[Hear an in-depth discussion on this article and its topics in this episode of The Enragés] The human rights of transgender people, and specifically of vulnerable transgender youth, are being systematically denied and dismantled all over the United States. To advance this violent oppression, the states and politicians in question use more than merely legislation…

Excerpts From a Letter to a Friend Apropos your series of articles on Human Rights: There was a University of Chicago “professor” who wrote a book entitled Might is Right, under the pseudonym of “Ragnar Redbeard.” In it he maintained that life is essentially a battle in which “to the victor belonged the spoils,” and…

Human rights advocacy and legal support non-profit Reprieve is raising funds in order to, “help fund the work of […] investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice around the world.” They offer legal support to inmates who are being held illegally and fight for the rights of victims of illegal drone strikes. We think they’re…

Di Aaron Koek. Originale pubblicato il 16 ottobre 2019 con il titolo Rights, Privilege, and Power. Traduzione di Enrico Sanna. Di cosa parliamo quando parliamo del concetto di diritto? C’è il concetto filosofico, l’idea che tutti gli esseri umani abbiano certi inalienabili diritti semplicemente in quanto esseri umani. È un concetto che si riferisce ai…

What do we speak of when we discuss the concept of rights? There exists the philosophical concept, the notion that all human beings are embodied with certain inalienable rights, simply by consequence of their being human. This notion refers to human rights as they are commonly understood. Then there exists the legalistic understanding, that of…

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Students For Liberty’s New Orleans Regional Conference. It was a delightful event, featuring a talk by C4SS’s own Roderick Long along with many other radical, principled, and insightful speakers. One of the most interesting presentations was by Maggie McNeill, a retired sex worker who blogs at The…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Nathan Goodman‘s “Don’t Reform the Surveillance State, Route Around It” read Christopher King and edited by Nick Ford. Moreover, the state tends to secure its own interests and those of concentrated special interest groups first and foremost. Bills that pose a substantial threat to the NSA, their telecom company collaborators or profiteers…

A new report from the Open Society Justice Initiative documents the overuse of pretrial detention around the globe. The report estimates that around 3.3 million people are currently incarcerated awaiting trial. These people have yet to be convicted of any crime, yet they are locked in cages and subjected to brutal human rights abuses. Martin Schoenteich…

Il rapimento e l’assassinio di tre adolescenti israeliani è un crimine odioso. Ma la risposta del governo israeliano è dal canto suo un’orgia di crimini violenti. Quando qualcuno commette un crimine contro qualcun altro, solo l’autore di questo crimine dovrebbe essere considerato responsabile. Non la famiglia o i compagni di camera, non quelli della sua…

On July 7th, Molly Knefel published a great piece on jury nullification in The Nation. Knefel opens by discussing the trial of Cecily McMillan, an Occupy Wall Street protester who was convicted of “assaulting” a police officer who had assaulted her, and sentenced to a prison term that most of the jurors who convicted her…

The abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers is a contemptible crime. But the Israeli government’s response has been to engage in a violent crime spree of its own. When someone commits a violent crime against another person, the perpetrator should be held accountable. Not the perpetrator’s family or roommates, not those of the same…

In recent weeks, I’ve seen multiple stories about deaths in prisons. These deaths were all preventable and easily attributable to prison conditions. Let’s examine a few of these incidents. According to the Miami Herald, “Florida’s Department of Corrections is facing a third potential criminal probe in the wake of another inmate death at a state…

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed something called “the USA Freedom Act.” The bill was intended by its authors to end the National Security Agency’s broad and privacy-shredding bulk data collection program, but the final version that passed is so weak that bulk data collection will still be permitted. Trevor Timm at the…

This week marks the 2014 National Week of Action Against Incarcerating Youth. Across the country, actions will be held to protest everything from the criminalization of queer and disabled youth to the isolation of youth in solitary confinement. Ultimately, what activists are protesting is systematic child abuse by the state. Kids are being locked in…

Il 25 marzo la Commissione Nazionale per la Verità (Comissão Nacional da Verdade) ha sentito un colonnello in pensione per cercare di capire come “venivano torturati i prigionieri politici” e identificare “chi era vivo al momento dell’arrivo, chi morì, chi scomparve, e chi furono i torturatori” della Casa da Morte (Casa della Morte), un punto…

A retired colonel was heard on March 25th by Brazil’s National Truth Commission (Comissão Nacional da Verdade) to clarify how “political prisoners were tortured” and identify “who was alive when they arrived, who died and who is still missing, as well as the torturers” from Casa da Morte (“Death House”), an underground center for repression located…

A Tacoma, nello stato di Washington, gli immigrati detenuti nel Northwest Detention Center fanno lo sciopero della fame. Gli agenti dell’Immigration and Customs Enforcement stanno cercando di intimidirli, minacciando di alimentarli a forza. Parlando con americani, ho notato che molti di loro non hanno simpatia per i detenuti. Appongono agli immigrati il marchio di “illegali”…

In Tacoma, Washington, immigrant detainees held in the Northwest Detention Center are on hunger strike. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are attempting to intimidate, and threatening to force feed, them. When I talk to many Americans about this hunger strike, many lack sympathy with the detainees. They brand immigrants as “illegals” and use this as…

Today marks Transgender Day of Remembrance. On this day, transgender and gender non-conforming people join with our allies to mourn and memorialize the transgender and gender non-conforming people who have been killed for who they are.  There’s a lot at stake here. Trans* people, particularly transgender women of color, face horrendous bigotry, violence, and murder….

Imagine if you had to fight in a court of law in order to be permitted to move in with friends, go to work, and make basic decisions about your daily life. Jenny Hatch doesn’t have to imagine, because she just fought and won that battle for her basic liberties. Hatch has volunteered for political…