Civil Liberties, Surveillance
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Updates:
- Graham Amendment and the McCain Amendment
- Intelligent Design Debate
—–
CFC – Combined Federal Campaign –
Small victory announcement – Government Asking Charities to Check Donors With Terrorist List Without Consent.
Guest – Chicago Attorney Gary A. Isaac -Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw
—-
Orleans Parish Prison Update – In legal papers filed late last week by the American Civil Liberties Union, 45 men and women formerly detained at Orleans Parish Prison recount disturbing details of being abandoned without food or water and abused by guards after Hurricane Katrina struck.
The ACLU said that the scores of testimonials it has obtained from prisoners contradict public statements made by Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman that the prisoners had food and water and that the evacuation went as planned.
Guest – Eric Balaban – staff counsel representing all prisoners in the Orleans Parrish prison in a longstanding class action lawsuit.
—-
Dr Rafil Dhafir Selectively Prosecuted Because of His Muslim Faith and Arab Descent
Guest – Barrie Gewanter – Executive director of the Central New York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
——————————————————————
Surveillance, Torture
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
A Chicago man of Palestinian extraction is being prosecuted in Chicago for conspiracy to aid Hamas.
The prosecution is based on a confession extracted by torture by the Israeli’s when he was in Palestine. NY Times “journalist” Judith Miller in her stories supported tortured statements.
Guest – Michael Deutsch, of the Peoples Law Office and former Litigation Director at the CCR.
—-
Activists Arrested For Demonstrations At Universities: Dressing As Guantanamo Detainees.
Guest – Joey Steel, demonstrator with WorldCantWait.net
—-
Joan Mellen, author of the book on “Jim Garrison and the JFK Assassination.”
Joan Mellen has interviewed over 1000 people. She bases her book on papers secured by Oliver Stone thru an FOIA request subsequent to his movie JFK.. Mellen is giving lecutures in NYC at the Century Club and probably at the Ethical Culture Society.
—————————————————————
Guantanamo, Torture
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Guantanamo Hunger Strike
An under-reported story, hundreds of detainees are not eating and some are being force fed, intravenously or through nasal passages.
Guest – Gitanjali Gutierrez, cooperating counsel with CCR’s Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative.
—-
Constance Baker Motely
Host Michael Ratner remembers moments with first Afro-American New York Federal Judge who recently passed away.
—-
Filiberto Ojeda Rios
Puerto Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios was assasinated by the FBI in his home last week.
Guest – Rafael Cruz – FBI Murders a Legend 3:15pm confirmed
Guest – Linda Backiel – family lawyer for Filiberto Ojeda Rios
—-
Brecht Forum Lecture – Al McCoy – Torture
Al McCoy – Excerpts from his lecture on the CIA and the history of torture. Al McCoy is the author of “THE POLITICS OF HEROIN: C.I.A. COMPLICITY IN THE GLOBAL DRUG TRADE”
————————————————————–
Extraordinary Rendition, Surveillance, Torture
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
COURAGE TO RESIST : Soldiers Reject Deployment to Iraq
A recent CNN-USA-Today-Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans now think that going to war was a mistake and that the war has made the U.S. more vulnerable to terrorism.
This as more “Gold Star” families join Cindy Sheehan’s protest in to Crawford, Texas. Cindy has been in Crawford since August 5th, demanding a meeting with the President and is among many groups that speak out about the meaningless death of soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Now, a new group of concerned community members, veterans and military families have organized support for military objectors to illegal war and occupation and the underlying policies of empire. The National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force assists those working on military law issues as well as military law counselors working directly with GIs. It trains and mentors counselors and beginning military law attorneys in all aspects of military law through training materials and direct communication. It updates changes in military law and policy.
Guest-Marti Hiken co-chair of the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild.
—-
The GI Rights Hotline (800) 394-9544
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, a soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq last January and who was just sentenced to 15 months in prison. He claimed that one of his commanders gave him permission to miss the flight to Iraq. Benderman was acquitted of the more serious charge of desertion. CourageToResist.org
—-
Amnesty International Report – Torture and Secret Detention: Testimony of the ‘Disappeared’ In the ‘War on Terror’
More secretive than Guantánamo, two Yemeni detainees who were transferred from Guantanamo prison appear to have been victims of the US administration’s policy of secret detentions around the world. For over a year and a half they had effectively “disappeared”
Guest- Curt Goering – senior deputy executive director with Amnesty International
—-
READ THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT
Colorado: Evidence That the FBI Is Spying On Peaceful Demonstrators
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado released new documents this week that it says confirm that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is inappropriately treating peaceful protest as potential terrorism. The ACLU of Colorado has been investigating and calling public attention to activities of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force aimed at intimidating dissenters rather than investigating criminal or terrorist activity.
Guest: Mark Silverstein with the ACLU of Colorado.
—-
Breaking News : The Cuban 5 Receive New Trial
Notes from Attorney Len Weinglass: During the trial, the attorneys for the Five requested a change of venue from Miami to another city five times. The judge denied each request. In December 2001, two of the Five were sentenced to life in prison, one to 19 years, and one, to 15 years. Gerardo Hernandez received two life terms. Why is it not possible for Cuban nationals like the Five to receive a fair trial in Miami ? What role do anti-Cuban terrorists play? Read Background on Cuban Five Story Here
Guest Attorney Len Weinglass – lead counsel on the Cuban Five case.
—-
London Shooting Update
Brazilian Jean Charles De Menezes, 27, Was Shot Seven Times in the Head and Once in the Shoulder, at Stockwell Tube Station, South London, a few weeks ago. Security Sources Said Mr Menezes Had an Out-of-date Visa, but His Family Denied This. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Said He Believed He Was Legally in the Uk.
Guest – Richard Harvey, London Attorney with the National Lawyers Guild and Chair of the the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
—-
Civil Liberties, Surveillance
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
More Surveillance Cameras For New York City
After the bombings in London, the pressure is on for cities in the United States cities to build up the semi-police state with more surveillance cameras. Surveillance technology has advanced from grainy black and white images to digital high res cameras with zoom. A baseball can be recognized from orbiting satellites. We talk with privacy activist and Manhattan’s surveillance camera tour guide Bill Brown.
Guest – Bill Brown, privacy activist and surveillance camera tour guide.
—-
NYPD Randomly Check Bags On Subway
About 4.5 million people use New York’s subway system every working day. With more than 450 subway stations on the network, it is unclear whether the searches of passengers with bags or backpacks can be any more than a token deterrent. Civil liberties groups have warned that random searches may be unconstitutional. If you submit to a search and police find contraband, you could be charged!
Guest – Bill Goodman, Legal Director with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
—-
Non-Citizen Detentions Upheld
We talk with attorney Jon Hafetz with the Ali-Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri legal team. Al-Marri is the other non-citizen rarely reported on who is being held incommunicado, indefinitely in a military prison without charges. He’s been in solitary confinement for more than 2 years, no access to reading material, except the Qur’an. He’s constantly harassed, abused and any medical treatment received is very poor.
Guest – Jon Hafetz with the Al-Marri Legal Team
—-
Shield Laws For Journalists
In light of the Karl Rove scandal, we take a look at how shield laws designed to protect reporters are contradictory and vary from state to state. As more and more newsgatherers work on the national stage — through television, books and the internet — the lack of a national newsgatherers privilege is more and more problematic. Without a national privilege, these newsgatherers are subject to different and contradictory standards, with little guidance as to which standard might apply in a particular case. Listen as our guest, Gene Policinski is divided about whether national shield laws should exist for journalists amid the current lapdog media climate.
Guest – Gene Policinski, Executive Director with the First Amendment Center
—-
