Democratic Rights in the US
Torture and the crisis of American democracy
By Barry Grey, April 21, 2009
The publication of previously classified Bush Justice Department memos detailing and approving forms of torture has become the focus of a political crisis that marks a new stage in the decay of Americ...
Torture memos reveal brutality of US imperialism
By Tom Eley, April 18, 2009
The public release of Bush administration memos authorizing torture is an extraordinary event. Here, in black and white, is the true face of American imperialism.
New NSA domestic spying exposed as Obama stonewalls court challenges
By Bill Van Auken, April 18, 2009
The National Security Agency carried out “significant and systemic” spying on Americans in recent months, intercepting private e-mail messages and phone calls, according to intelligence officials ...
New York police attack protesting New School students
By Sandy English, April 13, 2009
In a display of brutality, the New York City Police Department last Friday arrested 22 students who had occupied the premises of the New School in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.
Ward Churchill wins wrongful termination suit
Jury finds Colorado professor was fired for political views
By Patrick Martin, April 9, 2009
In a verdict suggesting a growth in political understanding on the part of the American population, a Colorado jury ruled in favor of a professor fired after writing an article suggesting that US poli...
US Supreme Court rejects appeal by Mumia Abu-Jamal for new trial
By Barry Grey, April 7, 2009
The United States Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal for a new trial by Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose struggle over more than a quarter century against his murder conviction in a politically a...
Obama signing statement weakens “whistle-blower” protections
By Tom Eley, March 18, 2009
President Obama issued a “signing statement” upon approving a $410 billion spending bill that weakens protections for whistle-blowers who turn over information to Congress.
FBI terrorist watch list hits 1 million entries
By Patrick Martin, March 12, 2009
The FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center acknowledged this week that there are more than 1 million names on its official terrorist watch list, a number that suggests the vast scale of the police-state m...
Seattle, Wash.: Video captures attack on teenage girl at police station
By Hector Cordon, March 5, 2009
A video viewed widely on YouTube depicts an apparent assault by a suburban Seattle-area sheriff’s deputy on a teenage girl while placing her in a jail holding cell.
Obama administration seeks to block lawsuit over illegal wiretapping
By John Burton and Marge Holland, February 16, 2009
For the second time in less than a week, Obama Justice Department lawyers have embraced the Bush administration’s pseudo-legal argument that the “state secrets” doctrine bars civil lawsuits chal...
US Supreme Court undermines constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures
By John Burton, February 12, 2009
With decisions in two key cases last month, the Supreme Court continued its decades-long offensive against the Bill of Rights.
US tortured Guantanamo prisoners, Army judge admits
By Patrick Martin, January 15, 2009
The top military judge overseeing the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay has admitted two of the principal charges made against the Bush administration—that prisoners at the detention camp have be...
