The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has shown a blatant disregard for both judicial authority and the thousands of PA prisoners affected by hepatitis C. In January 2017, Pennsylvania Judge Robert Mariani ordered the Department of Corrections to provide Mumia Abu-Jamal with hepatitis C treatment. Mumia has an active, chronic hepatitis C infection, and is at serious risk of experiencing medical complications. The debilitating symptoms of an active hepatitis C infection include extreme skin irritation, limb numbness, vision problems, and swollen feet. Mumia’s organs are extremely vulnerable due to the infection. Despite Judge Mariani’s order, the Pennsylvania DOC has not provided Mumia Abu-Jamal with the hepatitis C treatment. Mumia's lawyers have filed a motion for contempt against the Department of Corrections. The PA-DOC and their private health care provider, Correct Care Solutions, have retaliated by filing an opposition motion to the contempt motion with the 3rd Circuit. Throughout this petty battle over court orders, Mumia's life and the lives of over 6,000 hep C+ prisoners have been disregarded. It is imperative that Mumia, and all other prisoners who need it, get the hepatitis C treatment they need.

Thousands of adolescent youth, ages 11 to 18, are being held in solitary confinement in jails and state prisons across the U.S. These youth spend 22 or more hours each day alone, often in a small 8-by-8-feet cell, completely isolated both physically and socially, often for weeks, months, or even years at a time. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, as many as 10,000 youth prisoners are held in isolation in juvenile jails nationwide. For youth being held in isolation in adult facilities, there is no official count. The ACLU reports that solitary confinement can "cause serious psychological, physical, and developmental harm, resulting in persistent mental health problems, or suicide." Since youth are still developing, the physical and neurological effects are even more detrimental. These risks are magnified for children with disabilities or histories of trauma and abuse. On Jan 26, 2016, President Obama announced a ban on solitary confinement for juvenile offenders in the federal prison system. He said that the practice is often overused and has the potential for devastating psychological consequences on young people. Although Obama’s ban affected close to 8,000 youth in federal prisons, it had absolutely no impact on those in solitary confinement in state and county facilities. It is up to us to pressure Congress and state prison systems to follow suit!

Trump's inaugural pledge for "Law & Order" is coded messaging to law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, that will empower them to continue their abusive, racialized policing. This will mean more arrests and more incarceration at a time when America should be moving away from needless punishment of Blacks and Latinos. Collaboration between local police department and federal law enforcement in large, military-style "gang" raids have been cheered on by sensationalized media reports. They describe these young men as all being dangerous and part of organized criminal enterprises--which they were not. Over the past few years we have seen the emergence of a bipartisan consensus for criminal and civil justice reforms. Movements are growing across our nation urging legislators to change unfair laws that hurt families and communities of color. A wasted $80 billion a year spent on prisons actually dehumanizes inmates, many who are detained in inhuman conditions, some tortured in solitary confinement and denied visits or communication with their families. Sign this petition, spearheaded by family members of those charged with RICO. Demand that Congress take ACTION NOW to #ReformRICO

Mr. Mark Clarke was arrested on April 27, 2016 along with 119 other people in the largest "gang" raid in NYC history. They are now known as the Bronx 120. https://www.bronx120.org/ Indicted on the basis of "evidence" such as social media surveillance, "association" and the NYPD's highly discriminatory criteria for identifying "gang members," the Bronx 120 face federal charges from a DA's office that boasts a 90+% conviction rate. Being charged under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act of 1970 allows for all 120 young men to be implicated in the same 8 alleged murders dating back to 2007. Since the shock-and-awe style raid by 700 militarized law enforcement officials from 6 different agencies last April, the state has employed numerous scare tactics against the Bronx 120 and their loved ones in an attempt to silence opposition to this blatant abuse of authority. Mark Clarke has been sent to Metropolitan Detention Center, the federal prison in Brooklyn, to await trial. Since Mark has been at MDC, other prisoners have reported multiple personal attacks against him by MDC correctional officers, including being denied family visits, being shot with rubber bullets and sprayed with tear gas while in his cell. Although Mark has documented psychiatric issues since his imprisonment last April, he has been denied visits to the psychiatric unit at MDC, despite multiple requests from his mother. Mr. Clarke has been in solitary confinement since September 14, 2016 and will be until October 2017 unless we act on his behalf. Please use this link to donate to the Bronx 120 Commissary and Legal Fund. Because this is a very large federal case, there is a shortage of local lawyers with the experience needed to take it on. This fundraiser will go towards helping to get additional legal support and contribute to commissary. https://www.youcaring.com/targets-of-the-eastchester-raids-and-their-families-640725 Please call these MDC officials to ensure that the warden and others know that people are aware of the situation and put pressure on them to allow family visits and phone calls for Mr. Mark Clarke. Phone: 718-840-4200 (Ext: 5549 Case Manager Demosphenes) (Ext: 5141 Warden's Secretary) Key points to mention when you call/leave a message: --Mr. Clarke needs to be allowed visits and be allowed phone calls. --All documentation about his continued segregation needs to be released to his family.

It's important as a first step to making America Trump free again. Trump is proposing Bannon, an unvetted civilian be placed on the secretive, powerful U.S. National Security Council.

While we, petitioners, understand a desire to make a living, we also recognize that to use one’s skills to advance racism and xenophobia is to rob workers of their great potential to advance social justice and to continue their legacy of fighting for human rights. Rather than spending billions to construct an unnecessary wall when barriers already exist, we should be investing taxpayer dollars to hire union workers for much-needed infrastructure projects that strengthen our communities: water and sewer pipes; roads; bridges; transit systems. We ask that all unions and their umbrella organizations instruct their members to boycott work on the wall and to, instead, embrace the racial and cultural diversity of America.

In the wake of the DOJ report and 2016's historical Chicago violence level, most of the activists and community right now believe it is way beyond any possible opportunity for Rahm to take any meaningful action to help a wounded Chicago. Also, it's increasingly difficult to envision a scenario in which Emanuel's political movement isn't viewed as a political Hail Mary to save his career by understandably frustrated and suspicious Chicago residents.

Ramsey Muniz has been a Chicano advocate since the Sixties, and is beloved by hundreds of thousands of Latinos and other Americans he has inspired, to work within the system, to improve our society and government. Mr. Muniz is now in poor health, in federal prison. He has never been accused of any violent crime, and is not a threat to society or anyone. He is a model prisoner, and at age 74 and disabled, Mr. Muniz just wants to return, to his home in Corpus Christi, to live out the rest of his life with his beloved wife, Irma, and their families. A related article: https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/will-trumps-inauguration-be-day-clemency-died

On December 2, 2016, Free Alabama Movement co-founder Robert Earl Council (aka Kinetic Justice Amun) was brutally attacked by two correctional officers at Limestone Correctional Facility. According to multiple sources, Kinetic was beaten and sprayed with mace while handcuffed and being escorted to the shower. There has been no confirmation that he has received proper medical treatment. Kinetic Justice has been imprisoned for over 22 years and is a co-founder of the Free Alabama Movement, which has organized several successful prison work stoppages to demand basic human rights and has provided education and legal support to hundreds of incarcerated people. Kinetic believes that this vicious attack was orchestrated in retaliation for his involvement with the nationwide prison strike that began September 9th, 2016. He now fears for his life. Using excessive force to maliciously and sadistically cause harm violates numerous basic human rights and is a clear violation of the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause). Please sign this petition demanding that Robert Earl Council ("Kinetic Justice") is transferred from Limestone Correctional Facility immediately. Contact the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Alabama Governor’s Office! Contact information: Warden Christopher Gordy (256) 233-4600 Limestone Correctional Facility 28779 Nick Davis Road Harvest, AL 35749 ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn Assistant ADOC Commissioner Grant Culliver 334-353-3883 [email protected] Alabama Governor Robert Bentley 334-242-7100 Department of Justice 205-244-2001 [email protected] Call script: “I am calling to demand that you release Robert Early Council from solitary confinement and transfer him from Limestone Correctional to a different facility immediately. He was brutally beaten on December 2nd, 2016 at Limestone Correctional Facility, allegedly by officers Doizer and Shoulders. There has been no confirmation that he has received proper medical attention. In addition, Limestone Correctional Officers Doizer and Shoulders should be immediately investigated for the alleged brutal attack of Robert Earl Council." More Background: http://www.inquisitr.com/3752034/kinetic-justice-who-is-he-and-why-should-you-care/

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, a prisoner at the Texas Clements Unit, Kevin "Rashid" Johnson, was gassed in his cell while handcuffed from behind. A letter written by Mr. Johnson to a supporter, dated December 22, 2016, reported that his gassing was “all retaliation for my involvement in exposing the foul abuses here." Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is a well-known scholar and prison activist who has dedicated his efforts to exposing the civil and environmental injustices behind bars. His most recent letter also reads: “I'm in a gas-covered cell now. The law requires that they decontaminate a prisoner and his cell anytime they spray gas on him/her. They refused in my case. My sheets and bedding are covered in bright orange gas, underwear too, as is the cell wall." According to the supporter who received Rashid’s letter, she could smell the toxic gas as soon as she opened the envelope. The vicious treatment of Mr. Johnson is part of a clear pattern. There is evidently a culture among prison staff that encourages such sadistic behavior. What they have done and continue to do -- both to Mr. Johnson and to thousands of other victims -- constitutes a clear violation of basic human rights. A signed statement from prison guard Britta Townsend corroborates that Mr. Johnson was confined to a gassed cell that was not decontaminated and forced to sleep with sheets covered with the bright orange gas. According to Mr. Johnson, Ms. Townsend now fears that she will be targeted by her peers and higher ranking officers.

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, a black mother, Ms. Jacqueline Craig, called the police in Fort Worth, Texas, after learning that an adult, white neighbor had choked her 7-year-old son for allegedly littering on the sidewalk. The unnamed police officer who arrived at the scene talked to all the parties involved, including the accused neighbor, who did not deny the assault. The police officer ignored the assault entirely to focus on the accusation of littering. Like the slogan "Make America Great Again," the cop's loaded question used coded, racist language and assumptions about black parenting to blame Ms. Craig for what happened to her child. “Well why don’t you teach your son not to litter?” he asked Craig. He proceeded to violently arrest Craig and her two under-aged daughters, all of which was filmed and posted online. In response to the incident, the Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald was quoted saying “I can’t call it racist. The officer was rude. There’s a difference between rude and racism.” However, the facts of this case suggest otherwise: a white man accused of the felonious act of assaulting a child was allowed to walk free while his black victims were arrested for daring to assert their humanity and rights. If the victims had been white and the assailant black, the outcome of this case would almost certainly have been completely different. Chief Fitzgerald ’s knee-jerk denial of the police officer’s racism, which itself is racist, has also led him to miss the magnitude of the criminal assault perpetrated against an entire family by a member of his force. Ms. Craig and her daughters did not merely suffer rude behavior; they were the victims of a violent and traumatic attack at the hands of a police officer at a moment when they were vulnerable and were asking for help. When the mother stood up to the man who assaulted her 7-year-old son, the police criminalized her parenting, excused the man who engaged in corporal violence against her child, arrested her and her two daughters violently, and threatened them with a stun gun. The outrageous Fort Worth incident is a microcosm of contemporary police racism in the 21st century United States. It shows the extent to which racist police contempt 1. dehumanizes and threatens the lives of black children and their families 2. prevents police from deploying reason as they carry out elementary duties 3. animates violent police responses to people of color 4. hinders accurate assessments of reality by their other officers With Donald Trump preparing to take office, we have seen numerous incidents in which people have asserted a right to be racist. This climate needs to change. The Black Lives Matter Movement and its most progressive proposals to demilitarize and demobilize the police are crucial. One place to start is with the demand for accountability when an egregious example of racism and police brutality is caught on film. The video: http://bit.ly/2ieWOzm Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/12/22/a-black-mother-told-police-a-white-man-assaulted-her-child-they-arrested-her-instead/?postshare=9641482457249082&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.f5c8cc7eff92

POLLUTION TO LAND AND THE WATER IS NOT WANTED ON INDIAN LAND........THEY CANNOT GET ANYTHING TO GROW WITH OIL SOAKED LAND....NOR IS POLLUTED WATER SAFE TO DRINK.....