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Voting Rights for 70,000 Louisiana Felons Sought in Constitutional Challenge

By Bill Quigley.  Bill teaches law at Loyola University New Orleans.  He is part of the legal team in this case.

Voice of the Ex-Offender (VOTE) and 8 individuals filed a class action voting rights challenge for 70,000 people in Louisiana saying they are illegally prohibited from voting.  The VOTE suit charges that the Louisiana legislature wrongfully and unconstitutionally passed a law disallowing people convicted of felonies from voting if they are on probation or parole. 

VOTE’s suit points out that the Louisiana Constitution only prohibits people who are “under an order of imprisonment” from voting and that this was intended only to prohibit people actually in prison or escapees from voting.  The VOTE suit further notes that the Louisiana state constitutional convention voted down an attempt to restrict voting for people on probation.  

The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the 70,000 people in Louisiana who are probation or parole.  The US Department of Justice reports over 41,000 people in Louisiana are on probation and over 27,000 are on parole.

It was filed in Baton Rouge and names the State of Louisiana, the Governor and the Secretary of State as defendants.

VOTE is an organization that began in 1987 as the Angola Special Civics Project, a group at the Louisiana Penitentiary run by prisoners who had become paralegals.  VOTE, now run by Norris Henderson, was officially created in 2003 when it focused on voter registration for pre-trial detainees and people convicted of misdemeanors.  Henderson is a nationally recognized expert in human rights for prisoners and ex-offenders.   

VOTE has registered thousands of people to vote.  It educates the public about the collateral consequences of convictions that inhibit successful reentry.  Vote has partnered with Tulane Medical School to provide medical care for people leaving prison and has partnered with other organizations to win several recent victories including Ban the Box and a new public housing policy.

Eight individuals also joined VOTE in filing the suit in Baton Rouge.   All work and pay taxes but are not allowed to register or vote.   The individuals who filed the suit include the following.

Kenneth Johnston, 67, served in Vietnam and attended University of New Orleans before becoming addicted to heroin in part to address the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he acquired in Vietnam.  He spent 22 years in prison after a felony conviction and has been out for 23 years.   Because he is on parole for life he will never be allowed to vote.

Bruce Reilly, 42, Deputy Director of VOTE, is a graduate of Tulane University law school who has won numerous awards for his work.  He spent 13 years in prison in Rhode Island and has been out for 11 years.  Although he can vote in Rhode Island when he moved to Louisiana, he lost the right to vote until 2035 when his parole ends.

Dwight Anderson, 40, who attended Southern University, works for CeaseFire New Orleans counselling high risk young people and others in order to reduce shootings and violence in the city.   After spending five months in jail for felony drug convictions he was sentenced to probation for ten years and is not allowed to vote until 2017.

Randy Tucker, 57, has run his own business since 2006.  He serves as a Deacon at Israel Baptist Church.  As a result of a felony conviction he spent 25 years in prison till his release in 2003.  Because he is on probation until 2065, he will likely never be allowed to vote.

Bill Vo, 31, is a student in Information Technology at the University of New Orleans.  Because he spent six months in federal prison for felony drug possession and is on probation until 2017, he is not allowed to vote. 

Checo Yancy is the president of the Louisiana chapter of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE).  He is an active member of the Grace and Compassion Church in Baton Rouge, a member of the Kairos Angola Advisory Board and an active volunteer with Promise Keepers - Men of Integrity.  He served 20 years in Angola for a felony conviction and has been out on parole for 12 years and will remain on parole until 2029.

Ashanti Witherspoon, 66, is a pastor and has earned a Doctorate in Theology.  He is involved with the Baton Rouge Violence Elimination Program (BRAVE) and speaks before schools, universities, churches, government and community organizations.  He was convicted of a felony in the early 1970s, was imprisoned for 25 years until he was released on parole in 1999.

The case is expected to be heard by the end of 2016.

Ten Facts about Homelessness in USA

Three True Stories

Renee Delisle was one of over 3500 homeless people in Santa Cruz when she found out she was pregnant.  The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported she was turned away from a shelter because they did not have space for her.  While other homeless people slept in cars or under culverts, Renee ended up living in an abandoned elevator shaft until her water broke.

Jerome Murdough, 56, a homeless former Marine, was arrested for trespass in New York because he was found sleeping in a public housing stairwell on a cold night.  The New York Times reported that one week later, Jerome died of hypothermia in a jail cell heated to over 100 degrees.

Paula Corb and her two daughters lost their home and have lived in their minivan for four years.  They did laundry in a church annex, went to the bathroom at gas stations, and did their studies under street lamps, according to America Tonight.

Fact One.  Over half a million people are homeless

On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the US according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Most people are either spending the night in homeless shelters or in some sort of short term transitional housing.  Slightly more than a third are living in cars, under bridges or in some other way living unsheltered.

Fact Two.  One quarter of homeless people are children

HUD reports that on any given night over 138,000 of the homeless in the US are children under the age of 18. Thousands of these homeless children are unaccompanied according to HUD.  Another federal program, No Child Left Behind, defines homeless children more broadly and includes not just those living in shelters or transitional housing but also those who are sharing the housing of other persons due to economic hardship, living in cars, parks, bus or train stations, or awaiting foster care placement.  Under this definition, the National Center for Homeless Education reported in September 2014 that local school districts reported there are over one million homeless children in public schools.

Fact Three.  Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless

Over 57,000 veterans are homeless each night.  Sixty percent of them were in shelters, the rest unsheltered.  Nearly 5000 are female.

Fact Four.  Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in women

More than 90% of homeless women are victims of severe physical or sexual abuse and escaping that abuse is a leading cause of their homelessness.

Fact Five. Many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent

The lack of affordable housing is a primary cause of homelessness according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.  HUD has seen its budget slashed by over 50% in recent decades resulting in the loss of 10,000 units of subsidized low income housing each and every year.

Fact Six.  There are fewer places for poor people to rent than before

One eighth of the nation’s supply of low income housing has been permanently lost since 2001.  The US needs at least 7 million more affordable apartments for low income families and as a result millions of families spend more than half their monthly income on rent.

Fact Seven.  In the last few years millions have lost their homes

Over five million homes have been foreclosed on since 2008, one out of every ten homes with a mortgage.  This has caused even more people to search for affordable rental property.

Fact Eight.  The Government does not help as much as you think

There is enough public rental assistance to help about one out of every four extremely low income households.  Those who do not receive help are on multi-year waiting lists.  For example, Charlotte just opened up their applications for public housing assistance for the first time in 14 years and over 10,000 people applied.

Fact Nine.  One in five homeless people suffer from untreated severe mental illness

While about 6% of the general population suffers from severe mental illness, 20 to 25% of the homeless suffer from severe mental illness according to government studies.  Half of this population self-medicate and are at further risk of addiction and poor physical health.  A University of Pennsylvania study tracking nearly 5000 homeless people for two years discovered that investing in comprehensive health support and treatment of physical and mental illnesses is less costly than incarceration, shelter and hospital services for the untreated homeless.

Fact Ten.  Cities are increasingly making homelessness a crime

A 2014 survey of 187 cities by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty found: 24% make it a city-wide crime to beg in public; 33% make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city; 18% make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public; 43% make it illegal to sleep in your car; and 53% make it illegal to sit or lay down in particular public places.   And the number of cities criminalizing homelessness is steadily increasing. 

For more information look to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the National Center for Homeless Education and the National Coalition on the Homeless. 

 

 By Bill Quigley.  Bill teaches law at Loyola University New Orleans.  You can reach Bill at [email protected]

 

Thirteen Ways Government Tracks People

Privacy is eroding fast as technology offers government increasing ways to track and spy on citizens.  The Washington Post reported there are 3,984 federal, state and local organizations working on domestic counterterrorism.  Most collect information on people in the US.  Here are thirteen examples of how some of the biggest government agencies and programs track people.

 

One.  The National Security Agency (NSA) collects hundreds of millions of emails, texts and phone calls every day and has the ability to collect and sift through billions more.  WIRED just reported NSA is building an immense new data center which will intercept, analyze and store even more electronic communications from satellites and cables across the nation and the world.  Though NSA is not supposed to focus on US citizens, it does.

 

Two.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Security Branch Analysis Center (NSAC) has more than 1.5 billion government and private sector records about US citizens collected from commercial databases, government information, and criminal probes.

 

Three.  The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Times recently reported that cellphones of private individuals in the US are being tracked without warrants by state and local law enforcement all across the country.  With more than 300 million cellphones in the US connected to more than 200,000 cell phone towers, cellphone tracking software can pinpoint the location of a phone and document the places the cellphone user visits over the course of a day, week, month or longer. 

 

Four.  More than 62 million people in the US have their fingerprints on file with the FBI, state and local governments.  This system, called the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), shares information with 43 states and 5 federal agencies.   This system conducts more than 168,000 checks each day.

 

Five.  Over 126 million people have their fingerprints, photographs and biographical information accessible on the US Department of Homeland Security Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).  This system conducts about 250,000 biometric transactions each day.  The goal of this system is to provide information for national security, law enforcement, immigration, intelligence and other Homeland Security Functions. 

 

Six.  More than 110 million people have their visas and more than 90 million have their photographs entered into the US Department of State Consular Consolidated Database (CCD).   This system grows by adding about 35,000 people a day.  This system serves as a gateway to the Department of State Facial Recognition system, IDENT and IAFSIS.

 

Seven.  DNA profiles on more than 10 million people are available in the FBI coordinated Combined DNA index System (CODIS) National DNA Index. 

 

Eight.  Information on more than 2 million people is kept in the Intelligence Community Security Clearance Repository, commonly known as Scattered Castles.  Most of the people in this database are employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) and other intelligence agencies.  

 

Nine.  The DOD also has an automated biometric identification system (ABIS) to support military operations overseas.  This database incorporates fingerprint, palm print, face and iris matching on 6 million people and is adding 20,000 more people each day.  

 

Ten.  Information on over 740,000 people is included in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) of the National Counterterrorism Center.  TIDE is the US government central repository of information on international terrorist identities.  The government says that less than 2 percent of the people on file are US citizens or legal permanent residents.  They were just given permission to keep their non-terrorism information on US citizens for a period of five years, up from 180 days.

 

Eleven.  Tens of thousands of people are subjects of facial recognition software.  The FBI has been working with North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles and other state and local law enforcement on facial recognition software in a project called “Face Mask.”  For example, the FBI has provided thousands of photos and names to the North Carolina DMV which runs those against their photos of North Carolina drivers.  The Maricopa Arizona County Sheriff’s Office alone records 9,000 biometric mug shots a month.

 

Twelve.  The FBI operates the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (SAR) that collects and analyzes observations or reports of suspicious activities by local law enforcement.   With over 160,000 suspicious activity files, SAR stores the profiles of tens of thousands of Americans and legal residents who are not accused of any crime but who are alleged to have acted suspiciously.

 

Thirteen.  The FBI admits it has about 3,000 GPS tracking devices on cars of unsuspecting people in the US right now, even after the US Supreme Court decision authorizing these only after a warrant for probable cause has been issued.

 

The Future

 

The technology for tracking and identifying people is exploding as is the government appetite for it.

 

Soon, police everywhere will be equipped with handheld devices to collect fingerprint, face, iris and even DNA information on the spot and have it instantly sent to national databases for comparison and storage.  

 

Bloomberg News reports the newest surveillance products “can also secretly activate laptop webcams or microphones on mobile devices,” change the contents of written emails mid-transmission, and use voice recognition to scan phone networks.   

 

The advanced technology of the war on terrorism, combined with deferential courts and legislators, have endangered both the right to privacy and the right of people to be free from government snooping and tracking.  Only the people can stop this.  

 

 

 

Robin Hood in Reverse in US: Seven Examples

 

The rich have been getting richer and the poor and middle have been getting poorer in the US recently.  Here are seven examples that show how the US is going through Robin Hood in Reverse.

 

Between 1948 and 1979, the richest 10 percent of families in the US claimed 33 percent of average income growth.  Between 2000 and 2007, the richest 10 percent claimed a full 100 percent of average income growth in the US, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

 

Business taxes were cut from 46 to 34 percent 25 years ago, according to Pro Publica. But today 115 of the big 500 companies listed on Standard and Poor’s Stock Index paid federal and other taxes of less than 20 percent over the last 5 years according to David Leonhardt of the New York Times. 

 

General Electric’s tax rate for last year was 7 percent according to Pro Publica.

 

The top 5 percent US households claim 63 percent of the entire country’s wealth.  The bottom 80 percent hold just 13% of the growth, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

 

Last year, John Paulson, a hedge fund manager “earned” $4.9 billion, according to the New York Times.  Ten years ago it took 25 such managers to collectively earn that much.  Last year the top 25 hedge fund managers pocketed (a much better word) a total of $22 billion.  It would take over 440,000 people each earning $50,000 a year to match that amount.

 

A federal development program intended to help poor communities, the New Market Tax Credit, instead funnels up to ten billion taxpayer dollars to big corporations like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs and Prudential to build luxury hotels, office buildings and a car museum.  Bloomberg Markets Magazine pointed to the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago which was renovated for $116 million.  Prudential got $15.6 million in tax credit from the US Treasury for helping fund the project because the hotel was in a census zone that included two colleges which housed a lot of lower income students.

 

According to the Financial Times, there are now more people living in poverty in the US than at any time in the last 50 years.  Foreclosure filings were nearly 4 million in 2010, up 23 percent since 2008 according to RealtyTrac.

 

 

By Bill Quigley.  Bill is Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans.  He can be reached at [email protected]

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Two Grandmothers, Two Priests and a Nun go onto a Nuclear Base: Prison for Peacemakers in Tacoma WA

By Bill Quigley.  Bill is Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.  Bill is part of the legal team supporting the defendants and was in Tacoma for the sentencing.  You can learn more about the defendants at disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com.   Bill can be reached at [email protected]

 

 

Two grandmothers, two priests and a nun were sentenced in federal court in Tacoma, WA Monday March 28, 2011, for confronting hundreds of US nuclear weapons stockpiled for use by the deadly Trident submarines.

 

Sentenced were: Sr. Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York, who was ordered to serve 2 months in federal prison and 4 months electronic home confinement; Fr. Bill Bischel, 81, a Jesuit priest from Tacoma Washington, ordered to serve 3 months in prison and 6 months electronic home confinement; Susan Crane, 67, a member of the Jonah House community in Baltimore, Maryland, ordered to serve 15 months in federal prison; Lynne Greenwald, 60, a nurse from Bremerton Washington, ordered to serve 6 months in federal prison; and Fr. Steve Kelly, 60, a Jesuit priest from Oakland California, ordered to serve 15 months in federal prison.  They were also ordered to pay $5300 each and serve an additional year in supervised probation.  Bischel and Greenwald are active members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a community resisting Trident nuclear weapons since 1977. 

 

What did they do?

 

In the darkness of All Souls night, November 2, 2009, the five quietly cut through a chain link perimeter fence topped with barbed wire. 

 

Carefully stepping through the hole in the fence, they entered into the Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base outside of Tacoma Washington – home to hundreds of nuclear warheads used in the eight Trident submarines based there.

 

Walking undetected through the heavily guarded base for hours, they covered nearly four miles before they came to where the nuclear missiles are stored.

 

The storage area was lit up by floodlights.  Dozens of small gray bunkers – about the size of double car garages - were ringed by two more chain link fences topped with taut barbed wire. 

 

USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED one sign boldly proclaimed.  Another said WARNING RESTRICTED AREA and was decorated with skull and crossbones. 

 

This was it – the heart of the US Trident Pacific nuclear weapon program.   Nuclear weapons were stored in the bunkers inside the double fence line. 

 

Wire cutters cut through these fences as well.  There they unfurled hand painted banners which said “Disarm Now Plowshares: Trident Illegal and Immoral”, knelt to pray and waited to be arrested as dawn broke.

 

What were they protesting against?   

 

Each of the eight Trident submarines has 24 nuclear missiles on it.  The Ground Zero community explains that each of the 24 missiles on one submarine have multiple warheads in it and each warhead has thirty times the destructive power of the weapon used on Hiroshima.  One fully loaded Trident submarine carries 192 warheads, each designed to explode with the power of 475 kilotons of TNT force.  If detonated at ground level each would blow out a crater nearly half a mile wide and several hundred feet deep.

 

The bunker area where they were arrested is where the extra missiles are stored.

 

In December 2010, the five went on trial before a jury in federal court in Tacoma charged with felony damage to government property, conspiracy and trespass.

 

But before the trial began the court told the defendants what they could and could not do in court.  Evidence of the medical consequences of nuclear weapons?  Not allowed.  Evidence that first strike nuclear weapons are illegal under US and international law?  Not allowed.  Evidence that there were massive international nonviolent action campaigns against Trident missiles where juries acquitted protestors?  Not allowed.  The defense of necessity where violating a small law, like breaking down a door, is allowed where the actions are taken to prevent a greater harm, like saving a child trapped in a burning building?  Not allowed.   

 

Most of the jurors appeared baffled when defendants admitted what they did in their opening statements.  They remained baffled when questions about nuclear weapons were objected to by the prosecutor and excluded by the court.  The court and the prosecutor repeatedly focused the jury on their position that this was a trial about a fence.  Defendants tried valiantly to point to the elephant in the room – the hundreds of nuclear weapons.

 

Each defendant gave an opening and closing statement explaining, as much as they were allowed, why they risked deadly force to expose the US nuclear arsenal.

 

Sojourner Truth was discussed as were Rosa Parks, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.  

 

The resistance of the defendants was in the spirit of the civil rights movement, the labor movement, the suffragist movement, the abolition of slavery movement. 

 

Crowds packed the courtroom each of the five days of trial.  Each night there was a potluck and a discussion of nuclear weapons by medical, legal and international experts who came for the trial but who were largely muted by the prosecution and the court.

 

While the jury held out over the weekend, ultimately, the activists were convicted.

 

Hundreds packed the courthouse today supporting the defendants.  The judge acknowledged the good work of each defendant, admitted that prison was unlikely to deter them from further actions, but said he was bound to uphold the law otherwise anarchy would break out and take down society.

 

The prosecutors asked the judge to send all the defendants to federal prison plus three years supervised probation plus pay over five thousand dollars.  The specific jail time asked for ranged from 3 years for Fr. Kelly, 30 months for Susan Crane, Lynne Greenwald, 7 months in jail plus 7 months home confinement, Sr. Anne Montgomery and Fr. Bill Bichsel, 6 months jail plus 6 months home confinement. 

 

Each of the defendants went right into prison from the courtroom as the spectators sang to them.  Outside the courthouse, other activists pledged to confront the Trident in whatever way is necessary to stop the illegal and immoral weapons of mass destruction.

 

 

 

Blind Human Rights Lawyer Beaten and Isolated in Chinese Crackdown

 

 Chen Guangcheng, a blind, 39 year old, self-taught, human rights lawyer in China who was recently released after years in prison has been put in home detention, isolated and beaten by authorities. Winner of numerous human rights awards, Mr. Chen was imprisoned for investigating violence and forced abortions against families in China.  He is one of many Chinese human rights lawyers and advocates harassed, imprisoned and disappeared recently.

 

Since being released from prison in September 2010, Mr. Chen, his wife and his young daughter, have been cut off from phone, internet and personal contact.  They are confined to their home which is surrounded by guards 24 hours a day. 

 

China Aid posted a video on their website in which Mr. Chen describes being monitored around the clock by three shifts of 22 agents each.

 

After the video was posted, Mr. Chen and his wife were beaten.  Journalists from CNN, Le Monde, and the New York Times who tried to visit him have been threatened and harassed.  Two lawyers, Tang Jitian and Jiang Tianyong, were detained by police in Beijing after discussing Mr. Chen’s situation, according to TIME. 

 

Mr. Chen, who has minimal formal legal training, began his legal career by challenging his own taxes.  Later he helped an organization of farmers fight to close a paper mill polluting local water.  

 

In 2002, Newsweek recognized Mr. Chen as part of a new generation of “barefoot lawyers” who were helping people assert their legal and human rights. (The idea of “barefoot lawyers” takes its name from the training of local Chinese in basic medical education who were then sent out into their communities as “barefoot doctors.”)

 

The International Federation for Human Rights reported Mr. Chen was arrested in March 2006 after investigating, putting together briefs, and campaigning against the use of government violence and forced abortions in the enforcement of the national population policies of one child birth quotas in Linyi, China.  He spent over four years in prison after a two hour trial where his lawyer was not allowed inside the courtroom. 

 

Now?  “I have come out of a small jail and walked into a bigger jail,” said Mr. Chen, according to UPI, which recognized this as the understatement of the week.

 

Numerous other Chinese human rights advocates and lawyers have been arrested, disbarred or disappeared.  Gao Zhisheng, the most prominent human rights lawyer in China who ran the Open Constitution Initiative from his home, once recognized as one of the top 10 lawyers in China, was hooded and dragged from his home by government agents in 2009 and has not been seen since.  Guo Feixiong, another human rights lawyer, was imprisoned in 2007 after assisting villagers challenging corruption.  Human rights lawyer Liu Shihui, recently denied a license to continue practicing law, was hooded, beaten and had his leg fractured outside his home on his way to a protest is support of the Jasmine Revolution.  Nobel Peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo is serving an 11 year prison sentence for helping draft Charter 08 calling for democratic freedoms; his family is under house arrest as well.

 

What can we in the US do to assist human rights defenders in China? 

 

First, we must work to get our own house in order.  Unfortunately, the US has given the world many examples of human rights violations, especially in the last 10 years.  We must demand transparency and accountability for our own government’s human rights abuses.  Without that, it is unlikely other countries will take the US seriously when it asks others to respect human rights. 

 

Second, we can insist that the US government grow a spine and consistently apply international human rights standards when we deal with other countries.  Most elected officials are concerned about human rights obligations only in the countries where they think US interests are at stake and then human rights are all too frequently just bargaining chips in the quest for economic and military advantage.   

 

Third, we must take individual actions to strengthen human rights and to protect human rights defenders.  The International Federation for Human Rights has a Human Rights Defender program which sends out alerts when human rights advocates are at risk.   People can also write the People’s Republic of China, c/o Embassy for the People’s Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008.

 

Courageous people like Chen Guangcheng and others should inspire us all to work more diligently and take more risks for justice and human rights in China, in the US, and in all countries.

 

 By Bill Quigley. Bill is Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.  Contact Bill at [email protected]

 

 

MLK Injustice Index 2011: Racism, Materialism and Militarism in the US

MLK Injustice Index 2011:
Racism, Materialism and Militarism in the US

By Bill Quigley. Bill is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at [email protected]

“We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values… when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967

As we remember the courage and hope of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must not forget that he spoke out and worked against the injustices of our nation, particularly those of racism, materialism and militarism. Indeed that is what made him so hated and so dangerous when he was alive.

We have achievements to celebrate: the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell;” the release of San Suu Kyi in Burma; the enactment of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights by the NY legislature that extends important labor rights to 200,000 nannies and housekeepers; the victories of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; and the exposure of secret US and other country machinations by Wikileaks, among others.

There has been progress in dismembering the laws of segregation which divided our country. We must celebrate the successes that many struggled to achieve. However, as we celebrate those victories let us not lose sight of the challenges still facing this country.

Here are some of the facts about racism, materialism and militarism in the US which we should reflect on as we decide how best to carry on the radical struggle for justice of Dr. King. (For each fact, I provide a brief cite to the sources which are listed at the end of the article).

Let us renew our commitment to the radical revolution of values for which Dr. King gave his life as we turn to the realities of current life.

Racism: Health, Housing, Income and Jobs

Health

Infants born to black women are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die than infants born to women of all other races or ethnicities. Black men and women are much more likely to die of heart disease and stroke than their white counterparts. Hypertension is by far most prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks (42% vs. 29% among whites). Uninsured persons are only about half as likely to have hypertension under control as those with insurance Source: Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Twenty-five percent of black workers and forty-three percent of Hispanic workers do not have health insurance, compared to fifteen percent of white workers. Kaiser Family Foundation

Overall, sixteen percent of all whites, twenty-one percent of blacks and thirty-two percent of Hispanics do not have health insurance. Census

Housing

In cities with large African American populations, black segregation looks pretty much the same as it did 40 years ago; Hispanic segregation is on the rise. Princeton

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the crisis in subprime mortgages in minority neighborhoods was not the result of riskier lending spurred by the Community Reinvestment Act or a decline in underwriting standards. Princeton

Even with similar qualities (credit profiles, down payment ratios, personal characteristics, and residential locations) African Americans were more likely to receive subprime loans. Similarly blacks and Hispanics were significantly more likely than whites to receive loans with unfavorable terms such as prepayment penalties. The result: from 1993 to 2000, the share of subprime mortgages going to households in minority neighborhoods rose from 2 to 18 percent. Princeton

Because predatory lenders could efficiently target entire minority neighborhoods with subprime mortgages, larger numbers of people were affected than would have had they been more geographically spread out. In true layman’s terms, it was like “shooting fish in a barrel.” Segregated neighborhoods just made it too easy to engage large numbers of people in this devastating scheme and this multiplied the effect of the crisis. Princeton

Black middle class families have been stripped of more wealth by the real estate and foreclosure crisis than any single event in US history. Due entirely to subprime loans, black borrowers are expected to lose between $71 billion and $92 billion. Devona Walker

Income and Jobs

Median household income for white families is $51,861, for black families is $32,584, and for Hispanic is it $38,039. Census

The Immigration and Enforcement Agency is on pace to deport about 400,000 people this fiscal year, more under the current administration than any before. Slevin

The overall unemployment rate among whites is 8.5% and among blacks it is 15.8%. For white teenagers the unemployment rate is 22% and among blacks it is 44%. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Materialism: Inequality and Poverty

The top 25 hedge fund managers were paid on average, more than $1 billion each in 2009. Schwartz, New York Times

Between 2002 and 2007, 65 percent of all income growth in the US went to the top 1 percent of the population; that top 1 percent also held a larger share of income than any time since 1928, according to economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

There are 43 million people in the US living under the official poverty line. While there are more white people living in poverty (30 million) than black (10 million) and Hispanic (12 million) poor combined, the poverty rate for whites of 12% is significantly less than the 26% rate for blacks and the 25% rate for Hispanics. Census

The bottom 20% of the US population have negative wealth, they owe more than the value of all their assets. From 20 to 40th percentile, the next 20% of the population, average about $5,000 in wealth. The middle 20%, from the 40 to 60th percentile, own $65,000 in assets. The next highest 20%, the 60 to 80th percentile, are worth about $208,000. From 80 to 90th, the average wealth is $477,000. From 90 to 95th, the wealth is $908,000 in assets. From 95 to 99th is $2,734,000 in wealth assets. And the top 1%? $13,977,000 in average wealth. State of Working America

Since the economic recession started there has been a 25% rise in the number of people “doubling up” in housing by moving in with others, there has been a rise in the number of homeless families, and in not one of the 50 states can a person working full-time at one minimum wage afford a two bedroom apartment for his or her family. National Low Income Housing Coalition

Militarism: Troops, Expenditures and Arms Sales


The US reports it has 1.4 million people in active military service in 143 countries around the world. The top places for US military are: Afghanistan (105,900), Iraq (96,200), Germany (53,951), and Japan (34,385). Department of Defense

There are an additional 819,000 people in the Reserve and National Guard and another 709,000 civilian personnel. 2011 Census Statistical Abstract, Table 506.

The US spent $774 billion directly on its military budget in 2010. The Department of Defense budget was over $660 billion, counting the special expenditures for Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Department of Veterans Affairs was $114 billion for 2010.

The US spends much more on its military than any other country in the world. Military spending has increased by 75% since the year 2000 and represents about $2100 for every person in the US. Excluding expenditures for veterans the US military budget in 2009 was over $660 billion. In second place globally was China at about $100 billion. France was third at $63 billion, the UK next with $58 billion and Russia in 5th place spending $53 billion. In fact the US spends more on military than the rest of the top 10 countries in the world put together. SIRI

The US also leads the world in the sale of lethal weapons to others, selling about one of every three weapons worldwide. The USA’s major clients are South Korea, Israel and United Arab Emirates. SIRI

The US continues to hold 174 people in indefinite and illegal detention in Guantanamo despite global calls for closure. Thirty eight of those still being held have won their habeas corpus petitions in front of federal judges but still have not been freed. Miami Herald.

The US continues to launch remote controlled unmanned predator drones into Pakistan, a country we are not even at war with. In 2010, US drones struck Pakistan 118 times killing many civilians. New America Foundation

The number of deaths in the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are difficult to calculate since the US only counts US deaths. The US reports 1277 US military have died in Afghanistan and 4427 died in Iraq. The Iraq Body Count estimates between 99,357 and 108,475 civilians have died in violence associated with the war in Iraq. www.iraqbodycount.org

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the total cost of the Iraq war to the US is more than $3 trillion. For this estimate he calculated the actual military costs, the cost of treating and compensating disabled veterans, a $10 increase in the price of oil (the increase in the price of oil went from $25 a barrel when the US invaded Iraq to as high as $140 a barrel in 2008), the increase in the federal debt and the borrowing that demanded. Stiglitz

Conclusion

As we celebrate the life of Dr. King, let us realize the challenges that still face those who seek a world of justice and peace. He showed us that anger at injustice can be combined with courage to create real hope for a better world. Let us address the injustices of continuing racism, materialism and militarism with the courage and hope that Dr. King displayed in his brief life.

Sources:

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economic News Release, January 7, 2011, Table A-2.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm

Census: US Census, Income Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the US 2009 http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb10-144.html#tablec

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Top 1 percent of Americans Reaped Two Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion.” http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2908#_ftn1

CDC: Source: Centers for Disease Control Health Disparities and Inequalities Report, US 2011.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/other/su6001.pdf

Department of Defense. Active Military Personnel, September 30, 2010.

http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1009.pdf

James Glanz, “The Economic Cost of War,” NYT, 2-28-09.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/weekinreview/01glanz.html?pagewanted=1

Kaiser: Health Insurance Coverage in America, 2009, Kaiser Family Foundation. http://facts.kff.org/chart.aspx?cb=60&sctn=174&ch=1911

Miami Herald. Guantanamo by the Numbers. 12-26-10. http://www.miamiherald.com/2007/11/27/322461/by-the-numbers.html

National Low Income Housing Coalition: Out of Reach 2010.

http://www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2010/introduction.pdf

New America Foundation. The Year of the Drone: An analysis of US drone strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2011. http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones

2010 Princeton study “Racial Segregation and the American Foreclosure Crisis,” Jacob Rugh and Douglass Massey:

http://wws.princeton.edu/news/Massey_Rugh_Foreclosure/Massey_Rugh_Summary.pdf

Nelson Schwartz and Louise Story, “Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last year,” New York Times, March 31, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01hedge.html

SIRI. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Military expenditures: News Release June 2, 2010.

http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/pressreleasetranslations/storypackage_milex

Sale of weapons by US:

http://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2009/05/05A

Peter Slevin, “Deportation of Illegal Immigrants increases under Obama administration,” Washington Post, 7-26-10. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.html

State of Working America. Economic Policy Institute.

http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/

Joseph Stiglitz and Linda J. Blimes, “The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond,” Washington Post, 9-5-10. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090302200.html

Devona Walker, “Foreclosures are destroying the Black Middle Class.”

http://brechtforum.org/foreclosures-are-destroying-black

Why Religious People Violate Laws

Why Religious People Violate Laws

I was part of the trial team for five religious people who were on trial for criminal charges in Tacoma WA - they broke into a military base where nuclear weapons were stored to protest these immoral and illegal weapons of mass destruction.

Here is a reflection by one person on trial about why she did it.

"Following a nonviolent Jesus while living in a warmaking state" by Susan Crane

(A theological reflection on Plowshares by Susan Crane, originally
posted on the Disarm Now Plowshares Blog, January 4, 2011
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/crane-3/ )

During the trial of the Disarm Now Plowshares, Arlen Storm, the US
attorney, said something to the effect that all of us in this
courtroom want a world without nuclear weapons. There is general
agreement on that, and the question is, “How do we get there?” The US
attorney was objecting to our tactics. And he’s not the only one
objecting. Stephen Kent (Catholic News Services) wrote: “Granted, the
tactics of the Disarm Now Plowshares were wrong, but not so the
philosophy and theology at the root of their action.”

What is the value of a philosophy or theology, if it isn’t practiced?
Or, what does it mean to follow a nonviolent Jesus while living in a
warmaking state?

From the Gospels we read that Jesus was a teacher of nonviolence and
often broke the laws in order to obey God. This tradition of embracing
God’s will can be found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.

At the beginning of Exodus, we read that Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew
midwifes, were ordered by the Pharaoh to kill the boys that were born
to the Hebrew women. In between the lines, we can imagine that the
midwives prayed, talked with each other and with their families, and
made a decision based on their faith. The decided to disobey the
Pharaoh, and not kill the boys. This is perhaps the first story in the
scriptures where people deliberately, in a knowing and careful way,
make a decision to obey God instead of Empire (the king or human
laws). (Exodus 1:8-17)

Throughout the Old Testament, there are similar stories. Balaam, who
doesn’t obey King Moab and instead listens to an angel (the felt
presence of God) and blesses the Israelites rather than cursing them.
(Numbers 22) David’s wife, Michal, who helps David escape instead of
handing him over to the King, her father. (1 Samuel 19:11-17) Ester,
who goes into the King’s presence, uninvited, to beg for the lives of
her kinspeople. Rizpah, who sat in sackcloth and ashes, until her
sons could be buried, (2 Samuel 21: 10-14) and the story of Eleazar,
who refused to eat pork as commanded by the King. Eleazar is a
reminder that we ought to have the “courage to reject the food which
it is unlawful to taste even for love of life.” (2 Maccabees 6)

So what is more important: obeying the laws of the country I live in,
or obeying the laws of God?

And then we get to the Gospels where right at the beginning, the wise
men don’t obey Herod. Herod wants the wise men to come and report to
him where the baby Jesus is. No, the wise men obey an angel who comes
in a dream, and they take another route home. This is civil
resistance. And then we see Jesus who cures on the Sabbath and
doesn’t follow the purity laws, who eats with all sorts and classes of
people. We see Jesus gather the people the Empire doesn’t want
gathered, we see him curing the people the Empire doesn’t want cured,
and we see him feeding the people the Empire doesn’t want fed. There
are many examples of his trouble-making law-breaking actions, where
compassion and love come before religious and imperial laws.

So there here we are today, living in a country that is spending more
than half of every federal tax dollar on warmaking. We are living in a
country that keeps waging wars that are illegal, and seem to have
little meaning except to keep the war industry employed and keep US
control of resources intact.

What should I do when I live in such a country? I think about what I
wish I might have done if I had lived in WW II Germany. Would I have
helped people escape who needed shelter? Would I have written leaflets
and handed them out? Would I have gone to the concentration camp on
the outside of the city where I lived, and cut the lines carrying the
zyklon B gas? I don’t know, or course, what I would have done. But I
hope I would have done something.

And today? The rest of the world is very concerned about nuclear
weapons. We in the US claim we are disarming, while spending more
money on refurbishment of warheads, building more nuclear weapon
plants, and now building a new fleet of nuclear armed submarines. The
Ohio Class subs, we are told, need to replaced at a cost of 70 billion
dollars.

I think about the story at the beginning of Mark 3, the story of a man
with the withered hand. Jesus is in the temple on the Sabbath, and
calls the man up in front of everyone, and says, “Is it right to do
good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? To save life, or destroy life?”
The crowd around him is silent. Jesus looks around, and is angered and
grieved at their silence and hardness of heart. In my prayer, in my
life, I do not want to cause anger and grief to Jesus. I do not want
to be silent.

Walking onto the Naval base and cutting some fence is minor in
comparison to the destructive power of a nuclear weapon. And, it was a
legal action that was our responsibility and obligation.

If people really believed there was a crime scene at the base, that
there were weapons that threaten all life on earth, no one would think
twice about cutting the fence to get to disarm the weapons. That’s why
we tried to use the necessity defense in court, a defense that is
similar to someone seeing a burning building, with a child in the
window upstairs, screaming. The person of course would break the door
down, and run upstairs to rescue the child. These actions that would
normally be considered criminal, would be justified during a fire to
save a life.

Further, there is a body of humanitarian law that is codified in US
treaties, in the US criminal code, and in military manuals that
prohibits the preparation, threat or use of weapons which
indiscriminately kill civilians, and which can’t be controlled in time
or space. What is happening on the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is not
just immoral, but it is illegal. It is a war crime.

But basic to everything, is our faith and prayer. How do we practice
the teachings of Jesus? How can we love our enemies? What does it mean
to follow a nonviolent Jesus while living in a warmaking state?

---------------

The Disarm Now Plowshares 5 are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S.
District Court, Tacom, Washington on March 28, 2001 for their November
2, 2009 Plowshares action at the Trident nuclear submarine base at
Bangor, Washington. More information and updates at
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/ .

Eight Homeless Youth Die in New Orleans Fire - What Does It Say About US?

Eight young people, who the Fire Department said were “trying to stay warm,” perished in a raging fire during the night in New Orleans. The young people were squatting in an abandoned wood framed tin walled warehouse in a Ninth Ward neighborhood bordering a large train yard. The young people apparently had a barrel with wood burning in it for heat. Officials said this was the city’s most deadly fire in twenty five years.

The eight young people, estimated to be in their late teens and early twenties, remain unidentified. “We don’t know their IDs,” said the Fire Department, “they were so burned we cannot even tell their genders.”

Audrey, a young woman with brown dreads and a Polish last name, arrived at the scorched scene. She spent the night in the warehouse a couple of times. Because last night was so cold she and a few others begged money from people in the French Quarter and got enough to spend the night in a hotel. Do you know who was in there? “Usually 10 to 15 people, nobody uses last names, but Katy, Jeff, Sammy, Nicky, John and Mooncat usually stay there,” she sobbed. Why did people stay here? “A lot of freight hoppers stay here,” she said, pointing to the nearby trains. “We are just passing through, hopping trains. We don’t have any money.” Behind her a group of young people were crying and hugging as they picked up pieces of a navy blue sweatshirt from the burnt remains.

There are an estimated 1.6 to 2.8 million homeless youth in the US, people between the ages of 12 and 24, according to a June 2010 report of the Center for American Progress. Most are homeless because of abuse, neglect, and family conflict. Gay and transgender youth are strikingly over-represented.

The fire happened in an area of abandoned warehouses at the end of Prieur Street, two blocks towards the train tracks down from the new Family Dollar on Claiborne. It is a modest neighborhood. Some people are back, some aren’t. One block from the warehouses is a long lime green shotgun house with a beautiful red rose bush in front. Next door stands a big grey double shotgun with a wide open door and tattered curtains hanging out broken windows. Untouched since Katrina, the grey house sports OWNER HAS DOG spray painted on the front and the date, 10.8.5. “After Katrina, people don’t have the money to fix their houses up,” said the firefighter.

Across the street from the blackened warehouse is a vacant lot with a tiny handmade wooden shelter at its end. No electricity, no water. Inside are a mattress and some clothes. Follow the path through the weeds and there is another long vacant building that looks like it was once a school. Clearly people stay here as well. Empty cans of baked beans, chili, and Vienna sausages are piled next to Four Loko cans, jars of peanut butter, and empty juice boxes. “Where’s our skate park?” is painted onto the wall in blazing red. A Thanksgiving card with a teddy bear on the outside lies on the pavement. Nana wishes the best to granddaughter Heather and son Dave.

New Orleans has 3,000 to 6,000 homeless people living in abandoned buildings according to an August 2010 report by Unity of Greater New Orleans. The report, “Search and Rescue Five Years Later: Saving People Still Trapped in Katrina’s Ruins,” notes homelessness has doubled since Katrina. Seventy-five percent of the people in those buildings are survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Outreach workers report many are disabled but many also work. Inside abandoned buildings live full-time sitters and restaurant workers.

Since Katrina, New Orleans has a severe homeless problem because of the scarcity of affordable housing. HUD and local governments demolished over 4000 affordable public housing apartments after Katrina. “The current housing crisis in New Orleans reflects the disastrous impact of the demolition policy,” according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing in a February 2010 report very critical of the United States. Rents rose. Tens of thousands of homes remain vacant. Over 30,000 families are on the waiting list for affordable housing.

A November 2010 report from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center pegs the number of vacant and blighted properties at over 40,000 in New Orleans with more in the suburbs – 14,000 of which are owned by the government.

Unity for the Homeless has been asking for help for people living in abandoned buildings for years. They have four outreach workers who nightly check on people living in abandoned buildings. Five recommendations from Unity to help these thousands of people: convert abandoned building into housing for the homeless; fund case managers to help people with disabilities move into housing; additional outreach and housing search workers; create a small shelter with intensive services for people with mental health problems who are resistant to shelters; and serious investment in affordable rental housing. There are several hundred housing vouchers available for disabled homeless people but no money to fund the caseworkers they need.

Nationally, the US has severely cut its investment in affordable housing despite increasing need from the foreclosure and economic crises. Homelessness is of course up all over. The U.S. Conference of Mayors reported in December 2010 that demands for food and housing are up across the country. The causes? Unemployment, high housing costs and low wages.

Will we look into our abandoned buildings and look into the eyes of our abandoned daughters and sons and sisters and brothers? Will our nation address unemployment, high housing costs, and low wages? Will we address the abuse, neglect, and family conflict that create homelessness for millions of youth, especially gay and transgender youth? Or will the fires continue and the lives end?

By Bill Quigley. Bill is Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach Bill at [email protected]

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