Civil Liberties, Guantanamo, Supreme Court, Surveillance, Torture, Truth to Power
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Guantanamo/War on Terror/9/11 – Update
Co-host Michael Ratner begins the update in the context of the Supreme Court’s Hamden decision – which essentially says that Geneva conventions apply to people picked up during the “war on terror,” meaning fair trials and being treated humanely. This decision also means that the military commissions set up by the US president are no longer lawful and the actions of torturers, such as the CIA and military personnel at Guantanamo and CIA secret sites could now be charged with war crimes. Today, the president is asking Congress to amend Geneva Conventions and allow illegal military commissions to continue.
To find out more and take action please visit the Center for Constitutional Rights and help stop the fast tracking military commissions bill in Congress that would sink the United States into a police state.
Law and Disorder Exclusive – NSA Spying Lawsuit Oral Arguments
A few weeks ago oral arguments were heard in federal court in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights. The suit seeks to stop Bush and government agencies from conducting warrantless surveillance of international communications made from the United States, such phone calls and emails. Arguing the case were CCR attorney Shane Kadidal (read Shane’s blog here) and cooperating attorney Michael Avery, president of the National Lawyers Guild. One issue is whether CCR and several of its lawyers has standing to bring the suit. CCR lawyers and Avery have to basically demonstrate a concrete injury from the spying program. CCR lawyers say that their ability to conduct their work has been affected by the chance that their attorney/client communications may be monitored. Meanwhile, government attorneys urged that Judge Gerald Lynch dismiss the case because allowing it to proceed would jeopardize “national security.” It also argued that the government has inherent constitutional power to override national enactments like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Co-hosts Michael Smith and Heidi Boghosian caught up with Shane Kadidal and Michael Avery right after their three hour argument.
Mexico Election Protests and the Forming Of A Shadow Government
Post election street protests and tent cities come to a close in Mexico two months after the razor thing results. An election too close to call had both front running presidential candidates Felipe Calderon and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declaring themselves winners, based on their speeches and a number of private exit-polls. In the initial election count that ended July 3, Calderon had an advantage of more than 400 thousand votes or 1.04 percentage points over Lopez Obrador. For the past six weeks sprawling encampments filled the center of Mexico City. Obrador warned he will never acknowledge defeat and is forming a “shadow government.”
Guest – Jim Cockcroft – bilingual award winning author of more than 30 books and countless articles on Latin America, Mexico globalization, labor migration and public policy. Read Jim’s blog here.
No More Deaths – Border Activists Shanti Sellz/Daniel Strauss Case Dismissed.
Here at Law and Disorder we’ve been following the cases of Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz, two humanitarian aid activists who work at the Mexican border. More information here at No More Deaths. They provide food and water and if necessary medical assistance to people who are in need crossing the border. In July 2005, they were arrested for transporting three undocumented migrants to a hospital for emergency medical care – for a full background on the case listen to the Law and Disorder interview with Shanti and Daniel here. The case was set to go to trial this October but the judge has recently dropped the case. Co-host Dalia Hashad and WBAI’s Wake Up Call host Deepa Fernandes caught up with Shanti Sellz at the Arizona border.
September 23: Free the Cuban 5: Protest at the White House, DC
Join Law and Disorder hosts in Washington DC to protest the U.S. government releasing terrorist Luis Posada Carriles.
Civil Liberties, Extraordinary Rendition, Guantanamo, Supreme Court, Surveillance, Torture, Truth to Power
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Today on Law and Disorder, hosts take a look back at US governments’ domestic and international reaction to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, where an estimated 3000 perished. Stay with us as we begin with the targeting of Muslims and Arab/Americans then discuss the use of secret prisons, NSA spying, Guantanamo and war powers, the Authorization for Use of Military Force.
FBI Roundups, Profiling, Secret Sites, Presidential Powers
Roundup of Muslims – FBI to question 5000–immediate – Special Registration
Ashcroft lifting of FBI Guidelines
Detainee Treatment Act – more info on McCain amendment
Decision justifying torture
Brandon Mayfield
FBI Informant
Spying, NSA, Criminalizing Dissent, Patriot Act
2006 NSA spying—cases and victory
CCR case
EFF case
Broadening of wiretap provisions
Patriot Act – No sunset
Criminal cases—Lynne Stewart
We hear a preview from an interview with Shane Kadidal, attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and cooperating attorney Michael Avery, president of the National Lawyers Guild, right after arguing the case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights seeking to stop Bush and government agencies from conducting warrantless surveillance of international communications of people in the United States.
Guantanamo, Torture, Indefinite Detention, Renditions, Criminal Prosecutions
INS —secret hearings
Abu Gharib photos – Warning – graphic images on this link
Guantanamo – Amnesty Link
CCR link
Torture is not torture – 2004 Truthout story – Marjorie Cohn
Iraq/Afghanistan/ – War
AUMF — Authorization to Use Military Force – translation: Attack anything anywhere if president says it’s related to 9/11.
Attack Afghanistan 2002
Attack Iraq – 2003
Attack Lebanon – 2006
Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath – One Year Later
This week marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the category five monster hurricane that pounded the gulf coast killing more than 1300 people and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced. In New Orleans more than 200 thousand people have not been able to return home.
Environmental Human Rights also pose a serious risk as New Orleans residents have been urged by government agencies to move back into their homes. This, despite contaminants that have leached deep into the soil and mold in the air. According to Reuters, Asian tsunami relief workers who visited New Orleans this summer were shocked at the lack of recovery.
Guest – Attorney Jaribu Hill, Executive Director with the Mississippi Worker’s Center for Human Rights / Read Jaribu Hill’s Congressional Testimony here
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Guest – Cholene Espinoza, author of Through The Eye of The Storm – A Book Dedicated To Rebuilding What Katrina Washed Away. Cholene Espinoza was the second woman to fly the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in the U.S. Air Force She is also a Captain for United Airlines on the Airbus 320 and 319.
A Rare Report From Inside Lebanon During the Israeli Bombardment
It’s been more than two weeks since the UN cease-fire has been in effect on Israel’s month-long war that has the lives of 1300 Lebanese civilians. More residents in southern Lebanon have buried their dead. The largest funeral took place in Qana where an Israeli airstrike on the town in late July killed 29 people – the majority of them women and children. Border skirmishes continue as the truce is in its 15th day.
Guest – International Solidarity Movement founder Huwaida Arraf. She has spent the last few weeks in Lebanon establishing an international civilian presence and supporting Lebanese civilians in confronting the Israeli aerial bombardment in southern Lebanon.
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Federal Judge Says NSA Spying Unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled last week that the government’s warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate end to it. Taylor is the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the constitutional separation of powers.
So far, the Bush administration and the federal judge agreed to allow the program to hold off on enforcing the ruling for the time being, meanwhile the warrantless eavesdropping will probably continue.
Guest – Attorney Melissa Goodman with the National ACLU
Guest – Shane Kadidal, staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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Civil Liberties, Extraordinary Rendition, Supreme Court, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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State Secrets Panel – Center forState Secrets Panel – Center for Constitutional Rights
We bring the voices of lawyers who are suing the government for keeping state secrets. What is a state secrets privilege and why should we be concerned? State secrets have been used by the Bush administration to dismiss public interest lawsuits, such as when in April of this year the Electronic Frontier Foundation challenged the legality of the NSA’s domestic spying program or the wrongfully-accused and tortured victim Maher Arar who sought to sue Attorney General John Ashcroft for his role in deporting him to Syria to face torture and extract false confessions.
Most recent, the Justice Department moved to preempt the Center for Constitutional Rights challenge to warrantless domestic surveillance by invoking the state secrets privilege. The Bush Administration is arguing that CCR’s case could reveal secrets regarding U.S. national security, and thus the presiding judge must dismiss it without reviewing the evidence. We go now and listen to a segment of the State Secrets panel.
We play excerpts from a speech by Bill Goodman, legal director with the Center for Constitutional Rights where he’s led a team of attorneys challenging the worst excesses of the Bush administration since 9/11 and representing Guantanamo detainees before the Supreme Court. Bill Goodman was one of the first to take on the Patriot act and having a portion of it ruled unconstitutional. He also sued against private military contractors at Abu Garaib.
We also hear from Center for Constitutional Rights staff attorney Shane Kadidal. He breaks down the history of the state secrets privilege and how the Bush administration is using it. Shane has worked on a number of cases since September 11th, including working on two cases of citizens detained as enemy combatants and a case on behalf of a class of hundreds of immigrants held in detention long after their final deportation. He’s also counsel on CCRs pending challenge to the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program in CCR versus Bush.
Amnesty International’s General Meeting – Audio Collage
During this year’s Amnesty International’s General Meeting in Portland, Oregon, Law and Disorder co-host Dalia Hashad and producer Geoff Brady collected audio from various interviews, panels and rallies being held at the 2006 General Meeting.
In this recording many Amnesty International staff members and activists gathered to speak out, listen and share their stories. This is an audio compilation from the anti-torture rally in Portland’s historic Pioneer Square mixed and produced by Geoff Brady
Attorney Paul L. Mills on Tasers – Part III
In our last interview from the Law and Disorder Taser series, co-host Dalia Hashad talked with Paul L. Mills, attorney and co-director with L.A. Police Watch about how police misuse the Taser weapon, the case of a 33 year old man who while being handcuffed was stunned by police with a Taser and later died and the future of Taser include wireless implants into human beings.
Lynne Stewart – Part 2
Law and Disorder recently sat down with convicted civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart to talk about her health, her approaching sentencing this September and the details leading up to her indictment and conviction. We play the second part of that interview.
Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Key Ruling Ahead for Death Penalty as mentally ill death row inmate Willie Brown is scheduled for execution by lethal injection this Friday April 21st . Learn more about the issue here. U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard will decide if prison officials have resolved issues concerning the amount of pain involved in lethal injection. However, anesthesiologists may not be willing to participate. The professional code of ethics for doctors simply states that doctors are healers, not executioners. If Howard rules that the state of North Carolina must use an anesthesiologist and none are willing, the use of the death penalty may re-examined. Co-host Dalia Hashad joins the Law and Disorder hosts from her DC office. Please Visit the Amnesty International Online Action Center to express your concern and call on the governor to commute Willie Brown’s death sentence.
Guest – Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn – Director of the Program to Abolish the Death Penalty – Amnesty International USA.
In the months since Puerto Rican Independista Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was assassinated by the FBI, protesters are demonstrating in the streets against the lingering FBI presence in San Juan and other regions of Puerto Rico. Last month, federal agents executing search warrants on the homes of independentistas were captured on video pepper-spraying journalists covering the story, with seemingly little or no provocation, further fueling anti-FBI sentiment. On February 10th, the FBI executed six search warrants on independence movement leaders to prevent ”a potential domestic terrorist attack” against ”privately owned interests in Puerto Rico,” according to an FBI statement. Law and Disorder hosts update listeners on this under-reported story.
Guest – Charlie Hay-Mestre – Civil Rights Attorney in Puerto Rico and board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is also part of the investigating team looking into the murder of Filiberto Ojeda Rios.
NSA Spying on Attorneys – CCR attorney Shane Kadidal speaks with Law and Disorder hosts about the near certainty of the government eavesdropping on conversations with attorneys and clients at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Co-Host Michael Ratner updates listeners on the recent story of AT&T funneling all internet traffic through NSA. Read it here.
Guest – Shane Kadidal – Center for Constitutional Rights.
Co-host Michael Ratner references the Salon article – Read the Salon article here.
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Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Truth to Power
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Big surveillance plans in New York City
Wireless cameras over Brooklyn and a virtual “Ring of Steel” for Lower Manhattan – More than 500 surveillance cameras are planned to be installed in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Hundreds of cameras will follow if New York City secures an $81.5 million federal grant from Homeland Security. The grant would fund a London-style “Ring of Steel” around Manhattan’s financial district that includes metal walls, military style guard posts and another wave of hi-tech surveillance equipment. NYC subways will also be set up with more cameras.
Co-Host Heidi Boghosian caught up with Surveillance Camera Tour Guide Bill Brown in downtown Manhattan. They discuss the implications of Homeland Security funding a massive influx of hi-tech security surveillance systems in New York City. Brown points out how most media have not been informed of details surrounding this build up of cameras.
Jack Anderson Files
FBI desperately tries to obtain more than 180 boxes of notes and files from the late muckraking journalist Jack Anderson. Anderson who died last December from complications with Parkinson’s Disease, spent the last fifty years unearthing government misdeeds such as J.Edgar Hoover’s apparent ties to Mafia, the Savings and Loans scandal and the search for fugitive ex-Nazi officials in South America. Now, the Anderson family is in the process of transferring ownerships of the files to the George Washington University Library. The FBI would like to see them first however, the library and the Anderson family refuse.
The columnist’s son Kevin Anderson says the FBI expressed interest in documents that would aid the government’s case against two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, who have been charged with disclosing classified information. The FBI also told the family “they planned to remove from the columnist’s archive, which has yet to be catalogued, any document they come across that is stamped “secret” or “confidential.”
Guest – George Washington University Librarian – Jack Siggins. Siggins also tells Law and Disorder hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Ratner that the FBI had asked to obtain library records and emails from faculty, staff and students of George Washington Library. Hosts suspect this type of inquiry has occurred at libraries across the country.
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Blackwater USA Law Suit
The private security firm Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based private security company is being sued by four families of the private American security contractors who were ambushed by Sunni resistance in Falluja on March of 2004. Law and Disorder hosts speak with independent journalist Jeremy Scahill and attorney Marc Miles about the lawsuit. Read Jeremy Scahill’s investigative report in the Nation here.
From Jeremy Scahill’s article – “This is a precedent-setting case,” says Marc Miles, an attorney for the families. “Just like with tobacco litigation or gun litigation, once they lose that first case, they’d be fearful there would be other lawsuits to follow.”
Guest – Jeremy Scahill – Independent journalist who reports frequently for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!, has spent extensive time reporting from Iraq and Yugoslavia. He is currently at The Nation Institute on fellowship. He can be reached at jeremy@democracynow.org
Guest – Marc Miles – attorney for the families.
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We listen to a short segment of senior attorney Donald Goldberg with the Center for Environmental Justice describe how 40 percent of the Arctic Polar ice cap has melted in the last few years and subsequent warming has destroyed Inuit habitat. Human rights litigation is underway to protect the Inuit. Other speakers included Dr. James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Hansen makes the case that global climate change is at the tipping point and emissions from power plants and vehicles are mainly to blame. Law and Disorder will air more from this forum in the programs to come.
