On February 16, federal magistrate Sheri Pym ordered Apple to assist the FBI in gaining access to information on an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters. Apple, however, is opposing the order. The company claims that the actions the order would require threaten the security of its customers. In an open letter authored by Apple CEO Tim Cook, the order is described as “dangerous,” “unprecedented,” and “chilling.”
Last week, victims of civil rights abuses by police scored two victories in Massachusetts and New York. In Massachusetts, in Stamps v. Framingham, the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals held that a police officer who holds a loaded gun at the head of a non-threatening, compliant individual, with the gun’s safety off, cannot avoid civil liability for accidentally shooting and killing the individual. In New York, in Held v. Christian, a police officer agreed in a court settlement to pay $45,000 to an individual whose nude photos he stole after taking possession of her cell phone during a routine traffic stop.
At the end of last year, the mayors of Eugene, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco gathered to discuss homelessness and climate change. I heard a recording of the mayors discussing the meeting. As I was listening to the mayoral musings, I wondered how genuine the interest really is in understanding the causes of homelessness. [G]iven the mayors agreement in their ignorance surrounding the causes of homelessness, would they really accept conclusions that could condemn the entire system?
With the increasingly abusive Islamophobic response that has been coming from ignorant individuals within the United States, the CLDC will continue to stand strongly with our Muslim and/or Middle Eastern community members.
Last week, in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin v. Schimel, the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Wisconsin law banning doctors from providing abortions if they don’t have hospital admission privileges within 30 miles.
Lori Berenson has spent much of the last 20 years in prison in Peru following being convicted of aiding the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in planning an assault on the Peruvian Congress. This week marked the end of her sentence and being able to leave Peru, so she now heads home to the U.S.
Help us reach our goal of raising $1,000 on Giving Tuesday. Help us reach this goal by making a year end gift, becoming a monthly donor, or encouraging your friends and family to give by forwarding this email.
This month, in Shadrick v. Hopkins County, the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a private, for-profit corporation providing medical services to prisoners may be liable for violating the federal constitutional rights of prisoners by failing to adequately train its medical staff.
It has been discovered that the Oregon Department of Justice has been conducting digital surveillance on Oregonians who used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
It was in 2006 that the AETA was passed into law. The AETA was crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of corporate power players who write pieces of model legislation that suit their interests, and then ALEC passes off the legislation to members of Congress.
