Lydia Pelot-Hobbs and Jack Norton, co-editors of the collection The Jail is Everywhere, join me in this interview to discuss the “quiet jail boom” in numerous counties across the United States. They examine how the county jail has become the preeminent site of the adaptive, expansive, and shapeshifting carceral state, as well as the local and nationwide struggles to end it.
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#319 | Overturning Roe: "Your Institutions Will Not Save You" w/ Brynn Tannehill
Activist, analyst, and author Brynn Tannehill joins me to discuss the recent leak of the Supreme Court's drafted majority opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade and Casey.
Having extensively documented the factors leading to the fascist turn the United States is taking in her book American Fascism: How the GOP Is Subverting Democracy and elsewhere, Tannehill predicted a conservative stacked Supreme Court would, in due time, overturn several sweeping decisions the Court has made over the decades, including: the expansion and protection of reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and more. As the Republican Party openly moves into fascist territory and the Democratic Party fecklessly concedes to the GOP's sweeping agenda, whatever rights and protections that have been granted by the federal government for marginalized groups will be effectively rescinded. Overturning Roe v. Wade is just the beginning. A far-right autocracy is on the horizon.
Read More#279 | Law & Disorder: Electoral Coup & An Act Of State Terror w/ Marjorie Cohn
Intro: 10:02 | Outro: 39:18
Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild, discusses President Trump and his legal team's ongoing attempt to perform an "electoral coup" since the presidential election last month. She describes, in detail, the legal challenges Trump's team have made in the last several weeks, as well as the likelihood of their success in undermining the result of the election in states across the United States.
After that, we discuss the recent assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top nuclear scientist, on November 27th. As she writes in a recent article in TruthOut:
“Although the Israeli government has not claimed credit for the illegal killing, there is little doubt of its culpability. Trump implicitly praised the assassination, retweeting a comment by Israeli journalist and intelligence expert Yossi Melman that the killing was a “major psychological and professional blow” to Iran. This was an “implicit approval if there ever was one,” according to Sina Toossi, a senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council.” (https://bit.ly/3ahMoMz)
I ask Marjorie the purpose of this very dangerous move, as it may very well lead to a full-scale war between the US, Israel, and other regional players — particularly as we prepare for a transition of power to a Biden presidency next month.
Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and a member of the advisory board of Veterans for Peace. Her most recent book is ‘Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.’
Episode Notes:
- Learn more about Marjorie and her work: https://marjoriecohn.com
- Read her articles ‘Will Trump’s Attempt to Subvert the Election Results Succeed?’ and ‘Trump’s Support for Israel’s Killing of Iranian Scientist Could Lead to War’ at TruthOut : https://bit.ly/3m79AiE / https://bit.ly/3ahMoMz
- The song featured in this episode is “sin-phonies” by Knxwledge from the album TodaysAlreadYesterday.: https://knxwledge.bandcamp.com/album/todaysalreadyesterday
Video Segment:
#202 | The Match Has Been Struck: Environmental Law & Questioning Unquestioned Beliefs w/ Will Falk
INTRO: 8:30
In this episode I speak with lawyer and radical environmental activist Will Falk. In this discussion, Will examines the United States legal system, in particular environmental law, and the difficult realities communities around the US continuously face when it comes to protecting natural entities (lakes, rivers, forests, etc.) from ecologically destructive government and corporate projects.
As Will elaborates in this interview, the United States legal system is not designed to effectively protect human and non-human communities from ecologically destructive projects. Instead, as Will explains, it exists primarily “to make it near impossible for the citizenry to oppose those projects” through legal means.* This assertion can be demonstrated to be true by examining numerous legal cases that have come up in the last several decades in communities around US -- perhaps most dramatically by the community of Toledo, Ohio in their efforts to end the proliferation of toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie — the region’s main source of potable water. In response to this environmental crisis, the community organized to have a “Lake Erie Bill of Rights” on the ballot in their local elections. If enacted, the legislation would effectively grant legal rights to a natural entity (Lake Erie), and would work to protect the lake and the residents of Toledo from the destructive impacts of industrial agricultural runoff (which produces toxic algae blooms as a byproduct). As Will explains in detail, this campaign, in spite of being extremely well organized, well funded, legally and ethically sound, and having gained enough votes in the election, was shut down by the very legal processes that the community of Toledo relied upon for the success their campaign. This case, unfortunately, is not unique.
After expounding on the details of this case, Will explains what must actually be done to halt the pervasive and ongoing destruction of the living systems of the planet. Our government and legal system as a whole will not, and cannot, do it for us. As the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund has stated: “Each municipality is a match, and each instance of a law being overturned as violative of these legal doctrines is an opportunity for people to see how the structure actually functions. This does the necessary work of penetrating the denial, piercing the illusion of democracy, and removing the blinders that prevent a large majority of people from seeing the reality on the ground.” (http://bit.ly/2JViXAL)
Will Falk is a writer, lawyer, and environmental activist. Will graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and practiced as a public defender in Kenosha, WI. He left the public defender office to pursue frontline environmental activism. Will is the author of the upcoming book ‘How Dams Fall: On Representing the Colorado River in the First-ever American Lawsuit Seeking Rights for a Major Ecosystem.'
Episode Notes:
- Learn more about Will and his work: http://willfalk.org
- Purchase Will’s upcoming book ‘How Dams Fall: On Representing the Colorado River in the First-ever American Lawsuit Seeking Rights for a Major Ecosystem’: http://bit.ly/2xYJ2cG
- Support the Toledoans for Safe Water: https://lakeerieaction.wixsite.com/safewatertoledo
- Support the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund: https://celdf.org
- Read more about the "Lake Erie Bill of Rights" case: http://bit.ly/2JViXAL
- The song featured is “Computer Face (String Arrangement by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)” by Flying Lotus from the album Cosmogramma Alt Takes.