Blog & Press Releases
Don’t call the police: the disturbing trend of police killing mentally ill individuals
Two especially disturbing trends emerge from The Post’s data — (1) many of the victims who were killed by police were military veterans killed during PTSD episodes, and (2) in many cases, witnesses or victims call 911 seeking medical assistance from the police but, instead of providing aid ,the police end up killing the mentally ill individual.
Federal appeals court blazes trail in transgender student case
Last month, in G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling holding that the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination prohibits discrimination against transgender students. The U.S. Department of Education had issued its formal interpretation of Title IX and its regulations and held that “when a school elects to separate or treat students differently on the basis of sex … a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.” The appeals court held that it must defer to the agency’s interpretation of the law because the interpretation is reasonable and the law itself is ambiguous on the issue of transgender students. The decision sets federal legal precedent for Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
ShellNo Cases Update: Violations dismissed, fine reduced
The Civil Liberties Defense Center represented four ShellNo protesters who were charged with civil penalty violations before U.S. Coast Guard Hearing Officers in military tribunals instead of civilian courts. We are happy to report good news about two of those cases so far.
Earth Day
This Friday, April 22nd, is the 46th year that Earth Day has been celebrated in the U.S. Although Earth Day has its roots in government policy, we should take it as a reminder of the importance of protecting the earth from the actions of the government and corporations. In the decades since the naming of Earth Day, we’ve seen how the corporate State will bulldoze forests, pollute the air and water, exploit billions of animals, tear apart the land, poison and kill people, and effectively rush us all towards the devastating global impacts of climate change—all in the name of power and profit.
US Supreme Court rejects attempt to marginalize Latino communities in Texas under the guise of “voter equality”
Last week, in Evenwel v. Abbott, the US Supreme Court rejected the latest attempt at political gerrymandering aimed at disenfranchising Latino communities in Texas. This attempt has been attributed as the brainchild of the “Project on Fair Representation,” a right-wing group that succeeded in dismantling a key protection against racial discrimination in the Voting Rights Act in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder.
Break Free Resources
May 4-15, 2016: A global wave of mass actions will target the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects, in order to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground and accelerate the just transition to 100% renewable energy. You can find out more about Break Free at:...
Hypocrisy and Human Rights
Consistently, media covering President Obama’s historic 2-day visit to Cuba has focused on the need for Cuba to clean up its human rights record if it truly wants to normalize relations with the U.S. While Cuba may have some shortcomings when it comes to its human rights record, the U.S. should be hesitant in its condemnation of others for abuses when the U.S. commits and perpetuates serious abuses at home (and abroad).
Victory in Shell No! Bridge Protest Case
Last week, in Shell Offshore v. Greenpeace, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order vacating a civil contempt order that was issued against Greenpeace last summer during the Shell No! banner hang off the St. John’s Bridge. In July, a number of activists had suspended themselves from the bridge over the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon to temporarily block Shell’s contracted vessel, the Fennica, from leaving the Portland harbor. The Fennica carried a crucial piece of oil drilling equipment and Shell planned to send the Fennica north to Alaska’s Chukchi Sea to conduct oil drilling in the Arctic.
The Necessity of the Necessity Defense
Last May, I watched the news reports about the girl who attached herself to the anchor chain of Shell’s Arctic Challenger as it sat in the Bellingham Bay—preparing to head to the Arctic to be part of Shell’s plan to drill for oil there, and to surely cause horrific destruction to the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic and magnify the impacts of climate change, including endangering indigenous people in the area.
Former abortion provider sues anti-abortion extremists
In this country, women have a constitutional right to abortion. This month, Susan Cahill, a Montana physician’s assistant who protected that constitutional right by providing abortions in one of four abortion clinics in Montana, filed a civil lawsuit in state court against anti-abortion extremists. Anti-abortion extremist Zachary Klundt broke into her medical clinic and completely destroyed it, thereby putting her out of business.
Judge orders Apple to help the FBI
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.”
2017 Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp
This summer, the Civil Liberties Defense Center is hosting the third annual action camp for young people ages 14-18 to gain knowledge and skills to organize for climate justice! The camp will include a youth led public “event” focused on a climate justice campaign! July 12th-19th, 2016 at Apserkaha Park at Howard Prairie Lake!
Police in Massachusetts and New York held accountable for civil rights violations in court
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.
Using open government laws to reveal the government’s secrets—and to inspire action
Just within this small sampling of recent news, we can see the impact of making a public records request: from having the FBI scramble to keep information hidden to being the seed that grew into a dynamic global campaign. As cliché as it may sound, knowledge is power—whether that’s the power to expose what’s behind the curtain of government entities or the power to inspire communities to take action.
No New Animal Lab Fights Back Against Skanska SLAPP Injunction
Multinational, multibillion dollar corporation, Skanska, attempts to chill grassroots protest campaign through SLAPP injunctions; No New Animal Lab fights back with anti-SLAPP Special Motion to Strike
CLDC fights to reveal what happens to dogs at kill shelter
In a public records lawsuit, CLDC defends No Kill Lane County representative to argue for an open government ruling to help the watchdog group keep the 1st Avenue Shelter accountable to the public for dog deaths.
Kansas appeals court blocks abortion law
Last week, in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, a divided Kansas appeals court voted 7-7 to affirm a lower court’s decision to block a controversial Kansas law that essentially criminalized second trimester abortions for women in Kansas.
Homelessness and the reserve army of labor
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?
Know Your Rights (Arabic)
CLDC stands in solidarity with targeted people and communities by assisting them with protecting their Constitutional rights through any legal avenue feasible (federal or state recourse), providing KYR trainings to those communities as requested, and by sharing a KYR resource that has been translated into Arabic by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
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