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Dissent NewsWire
December 2, 2021
Fifty-two years ago today, the Chicago Police murdered Illinois Black Panther Chair Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. In a raid orchestrated by the FBI, Chicago Police stormed the Black Panther officer at 4:00 AM. Not only did they fire first,
November 24, 2021
Twenty years ago, George W. Bush signed the PATRIOT Act into law. And twenty years ago, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee was born. The law ripped the Fourth Amendment to shreds by expanding government surveillance powers, impaled the First
November 23, 2021
Almost every state in the country has considered legislation designed to restrict the right to participate in a boycott. The motivation behind these bills is no secret: it is to undermine the BDS movement – a campaign launched by Palestinian
November 11, 2021
DRAD Joins National Letter Rebuking NY Plan to Transfer Women & Trans from Rikers to Upstate Prisons
On Wednesday, Defending Rights & Dissent joined with leading national LGBTQI and women’s advocacy organizations including the National Women’s Law Center, Transgender Law Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the New York Transgender Advocacy Group urging New York Governor
October 29, 2021
The Julian Assange extradition appeal concluded in London on Thursday, October 29. Immediately following the proceedings, Defending Rights & Dissent brought together some of the best journalists covering the proceedings this week to offer their reactions and analysis, including DRAD
October 28, 2021
On October 27, 2021, human rights lawyer Steven Donzinger reported to prison to serve a six month prison term for contempt of court. “We’re outraged that Steven Donzinger is in jail, and disgusted by the US judiciary’s complicity in Chevron’s
October 18, 2021
DRAD joined a national coalition of civil liberties and human rights organizations this week calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the criminal prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after the explosive revelations in recent reporting about how in
October 18, 2021
Defending Rights & Dissent condemns the US government’s decision to place Daniel Hale in a “Communications Management Unit” (CMU). Defending Rights & Dissent has both long opposed the use of CMUs, as well the imprisonment of Daniel Hale. CMUs are
October 14, 2021
Timuel Black died on October 13, just a couple months before his 103rd birthday. In addition to being a scholar, a historian, and a mentor to Presidents, Tim was a strategic organizer and activist. And, Tim was a decades-long board
September 27, 2021
Over the weekend, Yahoo News published a bombshell report, based on interviews with over 30 former US officials, about the CIA’s campaign against Australian journalist Julian Assange. While the CIA long had Assange in its sights, Yahoo reports that Trump-appointed
September 23, 2021
The January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is one of the most shameful events in American history. And whether it was the culmination of an authoritarian president grasping at power, a reaction to disinformation and unfounded claims of voter
September 22, 2021
Two decades ago, the US embarked on a “Global War on Terror.” As Americans mark this grim anniversary, we are forced to confront the still unfolding legacy of the War on Terror. Much of these conversations have focused on a
September 20, 2021
Dear President Joseph Biden, Twenty years ago today, your predecessor signed into law an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Many in Congress understood themselves as voting for the impending
September 14, 2021
Terrorism is not contagious. It seems like an obvious statement, but it’s one belied by language about “terrorist radicalization.” National security discourse continually resurrects the myth that there is a traceable path to terrorism that starts with adoption of ideology
September 13, 2021
John Kiriakou is the only person imprisoned in connection with the CIA torture program. John didn’t participate in the program, he blew the whistle on it. His crime was that he was the first person to publicly confirm that the