Welcome to Law and Disorder Radio
Law and Disorder is a weekly independent civil liberties radio program airing on more than 150 stations and on Apple podcast. Law and Disorder provides timely legal perspectives on issues concerning civil liberties, privacy, right to dissent and practices of torture exercised by the US government and private corporations.
Law and Disorder March 12, 2018
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Victory: West Virginia Teachers’ Strike
After nine days on strike, the West Virginia governor and the state legislature caved, granting the teachers and all school staff a 5% wage increase. The pay raise also covers all state employees.
In an attempt to save face the Republicans talked about funding the pay increase by cutting social services and Medicaid. But there is no such wording in the agreement that was signed by the West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers , the two workers organizations.
One strike supporter in West Virginia stated that “At this point the teachers and school staff have all the momentum and they can fight to make sure the funds for the raise come from the rich, not working people when the budget is eventually passed. Strikers here are ecstatic, people are literally hugging strangers, and whipping enjoy. It’s in a stark victory for the working class. Hopefully it will be the first of many to come.”
The strike was caused by decades of stagnating pay and rising health costs. 3/4 of the teachers are women.They played leading roles in the strike. West Virginia, especially its southern counties, have a history of militancy, Especially in the coal mines. Teacher job actions and walkouts spread from these very same southern counties.
The West Virginia teachers have shown Americans what it takes to win a strike. This is especially important when the anticipated Supreme Court ruling in the Janus case comes down. That ruling will likely reduce the power of public employee unions by taking away their right to collect dues.
Guest – Dale Lee is a graduate of Clinch Valley College (Wise, VA) and obtained his special education certification through the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies (WV COGS). He is completing his Master’s degree through Salem International University. A veteran teacher of 22 years, Dale’s assignment was teaching special education at Princeton Senior High School
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Law Firm Files 911 Terror Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia
Nearly sixteen years have passed since the 911 attacks. The truth of who was behind the attacks has allegedly come out in a class action lawsuit brought by over 6500 victims and survivors. The lawsuit alleges that it was elements of the Saudi Arabian government that attacked the United States on 9/11. The Defendant in the lawsuit is Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government hired 15 public relations firms to help them deny responsibility. They hired several Washington white shoe high powered connected law firms They hid behind the law of sovereign immunity, which had to be overturned by an act of Congress in order for the lawsuit to proceed. They were helped by the US government in the cover-up by the Bush and Obama administrations.
After more than sixteen years the case is now proceeding rapidly through the Federal courts and will either be dismissed, settled or tried. The object of the lawsuit is to obtain money explained Sharon Pemboli, one of the plaintiffs and leaders of a group of women from New Jersey known as “the Jersey girls” who lobbied to win passage of the law which made the lawsuit possible. She believes that if the Saudi Arabian government is deprived of funds it will not be able to fund Al Qaeda and the extremist Wahhabi clergy responsible for supporting the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
The American public has been led to believe mistakenly that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were behind 911. The attack on Iraq was a war of aggression. At the end of World War II, the United States set up the Nuremberg trials to try Nazi war criminals. They wanted to set forth principles that were not merely “victor’s justice.“ At the Nuremberg trials the Germans were found guilty of starting a war of aggression, which was called the greatest of all crimes because it has contained within it all other crimes.
Guest – Attorney Justin Green, Justin has successfully represented families in many major aviation cases. These include airline disasters, corporate airplane and helicopter accidents, and civil airplane and helicopter accidents. His practice has also included personal injury and wrongful death cases arising from other transportation accidents.
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Lynne Stewart Anniversary 2018
Hosts remember fearless activist and attorney Lynne Stewart. Heidi reads an excerpt from Michael’s yet to be published Lawyers You’ll Like. We’ll also hear a powerful speech by Chris Hedges delivered at Lynne’s memorial.
Law and Disorder March 5, 2018
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If you’ve attended NYC protests over the past few years you might have seen a group of women that stand out from the crowd. A lot of credit is given to younger generations for their increasing presence in marches and protests, but this group is made up of women who have been protesting for decades. They call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade. The name is fitting in every way as the group is comprised of all older women who have been at the forefront of many anti-war, anti-military and counter recruitment movements.
After a group of them were arrested at the Times Square recruitment center in 2005, they made their official debut as the Granny Peace Brigade to defend their civil rights in court. In the next 13 years as new members joined, their message only grew louder. In conjunction with other groups over time, such as Code Pink and the Raging Grannies, the Granny Peace Brigade has worked to denounce and resist both local and global militarism, war and endless devastation to civilian life. Granny Peace Brigade Blog
Guests – Joan Plune and Barbara Harris, two longstanding members of the Granny Peace Brigade.
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In 1989, an exhibition at the American Craft Museum offered a new appraisal of quilts in this country suggesting that quilting derives from African design, and even reflects the improvisational nature of the music of Africa.
Historians Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard claim that African American slaves may have used a quilt code to navigate the Underground Railroad. Such patterns as the “wagon wheel,” “tumbling blocks,” and “bear’s paw” were passed down from one generation to another, and seem to have held secret messages to assist in guiding slaves to freedom.
Sara Trail began sewing at age four and by 11 she was teaching others to sew. In 2012, Treyvon Martin was murdered in Florida. They were the same age, 17, and his death stirred in her a need to do something on behalf of social justice. She created an oversize portrait quilt of Treyvon and gave it to his mother at a Black Lives Matters event.
Sara began to study ways to apply her talent at sewing to social justice given its importance as a tradition during slavery. She saw the potential in quilting to encourage discussions about current social issues.
A grant from UC Berkeley for a 6-week summer program serving high school students of color from the Bay Area, helped her create the Social Justice Sewing Academy.
Guest – Sara Trail, Sara dedicates her art practice to social justice reform and created SJSA in efforts to engage students and activists across the United States who share a common vision of equity and justice. She uses art as a vehicle for motivation and awareness while providing people a platform to create activist art through fabric textiles. She encourages people to become artivists [art + activist] and designs community social justice quilts as a tool for social critique and action.
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Law and Disorder February 26, 2018
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The Freedom Fast and Time’s Up Wendy’s March
Immokalee, Florida was the site of some of the most brutal human rights atrocities in the United States. One third of all the nation’s tomatoes are grown there. Since 1997, the Justice Department has prosecuted seven slavery cases in Florida, four involving tomato harvesters. More than 1,200 persons have been freed from agricultural slavery rings in Florida during the last 10 to 15 years.
Workers report brutal beatings, being shackled in chains at night, not receiving regular pay, and having to share small quarters with dozens of others in a mobile home for $200.00 a month. They work without breaks, in the beating sun for 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
In 1993 a small group of workers who had been meeting in a church founded the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Their mission was to improve the lives of tomato pickers in Southern Florida. After years of organizing in Immokalee, the Coalition launched its first boycott of a national of a fast food company—Taco Bell—in 2001. Four years later, the company agreed to support wage increases and workplace protections for tomato pickers. Since then, food corporations, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Whole Foods, Subway, and Walmart have followed suit. Today, 14 of the world’s largest food retailers and restaurants have signed fair food agreements with the CIW.
In May the Coalition will receive the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives and/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism for their continued efforts to protect the rights of agricultural workers, prevent involuntary servitude, and create a food supply chain that is fair from bottom to top.
Guest – Lupe Gonzalo is a senior staff member and leader of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). She has worked in the agricultural fields of the United States for the last 12 years as a migrant farmworker, including in the harvesting of tomatoes, citrus, peppers, and many other vegetables and fruits. As part of the Fair Food Program education team, Lupe and her colleagues conduct workers’ rights education in seven states along the East Coast throughout the year
Guest – Patricia Cipollitti, Patricia organizes alongside faith communities as part of her staff role within the Alliance for Fair Food. The Alliance for Fair Food is a national network of people working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for farmworker justice.
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The Prometheus Radio Project And LPFM
Where do you turn on your radio dial to hear diverse viewpoints, community voices, or even local musicians? If you’re like thousands across the country you might tune into Low Power FM or LPFM noncommercial broadcast stations. They operate at a lower transmission power and serve smaller areas than full power stations.
In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission launched the low power FM radio service, opening up an opportunity for community radio broadcasting in more than two decades. LPFM’s broadcast from 10 to 100 watts and are run by non-profit organizations, unions, schools, churches, and other local, non-commercial organizations. Today there are more than 800 low power radio stations on the air, committing to giving 8 hours a day of air time to local voices.
Law and Disorder is thrilled to be carried on several LPFM stations but it hasn’t been an easy road. Early on, corporate sponsored big broadcasters have pushed Congress to limit low power radio as soon as it started. Fortunately, The Prometheus Radio Project fought for years to support the Local Community Radio Act that would return authority to the FCC, and allow them to license low power stations in cities for the first time.
Guest – Paul Bane got hooked on Grassroots Radio by listening to Boulder’s KGNU in the mid 90’s. That also led him into activism for global economic dignity in the “Seattle-era” street movement. Along the way he also stood against police brutality, for an end of racism toward Native Americans and others, an end of media bias including that at NPR, of discrimination and dehumanization aimed at women, LGBT, and undocumented immigrants. When he co-founded Grassroots Radio station KRFC between 1997 and 2003, he also co-founded its news collective. After chatting with Prometheus at Grassroots Radio Coalition conferences for a decade or so and leaving his Fortune 100 R&D job, Paul volunteered at Prometheus in 2010 and is currently our nerdiest engineer. His electrical engineering degree and ham radio experience comes in handy for FCC application engineering, station design, construction and troubleshooting. Paul also created and maintains the free-to-use RFree software to make application engineering easier.
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