Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Freedom Of Speech, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Racist Police Violence, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Legal Challenges Leading Up to Mid-term Election
Prior to our mid-term elections, scores of lawyers for the Republican Party prepared lawsuits in preparation to challenge the outcome of the elections around the country. And, in response, lawyers for the Democratic Party prepared to defend against all such lawsuits. Leading up to the elections, the Trump Administration sent federal agents to knock on potential voters’ doors, challenged mail-in ballots in court, and lost, and carried on a campaign to convince the American people that the elections would be unfair without the federal government’s pre-election threats and lawsuits. Along the way Trump, on several occasions, suggested he might even declare martial law or take other steps to prevent the elections from taking place. He is on record as saying he wants to “control” the mid-term elections and will only honor the outcome if he judges them to be fair.
We will examine some of the many actions and threats coming from the Trump Administration in the lead-up to, and conduct of the elections, as well as possible challenges to the results of the elections once they have concluded.
Guest – Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, and the former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times. Among his more than a dozen books are American Fascism: The Christian Right and the War on America; The Greatest Evil Is War; and A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine. Chris Hedges is also one of the contributors to the book titled From the Flag to the Cross: Fascism American Style, a book composed of summaries of interviews with guests here on the Law and Disorder radio show, and available for purchase at O/R Books. His latest book is titled Requiem for Gaza.
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Chicago Wrongful Murder Convictions Case Awarded 260.8 Million
Our guest today is Chicago civil rights attorney Anand Swaminathan. In October 2026, the Chicago City Council authorized payment of $260.8 million, that is over a quarter of $1 billion dollars, in compensation to 17 men who each spent decades in prison for wrongful murder convictions. These men were represented by Anand Swaminathan and his law firm Loevy & Loevy.
They altogether served nearly 400 years in prison for murders of which they were falsely convicted. Attorney Swaminathan and his partner Steve Art litigated their civil cases for 13 years. The false convictions of murder were arranged by Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevarra. He was responsible for some 50 wrongful convictions which he accomplished by using false witness statements, and false coerced confessions.
The victims lived in the heavily Latino community of Chicago’s Northwest side in the 1980s and 1990s. The victims were all young men ages 14 to 28.
Detective Guevara is retired. He lives on a Chicago Police Department pension of $91,000 a year and will likely never be held accountable. The passage of time and the unavailability and death of witnesses has so far, got him off the hook. When Anand deposed Guevara, Guevara took the fifth Amendment some 200 times.
At the same time detective Reynaldo Guevara was sending innocent Latino men to prison in the Humboldt Park area his counterpart Chicago Police Department Commander Jon Burge was torturing Black men on the south side into confessing falsely to an array of crimes.
This was exposed through decades of community activism and litigation by civil rights attorneys from the People’s Law Office. People’s Law Office attorney Flint Taylor wrote about it in his book titled “The Torture Machine.” Burge was ultimately convicted of perjury and sent to prison. In 2015, the City of Chicago passed a landmark ordinance that among other things paid reparations to Burge’s victims.
Comedian Lenny Bruce used to say “Chicago is so corrupt it’s thrilling.” Is it possible to reform the police? What part does racism play? How much money have the citizens of Chicago been forced to pay by the actions of the police department? Will this gargantuan settlement actually bring about reforms? Do the powers that be in Chicago really want reforms? The most fundamental reform would be community control of the police instead of allowing them to terrorize the Black and Latino Community.
Guest – Anand Swaminathan grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of immigrant Indian parents who were professors . He attended Harvard law school, where he had more cases in its legal aid efforts than any previous student at the school. Swaminathan is a partner at a law firm of Loevy and Loevy, where he has worked for the last 16 years.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Immigration, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Gaza Rising: Voices From the Rubble
As Israel continues to perpetrate its genocide in Gaza and atrocities in the West Bank, support for Palestinian liberation and sovereignty is growing around the world and in the United States. In July, Pew Research Center survey found unfavorable views of Israel at 62% among Americans and a recent Gallup Poll found for the first time, that US sympathy now leans toward the Palestinians (41%) compared to Israel (36%). This trend is due in great part to the unrelenting and outspoken defense of the Palestinian cause from prominent voices such as our guest today Dr. Ramzy Baroud. Dr. Baroud is a Palestinian author, historian, and academic whose work focuses on Palestinian history and liberation. He is the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, which he has led since 1999, and has spent decades developing an alternative historical narrative centered on lived Palestinian experience rather than elite political frameworks.
Dr Baroud holds a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter. He has taught mass communication at Curtin University and serves as a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University. His scholarship bridges journalism and academia, and his work has appeared in numerous academic journals and edited volumes.
He is the author of eight books. He has just published two new books, Before the Flood (from Seven Stories Press), which reconstructs Gaza’s modern history through family memory and intergenerational testimony, and Gaza Rising: Voices From the Rubble.(from Clarity Press). His earlier works include Searching Jenin, The Second Palestinian Intifada, My Father Was a Freedom Fighter, The Last Earth, and These Chains Will Be Broken. He is also the co-editor, with Ilan Pappé, of Our Vision for Liberation.
Guest – Dr Ramzy Baroud’s writing has been translated into multiple languages and widely published internationally. His work combines historical analysis, oral history, and political interpretation, contributing to global debates on settler colonialism, resistance, and liberation movements. He has lectured extensively at universities, research centers, and public institutions across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, contributing to global discussions on Palestine, decolonization, media, and popular resistance. His public scholarship places academic research in conversation with civil society audiences, activist communities, and policy forums.
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Buffalo Activist Coalition Demands Uniland Developer Not Lease Space To ICE
In Buffalo, New York, a coalition of activists, community organizations, and small businesses is taking on powerful real estate developer Uniland over its decision to lease space to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The coalition, Evict ICE from 250 Delaware, is demanding that Uniland end ICE’s lease at a downtown building. Federal immigrations operations there include detention holding rooms and the coordination of arrests and deportations across much of New York State outside New York City.
The campaign is also challenging the local business establishment that profits from these arrangements. Last week, activists took their protest directly to a Buffalo Business Hall of Fame banquet, where Uniland executive chairman Carl Montante was being honored. Some campaign members entered the banquet as guests and confronted the proceedings, while others held a parallel “Hall of Shame” protest outside.
The coalition’s demand is straightforward: ICE out of 250 Delaware when the lease expires in March 2027. But the campaign raises larger questions about corporate responsibility, public subsidies, immigration enforcement, and what ordinary people can do when powerful institutions refuse to listen.
Guest – Holly Verrett, Lackawanna resident, revolutionary activist, and gardener, Holly is committed to building stronger communities and fostering a love of nature. She is also the proud wife of Tony and mother to their daughter, Alice.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Iran, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Younger Generations Of Jewish People No Longer Identifying With Israel
Phil Weiss started Mondoweiss 20 years ago to provide a critique of Zionism and the suppression of Palestinians, which in those days was very much minority view. Today, Mondoweiss is widely read and respected for accurate reporting. Things have changed. A great number of Jews no longer identify with Israel. This is especially true of young people. Israel, because of its continuous genocide against the Palestine people in Gaza, it’s ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, it’s bombing of Lebanon and its partnership with the United States in its disastrous illegal war against Iran has become the most detested country on the planet.
Guest – Philip Weiss, was a successful professional journalist 20 years ago before he launched Mondoweiss. He had contributed articles to places like the New York Times magazine. He grew up in a family of six children, the son of a microbiology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He attended Harvard and started off as a crime reporter in Philadelphia.
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Wages of War In Iran and Gaza
Tuning in to international news today is more confusing than ever… with political alliances shifting daily, and the Trump administration provoking new challenges to peace, decency and world order. With the barrage of “breaking news” headlines perpetuating chaos on the mainstream news, we can forget to take some time to breathe, and critically think about the history of how we got to this moment, and how we might use that wisdom to avoid the doomsday scenarios that some believe to be inevitable.
With that purpose in mind we will focus today on the U.S. war with Iran and its impact throughout the Middle East. How far will the war spread? When will the war end? Will the increased flow of Mid-East oil help bring about an end to the Iran war?
Guest – Richard Becker is an expert on history and U.S. policy in the Middle East. Mr. Becker is the Western Regional Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition. He is the author of numerous political writings, including his book, Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. Empire and his book, The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks. Mr. Becker is also a leader in the Party for Socialism and Liberation. LiberationNews BreakthroughNews
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Criminalizing Dissent, Cuba, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, War Resister
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Analysis Of A Transformation
Our country is going through a great transformation. We are no longer the constitutional democracy we once were. Its reported that Elon Musk, the world‘s first trillionaire, gave Trump and his MAGA organization $200 million in the last election. Miriam Adelson, the widow of a casino magnate gave another $100 million. Trump bragged about her ready access to the White House. Musk took a wrecking ball to federal jobs. Other institutions such as law firms, the Supreme Court,universities, and Congress have been transformed. Extraordinarily no one in Congress is able to say “the king has no clothes“. The media facilitate all of this.
Guest – Ann Wright is a retired colonel in the army having served 29 years in it and the reserves . She then became a diplomat and was posted in many countries around the world. In 2003 she quit over the lies the government told to manipulate the American people into supporting a war on Iraq. She then co-wrote the book with Susan Dixon titled “Dissent : Voices of Conscience : Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq. It includes a forward by Daniel Ellsberg. Ann Wright has been active since then as a the leader of the anti-war group Code Pink and a leader of Veterans for Peace. She is was on numerous flotillas that sailed across the Mediterranean to bring help to the Palestinians and publicize their plight. VoicesOfConscience.
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We Will Dismantle The ICC Brick By Brick
The United States has long endeavored to undermine the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Although it is not a party to the Rome Statute, the U.S. has consistently attacked the ICC. In 2003, Congress passed, and then-President George W. Bush signed, the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, known as “The Hague Invasion Act.” It says that if a national of the U.S. or its ally (which includes Israel) is detained by the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, the U.S. military can use armed force to extricate them.
The Bush administration effectively blackmailed 100 countries that were parties to the Rome Statute by forcing them to sign bilateral immunity agreements in which they promised not to turn over U.S. persons to the ICC, or the United States would withhold foreign aid from them. In November 2024, after an investigation lasting more than three years, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. They stand charged with the war crimes of starvation as a form of warfare, and intentional attacks on civilians; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Donald Trump has taken the U.S. assault on the ICC to a new level with punishing sanctions against those who seek to hold accountable individuals who commit the most heinous crimes. In February, Trump issued an executive order that has led to the sanctioning of nine of the ICC’s 18 judges and three ICC prosecutors. Sanctions include frozen or closed bank accounts, rejection of financial transactions, denial of access to digital services, and travel bans.
In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to “dismantle” the International Criminal Court. He accused the ICC of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles,” but with “the force of so-called international law.” In an article in Wall Street Journal, Rubio wrote that “we will dismantle the ICC – brick by brick, if necessary.”
Now four prominent human rights organizations have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Trump’s executive order violates the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, and international law.
Guest – Marjorie Cohn, a former host on Law and Disorder is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, dean of the People’s Academy of International Law, and past president of the National Lawyers Guild. She sits on the national advisory board of Veterans For Peace, she is a member of the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and serves as the U.S. representative to the continental advisory council of the Association of American Jurists. Her books include Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues. She writes a regular column for Truthout, including a recent one entitled, Trump Sanctioned ICC Officials to Shield Israeli Leaders. Rights Groups Sued.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Cuba, Freedom Of Speech, Gaza, genocide, Right To Dissent
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Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism
On July 20th, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department released a 100-page McCarthyite propaganda report. It is a document that seeks to serve as the ideological justification for an escalating assault on Cuba, the Cuba solidarity movement and all political dissent on the left. The report casts a wide net of unfounded accusations, maliciously painting over 40 left-leaning social movement organizations and individuals as purported Cuban “front groups” while employing guilt-by-association tactics to smear even elected officials such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Among the organizations cited is the National Lawyers Guild, an association of attorneys, law students and legal workers, of which all of the hosts here on Law and Disorder are members. It goes so far as to cite reports from the long-discredited House Un-American Activities Committee, reviving Cold War conspiracy theories from the 1950s and repackaging them for the present.
As our guest today writes, “These accusations are not meant to be rational. They, like the charges that our elections are manipulated, are transparent excuses to go after institutions and individuals that are seen as threatening Trump and the Republican Party’s absolute grip on power.”
Guest – Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, and the former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times. Among his more than a dozen books are American Fascism: The Christian Right and the War on America; The Greatest Evil Is War; and A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine. Chris Hedges is also one of the contributors to the book titled From the Flag to the Cross: Fascism American Style, a book composed of summaries of interviews with guests here on the Law and Disorder radio show, and available for purchase at O/R Books.
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Khalil v Trump
Mahmood Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident has sued senior Trump administration officials and private anti-Palestinian groups for conspiring to target, detain, and attempt to deport him because of his identity and his advocacy for Palestinian rights. He is represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law firm of Beldock, Levine and Hoffman.
The lawsuit argues that government officials and private actors, including the Heritage Foundation, Betar and Canary Mission violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and the US Constitution when they coordinated to suppress political speech and support of Palestinian rights through the weaponization of immigration enforcement and baseless, pretrial accusations of terrorism and antisemitism.
Mahmoud‘s arrest, detention, and attempted deportation were part of a broader strategy to criminalized solidarity, chill speech and make an example of those who speak out against the subjugation of Palestinians. This case is about more than one person or one freedom movement. Is about whether government power can be weaponized by private actors to target human rights defenders and strip people of their constitutional rights.
Guest – New York attorney Adina Marx-Arpadi is a justice fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights ( CCR). She graduated.CUNY law school and worked at Bronx Defenders.
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Artificial Intelligence, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Economics, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights
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Communities Nationwide Unite Against Data Center Resource Grab
Across the nation, communities are becoming ground zero in a growing fight over data centers. The explosive growth of AI, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency has triggered a massive boom in their construction. These sprawling facilities often cover hundreds of acres and consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. Residents from Virginia to Pennsylvania, Georgia to Arizona, are asking a simple question: who benefits, and who pays the price?
The answer has sparked one of the fastest-growing grassroots movements in the nation. In the past year, local campaigns have blocked or delayed dozens of proposed centers worth billions of dollars. Citizens are challenging developers over rising electricity costs, water consumption, noise pollution, loss of farmland, and the construction of new fossil-fuel infrastructure designed to power these facilities. Nationally, more than 230 organizations have joined calls for stronger regulation and even a moratorium on new large-scale data centers until environmental and community protections are in place.
Guest – Jim Walsh, Policy Director at Food & Water Watch in Washington, DC. It’s one of the leading organizations helping coordinate community resistance to the rapid expansion of data centers. Since joining Food & Water Watch in 2009, Jim has focused on energy, climate, and public water policy. He is a prominent advocate for policies prioritizing environmental protection and community control, from campaigns to ban fracking and challenges to carbon capture projects. Jim worked has also worked with New Jersey Citizen Action and the Progressive Action Network.
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The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State
Here at Law and Disorder we’ve been exposing how efforts that claim to be combating antisemitism have been weaponized in a concerted effort to silence criticism of Israel and demonize support for the Palestinians. One organization that is playing a leading role in these efforts is the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League.
Many people, including many Jews, may think of the ADL as a long-established civil rights organization that is known for opposing racism in general, and antisemitism, in particular. But as we’ll learn from our guest today, there’s a lot more we need to know about the ADL.
Guest – Emmaia Gelman is the author of the new book The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, and co-editor of The Anti-Defamation League: A Critical Reader. She also co-hosts the podcast Unpacking Zionism. Emmaia is co-chair of the American Studies Association Caucus on Academic and Community Activism, and is the founding director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, which examines the political and ideological work of Zionist institutions in Palestine and transnational contexts. She has taught social and cultural analysis at NYU and social sciences at Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing appears in Jewish Currents, Boston Review, The Forward, and elsewhere.
CriticalZionistStudies.org
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