I've wanted to do a blog on this for a few weeks and haven't found the time to put it together, then today I was reading Wu Ming's blog and came across a link to a blog by Shanikka at Political Sapphire with an excellent rundown of the Radical Right-Wing in action. I posted the entire blog because the info is so important to everyone. Please make sure to click on the header to be able to read all the links Shanikka took the time to dig up. BTW Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and I'm pretty sure Thomas are all members of the the lawyers version of the Neocons - The Federalist Society

Rewinding the Warren Court

I've been wondering how long it would be before someone in the mainstream called a spade a spade, where this year's Supreme Court term is concerned. Finally, this morning, the New York Times almost hits the mark, in its editorial Justice Denied.

It draws the nexus between this Court's decisions this year and the dismantling of Warren Court jurisprudence, particularly as it relates to the rights of the oppressed:

At the end of its first full term, Chief Justice John Roberts’s court is emerging as the Warren court’s mirror image.

Am I the only person who recalls what Justice Alito explained were his reasons for deciding that his passion in life lie in law instead of some other career where he could not do much as much damage? In deciding in 1985 to apply for a job with the Reagan administration? Because he disagreed with "Warren Court decisions, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause and reapportionment?" (Emphasis mine.) I can't be, yet so far nobody in either the mainstream media nor the Democratic Party leadership appears to have brought that up. The closest we have come is today's Times editorial. Which strikes me as just a bit too little, too late.

NEWS ADVISORY
ACLU OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA/SACRAMENTO CHAPTER
------------------------------------------------
News Conference Advisory

ACLU calls for restoration of habeas corpus rights in U.S., end to policy of torture; Thousands expected in D.C., other special events - including one in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO – The American Civil Liberties Union has announced it will hold a series of actions across the U.S. – including Sacramento – Tuesday demanding a restoration of fundamental freedoms in the U.S., including habeas corpus and due process, and an end to torture. Thousands are expected at a D.C. event.

Members of the ACLU/Northern California Sacramento County Chapter will hold a special news briefing TUESDAY, at 9:30 a.m. at the Federal Courthouse (5th & I Streets).

The ACLU is expected to note that Congress passed and the President signed – in the waning hours of the 2006 session – the Military Commissions Act (McA), which has eliminated habeas corpus protection for some in the U.S.
Time: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 9:30am PST

Day of Action Comes at Pivotal Moment

>>Sign the petition: Restore Our Rights.

>> Watch the rally live on June 26 at: www.juneaction.org.

This Tuesday’s Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice in Washington, D.C. will be a pivotal moment in the fight to restore the civil liberties and constitutional values undermined over the past six years.

The tide is turning. Congress is hearing our demands to hold the Bush administration accountable for running roughshod over the rule of law, and some within the White House are starting to see the writing on the wall.
Time: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 10:00am PST

Court overrules Bush ‘enemy combatant’ policy

Judges: President may not detain legal U.S. resident without charging him

Updated: 1 hour, 54 minutes ago RICHMOND, Va. - The Bush administration cannot use new anti-terrorism laws to keep U.S. residents locked up indefinitely without charging them, a divided federal appeals court said Monday.

The ruling was a harsh rebuke of one of the central tools the administration believes it has to combat terror.

“To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the president calls them ‘enemy combatants,’ would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution — and the country,” the court panel said.

In the 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found that the federal Military Commissions Act doesn’t strip Ali al-Marri, a legal U.S. resident, of his constitutional rights to challenge his accusers in court. It ruled the government must allow al-Marri to be released from military detention.

The government intends to ask the full 4th Circuit to hear the case, Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said.

“The president has made clear that he intends to use all available tools at his disposal to protect Americans from further al-Qaida attack, including the capture and detention of al-Qaida agents who enter our borders,” Boyd said in a statement.

Al-Marri has been held in solitary confinement in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., since June 2003. The Qatar native has been detained since his December 2001 arrest at his home in Peoria, Ill., where he moved with his wife and five children a day before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to study for a master’s degree at Bradley University.

“This is a landmark victory for the rule of law and a defeat for unchecked executive power,” al-Marri’s lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz, said in a statement. “It affirms the basic constitutional rights of all individuals — citizens and immigrants — in the United States.”

No jobs for US citizens without Homeland Security approval

US citizens who apply for a job will need prior approval from Department of Homeland Security under the terms immigration bill passed by the Senate this week.

American Civil Liberties Union pointed out that the DHS's Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) is error plagued and if the department makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review.

Even current employees will need to obtain eligibility approval from the DHS Within 60 days of the Immigration Reform Act of 2006 becoming law.

Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day

May 14th is the official deadline for cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and some universities to finish wiring up their networks with FBI-friendly surveillance gear, to comply with the FCC's expanded interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.

Congress passed CALEA in 1994 to help FBI eavesdroppers deal with digital telecom technology. The law required phone companies to make their networks easier to wiretap. The results: on mobile phone networks, where CALEA tech has 100% penetration, it's credited with boosting the number of court-approved wiretaps a carrier can handle simultaneously, and greatly shortening the time it takes to get a wiretap going. Cops can now start listening in less than a day.

WARNING: Graphic video [Click]

REAL ID Townhall Meeting
Tuesday, May 1st at 10:00AM
Freeborn Hall on the campus of the University of California, Davis

States from Maine to Montana are in revolt against Congress's REAL ID scheme. By adding your voice at the hearing, you can help us prevent this 'Real Nightmare' from becoming a reality.

The Department of Homeland Security is hosting a public meeting to receive comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Minimum Standards for Driver's Licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes.” It is critical that we attend the meeting and show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the majority of Americans are opposed to REAL ID. DHS will be taking comments from individuals in person and it is crucial to have a massive crowd of people come out to tell the Department of Homeland Security and the California Department of Vehicles that their regulations on REAL ID are ill conceived, unworkable and violate our privacy!

WHEN: Tuesday, May 1, 2007
TIME: 10:00 AM to 2:00PM
WHERE: UC Davis
104 Freeborn Hall, One Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616
Time: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - 11:00am PST

Mom irate; son says teacher kept denying restroom permission

By Bobby Caina Calvan - Bee Staff Writer

Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, April 27, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

[...]

The teacher, the youth said, had declined 20 minutes of repeated requests for a hall pass to use the restroom.

The teacher threatened him with suspension if he left the classroom, said Patterson, 14, who carries a B average in the school's Gifted and Talented Education program.

So [Michael] Patterson, [an eighth-grader at Goethe Middle School] ... an empty Gatorade bottle in hand, went to a corner of the classroom, his back turned to his classmates, and urinated.

"I was embarrassed," he said, recounting the Tuesday incident.

His mother is furious. So is the NAACP.

First what it does. And then how it ties in with the previous posts

The new Terror Czar legislation

Negotiations by Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to create a new California "security czar" drew fire from an unexpected quarter - the American Civil Liberties Union. ...

At issue is a provision in draft legislation that civil libertarians say offers a broad definition of terrorist activity which could lead to sweeping powers for state officials. As written, the bill defines terrorist activity as any activity that "involves an act that is dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure," violates any criminal law and "appears intended to intimidate or coerce the civilian population."

"As written, the bill defines terrorist activity as any activity that ... is ... potentially destructive

Wow, you mean that arresting people just because they have UFW tatoos is not legal?


>State court overturns West Sacramento gang order
By Hudson Sangree - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A state appellate court Monday struck down an order that imposed a curfew and banned public gatherings of alleged West Sacramento gang members, criticizing prosecutors for not giving the Broderick Boys their day in court.

While agreeing there is significant gang activity in West Sacramento, the 3rd District Court of Appeal said the Yolo County District Attorney's Office had not given enough advance notice of the crackdown to alleged Broderick Boys. Instead, they served the injunction on only one low-level gang member.

[Even though I think the vast majority of Police Officers are extremely honest, and never get enough credit for doing the things that need doing, there are some who need oversight, as in all of society]
Time: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 - 10:00am PST

The Text of a speech that got a DHS student suspended

HT - People's Vanguard of Davis

Most of the time when people talk about discrimination at school it usually involves students harassing another student, which I too have faced, but these incidents don’t just happen to students. When I was asked to tell a story about being pointed out for my religion, Islam, the first thing that came to me was what a teacher on our own campus had done.

Earlier this year one of my teachers agreed with our class that we could bring posters if they were appropriate. I decided to bring in a Malcolm X poster with the quote, “We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”

Sacramento ACLU Chapter Kick-off!

If you’ve been wondering what you can do to uphold civil liberties, here’s your chance. An ACLU chapter is being formed in the Sacramento area, making it even easier for ACLU members in the area to get involved with the organization.

The ACLU is having a major community meeting April 21, and you will have the opportunity to hear ACLU speakers, and elect the chapter’s Board of Directors for the coming year.

This election marks the final step before the Sacramento Chapter becomes a full-fledged ACLU chapter. This meeting is also a great opportunity to meet the chapter organizing committee and participate in a discussion about what the ACLU will target for projects in the upcoming year.

The meeting will focus on video surveillance in the Sacramento area, as well as a state legislative update from ACLU staffers about pending civil rights-related legislation.

Those interested in joining this chapter, or finding out more about the ACLU and government surveillance are welcome and encouraged to attend this meeting.

A light lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP to (or for more information): Ashley Morris at amorris@aclunc.org or (415) 621-2493 x369
Time: Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 11:00am PST

Here's a Civil Liberties action item for those that can attend a meeting this Thursday at 3:00 PM (details below). The Sacramento Public Library Authority is being asked to adopt a rule that prohibits library patrons from viewing “pornography” over the Internet. While this seems reasonable at first; what exactly is the definition of "pornography"? We all know what the X-rated definition is, but someone may be using the library computer to do research on breast cancer and someone else may walk by and see the word "breast" or even a diagram that they personally are offended by. You may think this is unbelieveable, but if this rule is adopted, they may be able to tell the librarian that they are offended and the person doing the research will have to stop doing their research or leave the computer altogether.

Here is the wording from the agenda that will be discussed at this meeting:
Time: Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 3:00pm PST

Greetings activists!

Sacramento County is a critically important region where we need organized activists fighting for civil liberties. Please join us to continue organizing a new ACLU chapter. In recent years, ACLU members in the Sacramento area have begun the process of starting a chapter, but an official chapter has yet to be chartered. Come to this meeting next Monday and find out about what you can do to effect change in the realm of civil liberties and rights.

The meeting will be held on Monday, January 22 from 5:30-7:00pm @ 201 29th Street in Sacramento (29th & B streets inside the Planned Parenthood Administration building) to discuss the functions of an ACLU chapter, current ACLU statewide and national issue campaigns, and local civil liberties issues of concern to members.

Free dinner will be served and the meeting is open to anyone interested in getting involved. (If you wish to be a chapter board member, you must join the ACLU.)
Time: Monday, January 22, 2007 - 5:30pm PST

Thanks Howard

Howard on the Daily Show

The Fifty State Strategy

"We cannot run 18-state campaigns. We've got to be everywhere. We've got to be in Mississippi. We've got to be in Oklahoma. We have to be organized. By the end of this year, we have a goal of having a Democrat in every precinct in America,

Charlie Brown, Democrat, to debate John Doolittle (R) in Rocklin tonight wednesday, October 11, 7:30pm to 9:30pm Local cable, channel 4 Starstream in Lincoln/Rocklin/Granite Bay/Loomis area.
Also to be live streamed on the web by newschannel 10, http://www.news10.net
Doolittle gave very short notice, don't miss this if possible.

The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Published on Beyond Delay (http://www.beyonddelay.org)

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
John Doolittle is an eighth-term Member of Congress representing the 4th congressional district of California. His ethics issues stem from his wife’s relationship to his campaign and political action committees, as well as campaign contributions and personal financial benefits he accepted from those who sought his legislative assistance.

Click

Instead, the question must be placed in its historical and international context — namely, whether Congress should grant the Executive branch a fairly unbounded discretion to use such techniques where such conduct would place the United States in breach of the Geneva Conventions.