US

Washington D.C. September 19, 2016 – Representatives of the International Indigenous Youth Council of Standing Rock and Oceti Sakowin Youth encampment have requested that Senator John Barrasso (R- WY) hold a Senate committee hearing on Indian Affairs in response to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. As the 114th Congressional […]

Washington, DC September 19, 2016 – The U.S. Forest Service illegally tore up a section of the Trail of Tears Historic Trail but, despite apologizing to tribes who regard the land as sacred, has not held any officials to account, according to a complaint filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) calling for […]

BISMARCK, ND September 16, 2016 – North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland today dissolved a temporary restraining order against Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II and a number of named and unnamed participants in protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Dakota Access LLP, the consortium building […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. September 16, 2016 – Public Citizen has filed a first-ever shareholder resolution (PDF) at Wells Fargo calling for a breakup study in the wake of the bank’s massive fraud. The resolution, submitted Thursday by Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, asks the Wells Fargo board of directors to […]

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 15, 2016 – Three separate bipartisan groups of senior military and national security experts, including many who served under Republican or Democratic administrations, issued a statement and two major reports urging a robust new course on climate change. This included a Climate Security Consensus Project statement, a Climate and Security Advisory Group […]

Sept. 15, 2016 – Today, President Obama will designate the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, protecting fragile deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The new national monument – which encompasses pristine underwater mountains and canyons – will provide critical protections for important ecological […]

Donald Trump has broken with a 40-year-old tradition of U.S. presidential candidates making public their tax returns because he claims to be under audit by the IRS—but he has yet to produce definitive proof that he is really being investigated. To back up the contention that he is being audited, Trump’s campaign earlier this year […]

September 14, 2016 –  Today, 3 more individuals locked themselves to equipment at an active construction site just west of Bismarck.  This followed the actions from yesterday morning, when 2 water protectors locked themselves to heavy equipment to stop work at two active pipeline construction sites northwest of Mandan.  One worker pepper sprayed one of […]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2016 — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, and Equality NC, the statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBTQ North Carolinians, hailed the Atlantic Coast Conference’s decision to stand up for the safety of its […]

New York, September 14, 2016 – Many schools in the United States are putting the safety and health of transgender students at risk by barring them from bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities matching their gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. At the end of August 2016, federal guidance instructing […]

INDIAPOLIS, IN, Sept. 13, 2016 – A transgender man prohibited from changing his legal name because of his immigration classification is suing Indiana state officials, including Governor Mike Pence. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and Transgender Law Center on behalf of a 31-year-old Indiana resident, alleges that […]

Sept. 13, 2016 – Citing Census Bureau report that 29 million people were uninsured last year, and noting that rising deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses are deterring millions of insured Americans from seeking needed care, Dr. Robert Zarr says moving to a single-payer, improved-Medicare-for-all program has never been more urgent: “The Census Bureau’s official estimate […]

PHOENIX, Sept. 13, 2016 — Immigrant and civil rights groups have filed a legal challenge to Arizona’s policy of denying certain lawfully present immigrants access to driver’s licenses. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the Ortega Law Firm filed a federal class-action lawsuit in Phoenix […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 13, 2016 —Three of the four major candidates for United States president have responded to America’s Top 20 Presidential Science, Engineering, Technology, Health and Environmental  Questions. The nonprofit advocacy group ScienceDebate.org has posted their responses online at http://sciencedebate.org/20answers. Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Jill Stein had all responded as of press time, and the group was awaiting […]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2016- Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, and Equality NC, the statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBTQ North Carolinians, hailed the NCAA’s decision to stand up for LGBTQ equality by moving all 2016-2017 championship events out […]

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2016 – Prosecutors in the U.S. state of North Dakota should immediately drop all criminal charges against broadcast journalist Amy Goodman, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Goodman, who hosts the global news program Democracy Now!, faces criminal trespass charges in connection with her reporting on protests against the construction […]

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 12, 2016 – To mark his 72nd birthday today, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) released a new video urging President Obama to grant clemency to Anishinabe-Lakota Native American activist Leonard Peltier before leaving office. The video highlights Amnesty International’s human rights concerns about Peltier’s case and is narrated by actor Peter Coyote. Amnesty […]

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 7, 2016 – The cost of incarceration in the United States exceeds $1 trillion, or six percent of gross domestic product, and dwarfs the amount spent on corrections alone, finds a new study from Washington University in St. Louis. “The $80 billion spent annually on corrections is frequently cited as the cost […]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2016 – Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reopened the public comment period on the proposed Endangered Species Act (ESA) delisting rule for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem due to the scientific peer review and state regulations coming available. Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of […]

Cannon Ball, N.D. September 9, 2016 – The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior today called for a stop to construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline while also calling for national reform to “ensure meaningful tribal input” on infrastructure projects. Their announcement came via press release today […]