Lawsuit

Private Corporation May Be Sued For Role In Abu Ghraib Torture

February 27, 2018 Staff, Ccrjustice.org Resist! Corporate crime, Corruption, Lawsuit, Torture

February 21, 2018, Alexandria, VA – Today, a Virginia federal judge ruled that the treatment of three Iraqi individuals formerly detained at the infamous “hard site” at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq constitutes torture, war crimes, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, based on a thorough review of U.S. domestic and international law. The ruling also held that the men have sufficiently alleged that employees of private military contractor CACI Premier Technology conspired to commit and aided and abetted these crimes. The case, Al Shimari v. CACI, was filed nearly ten years ago, and CACI has repeatedly argued that, even if its employees were involved in torture and other abuse, the company is shielded from liability. Today’s 54-page ruling definitively rejected that position, as well as attempts by certain Bush-era officials to water down the prohibition against torture, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed against CACI.

Kentucky Medicaid Enrollees Sue To Block Work Requirement Waiver

January 25, 2018 By Harris Meyer, Occupythebronx.org Resist! Kentucky, Lawsuit, Medicaid

Groups representing Kentucky Medicaid beneficiaries sued the federal government Wednesday to block the state from implementing its Medicaid waiver program that includes a work requirement. The proposed class action complaint alleges the changes, which include premiums, cost-sharing and a controversial work requirement, will lead to substantial reductions in Medicaid coverage. The CMS approved Kentucky's Medicaid waiver application this month. The controversial work requirement means able-bodied beneficiaries will have to complete 80 hours per month of community engagement activities, such as employment, education, job skills training or community service to maintain their Medicaid eligibility.

FOIA Lawsuits Surge In Trump Administration’s First Year

January 20, 2018 Staff, Foiaproject.org Educate! FOIA, Lawsuit, Trump Administration

Since the new administration took office at the end of January 2017, there has been a sharp jump in the number of lawsuits filed by individuals and organizations seeking court orders to obtain federal government records.[1] Suits brought by the news media and nonprofit advocacy organizations have fueled a significant part of this rise. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requesters can file suit when information they are seeking is withheld and they have exhausted administrative appeals, or when the agency fails to even respond in a timely manner. Lawsuits this past fiscal year rose an astonishing 26 percent, and are continuing to climb. FOIA court cases are now up over 70 percent from just five years ago.

Lawsuits Try Stopping FCC From Killing Open Internet

January 19, 2018 By Monique Judge, Theroot.com Resist! FCC, Internet, Lawsuit, Net Neutrality

As Democrats in the Senate work to push forward a resolution that would stop the Federal Communications Commission from killing net neutrality and ending the open and free internet for everyone, multiple lawsuits were filed Tuesday by different groups with that same goal in mind. A group of attorneys general from 21 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the FCC’s new rules from going into effect, the Associated Press reports. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that the FCC made “arbitrary and capricious” changes to existing policies and was unjustified in departing from the FCC’s long-standing policy of defending net neutrality. Schneiderman was joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general representing California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.

New York City Sues Oil Companies Over Climate Change

January 12, 2018 Nicholas Kusnetz, Insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Divestment, Lawsuit, New York City (NYC), Oil

New York City is suing five of the largest oil companies over the billions of dollars it spends protecting the city from the effects of climate change, and it plans to divest its pension funds' $5 billion in assets involving fossil fuel producers, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. As head of the nation's largest city, de Blasio is throwing significant weight behind a movement by local governments to directly target fossil fuel companies for the role their products play in fueling global warming. "They are the first ones responsible for this crisis, and they should not get away with it anymore," de Blasio said at a news conference held in a building that flooded when Hurricane Sandy hit the city in 2012. "It's time for them to start paying for the damage they've done."

Previously Anonymous Police Officers Named In ACLU Suit For J20 Abuses

January 4, 2018 Baynard Woods, Therealnews.com Resist! ACLU, Lawsuit, Police abuse, Resist J20

In a new filing, amending a pending lawsuit against Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the ACLU named 27 police officers who they say violated the constitutional rights of several citizens as they cordoned off and arrested more than 200 people on Inauguration Day. The officers had previously been identified only as John or Jane Doe. The amended suit also adds two additional plaintiffs to the four already engaged in the suit: a mother and her 10-year-old son who were exposed to pepper spray. “The first thing to understand about who we named today is that unlike the United States Attorney’s office who decided to charge criminally everyone who was nearby where vandalism occurred [during the protests]...

Apple Execs Face Jail In France After Lawsuit Over Slowing Down iPhones

December 30, 2017 Rory Mulholland, Thelocal.fr Resist! Apple, Corruption, France, Lawsuit

A French activist group has launched a criminal lawsuit against Apple over its policy of slowing down older iPhones in a case that could see the tech giant 's executives jailed and cost it five percent of its income if convicted of the crime of "planned obsolescence". The move by Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée (HOP - Stop Planned Obsolescence), an environmental association, comes after lawsuits were launched this week in the US against Apple for similar reasons. The suit was filed on Wednesday in the Paris prosecutor’s office, HOP said in a statement. “Apple has put in place a global strategy of programmed obsolescence in order to boost its sales” of new iPhones, the group said.

State AGs Suing FCC For Putting ‘Corporate Profits Over Consumers’

December 16, 2017 ByJake Johnson, commondreams.org Resist! Corporations, FCC, Lawsuit, Net Neutrality, Profit

"The FCC's vote to rip apart net neutrality is a blow to New York consumers, and to everyone who cares about a free and open internet," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman—who is also investigating the flood of fake comments that "corrupted" the agency's policymaking process—said in a statement announcing his intent to sue. "The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers." Soon after Schneiderman's announcement on Thursday, more than a dozen other state AGs followed suit, with both red and blue states joining the public repudiation of FCC chair Ajit Pai's plan.

In Kids’ Climate Lawsuit; Gov Effort To Dismiss Case

December 14, 2017 Nicholas Kusnetz, insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Government, Lawsuit

The Trump administration's efforts to block a major climate change lawsuit that was brought on novel grounds by a group of young people appeared to suffer a setback Monday at a hearing before a federal appeals court. The lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was filed in 2015 on behalf of 21 youths who are accusing the government of violating their constitutional rights by failing to address climate change and continuing to subsidize fossil fuels. A federal district judge earlier this year set a trial date for February. But in July, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the case after the Justice Department invoked an unusual legal maneuver to try to block the lawsuit.

Lawsuit Sheds Light On Justice Department’s Surveillance Of Journalists

December 5, 2017 Kevin Gosztola, mintpressnews.com Resist! Department of Justice, DOJ, Journalism, Lawsuit, Surveillance

By Kevin Gosztola for Mint Press News - The Justice Department has twenty-seven ongoing leak investigations, according to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That is a staggering number, and now, the Knight First Amendment Institute and Freedom of The Press Foundation are suing for records on how those investigations may infringe upon the First Amendment rights of journalists. In a filing submitted to the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, the two organizations seek “the immediate release of agency records concerning the restrictions imposed by statute, regulation, or the First Amendment on government surveillance targeting members of the news media,” as well as those regulations or laws that implicate “freedoms of speech, association, or the press.” The two organizations requested records from the Justice Department, National Security Agency, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, CIA, and other agencies in October but received only two documents in response. Particularly, the Knight Institute and Freedom of the Press Foundation would like records on the Justice Department’s “Media Guidelines” and the media subpoena policies Sessions pledged to review. “The apparent hostility toward the press from senior government officials combined with increasing government surveillance create a dangerous environment for reporters and whistleblowers,” Knight Institute Staff Attorney Carrie DeCell stated. “The public has a right to know if the limits on surveillance of journalists are sufficient to ensure a free press.”

Lawsuit Against Environmental Activists Should Be Dismissed

December 1, 2017 Blake Nicholson, AP.org Resist! Activists, Environment, Lawsuit, Pipelines, pollution

By Blake Nicholson for Associated Press - BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Environmental groups being sued by the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Netherlands and U.S.-based Greenpeace and Netherlands-based BankTrack argue in court documents that their opposition to the $3.8 billion project to move North Dakota oil to Illinois is protected free speech, not an illegal effort to undermine the developer. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners in August filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace, BankTrack and Earth First, alleging they disseminated false and misleading information about the Dakota Access project, interfered with its construction and damaged the company’s reputation and finances through illegal acts. The lawsuit filed in federal court in North Dakota cites “a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas,” and seeks damages that could approach $1 billion. Attorneys for Greenpeace and BankTrack in court documents filed Tuesday argue that the lawsuit is without merit and an attack on free speech. “Greenpeace’s political advocacy criticizing Energy Transfer’s practices is within the core of First Amendment protection,” the attorneys wrote. In the lawsuit, ETP levies numerous accusations against what it describes as a vast network of co-conspiring groups and people that committed crimes to further their agendas.

Farm Workers Sue North Carolina To Protect Their Union Rights

November 16, 2017 Brian Hauss, aclu.org Resist! ACLU, Farmworkers, Lawsuit, North Carolina, Unions

By Brian Hauss for ACLU - Dolores Huerta, the legendary civil rights icon and farmworker activist, had it right: “Organized labor is a necessary part of democracy.” Day in and day out, unions struggle to make sure that farmworkers have a voice in in their workplace and in their communities, but they face enormous obstacles. Farmworkers, most of whom are people of color and many of whom are in this country on temporary visas, have long been excluded from federal and state labor laws. That means they don’t enjoy many of the key protections under the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and numerous state minimum wage, workers’ compensation, and youth employment laws. As a result, they face high risks to their health and safety, substandard living conditions, and abuse and exploitation by their employers. Now North Carolina has mounted a direct assault on the state’s only farmworkers union, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), which works tirelessly to protect those workers. A new state law, sponsored and supported by legislators who have a financial interest in suppressing farmworker organizing, would make it all but impossible for the union to operate effectively in the state.

Greenpeace Sues Norway Over Arctic Exploration

November 16, 2017 Tone Sutterud and Elisabeth Ulven, theguardian.com Resist! Arctic, Environment, Greenpeace, Lawsuit, Norway

By Tone Sutterud and Elisabeth Ulven for The Guardian - The Norwegian government is being sued by climate activists over a decision to open up areas of the Arctic Ocean for oil exploration, a move they say endangers the lives of existing and future generations. The plaintiffs, led by environmental organisations Greenpeace and Youth and Nature, will on Tuesday claim that the Norwegian government has violated a constitutional environmental law which guarantees citizens’ rights to a healthy environment. The law, known as Section 112, states: “Everyone has the right to an environment that safeguards their health and to nature where production ability and diversity are preserved. Natural resources must be managed from a long-term and versatile consideration which also upholds this right for future generations.” “We have for years tried to stop the expansion of Norway’s oil extraction, from both local and global considerations,” said Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace Norway. “As far as granting concessions for the Arctic is concerned, not only have our objections been ignored and overrun, but the state has also paid no heed to the guidelines from their own appointed advisers, such as the polar institute and the environment agency, who both recommended that the majority of concessions in this area be turned down.” In fighting the case, Greenpeace is relying on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which states that to meet the goals set out in the 2015 Paris accord, oil production must be wound down, not escalated.

Dakota Access Pipeline Corp Paid For Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Opponents

November 16, 2017 Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, and Alice Speri, theintercept.com Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Environment, Lawsuit

By Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, and Alice Speri for The Intercept - THE PRIVATE SECURITY firm TigerSwan, hired by Energy Transfer Partners to protect the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, was paid to gather information for what would become a sprawling conspiracy lawsuit accusing environmentalist groups of inciting the anti-pipeline protests in an effort to increase donations, three former TigerSwan contractors told The Intercept. For months, a conference room wall at TigerSwan’s Apex, North Carolina, headquarters was covered with a web-like map of funding nodes the firm believed it had uncovered — linking billionaire backers to nonprofit organizations to pipeline opponents protesting at Standing Rock. It was a “showpiece” for board members and ETP executives, according to a former TigerSwan contractor — part of a project that had little to do with the pipeline’s physical security. In August, the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s personal attorney for more than a decade, filed a 187-page racketeering complaint against Greenpeace, Earth First, and the divestment group BankTrack in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota, seeking $300 million in damages on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners. The NoDAPL movement, the suit claims, was driven by “a network of putative not-for-profits and rogue eco-terrorist groups who employ patterns of criminal activity and campaigns of misinformation to target legitimate companies and industries with fabricated environmental claims.”

Lawsuit Against Baltimore Police For Actions During #AFROMATION Protest

November 15, 2017 Shannon Wallace, telesurtv.net Resist! Baltimore, Lawsuit, Protests

By Shannon Wallace for City Paper - Nine Baltimore activists have filed a class action lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department and the state of Maryland related to last year's #AFROMATION protest during Artscape. That day, July 16, 2016, 65 protesters were arrested, including a City Paper photo intern, Courtney Hawkins, when the large march, dubbed #AFROMATION, began at Guilford Avenue and Chase Street, moved through Artscape, and then onto I-83. As City Paper reported last year, the group "proceeded onto the highway, locking arms and briefly blocking traffic as they formed a line stretching across one side of the interstate. Police asked the group to move for an ambulance and protesters obliged, moving to the shoulder, only to see two police vans pull up. There was no ambulance. Police then told the group to move off of I-83, and then they were arrested. Some activists said they were essentially 'trapped' on the ramp and, while not involved in blocking traffic, they were not allowed to retreat once arrests began. Fifty-five adults and 10 teenagers were arrested." While protest has hardly stopped since the Baltimore Uprising, #AFROMATION, co-organized by Makayla Gilliam-Price, alumna of City College's activist group City Bloc, Baltimore Bloc, Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) Baltimore, and others, was a palpable return to sizable in-the-streets protest.

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