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Activists Win Landmark Ruling Over United Kingdom Oil Well Plan

June 20, 2024 Michael Holden, Reuters. , , , ,
Planning authorities should have considered the impact of climate-warming emissions in approving an oil well near Gatwick Airport, the UK's highest court says, a ruling activists say could profoundly affect new fossil fuel projects in Britain. Environmental campaigners had argued that planning permission to retain and expand the oil well site near London's Gatwick was flawed because it had not considered the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the use of the oil. Supreme Court judges agreed by a narrow three to two majority, and quashed the planning approval which they said was unlawful.

Call For Action By Journalists Against Gag Rules After Key Legal Win

June 19, 2024 Society of Professional Journalists. , , , ,
The Society of Professional Journalists is issuing a call to action for journalists to fight government restrictions on employee speech rights following what is believed to be the first time a journalist has won a legal settlement against gag rules on workers in public agencies. The settlement came in a suit brought by investigative reporter Brittany Hailer against the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh for its rules prohibiting employees from speaking to the press or posting information on social media. After rounds of negotiations with Hailer’s attorneys, the county agreed in April that its employees and contractors “have constitutional rights to speak on matters of public concern when acting as private citizens and not purporting to represent the view of the [Allegheny County Bureau of Corrections].”

Webinar: Hands Off Uhuru ! Drop The Charges On The Uhuru 3!

June 17, 2024 Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition. , , ,
"The Uhuru 3 are Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP); Penny Hess, Chair of the African People’s Solidarity Committee (APSC); and Jesse Nevel, Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM). In April 2023, the Uhuru 3 were indicted by the US Govt on bogus charges of being “agents of a foreign government” because of the Uhuru Movement’s over 50 years of work to advocate for the liberation and unification of Africa and forcibly dispersed African people everywhere. "The charges levied on the Uhuru 3 came nine months after the FBI and local police violently raided seven homes and properties of the APSP and Uhuru Movement in St. Louis, MO and St. Petersburg, FL on July 29, 2022.

A Jury Ignored A Judge And Stopped Climate Protesters Being Convicted

June 17, 2024 The Canary. , , , , ,
A jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court has resisted a judge’s invitation to convict six medical professionals, charged with ‘criminal damage’, after they broke windows at JP Morgan in July 2022, on the eve of the UK’s record-breaking climate crisis-induced heatwave. Despite more than two days of deliberations and the judge’s direction that they had no legal defence, the jury were unable to agree on a verdict. Just before lunch on Friday 14 June, the jury asked the judge whether a medical emergency could be a lawful excuse, by inference rejecting the prosecutor’s position that the action concerned not objective reality, but ‘political opinion and belief’. The judge told them that in this case it was no defence.

Judges Named For Assange Appeal

June 14, 2024 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , , , ,
The judges in Julian Assange’s two-day appeal hearing on July 9-10 are the same who granted Assange a rare victory last month:  his right to appeal the Home Office’s extradition order to the United States. Justices Jeremy Johnson and Victoria Sharp granted Assange the right to appeal on only two of nine requested grounds, but they are significant: 1) his extradition was incompatible with his free speech rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights; and 2) that he might be prejudiced because of his nationality (not being given 1st Amendment protection as a non-American).

Chiquita Ordered To Pay $38 Million For Funding Colombian Death Squads

June 13, 2024 Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News. , , , ,
In a historic first, Chiquita Brands International has been ordered to pay the families of murdered Colombians after a court found the U.S.-based banana giant had privately financed death squads. After a lengthy legal battle spanning 17 years, a Florida court ordered Chiquita to pay $38 million to the families of death squad victims. This landmark case is the first in which an American corporation has been found liable for human rights abuses committed overseas, encouraging more victims to seek legal restitution. In 2007, Chiquita pled guilty to “one count of engaging in transactions with a specially-designated global terrorist” group, the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

Inmates Challenge Motion To Dismiss In Alabama Forced Labor Federal Lawsuit

June 12, 2024 Alander Rocha, Black Agenda Report. , , , , , ,
Incarcerated individuals in Alabama have filed a 214-page response  opposing a motion to dismiss their lawsuit accusing state prisons of using slave labor. The case involves multiple claims against state officials, private employers and local governments  alleging Alabama’s prison labor program system is a form of modern-day slavery. Each defendant filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that counsel for plaintiffs did not state a legal claim in the lawsuit. “Despite Defendants’ strenuous efforts to dispute Plaintiffs’ well-founded allegations—a strategy that cannot justify dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims at this juncture...

US Jury Finds Chiquita Guilty Of Financing Paramilitary Death Squads

June 11, 2024 The Canary. , , , , , ,
In a historic first, an American jury has held a major US corporation liable for complicity in serious human rights abuses abroad. Specifically, the case has held banana giant Chiquita Brands International accountable for financing a brutal paramilitary death squad in Colombia. Chiquita In Colombia Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita financed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) to the tune of US $1.7m. The AUC was a coalition of right-wing death squads. The group of over 30,000 soldiers operated throughout two-thirds of the country, and manufactured war to prop up a series of illegal business activities. Primarily, the AUC ran what was then the largest drug trafficking cartel in the world. It also engaged in arms sales, human trafficking, and money laundering.

Military Documents To Enter Into Evidence Of Trial Around Genocide Of Maya Ixil Indigenous People

June 4, 2024 Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Guatemala City, Guatemala - This and next week of the ongoing historic genocide trial against former Guatemalan military general Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, international experts will bring forth indisputable evidence about the military intelligence and operations of the Guatemalan armed forces during the genocide of the Maya Ixil indigenous people in the early 1980s. The trial against Guatemalan ex-general Manuel Benedicto Lucas García began on March 25, 2024 in the First Court of Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking and Crimes against the Environment, for High Risk Proceedings, Group “A” in Guatemala City.

Victory For Assange, First Amendment, UK Court Grants Right To Appeal

May 30, 2024 Marjorie Cohn, Truthout. , , , ,
On May 20, a two-judge panel of the High Court of England and Wales handed WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange a significant victory. Justice Jeremy Johnson and Dame Victoria Sharp granted him leave to appeal the U.K.’s extradition order on two grounds. The High Court will now schedule a hearing at which Assange will be allowed to argue that his rights to freedom of expression and to be free from discrimination based on his nationality would not be protected if he were extradited to the United States. In the U.K., the right to appeal is not automatic. While they didn’t rule on the merits of Assange’s claims, Johnson and Sharp determined that the two issues have sufficient legal merit to be reviewed by the High Court.

BLM Activists In Grand Rapids Face Repression And Need Solidarity

May 29, 2024 Emma Boyhtari and Tristan Taylor, Left Voice. , , , , ,
In April 2022, Patrick Lyoya was murdered by police officer Christopher Schurr. His murder garnered national attention — his funeral was attended by Al Sharpton, and Lyoya’s family was represented by Ben Crump. The movement in Grand Rapids mobilized, and held a 1,000 person demonstration demanding Schurr be fired and prosecuted. In response to the movement, Christopher Schurr was fired from the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) and charged with second-degree murder. However, two years have passed, and Schurr has still not gone to trial. Yet, in those two years several BLM activists have faced trumped up charges, including felony assault of a police officer.

Jury Finds Palestine Action Activists Not Guilty Over Elbit Occupation

May 26, 2024 The Canary. , , , , , , ,
Two activists from Palestine Action were unanimously acquitted of criminal damage against arms manufacturer Elbit by a jury in Leicester Crown Court after a deliberation of just one hour and 40 minutes. For six days from 19 May 2021, four people from Palestine Action occupied the roof of UAV Tactical Systems, an Elbit drone factory in Leicester. The action was taken urgently in response to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza at the time. Whilst on the roof, the activists spray painted messages including “Shut Elbit Down” and “Free Palestine”, damaged a skylight to reveal a military drone inside and sprayed the building in blood red paint.

Palm Beach Residents Sue County Over Its Israel Investments

May 24, 2024 Michael Arria, Mondoweiss. , , , , , ,
In the first legal action of its kind, a group of Palm Beach residents are suing the Florida county over its massive investment in Israeli bonds. Palm Beach has invested $700 million in the bonds, 22 times more than any other county in the United States. On May 15, dozens of local organizers and human rights advocates gathered outside the county’s courthouse for a press conference announcing the move. David Piña, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, told the crowd that Comptroller and Clerk of the Circuit Court Joseph Abruzzo had put 15% of the county’s investments in Israeli bonds. “[Abruzzo] has has not only failed us morally, he’s also violated two state statutes in the process,” Piña explained.

Mayor Adams Keeps Pushing Medicare Advantage Despite Latest Court Defeat

May 24, 2024 Joe Maniscalco, Work Bites. , , , , ,
The City of New York’s decision to keep trying to push 250,000 municipal retirees into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage health insurance plan after yet another crushing court defeat on Tuesday has convinced many in the fight that Mayor Eric Adams and his privatization allies must be crazy. “Yesterday was a great day. Retirees won our case again,” retired public school teacher and Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee [CROC] member Sarah Shapiro told Work-Bites. “After spending two months deliberating, the court came down with a ruling in our favor. Yet, the city still vows to appeal again. Will the mayor and our union misleaders in the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] ever learn? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome—these guys are insane! We vow to keep fighting!”

Alaska Youth On The ‘Front Lines Of The Climate Crisis’ Sue To Stop LNG Pipeline

May 24, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , , ,
Eight young people from Alaska are suing their state government, claiming a major new North Slope natural gas project is in violation of their constitutional rights.
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