Law and Disorder June 26, 2006

left forum .JPG

The Left Forum

We hear excerpts from speeches delivered by co-hosts Michael Ratner and Michael Smith at the Left Forum this year. The Law and Disorder panel was named Ten Minutes To Midnight, a reference Michael Smith later explains as he parallels the current legislative and judicial direction of the US to similar police state tactics employed by Nazi Germany. In the second speech co-host Michael Ratner and president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, lays out a similar framework and cites recent supreme court decisions, the Patriot Act expansion and a weak kneed Congress as key stepping stones to a police state build-up.

elaine jones 1JPG.JPG

Elaine Jones, retired president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Educational Fund

During Amnesty International’s General Meeting in Portland, Oregon, Co-host Dalia Hashad spoke with Elaine Jones, who worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Elaine Jones describes her early work on the Furman v. Georgia death penalty case in 1972 and lends inspiring words to young lawyers.

collective soul 1.JPG suzanne vega.JPG

Suzanne Vega and Collective Soul at Amnesty’s Make Some Noise Concert

At the Amnesty International General Meeting in Oregon this year, co-host Dalia Hashad and producer Geoff Brady recorded a number of panels and interviews, among them were a number of musicians who volunteered for Amnesty’s Make Some Noise concert at the historic Roseland Theater. Dalia caught up with American songwriter and singer Suzanne Vega. Vega sat down for a Law and Disorder interview and spoke with Dalia about her music, human rights and expression these ideas through music.

We also hear a heart-felt interview with co-host Dalia Hashad as she talks with Ed Ryan and Joel Kosche from Collective Soul, the alternative post-grunge band from Stockbridge Georgia and one of the headliners at Amnesty’s Make Some Noise Concert at the Roseland Theater in Portland Oregon.

Law and Disorder June 19, 2006

NSA.22JPG.JPGspying.jpg

Lawsuits Filed Against NSA

Since its been revealed that the National Security Agency is amassing a colossal database of personal phone records have become public, there have been nearly 20 lawsuits filed against the NSA, AT&T and other telecommunication companies. Here on Law and Disorder we take a look at some recent lawsuits, one involving the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights. We also discuss recent bills proposed in the Senate designed to change the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, read more about it here.

Guest – Shane Kadidal lead attorney at CCR on the NSA cases. Read Shane’s latest commentary here.

—-

mona.JPG

Tasers – Part II

This year Amnesty International released a report on Tasers. (download PDF here) The report also looks at the systematic misuse of tasers by police and in prisons. It points out that there is a widespread policy of using tasers as a routine compliance tool on subjects who are passively resisting or “perceived” to not be complying with orders. Taser misuse is increasingly linked with unnecessary punishment, degradation and torture. In part I of the Taser series, Law and Disorder hosts spoke with Ed Jackson. (listen here) This week we go to Portland, Oregon where during Amnesty International’s General Annual Meeting, co-host Dalia Hashad caught up with Amnesty International spokeswoman and Taser expert Mona Cadena in Pioneer Square.

Guest – Mona Cadena – Amnesty International spokeswoman and Taser expert.

Download/Listen [8 MB]

mumia03.jpg
Law and Disorder Hosts Visit Political Prisoners – A Discussion

Co-hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith talked about their recent visits with political prisoners Mumia Abu- Jamal and David Gilbert. Heidi talks about her visit with Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row in Waynesburg, Pennsylvannia and the the National Lawyers Guild’s plan to file an Amicus Brief in Mumia’s case.

Gilbert was a founding member of Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society and member of The Weather Underground Organization. Following eleven years underground he was arrested with members of the Black Liberation Army and other radicals following a botched armored car robbery in 1981. He is now a well-known prisoner serving time in upstate New York. Read more about David Gilbert here.

—-

bill schul2z.JPG
A rare interview with Amnesty International’s former Executive Director William Schulz

Co-host Dalia Hashad interviews Bill Schulz at Pioneer Square before the anti-torture rally. We also listen to Bill Schulz deliver an inspiring outgoing speech during the rally. This is part of hours of amazing audio interviews and speeches from the Amnesty General Meeting, stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.

Law and Disorder June 12, 2006

Download/Listen to this show [37 MB]

wblogochange.gif

Supreme Court Limits Protections For Government Whistleblowers.

Whistleblowers lose rights. The recent Supreme Court decision (Garcetti v. Ceballos) has removed key pieces from the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1986. The decision effectively limits First Amendment protection for government whistleblowers since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protections do not extend to government employees for comments made while performing their official duties, even when the employee is acting to expose alleged government wrongdoing.

Guest – Stephen Kohn – Chairman of National Whistleblower Center

—-

chicago torture.jpg

Chicago Torture Case Update – Chicago’s Guantanamo

A United Nations anti-torture panel has urged the United States to punish law enforcement officials who mistreated suspects in Chicago. The 10-member UN Committee Against Torture reported that the multimillion-dollar investigation into the alleged torture of 200 Black men in interrogation rooms during the 1970s and 1980s has not resulted in any prosecutions. According to a press release, nearly 200 African Americans were tortured by former Commander Jon Burge and detectives under his command at the Chicago Police Department. Among the torture techniques were electrically shocking genitals with cattle prods, suffocations with plastic bags and pistols jammed in mouths in a mock execution. Listen to Law and Disorder’s previous interview on this case.

Guest – Flint Taylor – attorney with The People’s Law Office

TaserIllo.gif

Tasers – Part 1

This is the first part of a three part series examining the use of Tasers by law enforcement. Lawsuit cases regarding the misuse of Tasers are numerous. Pages of these stories can be found in one Google news search using the search-term “Tasers.” Hosts Dalia Hashad and Michael Ratner interview Taser researcher and expert Ed Jackson formerly with Amnesty International. Jackson points out a critical lack of training among police officers using Tasers.

Guest – Ed Jackson – Former spokesman for Amnesty International.

Music – Sharon Jones – This Land Is Your Land / Phil Ochs – I Kill Therefore I Am / Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come

Law and Disorder June 5, 2006

Ahmed Abu Ali.jpg

Reverse Rendition Update

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was originally charged with plotting with Middle East terrorists to assassinate President Bush. An American student who studied abroad in Saudi Arabia, was kidnapped and tortured by Saudis and brought back to the United States. (Read New York Times article here)

Abu Ali is a Houston-born American citizen and the valedictorian of his high school class in suburban Virginia. Back in the U.S. Abu Ali faced trial based on alleged tortured confessions in Saudi Arabia. Abu Ali’s description of Saudi torture tactics are consistent with known Saudi torture interrogation techniques. The evidence of torture was not admitted into the courtroom and Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.

In this Law and Disorder exclusive interview, the hosts speak with Tasneem Abu Ali, the sister of Ahmed. She is now trying to get her brother out of prison.

—-

uiger.jpg

Uiger Muslims Transferred From Guantanamo To Albania

Recently, the Uiger Muslims were quietly sent to the economically depressed country of Albania, they do not know the language and are being held in a large compound. It was explained to Law and Disorder that in Albania, the Uigers can move about freely within the compound and cannot leave. Listen to the Jan. 2 show with Uiger segment – Guest – attorney Sabin Willet.

Guest – Neil McGaraghan – an attorney with Bingham McCutchen, representing the Uigers.

—-

iraq.cover.jpg

 Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal

How it is possible to end the Iraq occupation? Hosts look at the intentionality of stirring up an unnatural conflict among the Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites and later pull back to discuss the larger picture of the Iraq occupation.

Anthony Arnove, author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, He his also the editor, with Howard Zinn, of Voices of a People’s History of the United States (Seven Stories), the long-awaited primary-source companion to A People’s History of the United States. Read more about Anthony Arnove here.