Blogspot: Friends of Peltier


Time to set him free... Because it's the RIGHT thing to do!

A Component of www.FreePeltierNow.org

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Let Us Return: The Chagos Islanders tell their story

Let Us Return is a short documentary told by the Chagos Islanders about their expulsion from their homeland and their fight to return home.

Between the late 1960's and the early 1970's the entire Chagos Archipelago was cleared of its native population by the British Government so the American Navy could build a base on the largest island, Diego Garcia. Today, nearly 50 years after these events the Chagossian community still lives a life of suffering and sadness. Today they are campaigning to return to their homeland. This film tells their current story about the effects of the past and their desire to return.

The film consists of 25 interviews shot with the Chagossian community living in the UK between 2014 and 2015 and provides a unique insight into the traumatic events the community suffered during their deportation and the gross breach of human rights by the British Government that has still not been corrected to this day.

A film by Andy Marsh and the Chagossian community of the UK. To learn more, visit chagossupport.org.uk.

Watch:  https://intercontinentalcry.org/let-us-return/



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Six Nations Oppose Lack Of Boundary Adjustment Consultation

Six Nations members let Brantford and Brant politicians know just how upset they are with a lack of consultation over boundary adjustment negotiations during a recent public meeting. Lester Green, a member of the Men’s Fire whose traditional name is Lonukwisles of Oneida’s Bear Clan, told Brantford Mayor Chris Friel and Brant Mayor Ron Eddy in front of hundreds of residents last Thursday that they have a responsibility to keep more than the Six Nations elected council in the loop.

More:  http://www.brantnews.com/news-story/6249278-six-nations-oppose-lack-of-boundary-adjustment-consultation/


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Beekeeper Who Sounded Alarm on Colony Collapse Disorder Loses 90 Percent of His Hives

David Hackenberg and Bret Adee, along with other beekeepers, farmers, and sustainable agriculture and conservation groups, filed a lawsuit in the early part of January 2016, challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's inadequate regulation of the neonicotinoid insecticide seed coatings used on dozens of crops.

More:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34589-beekeeper-who-sounded-alarm-on-colony-collapse-disorder-loses-90-of-his-hives


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Infographic: How Private Prison Companies Rake In Profits From Our Criminal Legal System

A new, illustrated look at the prison industry shows that private companies profit from nearly every function of the US criminal legal system. The industry's scope is vast: Companies perform functions like prison operation and immigrant detention, and even GPS ankle monitoring and residential re-entry.

More:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34578-how-private-prison-companies-rake-in-profits-from-our-criminal-legal-system


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Saturday, January 30, 2016

UN WGE on People of African Descent- Press Conference

Yesterday, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held their press conference releasing their preliminary findings from their US visit that concluded yesterday.

The preliminary findings covered a lot of ground. The Working Group indicated that it will release its final report in September 2016.

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Welcome to America — Now Spy on Your Friends

When Muslim immigrants apply to become citizens, they often find the process delayed for years without explanation. Then, when they are at wit’s end, they get a visit from the FBI, with an offer they don’t dare refuse.

More:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/talalansari/welcome-to-america-now-spy-on-your-friends#.xx155BoAm


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Documents Uncover NYPD's Vast License Plate Reader Database

With these stories firmly in mind, the New York Civil Liberties Union's latest license plate reader discovery is all the more chilling. Last year, we learned that the NYPD was hoping to enter into a multi-year contract that would give it access to the nationwide database of license plate reader data owned by the company Vigilant Solutions. Now, through a Freedom of Information Law request, the NYCLU has obtained the final version of the $442,500 contract and the scope-of-work proposal that gives a peek into the ever-widening world of surveillance made possible by Vigilant.

More:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mariko-hirose-/documents-uncover-nypds-v_b_9070270.html


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Impact Of Confederation On Aboriginal People And Governance

Then Jody Wilson-Raybould was elected in the 2015 federal election for Vancouver Granville and sworn in as Minister of Justice of Canada on November 4, she became the first aboriginal person to hold that position. Wilson-Raybould is of the We Wai Kai Nation and a descendant of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach peoples, who are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw and Kwak’wala speaking peoples. On January 23, she participated in her first public speech in her role as Justice Minister as part of SFU's three-part series Being the Change: Women, Policy, and Making a Difference.

More:  http://www.straight.com/news/623701/jody-wilson-raybould-explains-impact-confederation-aboriginal-people-and-governance


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Obama moves to restrict solitary confinement in the federal prison system

Citing the Kalief Browder suicide, the president late Monday announced significant reforms within the Bureau of Prisons that could affect thousands of inmates. Solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody is now banned. Guards are also now banned from using isolated detention as punishment for inmates who commit “low-level” infractions and the feds say they’ll increase care for mentally ill prisoners. The Washington Post Related: In op-ed announcing new policy, the president in personal tones also pushes for sentencing legislation. The Washington Post More: Here’s the new DOJ report on solitary confinement. Department of Justice


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Support Indigenous Peoples' Day In Colorado!

State Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat from Thornton, said, "Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day is a small part in restoring just a little bit of our humanity and honoring people who still exist today despite past attempts to wipe them off the planet."

Sign the Petition:  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/support-indigenous-peoples


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Rising Crime? Not so Fast.

The Brennan Center’s preliminary analysis of 2015 crime trends has become an authoritative resource for news outlets discussing recent crime statistics. The analysis, which showed that anecdotal reports of rising crime are not supported by comprehensive data, was referenced by The New York Times in a story about a 2 percent drop in major felonies last year in New York City. “As reflected in the reported levels of the most serious types of crime, the city in 2015 was as safe as it had been in its modern history,” the paper said. In fact, “crime rates in America’s largest cities have remained the same since 2014 and are projected to decrease by 5.5 percent by year’s end,” Politico noted in an article detailing the Center’s updated December analysis. Read more in BuzzFeed, The Christian Science Monitor, Mother Jones, NPR, The Washington Post and The Washington Times. Also read the recent FBI crime data with similar results.



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Criminal Justice Reform at Forefront of 2016 Agendas

In the first minute of his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called on members of Congress to “work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform.” The remark was a nod to the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which is pending before Congress. In an op-ed following the speech for The Guardian, Inimai Chettiar wrote it was “unprecedented” for a president “to stand before the American people and call on Congress to pass legislation to reduce imprisonment.”

Last week, more than 70 police chiefs and prosecutors wrote to congressional leaders urging passage of the bill. And yesterday, a congressional panel tasked with recommending ways to improve America’s federal corrections system suggested reforming mandatory minimum sentencing practices. Meanwhile, governors of Illinois, Iowa, New York and New Jersey have all recently noted the need to change the criminal justice system. For example, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who is also running for the GOP presidential nomination, is making a push to steer nonviolent offenders toward drug treatment and away from imprisonment. Read more in The Wall Street Journal.

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15,000 Abandoned Uranium Mines Protested At DC EPA Headquarters

Tommy Rock, a member of Diné No Nukes and graduate student from the state of Arizona stated that the water crisis in Flint, Michigan was extremely similar to a crisis near the Navajo Nation in Sanders, AZ. "The regulatory agencies are responding by sending the Army National Guard to provide bottle water for the community of Flint. However, the small community of Sanders which is also predominantly an Indigenous community that is off the reservation are not receiving the same response from the state regulatory agency or the state legislatures and the media,” stated Rock who worked on a recent study that uncovered levels of uranium in the drinking water system of residents and an elementary school in Sanders that violated the drinking water standard for uranium. Rock continues, “The same can be said about two Lakota reservations. They are Pine Ridge and Rock Creek, Standing Rock Reservation that have not received any assistance from regulatory agencies.

More:  http://www.cleanupthemines.org/press-release-we-are-the-miners-canary-indigenous-organizations-call-for-clean-up-of-homegrown-radioactive-pollution-crisis/


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Join Global Wave Of Resistance To Keep Coal, Oil + Gas In Ground

From 7–15 May, 2016 we are mobilising to keep fossil fuels in the ground and accelerate a just transition to 100% renewable energy and a sustainable future for all. After the Climate Summit in Paris we need to redouble efforts to end the use of destructive fossil fuels and choose a clean and just energy future. This May we hope to see more people than ever commit to joining actions that disrupt the industry’s power by targeting the world’s most dangerous and unnecessary fossil fuel projects, and supporting the most ambitious climate solutions.

More:  http://breakfree2016.org


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America’s Lead Poisoning Isn’t Just In Flint. It’s Everywhere.

The city of Flint, Michigan, is in the midst of a terrible and rightly shocking lead poisoning crisis. The number of kids testing positive for elevated lead levels in their bloodstreams has doubled in the past few years, after the city switched to a new, cheaper water source. This is an extreme case, but the problem of lead exposure among children is not a local Flint story. If you look at public health data, you begin to realize two things. The first is that it's actually really hard to get good data on which kids do and don't experience lead exposure, and which parents should worry about the issue.

More:  http://www.vox.com/2016/1/21/10811004/lead-poisoning-cities-us/in/10563335


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If Paris Changed Everything, Why Are We Still Talking Pipelines?

With the December Paris climate agreement, leaders and experts from around the world showed they overwhelmingly accept that human-caused climate change is real and, because the world has continued to increase fossil fuel use, the need to curb and reduce emissions is urgent. In light of this, I don't get the current brouhaha over Kinder Morgan, Keystone XL, Northern Gateway or the Energy East pipelines. Why are politicians contemplating spending billions on pipelines when the Paris commitment means 75 to 80 percent of known fossil fuel deposits must be left in the ground?

More:  http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/david-suzuki/2016/01/if-paris-changed-everything-why-are-we-still-talking-pipelines


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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Feb. 6: International Day of Solidarity with Leonard Peltier

February 6th marks the 40th year of imprisonment of Leonard Peltier.  Events have been scheduled in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe.

Calendar of Events, International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee:  http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/events/events-2016-internatl-day-of-solidarity-with-leonard-peltier/


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A push to reduce the federal prison population by 60,000 over ten years

Buttressing the support for sentencing reform on Capitol Hill, a new report from the Charles Colson Task Force, a bipartisan group authorized by Congress, urges restrictions on the use of mandatory minimum sentences and endorses “second look” review by judges for inmates who have served 15 years in confinement.

More:  http://www.npr.org/2016/01/26/464292207/federal-task-force-recommends-reducing-number-of-inmates-by-60-000-in-10-years

Read the Report:

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North Dakota Approves Massive Oil Pipeline

North Dakota regulators approved the siting permit for a massive crude oil pipeline. The multibillion dollar pipeline that would transport thousands of barrels of Bakken crude is now one step closure to construction.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,168-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline, backed by Texas based Energy Transfer Partners. If built the pipeline would begin in western North Dakota near Stanley and would end near Patoka, Ill.

The Dakota Access Pipeline would transport as much as 450,000 barrels of oil per day with a future capacity of 570,000 barrels per day. Its proposed route would also cross the Cannon Ball River on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and over the Missouri River, posing a serious threat to water sources in the area.

Iowa is the only state left to approve its permit for construction

More:  https://intercontinentalcry.org/north-dakota-approves-massive-oil-pipeline/


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Mr. Obama’s Pardon Problem

The lack of resources is only part of a deeper problem, which is that the pardon office is caught in an incurable institutional conflict. The deputy attorney general has authority to review the pardon attorney’s clemency recommendations, and federal prosecutors generally have little interest in revisiting or undoing the department’s convictions. As one former pardon attorney put it, the prosecutors are “determinedly and irreconcilably hostile” to clemency.

This conflict has stymied presidents for decades, but Mr. Obama is under no obligation to leave the process in prosecutors’ hands. He can end this blockage either by running the pardon office directly out of the White House or by appointing an independent commission, as several states have done to improve and streamline their clemency processes.

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/opinion/mr-obamas-pardon-problem.html


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Monday, January 25, 2016

Call to Action for Leonard Peltier

Call to Action from the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

Two weeks on and still no relief for Leonard Peltier! Leonard Peltier is faced with a very life threatening, fast growing aortic abdominal aneurysm. Have you sent a letter to the federal Bureau of Prisons? You may send a letter or fax daily asking them to transfer him to a proper hospital capable of handling this sort of emergency. Please, in the name of common decency and human rights, write today. To fax, you can use these free online faxing se...rvices: https://faxzero.com (US) or https://faxzero.com/international (International). Please make reference to Leonard Peltier #89637-132, currently at USP Coleman I.


Warden Tamyra Jarvis
USP Coleman I
846 NE 54th Terrace
Sumterville, FL 33521
Fax: 352-689-6012

Helen J. Marberry
RO Southeast Regional Office
3800 Camp Crk. Pk. SW
Bldg 2000
Atlanta, GA 30331
Fax: 678-686-1229

Office of the Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534
Fax: 202-514-6620


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Last Week in Indian Country

A school shooting in remote Saskatchewan, Hollywood debuts, and a tragic trophy killing were highlights this week in Indian country, with the release of The Revenant, the Presidential State of the Union speech, and—coming full circle—the senseless slaughter of an elk nicknamed Hollywood for his movie-star appeal. Almost lost in the shuffle were a historic land deal and a departed, influential poet. Let’s get to it.

HORROR AT SCHOOL: In an occurrence rare to this part of Turtle Island, a gunman opened fire on Friday January 22 at La Loche Community School in La Loche, Saskatchewan, Canada, a largely indigenous town adjoining Clearwater River Dene Nation. Four people were killed, including a teacher, and a 17-year-old student is in custody. At least two were critically injured in a tragedy that has shaken all of Canada. The story continues to unfold.

HELD RESPONSIBLE: Meanwhile, related to another school shooting, the father of the student who gunned down five friends, including two cousins—four of whom died—at school on the Tulalip Nation in 2014 has been sentenced to two years in prison and three years probation for firearms violations. One of the guns that 42-year-old Raymond Lee Fryberg Jr. owned, a Beretta PX4 Storm pistol, was used by his 15-year-old son Jaylen Fryberg in the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School on October 24, 2014. Jaylen died as well.

REVENGE AND REDEMPTION: The Revenant continued to be hotly debated in Indian country. While the movie was pretty much historically accurate in its depiction of Native people and the climate of the times, it falls short of being a game-changer, according to one take. Others said it was “not for the fainthearted,” though lauded the stunning cinematography. Still another commentary said it remakes movie mythology.

MORE HOLLYWOOD: Charles H. Red Corn’s novel of murder in oil-rich 1920’s Osage Country, A Pipe for February, has been greenlighted for production as a feature film. Set in 1924 Pawhuska, the story is told from the perspective of an Osage tribal member, the fictitious John Grayeagle, who along with his family and friends tries to escape from individuals preying on the tribes’ newfound wealth due to the discovery of oil reserves on their land. Meanwhile, another major feature film, about heroism in the Benghazi incident in which Chris Stevens, Chinook, was killed, profiles him as the true hero of that tragedy, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi notwithstanding.

TOP OF THE HEAP: The Skaná Spa at Turning Stone resort—owned by Indian Country Today Media Network’s parent company—has been rated the third-best spa in the world by Spas of America.

ARTIFACTS HELD HOSTAGE: As the occupation of a building in the Malheur Wildlife Refuge by an armed group entered its third week, the Burns Paiute Tribe asked the federal government to take action to save the 4,000 artifacts that are essentially being held hostage. The tribe demanded federal action under both the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 and a "protection against bad men” provision in the treaty the tribe signed with the United States in 1868.

ELK MURDERERS SOUGHT: An elk known as Hollywood for his willingness to have his photo taken by his many fans was found decapitated on the J.T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve on the Cherokee Nation. Rewards totaling in the thousands of dollars are being offered as the perpetrators are sought for the illegal taking in what was clearly a trophy hunt.

‘RE-PETE’: Pete Kaiser won a second consecutive Kuskokwim 300 dogsled race on January 17, completing the 300-mile course from Bethel to Aniak and back in 40 hours 36 minutes and 21 seconds—8 minutes ahead of Brent Sass of Eureka. Kaiser, Yup’ik, took home $25,000; he also won the Best in the West award.

STATE OF THE UNION: American Indian college students Lydia Doza, Inupiaq/Tsimshian/Haida, and Carielle Bahe, Navajo, attended President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address on January 12. Doza was invited by the White House and sat in First Lady Michelle Obama’s box, while Bahe, the guest of Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., watched from the House of Representatives gallery. They rated the address as “inspirational” and “optimistic.”

HEATING UP, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY: No sooner had a new study come out saying that First Nation fisheries in British Columbia could be devastated in coming years by climate change, than U.S. agencies announced that 2015 was the warmest year on record. Both NOAA and NASA both attributed the rising temperatures to human activity.

LAND REGAINED: The Isleta Pueblo regained 90,151 acres of land, or 140 square miles known as the Comanche Ranch, into federal trust, adding 50 percent to the size of the reservation.

SUING TO VOTE: Seven people who were shut out of voting in 2014 in North Dakota due to a new state law about proving identity have sued in federal court. Native voters who were disenfranchised in 2014 filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s recently enacted limitations on the types of documents that can be used to obtain a ballot.

POET WALKS ON: Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón, a master at code switching, walked on at age 61. He “took the staple of Indian poetry we call code switching to a whole other level,” noted Steve Russell in memoriam.

PLANET-PALOOZA: Turtle Island has a chance to catch a pre-dawn glimpse of five planets arrayed in an arc across the eastern sky for the next couple of weeks. The spectacle goes through February 20, but the best time to see the lineup of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury—rising in that order, starting around 9:20p.m. Eastern Time with Jupiter—is the last week in January and the first week in February. Such an alignment has not been seen since 2005.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/01/24/week-was-big-stories-indian-country-january-24-2016-163177


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Did the Man I Sentenced to 18 Years Deserve It?

The tragedy of mass incarceration has recently focused much attention on the need to reform three-strikes laws, mandatory minimums and the federal-sentencing guidelines, which often direct judges to impose excessive sentences. We also need a mechanism for judges to re-evaluate the sentences they’ve imposed.

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/opinion/sunday/did-i-sentence-a-murderer-or-a-cooperative-witness.html


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Aboriginal Brass Band Offers Burst of Hope in a Bleak Community

A band created while Yarrabah, an Aboriginal community in Australia, was under mission rule and fell silent after the mission closed in the 1960s, has recently found new life.

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/world/australia/brass-band-revives-bright-spot-from-yarrabahs-oppressive-past.html


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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Native Americans: 'We Are The Miner's Canary'

From January 25-28, 2016 Indigenous representatives from the Northern Great Plains & Southwest will be in the District of Columbia (DC) to raise awareness about radioactive pollution, an invisible national crisis. Millions of people in the United States are being exposed as Nuclear Radiation Victims on a daily basis. Exposure to radioactive pollution has been linked to cancer, genetic defects, Navajo Neuropathy, and increases in mortality. The delegation will speak about the impacts they are experiencing in their communities, which are also affecting other communities throughout the US.

More:  http://www.cleanupthemines.org/press-release-indigenous-delegation-sounds-alarm-on-homegrown-radioactive-pollution-crisis/


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Saturday, January 23, 2016

Why understanding gut reactions is key to building powerful movements

Most people think they have a single mind, the one we recognize every day when we think. However, Haidt, like other psychologists, subscribes to the view that humans have two minds. One, the intuitive mind, usually operates without conscious awareness, and is automatic and high-capacity. For example, if you notice a dark moving spot in your visual field, you don’t have time to consciously calculate its speed and direction; instead, you instinctively duck to avoid the rock. The second, higher-order human mind, the rational mind, is slow, careful and requires more effort.

In practice, people often make a decision about right and wrong based on their gut reactions, using the intuitive mind, and then use their rational mind to produce a rationalization for the decision. Haidt developed some ingenious scenarios that would cause perplexity, because people had an intuitive response but no rational justification for it.

More:  http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/understanding-gut-reactions-key-to-building-powerful-movements/


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Militants bulldoze through Native American archeological site, share video rifling through artifacts

Armed militants at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge continue to damage both the delicate ecosystem of the refuge and archeological sites of critical importance to the Burns Paiute Tribe. Amanda Peacher from Oregon Public Broadcasting shared photos of what appeared to be a new road in the refuge and got confirmation that not only is the road new, it goes through a vitally important area:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed Thursday that not only is the road built last week by the occupiers new, but it is also within an archaeological site important to the Burns Paiute Tribe.
More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/21/1472882/-Militants-bulldoze-through-Native-American-archeological-site-share-video-rifling-through-artifacts
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Electronic messaging in prison

Ideally, electronic messaging — which is often referred to as "email for prisoners" — should provide incarcerated people and their families a faster and more convenient way to communicate over extreme distances. But our January 2016 report finds that electronic messaging has very little in common with email services available to free-world users. Some electronic messaging systems only allow for inbound electronic communication, and, unlike mainstream email, sending messages costs anywhere from 5¢ to $1.25 per message.

But it's not too late to transform electronic messaging from a poorly designed and expensive technology to a fair and reasonable tool for communication. The Federal Communications Commission requested comments on advanced communication services in prisons and jails, and we've responded with our analysis of the current state of electronic messaging. The report addresses critical questions that range from how many companies provide electronic messaging in prisons and jails to what are some of the abusive terms of service that are common in this industry.

More:  http://www.prisonpolicy.org/messaging/

Report:

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Why do prosecutors go after innocent people?

When people think about how our criminal justice system tries to avoid convicting innocent people, they probably think of the second half-hour of a “Law & Order” episode: defense attorneys making motions to thwart the prosecutor, jurors furrowing their brows as they wonder whether the state really has met the high standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

But that’s not reality. In real life, once a prosecutor decides to file felony charges against a defendant, that defendant will almost certainly be convicted — and local prosecutors have a strong incentive to file, likely thanks in no small part to electoral pressures.

More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/01/21/why-do-prosecutors-go-after-innocent-people/


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The presumption of innocence exists in theory, not reality

The presumption is under constant assault from jurors’ natural assumption that if someone is arrested and charged with a crime, he or she must have done something wrong. It is also vulnerable to the media frenzy around high-profile cases, the fear-driven politics of crime, the highly punitive nature of our culture and the innate cognitive processes that produce tunnel vision and confirmation bias.

More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/01/19/the-presumption-of-innocence-exists-in-theory-not-reality/



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Private Companies Profit from Almost Every Function of America’s Criminal Justice System

Today, private companies hold contracts that allow them to profit from all corners of America’s criminal justice system. Consequently, many people charged with crimes are exposed to the profit-seeking of companies every step of the way, from entering the system to being released.

More:  http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/private-companies-profit-from-almost-every/


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Predictive policing doesn’t have to be like “Minority Report.”

A new federal report evaluates Los Angeles County’s now-defunct delinquency prevention program, which used predictive analysis to help identify the children who were more likely to end up in trouble. The feds see positives with the approach, and say more officials across the country should use data for predictive purposes. It’s controversial to be sure, experts and advocates say, but is it also inevitable?

More:  http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/minority-report

Report:

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Indigenous Women: Respect Our Knowledge And Tradition

“We had a culture where we preserved wild fruits for when we didn’t have enough food and grains,” says Edna Kaptoyo, a Pokot indigenous woman from Kenya. “My mother did this for our family, but today, these fruits have disappeared.” “Women also use grass to cover our houses. But it has become more difficult for us to find grass, so when the storms come, we do not have anything to protect our children,” she adds.

More:  http://www.fairobserver.com/360_analysis/indigenous-women-respect-knowledge-tradition-13102/


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Thursday, January 21, 2016

Americans are bargaining away their innocence

A plea for fewer pleas. Americans are bargaining away their innocence.

More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/01/20/americans-are-bargaining-away-their-innocence/


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Senate Seeks Path Through Criminal-Justice Minefield

The relentless Republican push for “mens rea” reform continues on Capitol Hill. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday titled, “The Adequacy of Criminal Intent Standards in Federal Prosecutions.” It’s another sign that “mens rea” reform is linked to the larger Congressional debate over sentencing reform.

More:  http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/383319/senate-seeks-path-through-criminal-justice-minefield


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America’s Other Original Sin

Here are three scenes from the history of slavery in North America. In 1637, a group of Pequot Indians, men and boys, having risen up against English colonists in Connecticut and been defeated, were sold to plantations in the West Indies in exchange for African slaves, allowing the colonists to remove a resistant element from their midst. (The tribe’s women were pressed into service in white homes in New England, where domestic workers were sorely lacking.)

More:  http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/01/native_american_slavery_historians_uncover_a_chilling_chapter_in_u_s_history.html
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Native American Slaves in New France

Between 1660 and 1760, French colonists in New France enslaved as many as 10,000 Native Americans, forcing them to work as farm hands, domestic servants, and construction laborers. Enslaved Natives tended livestock, prepared meals, washed laundry, loaded trade goods into warehouses and onto boats, and cared for French children. Despite the trauma of their violent capture and forced transport into an alien culture, they found ways to survive: forming friendships, stealing private moments of solitude, making plans for a future when they would no longer be slaves.

More:  http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2016/01/an_interactive_record_of_native_american_slavery_in_new_france.html
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Indigenous Solidarity With #BlackLivesMatter

Like the Idle No More movement in Canada, the #BlackLivesMatter movement was founded by women. In response to the murder of 17-year old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi issued a call to action for the Black community to address the anti-Black racism that manifested throughout the trail, one that seemed more interested in placing Trayvon on trial for his own murder, and that permeates throughout society.

More:  http://lastrealindians.com/indigenous-solidarity-with-blacklivesmatter-by-matt-remle/


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Gustafsen Lake Standoff: Protesters Renew Calls For An Inquiry

Several First Nations protesters involved in the 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff are calling for a national inquiry into the level of force used by the RCMP during the 31-day confrontation. Protest leader William Jones Ignace, known as Wolverine, and the Ts'Peten Defence Committee submitted a letter on Jan. 4 to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, calling for an inquiry.

More:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lead-protester-at-gustafsen-lake-armed-standoff-renews-calls-for-a-national-inquiry-1.3407876


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Why understanding gut reactions is key to building powerful movements

People's intuitive feelings about right and wrong are powerful influences that can both help and hinder activists.

More:  http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/understanding-gut-reactions-key-to-building-powerful-movements/


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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

New report documents challenges of defending indigenous land rights in the Paraguayan Chaco

When Alejandro Servin and five others members of the Enxet Sur indigenous community Kelyenmagategma returned home after two days in the woods hunting and collecting honey, little did they expect to be showered with bullets.

"Three of us were walking ahead when we heard the shots, a bullet just missed me. We ran back into the forest to seek refuge but the employees of the estate managed to catch the youngest member of our group, Francisco, who was 14 years old at the time," says Servín. "As a result all of us came out. Three hours later a contingent of police arrived, arrested us without a warrant and brought us – in the estate owner’s truck – to the nearest police station."

More:  https://intercontinentalcry.org/death-threats-and-detention-in-paraguay/


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Last year was the hottest in recorded history by far, breaking a record set in 2014, scientists reported

The weather patterns broke a record set only the year before, a consequence of the long-term planetary warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, scientists say.

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/science/earth/2015-hottest-year-global-warming.html


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Rights Lab: Can the Government Spy on My Phone?

Episode 1 of Rights Lab takes you on a crash course of surveillance law and through the streets of Chicago with two activists to find out everything you need to know about the secretive Stingray devices that may be capturing your cell phone signal.

More:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34462-rights-lab-can-the-government-spy-on-my-phone


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The Mirage of Justice

Once you are charged in America, whether you did the crime or not, you are almost always found guilty. Because of this, as many activists have discovered, the courts already are being used as a fundamental weapon of repression, and this abuse will explode in size should there be widespread unrest and dissent. Our civil liberties have been transformed into privileges...

More:  http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_mirage_of_justice_20160117


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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

‘Making a Murderer’ shows that our justice system needs a healthy dose of humility

... “Making a Murderer” is about more than Avery and Dassey’s guilt or innocence, because the injustices the series suggest are hardly unique. The enduring takeaway ought to be the recognition that the criminal justice system, as a human system, is inevitably flawed. It does sometimes send innocent people to prison. And while most police, prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges are good, honest people who do their best to achieve justice, they do sometimes fail and even, on occasion, cross the line into misconduct in their zeal to secure what they perceive to be a just outcome.

Wrongful conviction doesn’t only mean an innocent person ends up in prison. It also means a guilty person goes free. When the system fails, there is no justice for victims and their loved ones.

More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-lessons-from-making-a-murderer/2016/01/15/93d9698c-baf0-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html


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Ten Years After Last Execution, California’s Death Row Continues to Grow

...only 13 people have been executed since the state brought back the death penalty in 1977. Meanwhile, more than 100 have died facing execution — a quarter of these prisoners have committed suicide, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The cost to California taxpayers, according to a 2011 study, has been more than $4 billion — and by 2030, the projected cost will reach $9 billion, with more than 1,000 people on death row.

...The state’s new lethal injection protocol will be subject to a lengthy public vetting process. And even if the pro-death penalty ballot measure prevails, implementing its changes would be costly and complicated. Still, should the state start killing again, Californians can expect to see a lot more prisoners who look like Clarence Ray Allen make their way to the gurney. As of now, the next 16 prisoners in line to die are mostly old men, all of whose sentences date back to the 1980s. Half are in their 60s, and two are more than 70; the oldest is 78.

More:  https://theintercept.com/2016/01/17/ten-years-after-last-execution-californias-death-row-continues-to-grow/


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U.S. Pardon Attorney resigns

The Justice Department official overseeing President Barack Obama's drive to commute the sentences of drug offenders serving long prison terms has decided to resign, the department announced Friday night.

Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff, who took the job on an acting basis in April 2014 and was formally appointed to the post in November of that year, plans to leave her post at the end of this month.

Under Leff's tenure the pace of commutations has picked up significantly, but a backlog of clemency applications has also mushroomed in response to an initiative the administration announced in 2014 to encourage commutation applications from federal drug prisoners who had served more than ten years behind bars and met other criteria.

As of the end of December 2015, 9,115 commutation applications were pending, up from 2,785 in September 2014.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/obama-pardon-attorney-resigns-217874#ixzz3xiakvtkn




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Burial Mounds: Earthen Records Of Wisconsin’s Native Peoples

An incomparable aspect of our state's culture came under attack when a bill was proposed to make it easier for landowners to excavate and perhaps destroy surviving Indian mounds in Wisconsin, calling it a "common sense" measure. These easy-to-miss treasures, subtle contours in the landscape, are our state's most enduring form of public art. Their erasure would echo an unfortunate history of other removals, of the displacement of indigenous people by newcomers and settlers.

More:  http://m.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/365429061.html


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Monday, January 18, 2016

We Shall Overcome

Pete Seeger performs "We Shall Overcome", Berlin, DDR, 1967

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Sunday, January 17, 2016

17 January 2016: List of Individuals Receiving Pardons/Commutations

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, January 17, 2016

List of Individuals Receiving Pardons/Commutations

Below is a list of the seven defendants who either received pardons or commutations.
  • Khosrow Afghahi – Southern District of Texas (Pardon)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), one count of violating the Iranian embargo, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering.
  • Tooraj Faridi – Southern District of Texas (Pardon)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo and the EAR, two counts of violating the Iranian embargo and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
  • Bahram Mechanic – Southern District of Texas (Pardon)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo and the EAR, six counts of violating the Iranian embargo and the EAR, five counts of violating the Iranian embargo, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, eight counts money laundering and one count of failure to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs).
  • Nima Golestaneh – District of Vermont (Pardon)
Offenses: Four counts of wire fraud, one count each of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and accessing a computer without authorization.
  • Nader Modanlo, aka Modanlu and Modanlou – District of Maryland (Commutation)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo, two counts of violating the Iranian embargo, one count each of money laundering and obstruction of bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Arash Ghahreman – Southern District of California (Commutation)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo, one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, one count of attempting to violate the Iranian embargo, one count of smuggling, one count of conspiracy to money launder and two counts of money laundering.
  • Ali Saboonchi – District of Maryland (Commutation)
Offenses: One count of conspiracy to violate the Iranian embargo and seven counts of violating the Iranian embargo.

16-061
Office of Public Affairs
Updated January 17, 2016
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Saturday, January 16, 2016

National Student Day of Action on 2/27 for Leonard Peltier



On February 27, 2016, students across the country are calling for a National Day of Action to demand that Obama grant clemency to Leonard Peltier. Peltier is an American Indian Movement (AIM) activist and 40 year political prisoner of the United States government. We uphold that Peltier has been wrongfully charged with the murder of two FBI agents and is unjustly incarcerated.

February 27 is an historic date for the American Indian  Movement (AIM) movement. On this day in 1973 activists began a second occupation of Wounded Knee for 71 days. This was to protest the  failure of the United States to fulfill treaty obligations and the corruption of the Oglala tribal government. February 27th is now known as Wounded Knee Liberation Day.

This is the last year of Obama’s presidency, and what many activists believe to be the last chance for Peltier to be granted clemency. We call on all progressive student organizations nationally and internationally to join us by taking action to demand Peltier’s freedom!

More:  https://peltierstudentnationalaction.wordpress.com/


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Olympia, WA: Free Showing of "Incident at Oglala," Feb. 26th



FREE - "Incident at Oglala" on Friday, February 26 at 6 PM
906 Columbia Street SE, Olympia, WA 98501
David William Building, 2nd Floor
https://www.facebook.com/events/465236720337371/


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59 Indigenous Corn Varieties at Risk as Monsanto Eyes Mexico

Mexico’s unique and treasured native corn varieties could be under threat as Monsanto, the world’s largest seed producer, vies to plant genetically modified (GMO) corn in the country.

In August 2015, a Mexican judged overturned a September 2013 ban on GMO corn, thus opening more business opportunities for Monsanto and other agribusinesses pending favorable later court decisions. Monsanto even announced in October 2015 that it was seeking to double its sales in the country over the next five years.

More:  http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/15/corn-monsanto-mexico/


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‘Bring Your Cat To Stratfor Day’ Spreads Awareness Of Anonymous Hacktivist Jeremy Hammond’s Birthday

In what’s become an annual tradition, activists gathered in downtown Austin on Friday to celebrate the birthday of a political prisoner and hacktivist nearly forgotten and ignored by the mainstream media: Jeremy Hammond. In 2012, Hammond, along with other members of the Anonymous-associated group Lulzsec, hacked millions of emails from the servers of the Strategic Forecasting, also known as Stratfor, a private intelligence corporation located in the city, and leaked them to WikiLeaks, where they became known as the “Global Intelligence Files.”

More:  http://www.mintpressnews.com/daniel-ellsberg-during-his-two-year-tour-in-vietnam-1968-photo-daniel-and-patricia-ellsberg/212699/


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Judge, Jurors Praise Defendants For Climate Resistance

Five environmental activists who failed to convince a court that their attempt to block crude oil trains near Seattle was a legally justifiable act of civil disobedience on Friday were nonetheless praised by a judge as “part of the solution” to climate change. On Friday, the campaigners were convicted in a court in suburban Seattle of misdemeanor trespassing relating to a September 2014 protest in which they blocked railway tracks used by crude oil trains in Everett, Washington. The defendants intended to argue that their acts, though illegal, were necessary to prevent the greater harm of catastrophic climate change. After two days of testimony the judge refused to allow the jury to consider the necessity defense. The case marks the furthest defendants have managed to go in an American courtroom using the so-called “necessity” defense.

More:  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/15/delta-5-seattle-washington-climate-change-court-defense


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Friday, January 15, 2016

Guatemala: first trial for systematic violations of indigenous women

Guatemala's recent history bears the mark of a 36 year long, painful internal armed conflict, during which the State systematically violated the rights of the Mayan population.

According to the Report of the Commission for the Historical Clarification of Human Rights Violations in Guatemala, 83.3 percent of the human rights violations were committed against them.

Indigenous women have particularly suffered from the conflict. They have been victims of rape, abuse and sexual slavery.

More:  https://intercontinentalcry.org/guatemala-first-trial-for-systematic-violations-of-indigenous-women/


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Getting a Hustle: How to Live Like a King Behind Bars

Whether by brewing alcohol or mending shoes, fashioning TV antennas out of paper clips or scooping up used chewing tobacco to roll up and re-sell as cigarettes, prisoners get creative to earn the cash they need for food, toiletries, and supplies. Here’s a first-person account from a hustler who’s seen it all, the latest in our “Life Inside” series.

More:  https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/01/15/getting-a-hustle-how-to-live-like-a-king-behind-bars


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Fox Creek fracking operation closed indefinitely after earthquake

A hydraulic fracturing operation near Fox Creek, Alta., has been shut down after an earthquake hit the area Tuesday. The magnitude 4.8 quake was reported at 11:27 a.m., says Alberta Energy Regulator, which ordered the shutdown of the Repsol Oil & Gas site 35 kilometres north of Fox Creek. Carrie Rosa, spokeswoman for the regulator, says "the company has ceased operations … and they will not be allowed to resume operations until we have approved their plans." Rosa added the company is working with the energy regulator to ensure all environmental and safety rules are followed.

More:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fox-creek-fracking-operation-closed-indefinitely-after-earthquake-1.3400605


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Civil disobedience often leads to jail. But now, protesters can explain themselves

In the face of governmental failure in addressing climate change, the climate movement has seen a dramatic increase of civil disobedience. The threat of jail is real to activists who use these tactics – as I learned first hand. But now activists now have a powerful form of defense: necessity. For the very first time, US climate activists have been able to argue the necessity defense – which argues that so-called criminal acts were committed out of necessity – to a jury. The Delta 5, who blockaded an oil train at the Delta rail yard near Seattle in September of 2014, have been allowed to use the defense in a historic climate change civil disobedience trial being heard this week.

More:  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/13/civil-disobedience-often-leads-to-jail-but-now-protestors-can-explain-themselves


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Obama Halts New Coal Mining Leases on Public Lands

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced on Friday a halt to new coal mining leases on public lands as it considers an overhaul of the program that could lead to increased costs for energy companies and a slowdown in extraction.

“Given serious concerns raised about the federal coal program, we’re taking the prudent step to hit pause on approving significant new leases so that decisions about those leases can benefit from the recommendations that come out of the review,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “During this time, companies can continue production activities on the large reserves of recoverable coal they have under lease, and we’ll make accommodations in the event of emergency circumstances to ensure this pause will have no material impact on the nation’s ability to meet its power generation needs.”

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/us/politics/in-climate-move-obama-to-halt-new-coal-mining-leases-on-public-lands.html


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Thursday, January 14, 2016

BOP Guards Plead Guilty to Assaulting a Prison Inmate and Falsifying Reports

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Two U.S. Bureau of Prisons Corrections Officers Plead Guilty to Assaulting a Prison Inmate and Falsifying Reports

The Justice Department announced today that U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Correction Officers (CO) William Houghton, 32, and Eddie Rodas-Castro, 32, have pleaded guilty in connection with the beating of a federal inmate and the subsequent submission of false reports.

Houghton pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of an inmate inside the Coleman Correctional Facility in Coleman, Florida, by striking the inmate repeatedly in the head and face on March 22, 2014.  Houghton also pleaded guilty to submitting two false reports in connection with the incident, falsely stating the inmate had attempted to assault him and omitting the fact that Houghton had repeatedly punched the inmate.

Rodas-Castro pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying official reports, for his role in submitting a false report in an effort to cover up Houghton’s abuse.

“Conduct by corrections officers who abuse their power to violate the civil rights of those in their custody and lie about their actions undermines our criminal justice system,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “The Justice Department is committed to holding officers who engage in such criminal acts accountable.”

The defendants were both indicted on June 17, 2015.  Sentencing for both defendants will be scheduled at a later date.  Houghton faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison.  Rodas-Castro faces a maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jared Fishman and Maura White of the Civil Right Division’s Criminal Section.

Houghton Plea Agreement
Rodas-Castro Plea Agreement
16-045
Civil Rights Division
Civil Rights - Criminal Section
Updated January 14, 2016


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Russian Activists Call For American Indian Genocide Monument

Russian activists are requesting permission to install a monument near the US embassy in Moscow dedicated to the genocide of American Indians. A member of the Russian Public Chamber says the move could soon get official support. The activists have launched a petition in support of the monument on the change.org website. It says that “despite assuming the position of a ‘global policeman’ the United States still refuses to accept the responsibility for killing over 15 million Native Americans.” The petition goes on to call for public support for the monument, which would be dedicated to “the memory of American Indians who perished as heroes in the unfair war with treacherous invaders.”

More:  https://www.rt.com/politics/328635-activists-call-for-american-indian/


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There Are Now More Solar Jobs In America Than Oil Jobs

Solar is the energy employer of the future -- or at least that's how the numbers look today. A new report on the state of the solar industry out Tuesday from the nonprofit Solar Foundation shows that the number of jobs in the United States in the solar industry outpaced those in the oil and gas industries for the first time ever. As of November 2015 there were almost 209,000 people who worked in the solar industry, 90 percent of whom only work on solar-related projects, according to the report. There were only about 185,000 people working in oil and gas in the United States in December 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More:  https://www.popularresistance.org/there-are-now-more-solar-jobs-in-america-than-oil-jobs/


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Nestle’s Bid To Throw Out Child Slavery Suit Rejected

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by Nestle, the world’s largest food maker, and two other companies to throw out a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for the use of child slaves to harvest cocoa in Ivory Coast. The high court left in place a December 2014 ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Nestle, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co and Cargill Inc. filed by former victims of child slavery. The plaintiffs, who were originally from Mali, contend the companies aided and abetted human rights violations through their active involvement in purchasing cocoa from Ivory Coast. While aware of the child slavery problem, the companies offered financial and technical assistance to local farmers in a bid to guarantee the cheapest source of cocoa, the plaintiffs said.

More:  http://www.mintpressnews.com/212676-2/212676/


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Eight Problems With Police “Threat Scores”

The Washington Post Monday had a piece about the use of “threat scores” by law enforcement in Fresno, California. This story follows release of information about this predictive-policing program obtained through an open-records request by my colleagues at the ACLU of Northern California.

The scores are generated by software called “Beware,” made by a company called Intrado. According to a promotional pamphlet obtained by the NorCal ACLU, the software’s purpose is “searching, sorting and scoring billions of commercial records” about individuals. It scours the internet for social media posts and web site hits and combines it with other information such as public records and “key data elements from commercial providers.” Intrado claims that its product is “based on significant amounts of historical work in mathematical science, decisioning science and link analysis,” and “uses a comprehensive set of patent-pending algorithms that search, sort and score vast amounts of commercial records from the largest and most reputable data mining companies in the industry.”

More:  https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/eight-problems-police-threat-scores




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Florida and the death penalty

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s capital sentencing regime on Tuesday, the justices chose not to address another quirky aspect of the state’s death penalty: the non-unanimous jury rule. More than 10 percent of prisoners currently on Florida’s death row were sent there with the support of only seven out of 12 jurors. TMP’s Maurice Chammah brings us the story. The Marshall Project Related: Florida Supreme Court wants swift answers in light of Tuesday’s ruling. Buzzfeed More: SCOTUS ruling will lead to fewer death sentences. Tampa Bay Times


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T-Mobile violating Net Neutrality

ISPs have been relentless in their push to undermine the open Internet — whether it's buying members of Congress to do their bidding, or challenging the Net Neutrality rules in court.
 
But some companies like T-Mobile are charting a new path — blatantly ignoring the law by enticing their customers to throttle video content from a select handful of content providers.
 
Plain and simple: this is a direct violation of Net Neutrality.
 
Tell the FCC: Strong enforcement of Net Neutrality starts with you. Pull the plug on T-Mobile's "Binge On."
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The Dirty Pursuit of a Coal Terminal

The Lynden Tribune newspaper made the decision to publish a December 23, 2015 opinion piece submitted by Chair John Huntley and President Brad Owens of the Northwest Jobs Alliance (NWJA). The NWJA advocates for the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal (GPT) project. Their op-ed leveled unsubstantiated, defamatory allegations at unnamed “leadership” of the Lummi Nation, a self-governing Indian Nation, and those allegations could easily be perceived as having been leveled at Lummi Nation as a whole.

The Lummi, a Coast Salish people, are the original inhabitants of Washington state’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. The Lummi Reservation is located in western Whatcom County, and it is governed by the Lummi Indian Business Council (LIBC), an eleven member tribal council.

More:  https://intercontinentalcry.org/the-dirty-pursuit-of-a-coal-terminal/


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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Indigenous Women Lead Fight Against Climate Change In Latin America

Why should U.S. Latinas care about this issue? It is having an effect on our lives right now. Our families in Central and South America and the Caribbean are becoming climate refugees. If we do nothing, we're giving up animals, forests, mountains and beaches that are rich with life and history. Ask yourself, what are you willing to lose to climate change? Your project looks specifically at indigenous women at the forefront of this movement across the Americas.

More:  https://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/indigenous-women-climate-change-latin-america


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Wisconsin Destroying Indigenous Sacred Sites

The state’s most powerful business group and the building industry are supporting a Republican bill that would allow landowners to destroy some Indian burial mounds in order to develop their property. The measure, Assembly Bill 620, would require the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, which catalogs and protects all Native American burial mounds, to issue permits to allow landowners to do an archaeological dig or use radar to determine if mounds on their property contain human remains. Landowners would be not be required to preserve the mounds if they contain no remains.

More:  http://www.wisdc.org/pr010616.php


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Recognition

Wrongfully convicted of rape based on a flawed eyewitness identification, Tim Cole never made it out of prison alive to see the reforms his case eventually generated. Texas now has moved to fix its eyewitness ID protocols, increased the money authorized to be given to exonerees, and set up an advisory panel on wrongful convictions.

More:  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/18/recognition-annals-of-justice-paul-kix


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Life After Death Row

Three wrongfully convicted exonerees share their stories about adjusting to life on the outside after decades in prison. All of them say the scars of confinement will never leave them. Some of them have been compensated by the state for the injustice that came to them. One of them, Ken Ireland, now serves on Connecticut’s parole board, the irony of which is not lost on him.

More:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-life-after-death-row-exoneration/


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Historic Trial Lets Activists Who Blocked Oil Train Cite Climate Change Threat in Their Defense

Five climate justice activists [went] on trial in Washington State [Monday] for tying themselves to a 25-foot tripod structure to block a mile-long oil train. The protesters demanded a halt of shipments of fossil fuels through the Northwest following a string of derailments.

More:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34368-historic-trial-lets-activists-who-blocked-oil-train-cite-climate-change-threat-in-their-defense


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Monday, January 11, 2016

Leonard Peltier’s MRI Confirms Abdominal Aortic Aneurism Diagnosis

COLEMAN, FLORIDA — The International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (ILPDC) in an email to Native News Online on Sunday evening said that the preliminary diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurism has been confirmed. MRI results indicating the size and location must be reviewed by physicians who will consult with Peltier.
“We would expect the Bureau of Prison to act with utmost urgency, but have long ago learned not to get our hopes up for speedy action,” says Peter Clark, co-chairman of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. “The last time I visited Leonard was June 2015. During our visit Leonard put his hand on his abdomen and said ‘I know something is wrong in here.’ He then went on to describe symptoms of this condition. Leonard had described his illness to the medical staff at Coleman USP I prior to June 2015.”
“ILPDC has put out numerous calls to action since that time, and Leonard’s legal team and supporters have fought for years for adequate healthcare for Leonard. ILPDC will provide further details as they become available. Supporters should keep pressure on the Bureau of Prison for timely treatment and transfer to a suitable medical facility,” Clark continued.

Please visit http://www.bop.gov/inmates/concerns.jsp. Make reference to Leonard Peltier #89637-132 and USP Coleman I. Voice your concern about Leonard’s medical treatment, and let the federal Bureau of Prisons know that the world is watching. Demand that Leonard receive the best possible care.

Please also contact:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534
202-307-3198
info@bop.gov

Source:  http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/leonard-peltiers-mri-confirms-abdominal-aortic-aneurism-diagnosis/


Posted by www.FreePeltierNow.org at 1:28 PM No comments:
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CASE OF LEONARD PELTIER

<strong>CASE OF LEONARD PELTIER</strong>
Leonard Peltier

CONTACT LEONARD

Send Cards and Letters:

Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP-Coleman I
U.S. Penitentiary
PO Box 1033
Coleman, FL 33521

READING LIST

Have You Thought Of Leonard Peltier Lately? by Harvey Arden

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen

Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier

The Trial of Leonard Peltier by Jim Messerschmidt

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All writings that comply with our mission and goal will be considered for publication on our Web site and/or blog. However, you should know that submission of an article or essay does not guarantee publication.
Our aim is to provide complete, accurate, and timely commentary on the Peltier case. Authors agree, therefore, that Friends of Peltier will make revisions we deem necessary prior to publication—in particular to ensure accuracy. Submissions also are subject to a copyedit to ensure overall quality, i.e., to correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
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Reproduction here of published material constitutes a 'fair use' of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.


Disclaimer

Postings to this blog are made for the purpose of information dissemination. Views expressed may not reflect the views of either Leonard Peltier or of "Friends of Peltier," and posting of information doesn't imply endorsement.

Friends of Peltier was founded in the United States in early 2007 and is an independent international coalition in support of Leonard Peltier and his freedom. We wholeheartedly seek harmony, cohesion—solidarity, not discord. All persons of good heart who wish to work towards the freedom of Leonard Peltier are welcome in our circle.

NOTE: If you receive email correspondence from Friends of Peltier, it's due to the fact that you registered for our mailing list at some time since its inception in 2007. It is a double opt-in list and therefore your registration can not have happened by error or have been initiated by anyone else, i.e., our contacts with you do not constitute spam. You are, however, welcome to unsubscribe from our list at any time.

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