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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts John Ross Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Brenda Norrell Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day July 26 / 27, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James G. Abourezk Joseph Nevins Uri Avnery Linn Washington, Jr. David Yearsley Binoy Kampmark Saul Landau Joshua Frank Brendan Cooney Jonathan Cook Robert Fantina Lee Sustar Michael Winship David Macaray Missy Beattie Robert Weissman Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 25, 2008 Harvey Wasserman Paul Craig Roberts Alan Farago Paul D'Amato Gary Leupp Niranjan Ramakrishnan Mike Whitney Paul Krassner Mike Roselle Website of the Day July 24, 2008 Greg Moses Andy Worthington James Bovard Joe Bageant George Wuerthner DC Larson William Willers David Macaray Website of the Day July 23, 2008 Winslow T. Wheeler Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mike Whitney Susie Day Website of the Day July 22, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Patrick Cockburn Soldz, Olson, Reisner Arrigo and Welch Moshe Adler Martha Rosenberg Dan Bacher Harvey Wasserman Anthony Papa Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day July 21, 2008 Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Scott Pellegrino John Ross Robert Weitzel Mike Stark Website of the Day July 19 / 20, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Dave Lindorff Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Uri Avnery Neve Gordon Roane Carey Robert Fantina Christopher Brauchli Fred Gardner David Macaray Richard L. Hutto Bill Moyers / Ronnie Cummins David Yearsley Alison McKenna Wajahat Ali Poets' Basement Website of the Day July 18, 2008 Corey D. B. Walker Mike Whitney Robert Bryce Mike Roselle Bouthaina Shaaban Eve Spangler Website of the Day
July 17, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts James G. Abourezk Ralph Nader Allan J. Lichtman Andy Worthington"Screwed Up" and"Abused": Omar Khadr's Interrogations at Gitmo Ronnie Cummins
July 16, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Dave Lindorff William S. Lind Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day
July 15, 2008 Michael Hudson Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn John Ross Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day July 14, 2008 Uri Avnery Paul Craig Roberts Trish Schuh Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Alan Farago Seth Sandronsky Phyllis Pollack Website of the Day July 12 / 13, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James Abourezk Nicole Colson Stan Cox Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Wajahat Ali / John Stauber Alan Farago Missy Beattie Robert Fantina Rannie Amiri Gregory Kafoury Fran Shor Martha Rosenberg David Macaray Andrew Wimmer Ron Jacobs Farzana Versey Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 11, 2008 Kevin Alexander Gray Sasan Fayazmanesh Peter Morici Mike Whitney Manuel Garcia, Jr. Robert Weissman Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Adrian Burgos Website of the Day July 10, 2008 Brian McKenna Paul Craig Roberts Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Peter Morici Alan Maass Robert Weissman William Blum Alan Farago Website of the Day July 9, 2008 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Luis Rodriguez Sheldon Richman Fatemeh Keshavarz Chad Hanson Sen. Russ Feingold Niranjan Ramakrishnan Dave Lindorff Stanley Heller Philip Rizk Website of the Day July 8, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Laura Carlsen Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Patrick Irelan Chellis Glendinning David Macaray Dave Lindorff John Chuckman Phillip Doe Website of the Day July 7, 2008 Patrick Bond Kathy Kelly Andy Worthington Clifton Ross Elizabeth Schulte Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Binoy Kampmark Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day July 5 / 6, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair / Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Binoy Kampmark Rannie Amiri Eric Ruder Brian Cloughley William Blum Frank Barat Christopher Brauchli David Yearsley Ron Jacobs Karim Makdisi Wendy Thompson / N. D. Jayaprakash Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Richard Neville Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
July 4, 2008 Kathy Kelly Dave Lindorff Paul Krassner Jackie Corr Laray Polk Dan Bacher Walter Brasch Charles Modiano Website of the Day July 3, 2008 Sharon Smith Andy Worthington Laura Carlsen Peter Morici Ramzi Kysia Martha Rosenberg Anne Landman Dave Zirin Kristin Bricker Website of the Day
July 2, 2008 Patrick Irelan Vijay Prashad Brian Cloughley Ralph Nader Robert Fantina Dave Lindorff Parvez Ahmed Robert Bryce Website of the Day July 1, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Mike Whitney Douglas Macgregor Steven Higgs Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark Dave Lindorff Roger Burbach Richard W. Behan Gary Leupp Website of the Day |
Weekend Edition A Struggle for the Soul of the UAWJustice for the Freightliner FiveBy LEE SUSTAR As arbitrators consider their challenge to unjust termination from a Freightliner truck plant in North Carolina, five United Auto Workers (UAW) union leaders have appealed to the Public Review Board (PRB) to be reinstated in as members and officers in their local union. The workers--Robert Whiteside, Franklin Torrence, Glenna Swinford, Allen Bradley and David Crisco--were fired by Freightliner for leading the evening shift in a walkout April 2, 2007, immediately after UAW Local 3520's contract had expired. The job action ended after Local 3520 President George Drexel sent a recorded phone message to members telling them to report to work as normal. Following the walkout at the Cleveland, N.C., plant, Freightliner terminated the Five--all of whom are members of the union's elected bargaining committee. The company claimed the job action was a contract violation--even though management had informed the bargaining committee that no contract was in place, that the Good Friday holiday was canceled and refused to meet with the committee. Since their termination, the workers have been fighting to get their jobs back--and have gotten the support of union activists from across the U.S. as well as from Germany, where Freightliner's parent company, Daimler, is based. * * * THE STRUGGLE highlights the challenges that labor has long faced in the South, where racism has long been used to divide workers and keep unions weak--especially in North Carolina, where union membership is just 3 percent, the lowest in the U.S. The Freightliner Five helped forge a diverse local union leadership that could meet that test. Whiteside and Torrence are African American; they, along with Bradley and Swinford, are active members of the NAACP. All were members of the Voluntary Organizing Committee that brought in the UAW, except Crisco, who was hired after the plant's first union contract was signed in 2003. After their termination, the Five were able to obtain unemployment benefits, but those have long since run out. The struggle has been sustained though solidarity tours that have traveled to a number of cities, including Detroit, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Burlington, Vt. But the Freightliner Five have had to take on their own union officials a well. Drexel, the local union president, has pursued a conciliatory approach to management and endorsed a concessionary contract that was voted down before being passed with few improvements. Soon afterward, Drexel tried to suspend the Five from their elected positions, but failed. He then orchestrated a union trial of the Five in November 2007, but union members acquitted them in a vote. According to Allen Bradley, Drexel saw the Five as rivals for the leadership of the local. Whiteside, Swinford and Torrence are all members of the local's executive committee; Whiteside is chair of the shop committee, and Swinford and Torrence are co-chairs of the local's civil and human rights committee. Bradley is chair of the local's skilled trades division, and Crisco is a committeeman (the UAW term for shop steward). Even after they were terminated by Freightliner, the Five continued to attend local union and executive committee meetings. But Drexel finally found another way to expel the Five: by arbitrarily denying them membership in the union. Even though it is standard UAW practice to waive union dues payments of terminated members who have filed a grievance, the Five decided to take no chances. Five days before Local 3520's meeting of February 16, the local financial secretary, Shayne Brown, even accepted back dues from the workers. "There was never any issue of us owing dues until January 2008, when someone in the local office tried to say we owed it," said Allen Bradley. "We paid within days even though we weren't officially notified. We paid six months' dues, but we were told that we had not paid dues and that our membership had lapsed. They are trying to take away our membership on technicality." Bradley continued: "The UAW constitution, in Article 45, Section 1, specifically states that a shop committee person terminated by the employer, and who has a pending grievance, remains a member and can run for any open office. That's pretty cut and dry." * * * DESPITE PAYING the dues in question, the Five were barred from the February 16 union meeting. Allen Bradley was arrested for trespassing even though he complied with a request to leave the building--a police officer grabbed him because he photographed a cop harassing a fellow worker. After several court appearances, however, the trespassing charge was dropped. To try and win reinstatement in the union, the Five filed then suit against Local 3520 in federal court. The judge has withheld ruling until internal union appeals were exhausted, but may make the ruling soon. Next, while working with UAW representatives on their arbitration case, the Five appealed their ouster from the union to the UAW International Executive Board (IEB). Yet on June 17, even as an attorney for the UAW prepared to represent the Five in the arbitration hearings, the IEB upheld their expulsion from the union. The IEB's ruling flies in the face of both the UAW constitution and its practice, argued Ellis Boal, a labor attorney who is representing the Five before the federal judge and the Public Review Board (PRB). The IEB based its decision on the argument that the Five hadn't paid dues in April 2007, and that they hadn't formally certified their interest in remaining union members. In his appeal, Boal pointed out that Freightliner payroll records show that the Five did pay union dues in April, and continued to sign in to union meetings, and had been verbally informed by the financial secretary that they didn't have to pay dues. Still, the local IEB upheld Local 3520's decision--and didn't even bother to investigate. "Normally the IEB conducts factual hearings, but because of IEB prejudice we are asking that the PRB itself hold this one," Boal wrote. "The prejudice is demonstrated in two ways: (a) According to a witness statement in the record, the local expelled the Five on the recommendation of Eunice Stokes, administrative assistant to [UAW President] Ron Gettelfinger, given in a phone conversation in January, when Stokes did not know and did not inquire about all the facts, and (b) the IEB ordered the trial last fall to go ahead on the theory that the Five lied to members in the strike by saying it was authorized, though the charge didn't allege that and every witness on both sides agreed at the trial it wasn't true." Rather than expel the Freightliner Five, the UAW should be putting them on tour to raise solidarity funds for their campaign to get their jobs back--and to build support for organizing the South. Instead, the effort to support the Five has been a grassroots, rank-and-file campaign, as leaders of many unions refuse to get involved for fear of offending the UAW. The Five and their supporters hope to use upcoming Labor Day event to publicize their struggle and raise solidarity funds. With funds running low and legal bills mounting, building that solidarity is more urgent than ever. For more information about the Freightliner Five, or to contribute to their campaign, visit their No Justice, No Solidarity Web site [2]. Also on the Web site are model resolutions of support for the Five that can be used by unions and organizations. Many local unions have already passed such resolutions and raised funds to support this struggle, but more is needed. Socialist Worker's "Union Busting at Freightliner" [3] provides more details about the case. Lee Sustar writes for the Socialist Worker. He can be reached at: lsustar@ameritech.net
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