Civil Liberties News & Videos: Government News // Current

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10 days ago

A Target of Corporate Crime shares his story about Crime & Justice

My name is Gerard Ange', This is my story... about this nightmare I have been living for the last six years. At the time... more

gerardange
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4 days ago

Is SCOTUS about to hand over more political power to corporate America?

NYT editorial: Pure Overreach

With a little-noticed order last week, we fear the Supreme Court has set the stage for dismantling the longstanding ban on corporate spending in elections for president and Congress. If those restrictions are overturned, it would be a disaster for democracy.

The justices considered a case this term about an election-year documentary made by opponents of Hillary Clinton. The issue was whether the film could air in the 60 days before an election, a period during which the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law imposes particularly strict limits on election-related communication.

The case would have been easy to resolve on narrow grounds. Instead, the court declared that on Sept. 9 it would hear arguments on whether Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce — an important campaign finance precedent from 1990 — and parts of a more recent case should be overruled.

Austin upheld a law prohibiting corporations from spending their money to elect particular candidates. The Supreme Court rightly pointed out that corporations, as opposed to individuals, benefit from special laws, including tax advantages, that assist them in accumulating large amounts of money. The ban on their spending is needed to prevent the political process from being overwhelmed and corrupted. The Supreme Court has upheld the restriction repeatedly.

The court’s new order is also deeply troubling procedurally. The question of overruling Austin was so much not a part of the Hillary Clinton film case that the parties now have to brief it — submit fully researched arguments to the court — for the first time. This is pure judicial overreach.

The feverish pace is also disturbing. The court has ordered that the arguments take place even before the new term starts. The parties, and interested citizens who want to submit friend-of-the-court briefs, will have only a short time to parse enormously complicated issues.

The most troubling part of the court’s action is the brave new world of politics it could usher in. Auto companies that receive multibillion-dollar bailouts could spend vast sums to re-elect the same officials who hand them the money. If Exxon Mobil or Wal-Mart wants something from a member of Congress, it could threaten to spend as much as it takes to defeat him or her in the next election.

It is a nightmare vision, but based on how the justices have come down in past cases, there may well be five votes for it to prevail.NYT editorial: Pure Overreach With a little-noticed order last week, we fear the Supreme Court has set the stage for... more

RFIDemocracy
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8 days ago

2009 San Francisco Gay Pride Parade

On Sunday (06-28-09) was the 36th Annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade. The gay community gathered on a joyful march along... more

ccdvproductions
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14 days ago

Tell Congress To Stop Bullying In Schools! Sign The Petition!

Since April, we've experienced several tragic suicides of middle-school aged children -- each provoked by anti-LGBT (lesbian,... more

RCS
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16 days ago

Afraid? Should we fear surveillance?

Limitations Permitted Manu Luksch, Neal White and FLIX Peckham Square SE15, 21-28 June 2009 Peckham Space announces its... more

youandiskills
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17 days ago

"Sedaye Neda" Nationwide Iranian Peace Protest From New York To Los Angeles

The Killing Needs To STOP! Nationwide "Peaceful" Protest June 27th 2009 to start at 12pm (noon) eastern standard... more

cerealforeal
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17 days ago

Arrested For Watching The Watchers

An official complaint has been lodged with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) by two members of protest group FIT... more

JasonNParkinson
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18 days ago

Time Machine in Peckham Square captured on CCTV

Peckham Space announces its fourth commission, Limitations Permitted, which will take place in Peckham Square for one week in... more

youandiskills
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18 days ago

Judging John Yoo

Judging John YooThe ruling that could actually lead to accountability for torture. By Ady BarkanPosted Friday, June 19, 2009, at... more

RFIDemocracy
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22 days ago

Police stop and search innocent people to balance race figures

White people are being unjustifiably stopped and searched to provide racial balance in police statistics, the antiterrorism... more

Anyother
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23 days ago

Lawsuit: White House won't release visitor records

This is rich coming from two administrations that condone spying on Americans. From the article: The Obama administration is... more

JanforGore
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25 days ago

The Economist: 7 questions for Glenn Greenwald

June 14th 7:44 GMT +00:00 Seven questions for Glenn Greenwald Posted by: Economist.com | NEW YORK Categories:... more

RFIDemocracy
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27 days ago

Christian group sues for right to burn gay teen novel

Just in time for June's Gay Rights month.... In a scene which appears to have been lifted straight out of Ray... more

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135 responses

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29 days ago

Peru: battle lines drawn over the Amazon

The rhetoric was sharp enough to cut down Amazonian hardwoods. Yesterday, Sunday June 7th, after a number of ministers had been paraded out Saturday and the day before, Peru's el Señor Presidente, Alan Garcia decided to make it personal. After a joint police-military operation aimed at stopping an Indigenous protest had gone awry, leaving many dead on both sides, Garcia declared the Indigenous elements to be standing in the way of progress, in the path of national development, wrenches in the gears of modernity, and part of an international conspiracy to keep Peru down. In a troubling statement on the resemblance of the Indigenous protestors to the infamous Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) armed insurrection, Garcia seemed to imply the Natives were a band of terrorists as he stood in front of hundreds of military officers in a nationally televised speech. He continued to decry the Indian barbarity and savagery, and called for all police and military to stand against savagery.

Clearly, the battle lines were being drawn. Garcia demonstrated he is not about to allow anything to get in the way of "our development" of the oil and mineral resources the Amazon has to offer. Especially by a bunch of confused savages (his words) who are pawns to the international market and to Indian elites and therefore have no real reason to be resisting. At this point, it was obvious he thought nothing of the Indigenous cause, and what they actually stood for. There is too much money to be extracted from oil, from minerals, from logging, and from possible agriculture in the Amazon region, the 2nd largest stretch outside of Brazil. All on land with less than 200,000 Indigenous people. All now supposed to be open for business, as a result of a series of laws passed under the auspices of Free Trade Agreements signed with both Canada and the United States.

All those who lost their lives - certainly more than the 30 or so officially cited - have in the end given their lives for these free trade agreements and their domestic implementation. After wresting a concession from Congress - a la Bush - Garcia was able to push through 99 changes to the law of Peru. A number of these were ruled unconstitutional later, one dealing with property law standing out. Indigenous groups disputed from the beginning that these laws threatened the integrity of the Amazon, its cultural and biological diversity. Since the beginning, they were ignored. Living up to their Amazonian warrior mythology, they decided to take action.

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From the link:

Ben Powless is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario. He is currently studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, after spending a year in an international exchange program, studying sustainable rural development between Alberta and Mexico. He has been involved with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition since its inception, working at both the national level and with the Ottawa Chapter. He is also heavily involved with the Indigenous Environmental Network. He also sits on the board of the National Council for the Canadian Environmental Network, is on the Youth Advisory Group to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and is very involved in the local Aboriginal community.The rhetoric was sharp enough to cut down Amazonian hardwoods. Yesterday, Sunday June 7th, after a number of ministers had been... more