Activist Daniel McGowan suing prison system for having been jailed for blogging

Daniel McGowan was jailed for having published a blog post in April 2013

"Daniel McGowan may have been the first person thrown in solitary confinement for writing a HuffPost blog. Now he'll be the first person to sue the Bureau of Prisons over it." (The Huffington Post) The government retaliated against McGowan "because he continued writing about politics and environmental activism after he was imprisoned." After an environmental activist, Daniel McGowan, served a term in prison for charges related to a radical environmental protests that resulted in arson, he was released to a Brooklyn halfway house last year. While at the halfway house, Mr. McGowan published a post about his time in federal prison. That blog post triggered a retaliatory response from the prison system, which transferred Mr. McGowan from his halfway house to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. The revocation of Mr. McGowan's freedom while he was living in the halfway house is the basis of a lawsuit filed yesterday in Brooklyn federal court.

RELATED Environmental Activist Daniel McGowan, Jailed for Blogging, Is Suing the Bureau of Prisons (The Village Voice) Photos : Several Arrested During March Against Police Brutality (The Village Voice)

Longtime brutal foe of OWS, NYPD Dep Insp Ed Winski back to old tricks again

Deputy Inspector Ed Winksi, known to aggressively arrest activists for exercising Freedoms of Assembly and Speech, was present for questionable arrests during #NMOS14 NYC

Promoted up the NYPD ranks from Captain to Deputy Inspector in reward for his tactics and methods to suppress activists, Winski has earned the ire of advocates for free speech New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Ed Winski was present for at least one false arrest of activists taking part in the Manhattan event in coordination with last night's National Moment of Silence in remembrance of the victims of police brutality. The #NMOS14, as the national events were tagged on Twitter, inspired similar demonstrations across the United States after police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown, on Aug. 9. Mr. Brown's murder by police was preceded by the murder of another Black man, Eric Garner, this time by NYPD, on July 17. Both cases have stirred passions for an overhaul of discriminatory and militarized policing tactics. Dep. Insp. Winski can be seen in the above Vine video as the "white shirt" police officer, who is standing behind another white shirt officer on the left. Ironically, Dep. Insp. Winski oversaw what activists are now calling a false arrest during the #NMOS14 NYC demonstration that was meant to draw attention to racially-motivated policing tactics. Dep. Insp. Winksi was first identified in a blog post by the political blogger Suzannah B. Troy in the above viral video originally uploaded to the Vine account of ReQ Cartier. Deputy Inspector Winksi is the subject of a Change.org petition started 2 years ago, calling for the mayor of New York City to fire the out-of-control police officer. Many police reform activists have decried the fact that the city's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, has kept Dep. Insp. Winksi amongst the NYPD's top ranks. Mayor de Blasio campaigned last year on a promise to overhaul the NYPD, but since his election last November, the then-mayor-elect made the regressive appointment of William Bratton as police commissioner. The mayor further raised raising questions about his commitment to overhauling the NYPD when he defended Commissioner Bratton's use of a disputed theory of policing known as Broken Windows, which targets people of color and low-income communities for over-policing. Many police reform activists view Commissioner Bratton's use of Broken Windows as a replacement for the discredited NYPD tactic of stop-and-frisk, which was recently ruled to be unconstitutional. Commissioner Bratton's controversial appointment flew in the face of Mayor de Blasio's promise to end racially-motivated policing tactics that target people of color and low-income communities. That Dep. Insp. Winski is back to his old tricks only adds to the impression being made by police reform activists that Mayor de Blasio basically exploited his bi-racial family, most prominently his son, Dante, in a focus-group tested campaign commercial just to win last year's mayoral election, and that Mayor de Blasio never had any serious intention to overhaul the NYPD, much less to either end the pattern of false arrests of activists, to end the over-policing of people of color and low-income communities, or to establish a commission to investigate corruption by the NYPD including its Internal Affairs Bureau.

RELATED Petitioning Bill de Blasio : Fire Deputy Inspector Ed Winski and Call For an Independent Investigation of NYPD (Change.org) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. The offices of Flatiron Massage are located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan.

NYPD Sends Subpoena To Reporter, Reporter Fired, NYPD Ticket Fixing, Other Free Press Updates

The First Amendment On The Ropes

''In what The New York Times described as a 'broadly worded, five-page subpoena,' New York City lawyers are demanding that former Village Voice reporter Graham Rayman turn over tape recordings police officer Adrian Schoolcraft made of his superiors at the NYPD’s 81st precinct in Brooklyn," Time magazine is reporting, adding, "The tapes were the basis for Rayman’s book, The NYPD Tapes, which alleges officers manipulated crime data in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn."

It's questionable why city lawyers are infringing on Mr. Rayman's free press protections under the First Amendment, and many are concerned that the NYPD is trying to harass Mr. Rayman in retribution for Mr. Rayman's exposé of police corruption. Because of the legal wrangling with the city, one activist, Suzannah B. Troy, wondered whether the litigation was an excuse used by the new owners of the Village Voice to lay-off Mr. Rayman.

Investigating the NYPD of corruption is something that rarely happens. Many have called for a federal commission to come in and investigate the New York City police force. After many unfounded shootings of innocent people, no police ever gets convicted. One recent scandal, a massive, illegal operation involving ticket-fixing, has only resulted in one officer losing his job.

Aside from the subpoena served on Mr. Rayman, the NYPD has also tried to harass Mr. Schoolcraft. A judge ruled that Mr. Schoolcraft can't be hit by a countersuit from his former supervisor. At every step of the way, the NYPD are trying to suppress any corruption investigation of its police officers.

The duplicity of NYPD, tasked with enforcing the law, but which now is acting to suppress a free press, somewhat parallels the duplicity of the Obama administration. At the same time when President Obama is secretly obtaining the phone records of Associated Press reporters, in an effort to suppress a rigorous free press from investigating his administration, Vice President Joe Biden registered complaints with Chinese government officials over hacking and other threats against foreign journalists. Give me a break.

All of this is taking place against a backdrop where New York City officials and the Obama administration refuse to comply with freedom of information requests.

• Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi (04 Dec 2013)
• FDNY Refuse to Release EMS Transport Times (1 Aug 2012)

The very idea of a republic implies rights conveyed to citizens to meet and consult one another, and to petition their government, if they so choose. How can citizens exercise their rights to free speech, to assemble, and to petition, when the government restricts, delays, or prevents the sharing of information necessary for our citizen activities ? Our guarantees to free speech are being diminished, shortened, and restricted by conditions created by harassing reporters, retaliating against whistleblowers, and denying freedom of information requests.

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A Fox News reporter will not have to divulge the confidential sources who provided information for her story on the 2012 mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, New York's highest court ruled on Tuesday. (Reporter Allowed to Keep Sources Secret in Colorado Theater Shooting * The New York Times)

(Updated : Friday 13 Dec 2013 19:48)

FOIA Appeal Update Regarding the DOJ's ''vindictive prosecution'' of Lt. Daniel Choi

FOIA Appeal asks if the "DOJ is taking an uncooperative stance"

Yesterday, the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP filed an appeal with the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting that the DOJ respond to this appeal within 20 business days. This appeal was filed following the constructive denial by the DOJ to the Freedom of Information Act request, dated April 30, 2013, seeking various categories of "records pertaining to the prosecution of Lt. Daniel Choi."

Scribd Link to FOIA Appeal : 2013-12-06 Lt Daniel Choi FOIA Appeal - Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - Flores Louis

According to the appeal, the DOJ presents the notion that it refuses to comply with the FOIA request. "[T]he DOJ has done nothing at all to respond to the Request other than to tell Mr. Flores that, due to the agency's own internal limitations on resources and staff, it is having difficulty processing the numerous FOIA requests that the DOJ receives. Such an excuse is not an acceptable one under the FOIA, and the DOJ is not permitted to avoid its FOIA obligations due to an internal burden of its own making," noting that, "Given the DOJ's conduct in connection with the Request, we are left with the impression that the DOJ is taking an uncooperative stance, is not exercising due diligence in responding to the Request, or both."

Scribd Link to Original FOIA Request : 2013-04-30 Lt Daniel Choi DOJ FOIA Request Louis Flores

Prior YouTube Video Links :

• Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi (04 Dec 2013)
• Why won't DOJ answer FOIA Request about Lt. Dan Choi ? (15 Oct 2013)

Lt. Choi was the visible hero in the activism campaign to build public pressure on the federal government to repeal the U.S. military's former discriminatory policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Federal prosecutors have been engaged in a "vindictive prosecution" of Lt. Choi, even though Lt. Choi was merely employing activism for social justice to end discrimination, which the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama later rightly acknowledged by repealing DADT.

The FOIA appeal is being handled by a team of lawyers, including Thomas Golden, a partner at Willkie Farr, who has a remarkable record on FOIA matters. As outside counsel to Bloomberg LP, Mr. Golden successfully litigated a FOIA case against the Federal Reserve a few years back, demanding an "unprecedented level of detail about its discount window lending during the financial crisis."

See : Fed's Court-Ordered Transparency Shows Americans ''Have a Right to Know''

See Also : Fed's Once-Secret Data Compiled by Bloomberg Released to Public

The DOJ's response is due before mid-January. As soon as I have an update, I will share that information with you. All information and records obtained from this FOIA request and appeal will be publicly posted on Scribd for everybody to access. If you support free information, the importance of upholding FOIA, the activism of Lt. Choi, and the work of bloggers, please share the link to the FOIA appeal on social media.

2013-12-06 Lt Daniel Choi FOIA Appeal - Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - Flores Louis by Connaissable

Obama Administration Denying FOIA Request Violates Free Speech

See New Advisory : FOIA Appeal Update Regarding the DOJ's ''vindictive prosecution'' of Lt. Daniel Choi (7 Dec 2013)

Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi

As of today, I've not yet received any written response from the Department of Justice to the request filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The request, dated April 30, 2013, requested information pertaining to the government's vindictive prosecution of "Don't Act, Don't Tell" repeal hero, Lt. Daniel Choi.

Speech critical of the government, for example, political speech, is a freedom provided as a protection in the First Amendment. The First Amendment also includes a right to peacefully assemble and a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. These rights are protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights. These are guarantees made to us by the U.S. government.

The very idea of a republic implies rights conveyed to citizens to meet and consult one another, and to petition their government, if they so choose. How can citizens exercise their rights to free speech, to assemble, and to petition, when the government restricts, delays, or prevents the sharing of information necessary for our citizen activities ? Our guarantees to free speech are being diminished, shortened, and constricted by conditions created by denying Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Separate from any rights under freedom of the press, afforded to me as a blogger, there originates my right to free speech as a citizen. How can one review, consult, and comment on the functions and actions of one's own government, if one is denied information ?

Refusing to honor FOIA requests prevents us from forming complete thoughts and speech, in this case, speech that may be critical of the government. Denying FOIA requests denies citizens their rights to freely and completely speak, to fully consult with other citizens, to peacefully and meaningfully assemble, and to petition the government, if necessary, for a redress of grievances. Thwarting information violates our rights, protections, and guarantees, in accordance with the design of our republic. This is what is at stake when the government refuses to honor requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The implications of restricting information to the detriment of our right to free speech, are not limited to me or to the readers of this blog, but to every citizen.

Anonymous - Message to America

Hello all of America. Hello Mister president. We are Anonymous. Dear Mister president, We would like to ask you, are you happy with what you have allowed the United States to become? The entire country a war machine, people rising in protest against you, and the city governments allowing the brutal beatings and arresting of citizens across America. By allowing this to happen you are a disgrace to the office of presidency. You mister president, you need ought rightfully to set your political career aside and focus on the city streets of your own country. So far you have done nothing about the thousands of people arrested in the streets for exorcising their first amendment rights. Stop and listen to the people you took an oath to uphold, stop treating the people of America like terrorists with the building of FEMA camps to imprison all who stand up against political control. You Mister President are a failure to America.

Citizens of the United States. The corporations that profit from permanent war need us to be afraid. Fear stops us from objecting to government spending on a bloated military. Fear means we will not ask unpleasant questions of those in power. Fear permits the government to operate in secret. Fear means we are willing to give up our rights and liberties for promises of security. The imposition of fear ensures that the corporations that wrecked the country cannot be challenged. Fear keeps us penned in like livestock.

And yet, Who will govern the governors? There is only one force in the nation that can be depended upon to keep the government pure and the governors honest, and that is the people themselves. We alone, if well informed, are capable of preventing the corruption of power, and of restoring the nation to its rightful course if it should go astray. We alone are the safest depository of the ultimate powers of government.

It is for this reason that our constitution was written. America, and the world at large is becoming informed and in turn preparing. Soon, We the people will no longer stand by in silent consent. This is a call to every citizen, this is a message to all of government.

Knowledge is free. We are anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

Are NYPD Cyber Searching Political Blogs ?

NYPD Violate #Handschu and Deny #FOIL Request by @maslowsneeds christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/11/NYPD-V… #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #dueprocess

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) November 25, 2012

NYPD continue to monitor peaceful activists in violation of the Handschu Agreement. In this latest case, NYPD officials are visiting this blog even though NYPD refuse to answer to a Freedom of Information request by the author of this blog.

Remember, this is on top of the fact that there have been allegations that Speaker Quinn has instructed the NYPD to use physical force against the author of this blog.

If Speaker Quinn can't find a way to violate due process by firing you, then she puts the NYPD on the case, to harass and cybermonitor you ?

2012 11 24 NYPD Cybermonitoring Louis Flores Handschu Agreement

Bloomberg, Kelly, and NYPD to put up Security Checkpoints to Thwart OWS S17 Anniversary

By putting up barricades and security checkpoints all over Lower Manhattan, which has not been done since 9/11, is this how the NYPD thinks it is going to serve and protect us ? Is it trying to protect us from our own Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Speech ?

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 Police State Watch: NYPD to Install Checkpoints, Demand ID in Lower Manahttan on OWS Anniversary Since when are Americans required to carry and show ID to the police to go about their daily business? Apparently since the 1% became sufficiently afraid of the 99% so as to regard the Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to assembly and free speech as security threats. This notice gives a flavor of what to expect for the September 17 celebrations of the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street (click to enlarge; hat tip nathan):

2012 09 14 Pace NYPD ID Checkpoints for Occupy Wall Street Anniversary

Original Source : Police State Watch: NYPD to Install Checkpoints, Demand ID in Lower Manahttan on OWS Anniversary

Intermediary Post : Suzannah B. Troy : Occupy Wall Street Alert Police State Watch: NYPD to Install Checkpoints

Bloomberg Quinn Handschu Agreement Violations ?

Note how NYPD filmed the evacuation of Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park :

Are NYPD Intelligence Division violating terms of the Handschu Agreement ?

On September 6, 2012, activists against the Fracking Pipeline that is proposed to run through the West Village organised a demonstration along the West Side Highway. At that protest, a white shirt police officer was caught video taping lawful political activities of the protesters. If the protesters were only engaged in lawful political activities on September 6, as it surely does appear, then does the monitoring of the protesters by the NYPD not violate the Handschu Agreement ?

The Handschu agreement is a court ruling from the case Handschu v. Special Services Division, 605 F.Supp. 1384, affirmed 787 F.2d 828, that brought about guidelines that regulate police behavior in New York City with regard to police monitoring of citizens' political activity (Wikipedia).

A large coalition of activist groups accused police of compiling information to punish and repress lawful dissent, according to Wikipedia.

For the last year, the NYPD and the Bloomberg administration have been monitoring the Occupy Wall Street movement since before activists began their occupation in Liberty Square. In 2011, NYPD used camcorders to videotape protesters during a march against the execution of Troy Davis. On one occasion in 2012, Occupy activists caught the NYPD engaged in monitoring the lawful political activities by #OWS.

Because New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gives direct orders to NYPD, what kind of approval has he made about any illegal monitoring acts by the New York Police Department ? Does this video appear to show that NYPD Intelligence Division assault reporters, block news cameras, and attack the Freedom of the Press to benefit Mayor Bloomberg ?

For her part, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is one of the handful of city politicians, who can give orders to NYPD. What kind of oversight, approval, or objections has she made about any illegal monitoring acts by the New York Police Department ? Would it be considered surprising if word began to spread that Speaker Quinn is now using officers from the NYPD Intelligence Division for security at protests ?

See also : The NYPD'S Intelligence Division: Has It Gone Rogue ?

Suzannah Troy Joe Tacopina Censorship YouTube

A video about Joe Tacopina and the Baby Lisa story from Kansas City and posted on YouTube by Suzannah B. Troy was censored earlier today. After Ms. Troy's friends and supporters began an e-mail campaign to YouTube, her video was restored.

Here is the original video, which has been restored :

Obama Signs Anti-Protest Trespass Bill H.R. 347 Into Law

President Barack Obama signed H.R. 347 into law, a bill that could drastically limit the ability of Americans to assemble and protest. Sometimes referred to as the Trespass Bill, the wording in the new law now makes it a federal offense to assemble at many political events, essentially criminalizing protesting.

Notwithstanding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, both houses of Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, legislation that most people view as unconstitutional. Did anybody read the First Amendment ?

AMENDMENT I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

(Censorship update : The original video blogged on this post was banned by YouTube.)