Law

Judge Rejects Obama’s ‘Fear-Mongering,’ Orders Release Of Immigrants

August 25, 2015 Kevin Gosztola, www.shadowproof.com Resist! Immigration, Law, Obama

By Kevin Gosztola in ShadowProof - A federal judge rejected “fear-mongering” over “illegal immigration” by President Barack Obama’s administration and ordered the government to implement changes to ensure detained mothers and children are released within the next two months. On August 6, the Justice Department requested the United States District Court of the Central District of California reconsider an order issued in July. The order found the government violated provisions of a legal agreement known as the “Flores agreement,” in force since 1997. The agreement is supposed to protect the rights of immigrant children, and the government has run afoul of the agreement by keeping migrant children, both accompanied and unaccompanied by guardians, in detention centers.

Fracking Fight Heats Up In Ohio

August 24, 2015 Tish O'Dell, www.alternet.com Resist! Fracking, Law, Ohio, Oil & Gas

By Tish O'Dell in AlterNet - With the oil and gas industry already reveling in a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision stripping local control on fracking and other extraction activities away from communities, the Secretary of State has now handed the industry another victory, opening the door for fracking infrastructure projects to spread even faster across Ohio. In a decision issued August 13, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted blocked citizens from voting on Home Rule Charter initiatives which include provisions on fracking infrastructure development. In response to Husted’s decision, this week the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Secretary of State on behalf of community members in Athens, Medina and Fulton Counties seeking to restore the initiatives to the November ballot.

Protests Erupt After Mistrial In NC Police Prosecution

August 24, 2015 Michael Gordon, Cleve R. Wootson JR. and Mark Washburn in Charlotte Observer, www.charlotteobserver.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality, Protests

By Michael Gordon, Cleve R. Wootson JR. and Mark Washburn in Charlotte Observer - Two years after a deadly struggle in the dark of night and three weeks into an emotionally charged trial, jurors said Friday they were hopelessly deadlocked, an outcome that satisfied neither side in the polarizing case of a white police officer charged with killing an unarmed black man. The jury was unable to unanimously decide whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Randall “Wes” Kerrick used excessive force in firing 12 shots at Jonathan Ferrell, who charged at him moments after police encountered him walking near a neighborhood pool. Eight jurors were for acquittal and four for conviction, according to someone close to the proceedings. Within moments of the mistrial, about a dozen protesters, whites and blacks, lay down with hands behind their backs and blocked traffic outside the courthouse on Fourth Street, chanting “No justice, no peace.”

Court: OWS Pepper Spray Victim Can Sue For Excessive Force

August 22, 2015 Emma Whitford, www.gothamist.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Law, Occupy Wall Street

By Emma Whitford in Gothamist - Around 5:00 a.m. on November 15, 2011, a few hours after NYPD officers raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park, two police officers arrested and pepper-sprayed 23-year-old protester Imani Brown outside of a downtown Starbucks where she was hoping to use the bathroom. Brown filed a civil suit this June, accusing officers Justin Naimoli and Theodore Plevritis of falsely arresting her, and using "excessive force." The suit was dismissed in district court, but yesterday the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed the excessive force claim. The court upheld the district court's dismissal of the false arrest claim. Brown's suit recounts how she "approached the Starbucks and knocked on the door and, using an elevated voice, gestured to herself and to an employee inside."

One Year Later, Everyone Arrested In Ferguson Being Charged

August 20, 2015 Mariah Stewart and Ryan Reilly, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Ferguson, Law, police brutality

By Mariah Stewart and Ryan Reilly in The Huffington Post - A year ago, after 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, police responded to even peaceful daytime protests in the St. Louis suburb by deploying attack dogs and tactical vehicles, pointing sniper rifles at peaceful protesters, arresting people for simply standing still on public sidewalks, flooding demonstrators with tear gas -- often without warning -- and shooting them with bean bags, wooden pellets and balls filled with pepper spray. A year later, St. Louis County authorities have decided they're not done with protesters quite yet. Lawyers representing the interests of those arrested in Ferguson last August say St. Louis County authorities have sent out "hundreds" of summonses to individuals swept up by police a year ago.

Big Increase In The Number Of Police Charged With Murder

August 20, 2015 Conor Freidersdorf , www.theatlantic.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality

By Conor Freidersdorf in The Atlantic - Observers have noted the fact that American police officers kill orders of magnitude more people than their counterparts in other western democracies. Now, the number of U.S. cops arrested for killings in the last five months exceeds the total number of people shot and killed by cops in England going back five years. This is particularly extraordinary given how reluctant many U.S. prosecutors are to file charges against police, and how much deference police reports are given in the absence of video or forensic evidence, like a bullet in the back, that blatantly contradicts their story. Are U.S. police now being charged at a higher rate than before? Maybe. Over a seven-year period ending in 2011, “41 officers in the U.S. were charged with either murder or manslaughter in connection with on-duty shootings,” The Wall Street Journal reported in 2014.

Six New Ways The Poor Are Mistreated In The United States

August 20, 2015 David Masciotra, www.alternet.org Educate! Law, Poverty, usa

By David Masciotra in AlterNet - The war on the poor exposes the tyrannical turn of political administration in the United States – a country committed to mutating its criminal justice system, already more criminal than just, into an apparatus of assault against its most defenseless citizens. The following laws and policies give painful illustration to America’s attack on the poor in which the impoverished receive perpetual punishment for their poverty. This compilation does not include the mile-long list of policies that harm the poor, such as difficulty acquiring health care and child care, regressive taxation, or the cost of college. The following are policies in which state governments are actively levying the legal system against the poor.

Now Free & Legal To Plant Vegetable Garden In LA

August 19, 2015 Amanda Froelich, www.bullhorn.nationofchange.org Create! Food and Agriculture, Land, Law, Los Angeles

By Amanda Froelich in Nation of Change - As ridiculous as it sounds, growing food on government land is an illegal practice in many cities and towns across the U.S. But not everyone desires – or has the means – to pay an extraordinary amount on fruits and vegetables just to maintain their health. For this reason, a growing percentage of the populace has begun planting foods near their home and on lesser-visited plots of land in the city. Known as Guerrilla gardening, this practice has been deemed illegal, as the food foragers do not have a permit to grow a garden – even if they are only trying to use the Earth to its fullest capacity. Such was the case for Ron Finley, who, four years ago, was given an arrest warrant for planting carrots outside of his home on a small strip of city-owned land.

Kids Call Us Out – Filing Lawsuits For Science-Based Climate Recovery

August 19, 2015 Patrick Mazza, www.cascadiaplanet.blogspot.com Resist! Climate Change, Environment, Law

By Patrick Mazza in Cascadia Planet - It’s time for everyone who works on climate or cares about it to admit the truth – We can’t say we are protecting our children’s future unless we are doing what science says we must do to recover climate stability. And we are not. So far, everything we are doing or proposing is falling far short. Fortunately, the kids are calling us out and making it impossible to ignore the facts. Twenty-one youths filed an Oregon US District Court lawsuit last Wednesday seeking a court order “declaring that the Federal Government has violated and is continuing to violate the fundamental constitutional rights of youth and future generations to life, liberty, property, and public trust resources by causing dangerous CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and dangerous government interference with a stable climate system . . .”

Chicago Stop & Frisk Settlement Puts ACLU At Odds With Activists

August 15, 2015 Kevin Gosztola, www.shadowproof.com Educate! ACLU, Chicago, Law, police brutality

By Kevin Gosztola in Shadow Proof - Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois announced a “landmark” agreement with the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago on stop and frisks by police officers. However, in the days following, it became evident that activists from the local movement for police accountability were upset because they believed the ACLU’s settlement undermined their efforts. Local activist groups planned to introduce an ordinance in the Chicago City Council to hopefully bring about “mandated collection and publication of CPD’s stop and frisk data.” Yet, secret negotiations led city council persons, who support the bill, to not file the legislation on July 28, even though a packed press conference was held.

Assange Denied Right To Defend Himself Against Allegations

August 15, 2015 Interview with Carey Shenkman Sharmini Peries in The Real News Network, www.facebook.com Educate! Ecuador, Julian Assange, Law

Interview with Carey Shenkman by Sharmini Peries in The Real News Network - Today's development does not mean that Assange can leave the embassy. The next step is that the whole case in Sweden needs to go away once and for all. It's completely outrageous at this point, because the Swedish courts have already said that this is a closed case. Nearly nine months ago the Swedish court of appeals criticized the prosecutor for failing to move the case forward. In May the Supreme Court, in a split decision, urged the prosecutor to advance the case. And here we are months later, and the prosecutor has still not come to London to question Assange. This is absolutely unacceptable, because back then, months ago, there were four allegations. Now there's just one. It's a very different case now.

Julian Assange Case: Sweden To Drop Sex Assault Inquiry

August 13, 2015 Caroline Hawley, www.bbc.com Educate! Julian Assange, Law, Sweden, Wikileaks

By Caroline Hawley in BBC - Swedish prosecutors will drop their investigation into sexual assault allegations against Julian Assange on Thursday because of the statutes of limitation, the BBC has learned. The Wikileaks founder still faces the more serious allegation of rape. But prosecutors have run out of time to investigate Mr Assange for sexual assault because they have not succeeded in questioning him. He denies all allegations and has said they are part of a smear campaign. The Australian journalist and activist sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden. Under Swedish law, charges cannot be laid without interviewing the suspect.

Obama Allowing Felon Banks To Continue Federal Mortgage Lending

August 13, 2015 Shahien Nasiripour, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Banking, Corruption, Finance and the Economy, Law

By Shahien Nasiripour in The Huffington Post - With the blessing of the White House and the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is attempting to sneak through a major policy change that would enable big banks convicted of felonies to continue lending through a federal mortgage program, according to federal records and government officials. The housing agency wants to quietly delete a requirement for lenders to certify they haven’t been convicted of violating federal antitrust laws or committing other serious crimes. HUD proposed the move on May 15, without detailing the reasoning behind the change. It’s now considering public comment, with an eye towards finalizing the proposal.

D.O.J. & F.B.I. Admit No-Fly Lists Use “Predictive Assessments”

August 12, 2015 Spencer Ackerman, www.occupy.com Educate! Corruption, Law, National Security, Racial Profiling, State Terror, Wars and Militarism

By Spencer Ackerman in Occupy - The Obama administration’s no-fly lists and broader watchlisting system is based on predicting crimes rather than relying on records of demonstrated offenses, the government has been forced to admit in court. In a little-noticed filing before an Oregon federal judge, the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI conceded that stopping U.S. and other citizens from traveling on airplanes is a matter of “predictive assessments about potential threats,” the government asserted in May. “By its very nature, identifying individuals who ‘may be a threat to civil aviation or national security’ is a predictive judgment intended to prevent future acts of terrorism in an uncertain context,” Justice Department officials Benjamin C. Mizer and Anthony J. Coppolino told the court on May 28. “Judgments concerning such potential threats to aviation and national security call upon the unique prerogatives of the Executive in assessing such threats.”

Texas Cops Sexually Assault 21-Year-Old Charnesia Corley

August 12, 2015 Mark Frauenfelder, www.boingboing.net Resist! Civil Rights, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice, Sexual Abuse, Texas

By Mark Frauenfelder in Boing Boing - A Houston deputy who pulled over Charnesia Corley, a 21-year-old black woman on her way to the store to pick up medicine for her sick mother, thought he smelled weed in Corley's car. He searched the car and couldn't find any. He called for a female officer to come to the gas station where Corley was being held so she could have her vagina searched. They arrested Corley because she objected to having her vagina examined in a gas station parking lot. From KRTK: "She tells me to pull my pants down. I said, 'Ma'am, I don't have any underwear on.' She says, 'Well, that doesn't matter. Pull your pants down,'" Corley said. She admits hesitating. Deputies say she resisted. "I bend over and she proceeds to try to force her hand inside of me. I tell her, 'Ma'am, No. You cannot do this,'" Corley told us candidly.

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