Land Of The Flea

Atlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

"On June 27, IJ asked the court to clarify that Atlanta does indeed have a vending law in place under which the vendors can work. Shortly thereafter, we helped more than 75 vendors and their supporters march on City Hall. Three major civil rights groups joined us, as did most of Atlanta’s major media outlets who covered the protest. The very next day, the court clarified that the law authorizing the vending monopoly was 'wholly void' and should be treated 'as if it were never passed.' Because that law repealed an earlier vending ordinance, its invalidation meant that the old ordinance, which allows public property vending, was once again the law of the land." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

Wisconsin lawmaker & state official threatened with arrest for observing protest

"A Wisconsin lawmaker and a state official were both threatened with arrest for observing a progressive 'Solidarity Sing Along' protest at the state Capitol. State Rep. Sondy Pope and executive secretary Tia Nelson of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands told Isthmus they were threatened with arrest by a Capitol Police officer. The officer told the two women that anyone who stood to watch the protest rather than moving along was subject to arrest. In July, a judge ruled that groups of more than 20 people could not gather in the Wisconsin Capitol without a permit. Police have issued more than 100 citations to protesters so far." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWisconsin lawmaker & state official threatened with arrest for observing protest

NYPD agrees to purge database of people stopped by police

"The New York City Police Department has agreed to purge a database of names and addresses of people stopped by police under the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program but later cleared of criminal wrongdoing. The department will cease collecting the information as part of a settlement ending a lawsuit filed in 2010 in state court by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which announced the agreement on Wednesday. The settlement applies to people issued a summons or arrested after a police stop but whose cases were dismissed or ended with a fine for a noncriminal violation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD agrees to purge database of people stopped by police

Snowden’s father says Putin will continue to stand firm

"Lon Snowden’s comments came on the day that President Barack Obama canceled a summit meeting with Putin planned for next month in retaliation for Russia giving refuge to Edward Snowden. “These games of ‘Well, I’m not going to go to this meeting,’ or ‘I’m not going to go to that meeting,’ … I do not believe that President Vladimir Putin will cave to that,” he said. The older Snowden, who was in the Coast Guard for about 30 years before he retired in January 2009, said he 'wouldn’t take the unauthorized release of classified information lightly, and I did not initially either. The fact is, is now I have a much greater understanding of what has occurred.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden’s father says Putin will continue to stand firm

IRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

"Details of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by agents of the Internal Revenue Service for two years. The practice of recreating the investigative trail, highly criticized by former prosecutors and defense lawyers after Reuters reported it this week, is now under review by the Justice Department. An IRS spokesman had no comment on the entry or on why it was removed from the manual. Reuters recovered the previous editions from the archives of the Westlaw legal database." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

Texas man sues GOP lawmaker and husband over months of workplace Tasings

"A 45-year-old Texas man is suing a Republican state lawmaker and her husband over what he calls months of attacks with a Taser while working for them that left him paranoid in his private life. 'I was constantly looking behind my shoulder, distracted, couldn’t sleep,' Bradley Jones told KHOU-TV. 'I would even look behind my shower curtain at home.' KHOU reported on Tuesday that Jones has filed a civil suit against state Rep. Patricia Harless (R) and her husband, Sam Harless. The couple owns Fred Fincher Motors, where Jones has worked since 2009." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas man sues GOP lawmaker and husband over months of workplace Tasings

U.S. government tried to aggressively punish ‘leaker’ journalist in World War II

"The U.S. government attempted to aggressively prosecute a journalist who revealed early in World War II that American intelligence agencies had cracked the Japanese military’s secret code language. According to the Wall Street Journal, recently disclosed Justice Department documents show that government prosecutors contemplated not only punishing the reporter who wrote the story, but staff and editors at the newspaper that printed it, too. It is worth noting that the Tribune at that juncture was published by interests unfriendly to the Roosevelt administration. A grand jury dismissed all charges against Johnston." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. government tried to aggressively punish ‘leaker’ journalist in World War II

Unhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A ‘High Threat’

"Watch out for 'Hema.' A security training test created by a Defense Department agency warns federal workers that they should consider the hypothetical Indian-American woman a 'high threat' because she frequently visits family abroad, has money troubles and 'speaks openly of unhappiness with U.S. foreign policy.' That slide, from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is a startling demonstration of the Obama administration's obsession with leakers and other 'insider threats.' One goal of its broader 'Insider Threat' program is to stop the next Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden from spilling classified or sensitive information." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A ‘High Threat’

Anaheim & the Feds Use Civil Forfeiture to Subvert State Law

"When IJ client Tony Jalali fled Iran in 1978, he came to America seeking protection of the rule of law, due process, and justice. He never would have imagined that 35 years later he would be battling in federal court to save the small Anaheim, Calif., office building that represents his family’s life savings. Although Tony has never been charged with any crime, the federal government is attempting to use civil forfeiture to take his entire $1.5 million commercial building merely because he used to rent office space to a medical marijuana dispensary that was entirely legal under state law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnaheim & the Feds Use Civil Forfeiture to Subvert State Law

Civil Unrest Coming to America

"The 'start-up job rate' in our country – the number of jobs in newly created American companies – has fallen during the Obama administration to 7.8 per 1,000 people, a 31% decline from the first President Bush. Those missing jobs and the resulting impact on unemployed youth are the kindling that ignites fiery riots. When our unemployed youth reach the point where they perceive that they have little left to lose, well it will be London and Stockholm and Athens all over America. That’s a when, not an if. The question I wonder is how America will react. Will the riots be enough to change the stupor in Washington?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCivil Unrest Coming to America