Kafkaesque

Rand Paul: ‘I Ask That We Begin The End Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing’

"Paul mentioned other examples of draconian mandatory minimums, including the 55-year sentence that Weldon Angelos, a 24-year-old Utah music entrepreneur, received for a few small pot sales. Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney for Utah, noted that the DEA could have busted Angelos after the first undercover buy but waited for two more, knowing that Angelos’ possession of a gun would trigger stacked sentences adding up to more than half a century. Paul also cited Edward Clay, an 18-year-old first-time offender who got 10 years after he was caught with less than two ounces of cocaine, and John Horner, a 46-year-old father of three who got a 25-year mandatory minimum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRand Paul: ‘I Ask That We Begin The End Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing’

Boston bomb victims who cash survivor checks lose state health insurance

"Months after the Boston Marathon bombing, J.P. Norden is still recovering from losing his leg, but he can’t cash a $1.2 million check provided to survivors because he would lose his state health insurance for the poor. Norden, and his brother Paul, both had legs amputated and received identical checks as part of the $60 million being distributed by One Fund charity. They told The Washington Post that they are very aware they would quickly use up the $1.2 million with their ongoing medical expenses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoston bomb victims who cash survivor checks lose state health insurance

U.S. Court: Journalist Barrett Brown Can’t Talk To The Press Any More

"We just wrote about the ridiculousness of Barrett Brown's case, in which he's been in jail and facing a very long sentence mainly for copying a URL from one place to another, but also because the feds have been seeking a media gag. Tragically, the court has now granted that gag order. Neither Brown nor his legal team is allowed to speak to the media. It's perfectly reasonable to expect Brown and his legal team to try to draw attention to the ridiculousness of the case, and the only purpose of this sort of gag order is to silence the press and keep the story from getting the kind of attention it deserves, as yet another example of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Court: Journalist Barrett Brown Can’t Talk To The Press Any More

Bank Advisor: ‘Should Your Bank Do Business With Bitcoin?’

"One New York virtual currency exchange, Bitfloor, closed its doors in April after Capital One Financial Corp. closed its account. PNC closed the accounts of FastCash4Bitcoins in the spring, preventing them from receiving wire transfers. In August, Commonwealth Bank, one of the largest Australian Banks, closed the accounts of CoinJar. In the growing Bitcoin economy, the banking relationship is a key factor in survival, growth and success. Not all Bitcoin companies are the same, and there’s no reason a compliant Bitcoin company shouldn’t be able to get banking services. Here are factors to consider if a Bitcoin company seeks a relationship with your bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBank Advisor: ‘Should Your Bank Do Business With Bitcoin?’

Bradley Manning: The Mighty Fist!

"We stand in solidarity with PFC Manning and the peace his actions stand for. The state has grown far too large. The centralized, federated nation-state is a great agent of repression. Its power lies in the hands of state servants who wish to extinguish what tiny flames of liberty are left among us. But for many, this sentence has inspired a howl so large that these flames may rage into a roaring fire. If such an injustice can come down on Manning then it can come down on any of us who wish to challenge the immoral actions of the state. May the mighty fist of solidarity vanquish this state!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBradley Manning: The Mighty Fist!

The State, Not Manning, is the Criminal

"Manning is being punished for exposing government crimes, most famously U.S. troops shooting innocent civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in the Collateral Murder video. Manning’s disclosures also shed light on what McClatchy Newspapers called 'evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old infant, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence.' The outrage caused by exposure of this brutal war crime helped end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The perpetrators should have been held accountable. They were not. Instead, the state engaged in a series of crimes against Private Manning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe State, Not Manning, is the Criminal

What Was Bradley Manning’s Sin?

"What was Bradley Manning’s sin that warrants a sentence of 35 years? It was a sin manufactured by the State against the State’s version of righteousness. A righteous person, according to the State, is a State co-conspirator who is required to keep silent when observing crimes of the State. There is a conspiracy of silence and secrecy, like the Mafia’s omerta. Manning joined the conspiracy and then broke the rule of silence. He failed to place his conscience on hold or abeyance while serving the State. Now he must pay for his 'sin', the State claims. What sin? There is no real sin here on his part, and no real crime. There is only a power play." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Was Bradley Manning’s Sin?

California hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners

"Jail officials in California have been given permission to force-feed hunger strikers who are entering their seventh week of a statewide protest against prison conditions. The order strikes out directives recently signed by some prisoners that they be allowed to die. US District Court Judge Thelton E Henderson ruled that California prison doctors may force-feed selected inmates who are near death, even if they had previously signed orders asking not to be resuscitated. About 136 California inmates are taking part in a hunger strike that began on 8 July demanding an end to a policy of housing inmates believed to be associated with gangs in near-isolation for years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners

U.S. court grants Nigerian asylum-seeker the right to testify about his own torture

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided today that a Nigerian man, Olakunle Oshodi, will be allowed to testify fully at his deportation hearing about the torture he suffered as a political dissident at the hands of Nigerian officials before he fled his homeland. The lower courts and dissenting judges refused to hear what happened the first time an unsympathetic immigration judge deported him, back in 1978. Oshodi returned to the United States in 1981, eventually married a citizen and had a child. Despite that, he faced deportation years later and then applied for political asylum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. court grants Nigerian asylum-seeker the right to testify about his own torture

U.S. seeks to speed up hearings for five 9/11 suspects

"Self-declared 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed appeared in the military court at the US prison in Cuba with his four co-defendants. All face the death penalty if convicted of plotting the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, which left nearly 3,000 people dead. Preliminary hearings in the case began in May 2012. The five defendants were held incommunicado in secret CIA prisons from 2002 to 2006, before they were transferred to Guantanamo. The detainees’ treatment has come under close scrutiny. Mohammed is known to have been subjected to 183 sessions of waterboarding, the technique of simulated drowning which has been decried as torture by rights groups." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. seeks to speed up hearings for five 9/11 suspects