June 16, 2021
Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 16, 2021
It’s fitting that an event in support of Julian Assange took place on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers. The court cases surrounding the publication of the Pentagon Papers once laid bare the lengths the government
June 9, 2021
Published by Defending Rights & Dissent at June 9, 2021
On this day in 1954, one of our nation’s most infamous demagogues had his career come to a symbolic end. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, whose name has now become synonymous with political persecution, rose from a relatively unremarkable junior Senator to
June 8, 2021
Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 8, 2021
By Cody Bloomfield Earlier this year, news broke that Trump’s Department of Justice had subpoenaed reporters’ phone records. Biden condemned this seizure of journalists’ records, calling it “simply wrong.” Biden promised that his DOJ would not pursue journalists’ records. Yet
June 8, 2021
Published by Defending Rights & Dissent at June 8, 2021
Witness Against Torture (WAT) invites you to join a fast during June Torture Awareness Week. We will fast in our homes in deference to the still unvanquished pandemic, but we’ll connect by Zoom. Fast for a day or two, or for
June 7, 2021
Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 7, 2021
By Cody Bloomfield On the campaign trail, Biden promised to end the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program (TVTP). He did… by recycling the same broken countering violent extremism framework into a new counterterrorism grant program. Under Biden’s DHS, TVTP
June 4, 2021
Published by Patrick G. Eddington at June 4, 2021
By Patrick G. Eddington It’s been the better part of a decade since NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden first revealed massive U.S. government surveillance of our phone communications. The additional disclosures that followed led to no meaningful public Congressional hearings into
May 24, 2021
Published by Defending Rights & Dissent at May 24, 2021
May 24, 2021 Unbeknownst to most of us, Dan Ellsberg secretly copied another exposive report when he copied the Pentagon Papers fifty years ago. The second classified study documented how close the U.S. came to starting a nuclear war with
May 14, 2021
Published by Cody Bloomfield at May 14, 2021
By Cody Bloomfield May 14, 2021 On May 15, 1970, police fired over 400 bullets and pieces of deershot into a student dorm at the predominantly Black Jackson State University. Police originally mobilized on campus in response to student protests;
May 12, 2021
Published by R.A. Bloomfield at May 12, 2021
Last week, the Supreme Court heard an important case about student free speech rights. The case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. concerns a cheerleader who was suspended from her junior varsity cheerleading team following a Snapchat post where she
May 1, 2021
Published by Chip Gibbons at May 1, 2021
May 1, 2021 By Chip Gibbons Today is May Day, commemorated throughout the world as International Workers’ Day. Although May Day is celebrated by the vast majority of countries, it is not an official holiday in the United States. Yet,
April 29, 2021
Published by Patrick G. Eddington at April 29, 2021
By Patrick G. Eddington April 29, 2021 It’s been over three months since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission threw a regulatory wrench into Canada-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation’s proposed Jordan Cove liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal project, and the legal battle
April 28, 2021
Published by Defending Rights & Dissent at April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021 Today, Defending Rights & Dissent joined two dozen other organizations to urge an end to the funding for the National Capital Region Facial Recognition Investigative Leads System (“NCR-FRILS”) pilot project, halt the use of the system, and
April 26, 2021
Published by Chip Gibbons at April 26, 2021
April 26, 2021 The Metropolitan Police Department has settled two separate civil suits stemming from their arrest of Trump Inauguration (“J20”) protesters. The police have agreed to pay out $1.6 million to the plaintiffs, not challenge their requests to expunge
April 22, 2021
Published by Defending Rights & Dissent at April 22, 2021
While the assassination of Fred Hampton took place five decades ago, new revelations about the FBI’s role in Hampton’s death are still emerging. Researchers Aaron Leonard and Conor Gallagher have been key to these developments. In their quest to
April 22, 2021
Published by Cody Bloomfield at April 22, 2021
By R.A. Bloomfield April 22, 2021 In May 2020, police pepper sprayed and detained Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri while she was covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Body cam footage of the incident shows Sahouri blinded by pepper