Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Surveillance, Truth to Power, War Resister
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COVID-19 Virus And History of Quarantine
“Quarantine” is a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or who have been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.
As Law & Disorder taped this show in early March 2020, thousands of people around the globe are being quarantined as governments rush to keep the COVID-19 virus from spreading. In China, for example, thousands were forced into mass quarantine centers. And entire cities and towns in Italy were put on lock-down, sending an estimated 100,000 persons into quarantine.
In the United States, quarantines are being readied for some first responders. Two dozen emergency workers are being monitored for possible exposure to the coronavirus. And 27 firefighters and two police officers were quarantined in Washington State.
Today on Law and Disorder we’ll examine the civil liberties aspects of quarantines and other government responses to pandemics.
The word quarantine, and the practice, dates back to the Middle Ages. It was first used in English in 1617 to refer to the 40 days a ship suspected of carrying a contagious disease was detained offshore in isolation.
But the first instance of the institutionalized practice of quarantine actually occurred in the 14th century when the Bubonic plague, also referred to as Black Death, devastated Europe from 1347 to 1352, killing approximately 20 million people.
Authorities in Venice were the first to formalize the protective action after the plague began spreading there in 1347. Ports were closed to ships and travelers who had to spend 40 days in isolation.
In the early days of the United States local and state jurisdictions were responsible for protection against contagious diseases. After a 1793 yellow fever epidemic struck Philadelphia and killed 5,000, the city created a 10-acre quarantine station called the Lazaretto along the Delaware River.
With outbreaks of yellow fever, Congress passed the National Quarantine Act in 1878 marking the federal governments involvement with quarantine activities. The quarantine system was fully nationalized by 1921, according to the CDC.
Guest – Professor Wendy Parmet from Northeastern Law School is a leading expert on health, disability and public health law and directs the law school’s Center for Health Policy and Law and its JD/MPH programs. She holds a joint appointment with Northeastern’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs in recognition of her national leadership in interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving on health care issues. Wendy co-edits the law school’s SSRN online publications, Human Rights and the Global Economy and the Northeastern University School of Law Public Law and Legal Theory Paper Series. In 2016, Wendy was honored with the prestigious Jay Healey Health Law Teachers Award by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.
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COVID-19: Public Health Experts Urge US Government To Ensure Scientifically Based Response Plan
A group of more than 450 public health experts recently urged government leaders to enact scientifically-informed policies to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus in the U.S. They called for fair and equitable imposition of such policies.
According to the ACLU, the experts’ recommendations, sent in a public letter, will help ensure a response plan that protects the health, safety, and civil liberties of all. It’s generally accepted that during a disease outbreak, individual rights may have to cede to give way to the greater good. But that is only if science supports the need for such measures, which may include isolation and quarantine.
In their letter, the public health experts ask officials, for example, to work with insurance companies to ensure that lack of insurance and high costs are not a barrier to testing and treatment. They call for health care facilities to be dubbed “immigration enforcement-free zones” — a step used before during hurricanes and other emergencies. And they seek extra help for under-resourced hospitals and community health centers.
Also impacted are minimum-wage workers and others who live on the economic margins, can’t telecommute, and can’t afford to lose their jobs. The experts also stress that leaders need to scrupulously ensure that their public messages are accurate and guided by science and not politics. In the past many responses to emergencies have been hindered by politics, including China’s response to the SARS coronavirus outbreak in 2003.
Guest – Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst at the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the ACLU in Washington, DC.
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Criminalizing Dissent, Gaza, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, Truth to Power
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The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017
There has been a century of war on the Palestinians by Zionists whose goal was to establish a Jewish state on their land.
More than 100 years ago, a Zionist Congress meeting in Vienna sent a delegation of several rabbis to Palestine to report back on what they saw. The rabbis telegraphed: “The bride is beautiful but she is married to another man.“
That is to say, Palestine was already settled by Palestinians who have been there for centuries. Thus the project of the Zionists was to ethnically cleanse Palestine by any means necessary.
It has taken 100 years and six declarations of war and the settler colonial project of the Zionists has been largely successful, so far. Three years ago President Donald Trump put his young son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of American policy towards the Palestinians. Without consulting them last month Trump announced what he called “the deal of the century“.
The “deal” gave Israel large parts of the west bank of the Jordan River which embraced territory illegally conquered by Israel in the war they started in 1967 and where 600,000 Israelis have been settled since then.
The Palestinians were given several non-contiguous enclaves in the West Bank plus the Gaza Strip and told that those who were displaced in the 1947-48 War and the 1967 war could never come back to the land the Zionists claim was given to their ancestors by a God thousands of years ago. They were told they have four years to accept the offer.
We speak with Rashid Khalidi about his just published landmark history
Guest – Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He is also the author of Under Siege: PLO Decision Making During the 1982 War, Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East and recently The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017. Professor Khalidi’s article on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in The Nation magazine.
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Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective Update 2020
In a violation of international law, on May 16, 2019 more than 100 police, many with military gear, invaded the embassy of Venezuela in Washington, DC and arrested four Embassy Protectors who were in the embassy with the permission of the Venezuelan government to protect it from takeover as part of a US coup against the elected Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro.
The United States had at that time attempted to install Juan Guida as the president of Venezuela and Guida’s right wing supporters attempted to take over the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC. Under international law, the embassy is the property of Venezuelan government and is considered untouchable.
The US had attempted to install Juan Guaida as the president of Venezuela and on May 30th right wing coup supporters attempted to take over the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC. This coincided with another attempted coup by Juan Guaida in Venezuela. Guaido failed in his coup attempt.
The embassy in Washington, DC is the property of Venezuela and under international law the United States must protect and is not allowed to enter it.
A group of Americans known as the Embassy Protection Collective moved into the embassy to prevent its hostile takeover. Up to 70 people were sleeping in the embassy as embassy protectors.
The State Department, Secret Service, and the Metropolitan police force allowed a pro-coup mob to lay siege on the embassy. People were blocked from entering the embassy. Food was prevented from being brought in. The electricity and water were cut off.
Although the coup against the Maduro government failed, the Embassy Protectors were arrested when the US government raided the Venezuelan embassy. The final four Embassy Protectors, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers., Adrian Pine, and David Paul were arrested and face federal prosecution. If convicted they could be imprisoned up to one year and fined up to $100,000 each.
Guest – Kevin Zeese is a US lawyer and political activist. He helped organize the 2011 Occupy encampment in Washington DC. Kevin Zeese is currently the co-director of The Organization Popular Resistance.
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Censorship, CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, Human Rights, Iraq War, NSA Spying, Political Prisoner, Supreme Court, Surveillance, Truth to Power, Uncategorized, War Resister
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In Defense Of Julian Assange: Attorney Renata Avila
We continue our ongoing coverage of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who remains in confinement at London’s high-security Belmarsh prison. Julian is fighting extradition to the United States on 18 charges, including violating the Espionage Act and conspiring to hack government computers. As listeners will recall, the charges are in connection with Wikileaks’ release of thousands of secret cables in 2010.
Guest – Renata Avila, a member of the Julian Assange legal team. Renata is an international Human Rights lawyer from Guatemala, specializing in preserving human rights during the next wave of tech challenges. She is a Board member for Creative Commons, the Common Action Forum and is a Global Trustee of the Think Tank Digital Future Society. She is also a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and Technology and a Steering Committee Member of the Information Society Advisory Council for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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The Prosecution of Julian Assange – CUNY School of Law and UCLA
We listen to two presentations from a panel discussion among leading journalists, attorneys and human rights defenders as the extradition trial in London of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to begin.
The first speaker is lead attorney Barry Pollack representing Julian Assange speaking at The Prosecution of Julian Assange forum at UCLA.
We then hear from Glen Ford speaking at the CUNY School of Law, Glen is the Executive editor, Black Agenda Report. He’s a broadcast, print and web pioneer and founding member of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, Human Rights, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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When at Times the Mob Is Swayed, A Citizen’s Guide to Defending Our Republic
Trump was elected by about 25% of the eligible voters. Half of the voters who could have, didn’t vote. He lost the popular election by 3 million votes. Since then, this appalling man has proceeded to aggrandize his power. Backed by large corporations to whom he gave huge tax breaks and for whom he cut regulations, the military to which he just gave a $750 billion budget, a Republican Supreme Court and the right wing media such as Sinclair Broadcasting and Fox News he has maintained a steady base of support in the population.
Increasing a sense of dread has spread across our country, it appears possible that Trump may get reelected. Democracy and the rule of law are increasingly threatened.
Guest – Constitutional Lawyer, Burt Neuborne is the former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union and has argued many cases before the US Supreme Court. Attorney Neuborne’s book “When at Times the Mob is Swayed” has been recently published by the New Press. He is currently the Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties at NYU School of Law.
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Amazon Ring Of Surveillance
When it comes to e-commerce, the multinational tech company Amazon.com has laid claim to a huge corner on the market. Now, it’s venturing into the business of surveillance.
Amazon is aggressively pursuing law enforcement partnerships. More than 400 police departments across the nation have already joined forces with the tech giant’s so-called smart doorbell program, called Ring. Part of Amazon’s outreach strategy in gaining new police partners is to play on fears of increasing property crime.
Ring doesn’t just show you who is at your door. It films and records any interaction or movement at owners’ doors, then alerts users’ phones. With partnerships between mega corporations and law enforcement to use new surveillance systems in the public–leaving out community input–come a host of civil liberties concerns, including racial profiling.
Guest – Matthew Guariglia of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Matthew is a policy analyst working on issues of surveillance and privacy at the local, state, and federal level. He is a frequent contributor to the Freedom of Information-centered outlet Muckrock and his bylines have appeared in the Washington Post and Motherboard.
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Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Human Trafficking
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Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents
America was settled and set up as a slave owning country. When it broke free of England it was finally able to expand westward, across the Appalachian mountains, committing genocide against the native Indian population. This is the sordid and hidden root history that truth telling historians have revealed to us.
In her new book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents, author Margaret Kimberley explores America’s relationship with race through the lens of the presidents who have been chosen to represent all the people.
Ten of the 12 initial presidents of the USA were slave owners. Andrew Jackson, whose picture graces our twenty dollar bill, was an Indian killer. Lincoln was never an abolitionist. He wanted America for white people only and had a plan to send the formerly enslaved out of the country. One such plan briefly came to fruition in Haiti.
What about Presidents Roosevelt, Johnson, Clinton and Obama? Were they more sympathetic to the interest of black Americans?
Guest – Margaret Kimberley, a New York-based writer and activist. She has been an editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report since it’s inception in 2006. She is a contributor to the anthology In Defense of Julian Assange.
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Unchained At Last: Unarrange A Marriage; Rearrange A Life
Worldwide, increasing numbers of women and men are putting off marriage until they are older. Many are forgoing it altogether. In Denmark, for example, among women in their late 30s or early 40s, 29 percent are unmarried. That’s true for 18 percent in Italy, 22 percent in Lebanon; and 32 percent in Libya.
That’s why the following statistic is so shocking: Each year, before they reach the age of 18, 12 million girls will marry. It happens in every country, and cuts across religions, ethnic, and cultural divides. Over 650 million women alive today were married as girls.
Child marriage is a human rights violation. It places girls’ well-being and personal development at risk. Child brides are often isolated and feel disempowered. They are deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education and safety. Children aren’t physically or emotionally ready to become wives and mothers.
They have heightened health risks, from life-threatening complications in pregnancy and childbirth, to being victims of domestic violence or of contracting HIV/AIDS. They have limited access to education and economic opportunities, and a higher chance of living in poverty.
Guest – Fraidy Reiss, the founder and executive director of Unchained at Last. The nonprofit helps girls and women plan escapes from forced marriages and then rebuild their lives.
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Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Iraq War, Supreme Court
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Attorneys-Activists Supporting The Defense of Julian Assange
A recent Washington Post op-ed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden connected Brazilian prosecutors’ recent decision to file charges against American investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald with the U.S. government’s efforts to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Snowden wrote, in part, “The most essential journalism of every era is precisely that which a government attempts to silence. These prosecutions demonstrate that they are ready to stop the presses—if they can.”
Snowden is among many who have spoken out since Greenwald was charged with cybercrime on January 21. Members of the press and human rights advocates have called his prosecution an attempt to intimidate and retaliate against him and The Intercept for critical reporting” about officials in Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s government.
Both Snowden and Greenwald serve on the board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Listeners will recall that Greenwald is one of the journalists to whom Snowden leaked classified materials in 2013.
Snowden, who has lived with asylum protection in Russia since 2013, noted that although even some of Greenwald’s critics have recently supported him, Julian has not experienced such solidarity. The Courage Foundation, though, is advocating on his behalf and running his defense fund as he languishes in a London prison, under conditions that have raised global alarm, while he fights against extradition to the United States. DefendWikileaks.org
Guest – Attorney Debbie Hrbek, founder of Hrbek Law, is working other legal organizations in the defense of Julian Assange. Hrbek Law represents creative professionals, entrepreneurs and artists, including independent labels, writers and managers.
Guest – NYC attorney Nathan Fuller, Executive Director of the Courage Foundation.
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Senate Impeachment Trial Analysis
The Democrats appear to have failed in their effort to remove President Donald Trump from office. The Republicans hold a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate, which is trying Trump. A joke going around is that even if Trump shot a senator on the Senate floor he would still win acquittal by a vote of 53 to 47, unless he shot a Republican. Then the vote would be 52 to 47
Trump was charged with withholding congressionally approved military aid to the Ukraine and trying to enlist help from the president of the Ukraine if he, the Ukrainian president, announced a corruption investigation of Joe Biden.
Secondly, Trump is charged with obstruction of justice because of Trump’s not cooperating with the Democratic Party investigation. The Democrats went after Trump on the narrowest of grounds. Trump’s corruption and war crimes were ignored. Trump’s lawyers defended him on the grounds that even if true he did nothing wrong. Then they asserted that a sitting president can block witnesses at his own impeachment trial, an authoritarian notion that destroys the checks and balances system of our constitution.
The failure of the Democrats to impeach Trump will certainly benefit Trump in the upcoming election.
Guest – Aaron Maté is a contributing editor at the nation magazine and has the new Internet show Pushback on The Gray Zone. He won the 2019 Izzy Award for achievement in independent media for his coverage of Russiagate.
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