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 June 26, 2006
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We hear excerpts from speeches delivered by co-hosts Michael Ratner and Michael Smith at the Left Forum this year. The Law and Disorder panel was named Ten Minutes To Midnight, a reference Michael Smith later explains as he parallels the current legislative and judicial direction of the US to similar police state tactics employed by Nazi Germany. In the second speech co-host Michael Ratner and president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, lays out a similar framework and cites recent supreme court decisions, the Patriot Act expansion and a weak kneed Congress as key stepping stones to a police state build-up.
Elaine Jones, retired president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Educational Fund
During Amnesty International’s General Meeting in Portland, Oregon, Co-host Dalia Hashad spoke with Elaine Jones, who worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Elaine Jones describes her early work on the Furman v. Georgia death penalty case in 1972 and lends inspiring words to young lawyers.
Suzanne Vega and Collective Soul at Amnesty’s Make Some Noise Concert
At the Amnesty International General Meeting in Oregon this year, co-host Dalia Hashad and producer Geoff Brady recorded a number of panels and interviews, among them were a number of musicians who volunteered for Amnesty’s Make Some Noise concert at the historic Roseland Theater. Dalia caught up with American songwriter and singer Suzanne Vega. Vega sat down for a Law and Disorder interview and spoke with Dalia about her music, human rights and expression these ideas through music.
We also hear a heart-felt interview with co-host Dalia Hashad as she talks with Ed Ryan and Joel Kosche from Collective Soul, the alternative post-grunge band from Stockbridge Georgia and one of the headliners at Amnesty’s Make Some Noise Concert at the Roseland Theater in Portland Oregon.
Law and Disorder June 19, 2006
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Lawsuits Filed Against NSA
Since its been revealed that the National Security Agency is amassing a colossal database of personal phone records have become public, there have been nearly 20 lawsuits filed against the NSA, AT&T and other telecommunication companies. Here on Law and Disorder we take a look at some recent lawsuits, one involving the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights. We also discuss recent bills proposed in the Senate designed to change the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, read more about it here.
Guest – Shane Kadidal lead attorney at CCR on the NSA cases. Read Shane’s latest commentary here.
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Tasers – Part II
This year Amnesty International released a report on Tasers. (download PDF here) The report also looks at the systematic misuse of tasers by police and in prisons. It points out that there is a widespread policy of using tasers as a routine compliance tool on subjects who are passively resisting or “perceived” to not be complying with orders. Taser misuse is increasingly linked with unnecessary punishment, degradation and torture. In part I of the Taser series, Law and Disorder hosts spoke with Ed Jackson. (listen here) This week we go to Portland, Oregon where during Amnesty International’s General Annual Meeting, co-host Dalia Hashad caught up with Amnesty International spokeswoman and Taser expert Mona Cadena in Pioneer Square.
Guest – Mona Cadena – Amnesty International spokeswoman and Taser expert.
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Law and Disorder Hosts Visit Political Prisoners – A Discussion
Co-hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith talked about their recent visits with political prisoners Mumia Abu- Jamal and David Gilbert. Heidi talks about her visit with Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row in Waynesburg, Pennsylvannia and the the National Lawyers Guild’s plan to file an Amicus Brief in Mumia’s case.
Gilbert was a founding member of Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society and member of The Weather Underground Organization. Following eleven years underground he was arrested with members of the Black Liberation Army and other radicals following a botched armored car robbery in 1981. He is now a well-known prisoner serving time in upstate New York. Read more about David Gilbert here.
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A rare interview with Amnesty International’s former Executive Director William Schulz
Co-host Dalia Hashad interviews Bill Schulz at Pioneer Square before the anti-torture rally. We also listen to Bill Schulz deliver an inspiring outgoing speech during the rally. This is part of hours of amazing audio interviews and speeches from the Amnesty General Meeting, stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.