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White Man’s Justice Is Black People’s Grief: A Black History Month Truth

“It’s not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game that matters.” That’s what my people are often told. But we are not told that this so-called game is rigged, and it’s rigged against us even before we are born. This “game” is life in the divided states of America. This is especially true in the system of criminal justice, a system that has been rigged against Black people since its  inception. There Is no better example than this country’s morbid use and fascination with the cold-blooded and premeditated imposition of the death penalty against poor people and its disproportionate use on Black people.

US Government Treats Use Of Privacy Tools As Criminal Activity

In Espionage Act prosecutions involving leaks, attorneys at the United States (DOJ) consistently treat the use of privacy tools as evidence of criminality. This tendency should alarm journalists and news media organizations that rely on such tools for newsgathering. A jury convicted former CIA programmer Joshua Schulte of disclosing CIA cyber warfare materials to WikiLeaks in July 2022. Schulte is scheduled to be sentenced in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York on February 1. The U.S. government’s sentencing memo [PDF] asserted that “between April 18 and May 5, 2016, Schulte took a number of steps to transmit the stolen CIA files to WikiLeaks.

CPK Applauds Court Ruling Against Kenyan Police Deployment In Haiti

The International Department of the Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of Kenya issued this statement in staunch solidarity with the January 26th, 2024 High Court ruling in Nairobi, declaring the deployment of National Police Services (NPS) officers to Haiti unconstitutional. Judge Chacha Mwita's articulate decision represents a crucial victory for constitutional principles and sovereignty. The acknowledgment that the National Security Council and NPS lack authority to deploy police beyond Kenya underscores the imperative of upholding the constitutional framework governing our government's actions.

US Court: Biden Administration Should Reflect On Its ‘Unflagging Support’ For ‘Plausible’ Genocide

A U.S. court in Oakland dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of failing to prevent in a genocide in Gaza. However, it also called on The White House to reflect on its “unflagging support” for Israel’s assault and said the genocide charges were “plausible.” The conclusion of the court’s decision makes it clear that the case was reluctantly dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. “There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the Court,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White. “This is one of those cases.

Mountain Mamas Resistance To Mountain Valley Pipeline Continues

Early this morning Mama Julz, an Ogala Lakota land defender and water protector, locked herself to a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) helicopter to prevent the transportation of pipeline workers onto a remote work site on Poor Mountain, where MVP is causing an immense amount of damage pushing the pipeline through rugged lands. Mama Julz prevented MVP's use of the helicopter for multiple hours before she was extracted from her blockade and arrested, along with one other person who supported Mama Julz' action this morning. Both Mama Julz and the supporter were charged with one misdemeanor; both were denied bond and are being held in jail unjustly.

Mom/Author Denied Bail After Halting Mountain Valley Pipeline Drilling

Giles County, VA — Early Monday morning, Appalachian author and mother Madeline ffitch locked herself to a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) drill on the Virginia side of Peters Mountain in the Jefferson National Forest, preventing MVP from drilling under the Appalachian Trail. Nearby, a rally of supporters gathered on a Forest Service road. Banners at each site read "MOUNTAIN MAMAS SAY NO MVP," "MOMS OF THE WORLD UNITE - STOP THE PIPELINE," and "FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, FROM THE HOLLERS TO THE HILLS." Madeline prevented MVP from using their equipment and drilling under the Appalachian Trail for nearly 8 hours.

Press Freedom Advocates Demand Police Drop Charges Against Journalist

Press freedom advocates joined together on Jan. 29 to call for the dropping of criminal charges against Indigenous journalist Brandi Morin, who was arrested while covering Edmonton police’s raid on an inner city homeless tent encampment.  Morin, a former Alberta Native News contributor, was charged with obstructing a peace officer on Jan. 10 while filming the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and City of Edmonton’s final raid of an eight-encampment sweep on assignment for the online news outlet Ricochet. If convicted, Morin could face up to two years in prison. Morin was arrested while filming the dismantling of the Indigenous-led 95th Street and Rowland Road encampment, which had been cordoned off with police tape. 

In Trial, Climatologist Confronts Climate Deniers Who Maligned His Work

Twelve years after he sued two climate deniers for defamation, climate scientist Michael Mann took the stand during the second week of the trial against them in Washington, D.C. Mann’s testimony painted a picture of a respected and accomplished scientist and academic who has been deeply hurt, personally and professionally, by accusations of scientific deception. In 2012, Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn publicly accused Mann, then a professor at Penn State University, of scientific misconduct and fraud. Both Simberg  — an adjunct scholar at the far-right think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has a track record of platforming climate science deniers — and Steyn —a  blogger and then-frequent guest on Fox News — challenged Mann’s climate research, and likened the situation to the sexual predator scandal that shook Penn State earlier that year. 

Gaza Genocide Lawsuit Against Biden Has Day In Court

January 26, 2024, Oakland, CA – A federal court heard arguments in the case Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden today, including extensive live testimony from Palestinian plaintiffs and a scholar of genocide and the Holocaust. Attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights, together with co-counsel from Van Der Hout LLP, asked the court to immediately order the United States to cease military support for Israel’s unfolding genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and opposed the government’s efforts to have the case dismissed. Earlier today, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued provisional measures, finding that South Africa has made a plausible case that Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

This NGO Won A Climate Case Against Shell; Its Next Target? Dutch Bank ING

When Royal Dutch Shell lost a landmark climate lawsuit in The Netherlands, climate advocates said the Dutch court’s ruling put polluters and their financiers on notice. Now, the Dutch NGO that successfully sued Shell over its climate plans is taking those financial backers to court in a case that could help reverse the global banking sector’s support of fossil fuel firms and their activities. On January 19, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) announced it is initiating legal action against ING, the Netherlands’ largest bank and a major funder of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG). In a letter addressed to ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk and the first step in litigation,  Milieudefensie says it believes the bank is in breach of its “duty of care” obligation under Dutch law.

Urgent Call To Defend The Uhuru Movement Against Imprisonment

On July 29th of 2022, the FBI militarily raided seven homes and offices of the Uhuru (“Freedom”) Movement including the home of its founder and leader, Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party. This video shows footage from the violent, unjustified raids.  The U.S. government has fabricated the bogus charge that Chairman Omali and the Uhuru Movement are “Russian agents” to justify putting the 82-year-old Yeshitela in prison for the rest of his life and to silence him and his lifelong fight for the liberation of Africa and African people worldwide. Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s official statement can be read here.  

After 12 Years, Trial Against Alleged Defamers Begins For Climate Scientist

A defamation lawsuit 12 years in the making brought by climate scientist Michael Mann opened January 18th in Washington, D.C. Superior Court. The two conservative commentators accused of defamation mounted separate defenses, and both continued to disparage Mann during the first day of this long-anticipated trial. The case centers around statements made in 2012 by right-wing blogger Rand Simberg and Fox TV personality Mark Steyn that attacked Mann, a scientist and professor who holds a doctorate from Yale. Simberg is an analyst at the far-right think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has a long track record of platforming climate science denialists.

Israel President Herzog Hit With Criminal Complaint In Switzerland

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been targeted with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors said on Friday, amid allegations of crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (BA) confirmed that it had received a criminal complaint against the Israeli president, who was at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on Thursday to discuss the Gaza war. “The criminal complaints will now be examined in accordance with the usual procedure,” BA said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the foreign ministry “to examine the question of the immunity of the person concerned”.

Five Victories Against Wrongful Convictions In The First Week Of 2024

The new year has just begun and already there have been five victories against wrongful conviction within the first week, with the release of Montana Innocence Project (MIP) client Bernard Pease Jr. and the exonerations of William Williams and Renay Lynch in the U.S., and Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie in Canada. Each of them had served decades in prison – a total of 191 years — for crimes they did not commit. They all received the help of innocence organizations, which are nonprofit organizations that provide legal services to innocent people in prison and prevent wrongful convictions through legal education and reform.

Updates On Criminal Contempt Trials Of Indigenous Land Defenders

In response to CGL's violation of the Wet'suwet'en law of trespass, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs issued an eviction notice to CGL on November 14th, 2021. Coyote Camp was established at the CGL drill pad site on September 25th, 2021. On November 18th and 19th, 2021, in response to these acts of Wet'suwet'en sovereignty, heavily-militarized RCMP officers invaded the yintah for the third time and arrested 32 people, including several journalists and legal observers. Land defender Sabina Dennis (Dakelh) was arrested on November 18th at Gidimt’en Checkpoint. Land defenders Sleydo' Molly Wickham (Wet’suwet’en), Shay lynn Sampson (Gitxsan), and Corey “Jayohcee” (haudenosaunee) were arrested on November 19th at Coyote Camp.
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