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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 January 25, 2021
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- GTMO Commentary By Lawyers Guild Show Host Jim Lafferty
Brian Becker on Inauguration Protests, Security and Reform
Americans have protested incoming presidents throughout history, starting in the 19th century. Four years ago, thousands descended on the nation’s capital this to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration, and more than 200 were arrested. The day before President Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913, up to 8,000 women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in what one historian says was likely the first large-scale inauguration protest. The suffragists, who’d gotten a parade permit, were pushed, spat upon, and beaten. Many women were hospitalized, and the treatment of the women led to the firing of the capital’s police chief.
In 1969, anti-war protesters threw burning miniature flags and stones at police during Richard Nixon’s inauguration. During Nixon’s 1973 inauguration, a ‘massive anti-war protest was staged at the Lincoln Memorial, with an estimated 100,000 people were present and participated in a “March against Death.” 80 Congressmen joined the demonstrations and boycotted the inaugural ceremonies.
The demonstrations at Bush’s inauguration in 2001 were the first major protests at a presidential inauguration since the protests against Nixon in 1969 and 1973. At least 20,000 people demonstrated in the capital and along the inaugural parade route in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore. “Selected not elected” and “Hail to the thief” were some of the slogans on signs at the protest. Four years later, more than 1,000 demonstrators were at Bush’s inauguration, largely to protest the Iraq war, as the president was sworn in for his second term.
Two weeks before the Biden inauguration, Trump-loving lawbreakers ransacked the Capitol building. Combined with the COVID pandemic, last week’s inauguration was pared down, and a ring of law enforcement encircled the metropolis.
Guest – Brian Becker, director of the ANSWER Coalition and host of The Socialist Program podcast.
A Path Forward: Professor Jack Rasmus
The word “chaos“ best describes the current American situation. Public health, an economic disaster, institutional racism, and political turbulence were rampant as Trump vacated the White House. America leads the world in the number of COVID-19 cases. The number of deaths, which are now over 400,000, are mounting rapidly.
The economy is in terrible shape.. Perhaps 20 million people are unemployed. Small businesses are shuttered. Millions face eviction. Hunger is rampant, especially among children. What does the future hold? Are we really free of Trump and Trumpism? What will Biden do?
Centrist Democrats like Biden, since the remaking of the Democratic Party beginning with neo-liberal Clinton, have not vigorously defended the social gains secured in the 1930s with the Roosevelt New Deal. Will Biden defend these? Will he extend them?
Can he do this by governing from the center?What does his proposed $1.9 trillion rescue package consist of? Will Bidens proposals hold up in Congress? Is there more needed?
Guest – Dr. Jack Rasmus, he holds a PhD in political economy and teaches at Saint Mary’s College in California. Professor Rasmus has written numerous books and articles on economics and is the host of the weekly radio show “ Alternative Visions“ on the Progressive Radio Network.
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Law and Disorder January 18, 2021
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Joanne Page: The Fortune Society
Each year in the United States, more than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons. A staggering 6.9 million people are on probation, in jail, in prison, or on parole. On top of that, an additional nine million persons cycle through local jails.
As grim as these numbers are, more sobering is the fact that more than two-thirds of prisoners are rearrested within 3 years of their release. Half of those are reincarcerated.
Why is this recidivism rate so high? It has much to do with the failure of re-entry support programs. We have the world’s largest carceral state but no effective support system for people finishing their sentences and re-entering society. Consequently, crime rates soar, more individuals are victims of crime, families and communities suffer when we fail to deal with the consequences of over-incarceration. When reentry fails, the costs are high — more crime, more victims, and more pressure on already-strained state and municipal budgets. There is also more family distress and community instability. Community reintegration impacts several larger areas such as community health, education, employment, family relationships and housing.
In every aspect, failure to support recently released individuals is costly to society.
Guest – JoAnne Page is the President and CEO of the NY-based Fortune Society. Policymakers and researchers frequently cite the organization for its pioneering work. A graduate of Yale Law School, Page cultivated and created many of Fortune’s signature programs including substance abuse treatment, counseling, family services, HIV/AIDS health services, mental health programs, job training and employment services, parenting initiatives, and supportive and permanent housing. Page is a leading authority on issues including prison reform, solitary confinement, wrongful convictions, the over-incarceration of young men of color, sentencing reform, violence prevention, homeless housing, effective policing strategies, legislation, sex offender registries, and more.
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Alison Cornyn: The Incorrigibles
People in America are currently living through multiple crises. The economy is in tatters with unemployment very high. The health situation is a disaster with over a third of 1 million people dead from Covid and tens of millions uninsured.
The educational system has been ravaged, underfunded, inflicted with charter schools. Billionaire right-wing secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has only recently resigned. Almost half of the population is living in poverty. Families are in bad shape with suicides, drug addiction, and divorces soaring. Many don’t have enough food and homelessness is rapidly increasing. All this within the framework of a divided society, deeply impacted by racism.
How does this affect young people? And especially rebellious teenage girls? What laws apply to young people? How are they treated in a criminal justice system, historically and currently? What do we know about the level of abuse and neglect including sexual abuse?
Guest – Alison Cornyn, is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist, activist, and educator. She has focused her career on social justice issues. A special interest of Allison Cornyn’s has been the criminal justice system treatment of “wayward” teenage girls. She has focused her career on social justice issues and teaches in New York at the School of Visual Art’s Design for Social Innovation Program.
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Law and Disorder January 11, 2021
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Hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith interviewed some of Michael Ratner’s closest friends and colleagues as part of a special broadcast highlighting Michael Ratner’s legal work and mentorship. The special also marked the upcoming release of Michael Ratner’s autobiography Moving The Bar: My Life As A Radical Lawyer published by OR Books. In this one hour taken from the two hour fundraiser broadcast, we hear from attorneys including Eleanor Stein, Richard Levy, Ray Brescia, David Cole and Baher Azmy.
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Michael Ratner’s pathbreaking legal and political work is unmatched. He provided crucial support for the Cuban Revolution and won the seminal case in the Supreme Court guaranteeing the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees. Michael also challenged U.S. policy in Iraq, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Israel-Palestine. This book is a testament to his unflagging efforts on behalf of the poor and oppressed around the world.
– Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Michael Ratner personified lawyering that brought both radical and human values into challenges to the use of governmental power to violate the essence of the Bill of Rights. From the torture of prisoners after 911 to the massive racial profiling by the New York Police Department, Michael’s voice and vision continue to resonate. This book provides a powerful testament to the spirit of this extraordinary man.
– Attorney Bill Goodman
