The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site.
The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago’s west side known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights.
Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into Chicago police abuse, include:
- Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases.
- Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.
- Shackling for prolonged periods.
- Denying attorneys access to the “secure” facility.
- Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours, including people as young as 15.
Give Millennials a Bailout →
Matt Bruenig, a writer at the think tank Demos, has a very interesting theory about poverty. He points out that poverty declines as people age. Much of it is simply due to the life cycle of earnings -- as people get older, they earn more money. Earnings tend to increase steadilyfrom age 25 to age 45, then top out.
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Remember, to smooth the transition from youth to middle age, young people need to borrow. But borrowing exposes people to a lot of risk. If the labor market tanks, and interest rates or inflation soars, people who borrowed a lot of money could be stuck with an unbearable debt burden.
That seems like it may have happened with our current millennial generation -- especially the slightly older members of the cohort. The Great Recession left a lasting scar on that generation’s employment prospects and earning power. Unfortunately, that generation also took out record amounts of student loans.
In other words, millennials suffered a huge shock that reduced their chances of becoming old and comfortable, at the exact time that they had made themselves most vulnerable to such a shock. That one-two punch is taking its toll, and the generation is buckling under the strain. A huge number have moved back in with their parents. Meanwhile, fertility rates have plunged to lows not seen since the 1970s, erasing much of the demographic advantage that had recently made the U.S. look like a better long-term bet than other rich countries.
Turkey says joint U.S. training of Syria rebels to start in March →
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday Turkey and the United States aimed to start a program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels early next month.
The United States and Turkey signed an agreement on Thursday to train and equip opposition rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Cost of a Decline in Unions →
The abuses are real. But, as unions wane in American life, it’s also increasingly clear that they were doing a lot of good in sustaining middle class life — especially the private-sector unions that are now dwindling.
Most studies suggest that about one-fifth of the increase in economic inequality in America among men in recent decades is the result of the decline in unions. It may be more: A study in the American Sociological Review, using the broadest methodology, estimates that the decline of unions may account for one-third of the rise of inequality among men.
“To understand the rising inequality, you have to understand the devastation in the labor movement,” says Jake Rosenfeld, a labor expert at the University of Washington and the author of “What Unions No Longer Do.”
Take construction workers. A full-time construction worker earns about $10,000 less per year now than in 1973, in today’s dollars, according to Rosenfeld. One reason is probably that the proportion who are unionized has fallen in that period from more than 40 percent to just 14 percent.
“All the focus on labor’s flaws can distract us from the bigger picture,” Rosenfeld writes. “For generations now the labor movement has stood as the most prominent and effective voice for economic justice.”
Prisoners Sentenced to Life as Kids Just Lost Their Best Chance for Freedom →
Until recently, the U.S. was the only developed country in the world in which people under 18 could be sentenced to death or to a mandatory sentence of life without parole. For almost a decade, the Supreme Court has chiseled away at laws allowing these sentences. In 2005, the court ruled that juveniles’ "lack of maturity," susceptibility "to negative influences and outside pressures," and "transitory, less fixed" personality traits meant they couldn't be sentenced to death. Following this logic, it ruled five years later that juveniles couldn't be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide offenses.
Then, in 2012, in Miller v. Alabama, the court ruled that a mandatory sentence of life without parole, handed down in 29 states’ murder cases as well as those in federal court, is unconstitutional for offenders younger than 18.
The decision left a question on the table: What about those who had already been convicted? Should they be resentenced?
Watching a Shaky Cease-Fire in Ukraine →
Earlier this month, a cease-fire agreement was signed in Minsk, Belarus, after long talks between leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France. Ukrainian government troops and rebel forces in Eastern Ukraine agreed to cease hostilities by February 15 and withdraw heavy weapons at least 30 miles from the agreed-upon buffer zone stretching roughly from Luhansk to Mariupol. Heavy fighting ensued right before the deadline, and sporadic violence continues even now, more than a week later. Some Ukrainian forces claim they are unable to withdraw, as the Russian-backed rebels are still shelling their positions...
Saudi King Unleashes a Torrent of Money as Bonuses Flow to the Masses →
European leaders are still battling over austerity. The United States Congress is gearing up for another fight over the budget. But in Saudi Arabia, there are no such troubles when you are king — and you just dole out billions and billions of dollars to ordinary Saudis by royal decree.
Not surprisingly, Saudis are very happy with their new monarch, King Salman.
“It is party time for Saudi Arabia right now,” said John Sfakianakis, the Riyadh-based Middle East director of the Ashmore Group, an investment company, who estimates that the king’s post-coronation giveaway will ultimately cost more than $32 billion.
That is a lot of cash, more, for example, than the entire annual budget for Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest economy.
Former Federal Judge Regrets 55-Year Marijuana Sentence →
Weldon Angelos was just 24 years old when he was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for three marijuana sales. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of federal prisoners serving decades-long sentences for non-violent crimes, thanks to mandatory minimum sentencing laws created in the 1980s during America’s war on drugs.
As a result, Angelos may not live long enough to experience freedom again. His case has haunted the federal judge that put him there.
"I do think about Angelos,” said Paul Cassell, a now-retired federal judge in the Utah circuit. “I sometimes drive near the prison where he’s held, and I think, ‘Gosh he shouldn’t be there. Certainly not as long as I had to send him there. ... That wasn’t the right thing to do. The system forced me to do it.”