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Lawsuit

Guantanamo Bay Detainee Sues Former Psychologists In New Torture Case

A man tortured two decades ago by the CIA for his suspected role as a terrorist has sued two former Spokane psychologists, who made millions of dollars from the government for developing the techniques used during the brutal interrogations. Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, also known as Abu Zubaydah, says he underwent extreme torture, including prolonged extreme solitary confinement, waterboarding, mock executions and lack of medical attention that cost him his left eye. Zubaydah is suing psychologists and former CIA contractors Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, who he says tortured him.

Journalist Sues Over Gag Rules At County Jail In Pennsylvania

Journalist Brittany Hailer has sued a county jail in Pennsylvania for "strictly enforcing" gag rules against prisoners and the jail's employees and contractors. Hailer claims the rules allegedly violate her constitutional rights to "gather news and receive information from otherwise willing speakers." The lawsuit is believed to be a first-of-its-kind lawsuit brought by a journalist against such speech restrictions, and Hailer is represented by the Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) clinic at Yale Law School and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP).

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Washington DC Over Police Violence

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF), and its Center for Protest Law & Litigation, filed a federal lawsuit against the District of Columbia challenging the Metropolitan Police Department’s “repressive and violent tactics including the authorized indiscriminate use of ‘less lethal’ projectile weapons against peaceful protestors and bystanders, gratuitously and without notice or warning and in order to intentionally retaliate against and inflict pain upon protestors challenging policing in our society.” The lawsuit seeks to end the MPD’s unconstitutional and punitive tactics of indiscriminately deploying less lethal weapons, including maiming projectiles, into crowds of persons engaged in First Amendment protected activities, in particular those challenging racist police violence. 

Groups File Suit To Compel Transparency On Lack Of Climate Action

Great Falls, Montana - Climate and conservation groups sued the U.S. Interior Department late last Friday for failing to release public records, including documents behind the development of a federal oil and gas leasing report, related to President Biden’s 2021 executive order to address climate change. “President Biden’s executive order directed Interior to complete ‘a comprehensive review and reconsideration’ of the federal oil and gas leasing program in light of its significant contributions to the climate crisis,” said Barbara Chillcott, a senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “Interior’s report merely discusses royalty rates, minimum bids and bonding rates. The people deserve to know why their president, who campaigned on strong climate action, is failing so ‘comprehensively’ to fulfill these promises.

First Statewide Suit Against Corrections Dept. Over Response To COVID-19 Outbreak

Being one of the first areas to have encountered Covid-19, the West Coast is ahead of the rest of the country in its response and preventative efforts. Like many states the entry of nonessential personnel into state facilities have been suspended, this includes visitation, extended family visits, social outings and work release as well as volunteer services. Prisoners, being in an already socially isolating environment, depend on regular communication with friends and family on the outside for their emotional health and psychological well-being. In complete disregard of this, WADOC has placed mandatory phone restrictions on people in prison, who are now only allotted one call each day and are on lockdown for the rest of the day.

Students Sue Harvard For Investment In Private Prisons

This is not a decision that our campaign arrived at lightly. Turning to the courts is a last resort. Having tried multiple channels, from protests to petitions to rallies to teach-ins to reports to non-official and official meetings, but finding no relief,  we have been forced to file this lawsuit against the President and Fellows of Harvard College, the Harvard Management Company, Lawrence Bacow in his capacity as President of Harvard University, and William Lee in his capacity as Senior Fellow.

Survivors From The MK Ultra Program Come Together To Sue The Federal Government

According to this CTV News article, survivors and families of an MK Ultra brainwashing program run by Dr. Ewen Cameron at McGill University in Montreal in the 1950s and 1960s have banded together to bring the horrors of this program more fully into the public eye.

Lawsuit Launched Over Trump’s Massive Rollback Of Clean Water Act Protections

Conservation groups filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Trump administration today for eliminating longstanding Clean Water Act protections for the nation’s waters, including approximately half of all wetlands and potentially millions of miles of streams. The Trump rule allows polluters to pave over wetlands and to dump pesticides, mining waste, and other pollutants directly into these now-unprotected waterways.

Journalist Abby Martin Sues State Of Georgia Over Law Requiring Pledge Of Allegiance To Israel

After refusing to sign a pledge of allegiance to the state of Israel, the state of Georgia shut down a media literacy conference featuring journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin at Georgia Southern University. Martin had recently released a documentary critical of the Israeli government called “Gaza Fights for Freedom.” Now she is suing the state, claiming the decision is a violation of the First Amendment.

Teachers Union Suing District Over Asbestos In Schools

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The union representing public school teachers in Philadelphia is suing the district over its handling of asbestos contamination in schools, the union said Monday. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers suit comes after the city school district was forced to close a north Philadelphia elementary school for a second time Friday after tests demanded by teachers and union leaders showed elevated levels of asbestos, a known carcinogen, in the air.

Ninth Circuit Dismisses Youth Climate Suit, While Agreeing Government Policy Is Destroying The Planet

Eugene, Oregon - Today, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “reluctantly” concluded that the youth plaintiffs’ case in Juliana v. United States must be made to the Congress, the President, or to the electorate at large. The decision finds federal courts cannot provide the youth with a remedy for their climate change injuries. In her dissent, District Judge Josephine L. Staton wrote that the youth plaintiffs brought suit to enforce the most basic structural principal embedded in our system of liberty...

Environmental Groups Sue Trump Administration Calling Plan To Open Millions Of Acres Of Public Land To Fracking ‘Illegal’

Environmental groups are pushing back on the Trump administration’s decision to expand fracking in California. A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday challenges the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to open more than a million acres of public lands in Central California to oil and gas leasing, Common Dreams reported. Calling BLM’s fracking plan “illegal” and a “disaster for Central Valley communities,” the Center for Biologocal Diversity is joined by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Central California Environmental Justice Network...

Federal lawsuit Filed Against Pro-Palestinian Human Rights Vigil

A Michigan synagogue member has filed a federal lawsuit against “Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends,” a small human rights group that has been holding a pro-Palestinian vigil outside a synagogue in Ann Arbor, Michigan, every week for 16 years. This is the longest street demonstration in Ann Arbor history, home of the University of Michigan, once known for its political activism. The vigils are led by Henry Herskovitz, who began the vigils after traveling to the Palestinian Occupied Territories in 2002. Upon his return he tried to give a presentation about his trip to the synagogue he attended...

Emails Reveal U.S. Justice Dept. Working Closely With Oil Industry To Oppose Climate Lawsuits

In early 2018, a few months after the cities of Oakland and San Francisco sued several major oil companies over climate change, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice began a series of email exchanges and meetings with lawyers for the oil companies targeted in the litigation. At one point, Eric Grant, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, sent an email to Indiana's solicitor general saying that his "boss" had asked him to set up a meeting to go over a plan for the government to intercede in the cases on the companies' behalf.

2020: A Year Of Pipeline Court Fights, With One Lawsuit Headed To The Supreme Court

After years of mounting opposition to the increasing build-out of oil and gas infrastructure, 2020 is shaping up to be the year that pipeline opponents get their day in court. One case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court takes a closer look at whether parts of the Appalachian Trail are off-limits to fossil fuel infrastructure and may determine the fate of two multi-billion-dollar pipelines. A defeat there, the industry argues, would severely limit its ability to get natural gas from the Marcellus shale to East Coast cities and export terminals. Another case weighs state sovereignty against pipeline interests and could have implications nationwide.
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