of the pipeline away from the planned pipeline tunnel under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Reservation. Obama spoke on November 2, saying the Army Corps of Engineers is considering a reroute because of the unrest. But Elders say the project route has already destroyed burial sites and whatever river crossing is chosen, it will still cross the Missouri upstream, potentially affecting the reservation and millions dependent on the river.

Major New Court Ruling Says “Even The President” Can’t Declare Torture Lawful

October 25, 2016 Alex Emmons, www.theintercept.com Educate! Courts, Law, Torture

By Alex Emmons for The Intercept - IN A ROBUST RULING in favor of Abu Ghraib detainees, an appellate court ruled Friday that torture is such a clear violation of the law that it is “beyond the power of even the president to declare such conduct lawful.” The ruling from a unanimous panel of judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates a lawsuit against a military contractor for its role in the torture of four men at the notorious prison in Iraq.

The Billion Dollar Ultimatum

August 31, 2016 Chris Hamby, www.buzzfeed.com Educate! Law

By Chris Hamby for BuzzFeed News - In a remote tropical forest in Indonesia’s Spice Islands, villagers planned their last stand. A foreign gold-mining company was preparing to gouge out a massive pit from the mountain that had sustained these farmers and fishermen for generations. To protect their way of life, the villagers planned to hike to the summit and refuse to leave.

One Simple Change To Law Could Make Prosecuting Killer Cops Easier

July 11, 2016 Zaid Jilani, www.theintercept.com Strategize! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Law, Police, police brutality

By Zaid Jilani for The Intercept - GRAPHIC VIDEO ILLUSTRATING gruesome police killings of African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota has set off promises of a federal investigation, at least in the former case, but many are skeptical that it will lead to any prosecutions. Police involved in even these high-profile cases of abuse have rarely faced successful indictments, let alone prosecutions. However, at the federal level, a simple change to the law would make it more likely that abusive cops face punishment for their behavior.

Alabama Mom’s Charges Are Dropped, But Only After Arduous Battle

June 6, 2016 Nina Martin, www.propublica.org Resist! Alabama, Law, Mothers

By Nina Martin for Pro Publica - Sixteen months after her arrest, Katie Darovitz — one of at least 500 women prosecuted under Alabama’s toughest-in-the-nation chemical endangerment law — has had her case dismissed. Darovitz’s story, first chronicled by ProPublica last year, was especially wrenching: She has severe epilepsy, and doctors told her that the medications she was using to treat her condition carry a risk of miscarriage and birth defects.

Strikes And Protests Mount Against French Labour Law

May 24, 2016 Kumaran Ira, www.wsws.org Resist! France, Labor, Law, Protests

By Kumaran Ira for WSWS - As strikes and protests mount across France, social opposition to the unpopular labour reform imposed last week by Socialist party government without a parliamentary vote by using article 49.3 of the French constitution last week, is escalating. The pro-business law allow unions and bosses to negotiate contracts violating France’s Labour Code, lengthen the work week, facilitate mass sackings, and undermine job security for young new hires. Denouncing the PS government’s regressive reforms and anti-democratic method, hundreds of thousands of workers and youth protested the law for the second time this week yesterday.

Louisiana Judge Rules: No Lawyers, No Jail

April 14, 2016 Bill Quigley, www.billquigley.wordpress.com Resist! Jail, Law, Louisiana, Public defenders

By Bill Quigley for Social Justice Advocacy - New Orleans Criminal Court Judge Arthur Hunter, a former police officer, ruled that seven people awaiting trial in jail without adequate legal defense must be released. The law is clear. The US Supreme Court, in their 1963 case Gideon v Wainwright, ruled that everyone who is accused of a crime has a Constitutional right a lawyer at the state’s expense if they cannot afford one. However, Louisiana, in the middle of big budget problems, has been disregarding the constitutional right of thousands of people facing trial in its most recent statewide public defender meltdown

Did Shell’s Failure To Disclose Climate Risks Break The Law?

March 8, 2016 David Hasemyer, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Environment, Law, Shell Oil

By David Hasemyer for Inside Climate News - Three members of Congress have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Shell Oil Co. violated securities laws by failing to adequately disclose material business risks from climate change. Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by California Democrat Ted Lieu, said in a letter to the SEC that Shell understood the consequences of climate change and made business decisions based on that knowledge.

Threat To Free Speech: Criminalizing Activism Against Israeli Occupation

February 23, 2016 Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Fishman, www.theintercept.com Resist! Activism, BDS, Criminalization, Law, Palestine

By Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Fishman for The Intercept - THE U.K. Government today announced that it is will be illegal for “local [city] councils, public bodies, and even some university student unions … to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products, or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.” Thus, any entities that support or participate in the global boycott of Israeli settlements will face “severe penalties.”

In Dangerous Precedent, NYPD Moves To Make Resisting Arrest Felony

February 16, 2016 Staff, www.mintpressnews.com Resist! Arrest, Law, NYPD

By Staff of Mint Press News - On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton urged state legislators to consider increasing the penalty for resisting arrest from a misdemeanor to a felony. The change, he argued, would help New Yorkers “get around this idea that you can resist arrest. You can’t.” It would also give cops an easy way to turn victims of their own worst impulses into the worst class of criminal. In theory, a resisting arrest charge allows the state to further punish suspects who endanger the safety of police officers as they’re being apprehended...

German Judges Slap TTIP Down

February 5, 2016 Ben Knight, www.dw.com Resist! Germany, Law, Protests, Trade Deal, TTIP

By Ben Knight for DW - The German Magistrates Association (DRB) has delivered a slap in the face to the European Union, by coming out against one of the key planks of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - the special courts allowing investors and corporations to sue national governments if their policies happen to threaten their profits. "The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court," the association said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The judges added that the assumption that foreign investors currently don't already enjoy "effective judicial protection" has no "factual basis."

Thousands In France Protest State Of Emergency

February 1, 2016 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Resist! Europe, France, Law, Policing, Social Movements

By Staff of Tele Sur - Activists say the French government's crackdown on protests has done nothing to make the country safer. Thousands of people marched across France Saturday to protest the country's nearly three month old state of emergency. Rallies took place in around 70 cities, including the capital Paris, where organizers said more than 20,000 people took to the streets. Police put turnout at closer to 5000. Many protesters said the state of emergency had curbed civil rights while doing little to improve security.

#BlackLivesMatter Gets On The Legislative Agenda

December 18, 2015 Sarah Breitenbach, www.pewtrusts.org Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Law, police brutality, United States

By Sarah Breitenbach for The Pew Charitable Trust - Advocates for policing reform are expected to return to statehouses next month pushing for increased scrutiny of officers, transparency in police department proceedings and improved crisis training across law enforcement ranks. Backed by increasingly vocal public criticism following reports of police shootings and allegations of brutality in places like Chicago and Minneapolis, many civil rights advocates will ask lawmakers to revisit measures abandoned earlier this year. Samuel Walker, a policing expert and professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said public dissatisfaction with police practices makes the upcoming legislative sessions ripe for action.

You Knew TPP Was Bad. But Here’s How It Gets Worse

October 2, 2015 Dave Johnson, www.ourfuture.org/ Resist! Law, TPP

By Dave Johnson for Campaign for Our Future - Negotiators are meeting in Atlanta, trying to wrap up the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It might be wrapped up as soon as Thursday. While the agreement is secret, there are reasons for people to be very, very concerned. Here is a news article that explains why people should be alarmed about this secret “trade” agreement that the giant corporations have come up with. Reuters reports, in “U.S. business groups oppose exceptions in Pacific trade pact“: U.S. business groups have voiced their opposition to blocking specific products, like tobacco, from rules letting foreign companies sue governments over damage to investments as Pacific trade ministers gather to finalize an ambitious trade deal.

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