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Journalist Chris Hedges Sues Obama Admin Over Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens Approved in NDAA

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jan. 17 (News Report) - Sections of the bill are written so broadly that critics say they could encompass journalists who report on terror-related issues, such as Hedges, for supporting enemy forces. "It’s clearly unconstitutional," Hedges says of the bill. "It is a huge and egregious assault against our democracy. It overturns over 200 years of law, which has kept the military out of domestic policing."

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The Christmas War on Atheism: What's the Religious Right Whining About When It's Really Non-Believers Who Are Under Attack?

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Alex DiBranco - Dec. 23 (Opinion) - It’s that time of year when, if you tune into Fox News or right-wing talk radio, you’re sure to hear the phrase “war on Christmas” repeated ad infinitum. Perhaps you’ve also seen Rick Perry’s new war on Christmas ad, which gives the added gift of rabid homophobia, while absurdly accusing President Barack Obama of leading a war on religion. But in reality, this year, like most years, it's right-wing Christians who are waging a war on the right of non-believers to avoid having religion shoved down their throats. Say “Merry Christmas” -- or Else

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MythBuster Adam Savage: SOPA Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Popular Mechanics - Dec. 21 (Opinion) - The U.S. Congress is considering the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). MythBuster Adam Savage says that if these sweeping pieces of legislation pass, the U.S. will join the likes of China and Iran in censoring the Internet.

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Don't Break the Internet

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

stanfordlawreview.org - Dec. 19 (Opinion) - Two bills now pending in Congress—the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (Protect IP) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House—represent the latest legislative attempts to address a serious global problem: large-scale online copyright and trademark infringement.

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If You Are Not Outraged, You Are Not Paying Attention: 5 Major Ways Corporate Elites Are Degrading America

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Jim Hightower - Dec. 15 (News Analysis) - Benjamin Franklin put it at the time, "America's destiny is not power, but light." The light is our historic commitment to the common good, shared prosperity, and a government of, by, and for the People. Whatever happened to that audacious reach, that grand vision, that proud progressive purpose?

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Sanders Files "Saving American Democracy Amendment'

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Op Ed News - Dec. 11 (News) - The first constitutional amendment ever proposed by Sanders during his two decades in Congress would reverse the narrow 5-to-4 ruling in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission. In that controversial decision almost two years ago, justices gave corporations the same First Amendment free-speech rights as people.

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Paramilitary Policing of Occupy Wall Street: Excessive Use of Force Amidst the New Military Urbanism

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman - Nov. 17 (Interview) - We host a discussion on policing and the Occupy Wall Street movement with Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which helped organize calls among police chiefs on how to respond to the Occupy protests, and with Norm Stamper, the former police chief of Seattle, who recently wrote an article for The Nation magazine titled "Paramilitary Policing from Seattle to Occupy Wall Street." "Trust me, the police do not want to be put in this position. And cities really need to ask themselves, is there another way to handle this kind of conflict?"

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The Supreme Court has a chance to keep Big Brother at bay

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - Nov. 11 (Opinion) -

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"Corporations Are Not People": Activists Push Amendment to Revoke "Corporate Personhood"

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 09 (News Report) - After an Election Day that saw a number of wins for progressive causes nationwide, activists opposed to "corporate personhood" — the notion that corporations have equal rights to individuals — are pushing ahead with a campaign to add a twenty-eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would reject the idea that corporations are people and reverse the 2010 landmark case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In a 5-to-4 vote, the Court ruled corporations have First Amendment rights and that the government cannot impose restrictions on their political speech — clearing the way for corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. We speak to John Bonifaz, a constitutional attorney and co-founder and director of Free Speech for People. [Rush transcript to come. Please check back soon.]

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Scott Campbell Films Police Shooting At Occupy Oakland: Video Sparks National Outrage (VIDEO)

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Nov. 08 (News Report) - Early Thursday morning after Occupy Oakland's general strike, Campbell filmed police as they surrounded the remaining protesters. According to Campbell, an officer asked him to step back as he approached the police line with a video camera. Campbell obliged, and then began filming about ten feet from the officers. On the video, Campbell can be heard asking "is this OK?" twice. Several seconds later, an officer shoots him with what appears to be a rubber bullet.

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Missoula voters say corporations are not people, ask for constitutional amendment

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

missoulian.com - Nov. 08 (News) -

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Six First-Hand Observations From Last Night's Chaos between Riot Police and Occupy Oakland

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Joshua Holland - Oct. 27 (News Report) - We're taught from an early age that we have a right to peaceably assemble and protest, and that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution and can't be over-ridden by the city of Oakland.

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Glenn Greenwald on Two-Tiered U.S. Justice System, Obama’s Assassination Program & the Arab Spring

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald - Oct. 26 (News Analysis) - Glenn Greenwald’s new book,"With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful,” offers a scathing critique of what he calls the two-tiered system of justice that ensures the political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution in the United States. Greenwald explores how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, financial fraud and even the assassination of U.S citizens. [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Police Fire Tear Gas, Flash Grenades as Protesters Try to Retake Occupy Oakland After Predawn Raid

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Oct. 26 (News Report) - Oakland police repeatedly fired tear gas and flash grenades Tuesday night as protesters attempted to retake the Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall—only 12 hours after police tore apart the camp and arrested more than 90 people in a pre-dawn raid. Observers said that at times the downtown resembled a war zone last night. Some protesters are being held on $10,000 bail. We speak to Rachel Jackson of the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality and State Repression about how the police are handling Occupy Oakland.

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Dozens Arrested at Occupy Oakland As Police Raid Encampment, Tear Down Tents

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Oct. 25 (News Report) - Oakland police stormed the Occupy Oakland protest encampment outside City Hall just before 5:00 a.m. PDT. Police lobbed flash grenades and reportedly fired tear gas. Initial reports say at least 70 people have been arrested and the police tore apart the protest camp.

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Constitutional Rights Lawyer Michael Ratner: Failed Occupy Wall Street Evacuation Order is Illegal

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Oct. 14 (News Report) - attorney Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights says New York City’s efforts to displace Occupy Wall Street protesters in order to clean the park violates their First Amendment rights and would have led to a major confrontation. "Apart from the illegality of it, it was just too massive," Ratner says. "It would have been a bloodbath. The idea that they were going to come in here when there were thousands of people all over the place, union people everywhere, they could not have successfully closed this park down... It’s too big now. This park is becoming a permanent feature of the next generation of protests."

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House Democrats push legislation to overturn Citizens United ruling

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Hill - By Mike Lillis - Sep. 23 (News) - The proposal would amend the Constitution to reverse the Supreme Court ruling that sanctioned unlimited corporate spending on elections. Read more...

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Tea Party Gets the Constitution Wrong

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Robert Parry - Sep. 18 (News Analysis) - Like any government document, the Constitution can only be understood in the context of what it replaced – and why. The Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation, which guided the new country starting in 1777. The Articles granted broad authority to the states with only a weak national government. As the Revolutionary War wore on and during the early years of peace, many American leaders – including George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson – came to view the Articles as unworkable and a threat to the survival of the new nation.

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For lesson in shared sacrifice, send Congress to boot camp

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - By Russel L Honore - Aug. 02 (Editorial) - Like most veterans, the men and women who have worn our nation's uniform to defend this country, I am furious with and disappointed in the state of indecision that plagued Washington these past few weeks. Whether or not to raise the debt ceiling so our country can continue to pay our bills and maintain our global credit rating didn't seem like such a difficult decision.

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Law Professors Come Out Against PROTECT IP

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

techdirt.com - Jul. 13 (Opinion) - Although the problems the Act attempts to address -- online copyright and trademark infringement -- are serious ones presenting new and difficult enforcement challenges, the approach taken in the Act has grave constitutional infirmities, potentially dangerous consequences for the stability and security of the Internet's addressing system, and will undermine United States foreign policy and strong support of free expression on the Internet around the world.

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What our Declaration really said

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By E.J. Dionne Jr. - Jul. 04 (Opinion) - Our nation confronts a challenge this Fourth of July that we face but rarely: We are at odds over the meaning of our history and why, to quote our Declaration of Independence, “governments are instituted.”

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Section 4 Of The 14th Amendment Was Designed To Stop Boehner

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New Republic - By Jonathan Chait - Jul. 01 (Opinion) - Balkin does not suggest, nor do I, that the legal merits are open and shut. It's certainly risky to take a flyer in the middle of a debt crisis. But if we do reach h-hour, we're probably better off if the Treasury simply announces it's going to continue to pay the bills and dares Republicans to take them to court than repudiating the debt, right?

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14th Amendment: Democratic Senators See Debt Ceiling As Unconstitutional

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Ryan Grim, Samuel Haass - Jun. 29 (News Report) - Growing increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for a deal that would raise the debt ceiling, Democratic senators are revisiting a solution to the crisis that rests on a simple proposition: The debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional.

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Michigan Residents File Lawsuit Challenging Emergency Law Installing Unelected City Managers

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez - Jun. 23 (News Report) - A group of Michigan residents have filed a suit challenging a controversial new state law that allows the governor to appoint an un-elected emergency manager or corporation to take over financially distressed towns and cities and effectively fire elected officials. The law empowers these unelected managers to sell off public property, shred union contacts and privatize government services without any input from local voters. Michigan now has un-elected emergency managers running the schools in Detroit, as well as the cities of Pontiac, Ecorse and Benton Harbor. We speak to longtime Detroit resident, Edith Lee-Payne, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit; and John Philo, legal director of the Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, which filed the lawsuit against the state of Michigan.

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Obama Faces Bi-Partisan Opposition for Refusal to Seek Authorization for Libya War

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 22 (Interview) - President Barack Obama has overruled top administration lawyers and decided he has the legal authority to continue involvement in the NATO air war in Libya, without congressional approval. Our guest, University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole, who supports the Libya operation, says Obama needs authorization from Congress in order to continue. "Not doing that has damaged the legitimacy of the war in the eyes of the American people," says Cole.

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