Entries Tagged 'Civil Liberties' ↓

Habeas Funeral (White House),
originally uploaded by kspidel.

We did! Here are some photos from our White House action today. Find out more and take action http://86days.amnestyusa.org

One year ago today, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act. With it, founding principles of the U.S. Constitution were discarded in the name of fighting terror. The Act made it lawful to hold prisoners indefinitely without charge or trial, to assume guilt before innocence, to blur the definition of torture, and to use information obtained through brutal treatment as “evidence.” Other governments, including the British during America’s founding, have tried to exert control in similar ways. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now.

Is America safer when we undo the Constitution? Those with first-hand experience of torture, such as Senator John McCain, believe it is not only wrong but counter-productive. This and other abuses erode America’s moral standing in the world. Strong evidence suggests that they even serve as a recruiting tool for those using terror and provide convenient cover for anyone else abusing human rights.

Making the world a safer place requires consistent and universal respect for human rights. Join Amnesty International in insisting that Congress return America to its core constitutional principles of justice by overturning the Military Commissions Act, granting fair and timely trials, treating detainees humanely and reinstating habeas corpus - the right to challenge one’s detention in court.

Strengthen America’s commitment to human rights and the rule of law. It’s up to people like us to demand it. Take action at http://www.amnestyusa.org

Washington, D.C. – Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus and peace activist, announced today that the D.C. Superior Court dismissed charges against him of assaulting a Capitol Police officer while in line to attend a hearing in the House of Representatives. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) represents Rev. Yearwood in his case.

On September 10th, Rev. Yearwood waited in the line for several hours in order to watch General David Petraeus testify before Congress. Minutes before the start of the hearing, Rev. Yearwood was told by Capitol Police that he would not be allowed to enter. When Rev. Yearwood questioned why he was being excluded from the open hearing, he was surrounded by officers and tackled to the ground.  He suffered torn ligaments and a sprained ankle.

Rev. Yearwood received letters of support from organizations including Amnesty International and the Black Leadership Forum. Americans across the country contacted the Capitol Police Department and members of Congress about the extreme and unjust charges.

The entire incident was caught on film and is available here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o

Rev. Yearwood said leaving the courtroom Friday, “I am relieved the charges were dropped, but they never should have been brought against me.  This one incident in 2007 has moved us back to 1957, where people of color are once again afraid to walk the halls of Congress. I am more heartbroken for the young people for whom I work to make government more accessible and transparent, who are now fearful of coming to the Capitol. We have an apartheid political system, where democracy while Black isn’t the same as democracy while White. These officers and the U.S. Capitol Police must be held accountable by our members of Congress for their horrendous actions.”

Anne Weismann, CREW’s chief counsel said today, “While we are gratified that these charges against Reverend Yearwood have been dismissed, we remain outraged that he was arrested in first place. We hope that the House Leadership will review this incident and take steps to ensure that it never happens again.”

Rev. Yearwood still faces charges of disorderly conduct stemming from this incident.

The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Arizona Supreme Court’s refusal to review a lower court decision allowing prisoners to access timely, safe, and legal abortions.  The court’s action, announced late yesterday, ensures that women prisoners in Arizona will be able to obtain the medical care they need.

“A woman does not give up her right to have an abortion any more than she gives up her right to have a child just because she is incarcerated,” said Brigitte Amiri, a Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.  “This was a case of policy gone awry.  We are please that at every step of the way the courts have recognized the need to protect women’s reproductive health.”

At issue was an unwritten Maricopa County Jail policy denying women in prison access to abortion care.  The policy prohibited jail officials from transporting a prisoner for an abortion unless she first obtained a court order.  The jail transports prisoners without a court order for all other necessary medical care, including prenatal care and childbirth.  The jail also regularly transports prisoners for various non-medical reasons, including visits with terminally ill family members or attendance at relatives’ funerals.

“Prison officials must attend to all serious medical needs, including abortion care, regardless of whether or not they agree with the decision to end a pregnancy,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona.  “Women prisoners should not be subjected to the ideological whims of prison officials.”

After weeks of being denied access to abortion care, a pregnant prisoner filed the case in May 2004 on behalf of herself and future prisoners seeking abortions.  In August 2005, the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, struck down the jail’s policy, holding that it violates women’s reproductive rights and serves “no legitimate penological purpose.”  In January 2007, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

On Monday, the ACLU asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling in a similar case, Roe v. Crawford.  In 2005, prison officials in Missouri went to extreme lengths to deny a woman prisoner access to abortion care.  The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled in July 2006 that women prisoners do not lose their constitutional right to abortion care, and as with all other serious medical needs, prison officials must transport prisoners offsite for treatment if necessary.  A decision is expected in that case later this year.

According to the ACLU’s brief in the Arizona challenge, Joe Arpaio, the sheriff in charge of Maricopa County Jail, has “maintained the Policy throughout his tenure, consistent with his well-publicized stance against abortion and his ‘America’s toughest sheriff’ persona.”  Arpaio himself has admitted that under this policy, “The gal may have the baby by the time it gets through the court system.”

Today’s case is Doe v. Arpaio, CV-07-0104-PR.  Lawyers on the case include Amiri and Talcott Camp with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

To read the ACLU’s brief visit: www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/abortion/25553lgl20060512.html

Continue reading →

I just confirmed this. He has yet to be arraigned (now 2:36pm.) But the Caucus was able to secure several lawyers to speak with him. They have confirmed he has a broken leg. We do not no if he is receiving adequate medical attention, but I do know he is in pain. More soon…

(UPDATE) Rev is home with a broken leg. He is on crutches. He has several misdemeanor charges which include attacking an officer. As most know Rev… he is a simple man. He walks nearly everywhere and has always been fine doing so. So now being on crutches, this will limit his movement work significantly. Any support during this time would be appreciated. Consider making a donation to the Hip Hop Caucus at www.hiphopcaucus.org.

Tell the governor you want teens to have the information they need to make healthy, responsible life decisions.  Before September 26, 2007, Governor Napolitano will decide whether to apply for federal money for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.  It is extremely important that the Governor hears loud and clear that Arizona must end its dependence on federal money that censors our teachers, preventing them from providing Arizona teens with vital health care information!

Here are three reasons why:

- Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs prohibit teachers from discussing contraceptives except to tell their failure rates. They also provide medically inaccurate information, promote gender stereotypes, discriminate against gays and lesbians, and are based on messages of fear or shame.

- A rigorous, multi-year, congressionally commissioned study published in April 2007 showed that these programs do not work. Teens who participated in these programs were just as likely to have sex as those who didn’t, and they had sex at the same age and had the same number of sexual partners as teens who did not participate in the federally funded programs.

- Parents across the nation and overwhelmingly want sex education to cover information about contraception. Major medical groups have also advocated for a more comprehensive approach to sex education.

With the second-highest rate of teen pregnancies in the nation, Arizona cannot afford to continue these harmful and ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.  A recent study attributed the decline in teen pregnancy rates overwhelmingly to increased contraceptive use, not abstinence. Arizona should support reproductive health policies that are effective, save taxpayer dollars and protect the public health.  Young people need and deserve complete, accurate, and age-appropriate sex education that discusses BOTH abstinence and the use of contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

We need your help!! Join us in asking the Governor to: Continue reading →

By Ezekiel Edwards
(Original post here)

The state of Georgia plans to execute Troy Davis on October 14, 2007. And he might be innocent.

If you doubt that an innocent man can end up on death row, bear in mind that 15 death row inmates have been exonerated through DNA testing, while another 71 were freed after the discovery of other new evidence of innocence.

Since his conviction sixteen years ago, the evidence against Mr. Davis has crumbled, rendering his claims of innocence increasingly plausible. And yet, last week, he came within 24 hours of his death before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed his execution for 90 days in order to “evaluate and analyze” evidence that Mr. Davis may not be guilty.

Putting aside, for now, the larger issue of the death penalty, our system of justice should not, under any circumstance, permit an execution amid the serious questions of culpability that exist in Mr.
Davis’s case. Continue reading →

Photos of the Day of Action:

Video of speeches available on my work blog: here.