#legalsystem — Public Fediverse posts

West Virginia University: WVU legal expert finds judges cautiously adopting AI while guarding human authority . “A white paper co-authored by Amy Cyphert, associate professor in the WVU College of Law, offers a closer look at how judges are beginning to use generative AI in their day-to-day work. While the tools are helping improve efficiency and accessibility in some areas, judges remain […]

Reuters: Exclusive-Russia-linked hackers compromised scores of Ukrainian prosecutors’ email accounts, data shows. “Russia-linked hackers broke into more than 170 email accounts belonging to prosecutors and investigators across Ukraine during the last several months, according to data reviewed by Reuters, a campaign that shows how Moscow’s spies are keeping tabs on the Ukrainian officials […]

Reuters: Majority of US federal judges are using AI, study finds. “More than half of U.S. federal judges — 60% — are using at least one AI tool in their judicial work, according to a new study, opens new tab released on Monday. Researchers from Northwestern University said they ​believe theirs is the first random-sample study of AI usage among federal judges since the ‌use of AI in […]

A quotation from Christopher Hitchens

The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law.

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) English intellectual, polemicist, socio-political critic
Essay (2004-02), “I Fought the Law,” Vanity Fair

More about this quote: wist.info/hitchens-christopher…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #christopherhitchens #arbitrariness #capriciousness #inconsistency #injustice #law #lawenforcement #legalsystem #tyranny #unpredictability

A quotation from Shakespeare

BASSANIO: In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt
   But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
   Obscures the show of evil?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Merchant of Venice, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 77ff (3.2.77-79) (1597)

More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #merchantofvenice #court #evil #lawyer #legalsystem #oratory #plea #presentation #voice

A quotation from Addison

When a nation once loses its regard to justice; when they do not look up it as something venerable, holy and inviolable; when any of them dare presume to lessen, affront or terrify those who have the distribution of it in their hands; when a judge is capable of being influenced by any thing that is foreign to its own merits, we may venture to pronounce that such a nation is hastening to its ruin.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/82451…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #addison #josephaddison #corruption #decline #influence #injustice #judge #judicialsystem #judiciary #justice #legalsystem #ruin

Duke Law: New Database Documents a Century of Court Decisions on Forensic Expert Evidence Testimony. “The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law is excited to announce the launch of a new public resource: the Forensic Expert Evidence Database, a searchable collection of court decisions addressing when and how forensic expert testimony is admitted in criminal cases. The database […]

A quotation from Cicero

What is the law? A thing that ought neither to be swayed by favor, nor be shattered by force, nor be corrupted by power.
 
[Quod enim est ius civile? Quod neque inflecti gratia neque perfringi potentia neque adulterari pecunia debeat.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Caecina [For Aulus Caecina], ch. 26 / sec. 73 (c. 69 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2013)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #civics #corruption #favor #force #influence #judicialsystem #justice #law #legalsystem #power #wealth

NBC News: Alaska’s court system built an AI chatbot. It didn’t go smoothly.. “For more than a year, Alaska’s court system has been designing a pioneering generative AI chatbot termed the Alaska Virtual Assistant (AVA) to help residents navigate the tangled web of forms and procedures involved in probate, the judicial process of transferring property away from a deceased person. Yet what was […]

https://www.europesays.com/ie/277518/ Dear Abby: Is it fair of me to exclude son from my estate planning due to what he did when his grandmother died? #Action #auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #Currency #Éire #Equipment #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #IE #industry #innocence #Ireland #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #PersonalFinance #WhiteBackground

A quotation from Bastiat

When plunder has become a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
 
[Lorsque la Spoliation est devenue le moyen d’existence d’une agglomération d’hommes unis entre eux par le lien social, ils se font bientôt une loi qui la sanctionne, une morale qui la glorifie.]

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) French philosopher, economist, politician
Economic Sophisms [Sophismes Économiques], 2nd Series, ch. 1 “Physiology of Plunder [Physiologie de la Spoliation]” (1848) [tr. Goddard (1964)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bastiat-frederic/395…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bastiat #fredericbastiat #robbery #corruption #exploitation #legalsystem #morality #plunder #plutocracy #selfserving #system #theft #meme

The Record: Georgia court filing organization warns of outages after ransomware allegations. “The organization responsible for managing real estate and civil court filings in Georgia has been knocked offline by a cyberattack that began on Friday. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA) said it is experiencing a ‘credible and ongoing cybersecurity threat’ that forced […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/27/the-record-georgia-court-filing-organization-warns-of-outages-after-ransomware-allegations/

AZ Big Media: How AI-driven hallucinatory filings are impacting Arizona courts. “Brown v. Colvin. Wofford v. Berryhill. Hobbs v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration. Each citation bore a case number and the initials of a judge in the federal court for the District of Arizona. All of those judges exist. The three cases do not.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/06/az-big-media-how-ai-driven-hallucinatory-filings-are-impacting-arizona-courts/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/539547/ Dear Abby: Niece waits 16 years before questioning aunt about terms of her grandmother’s will #action #Auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #currency #equipment #Finance #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #Industry #innocence #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #Law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #UK #UnitedKingdom #WhiteBackground

https://www.europesays.com/ie/154981/ Dear Abby: Niece waits 16 years before questioning aunt about terms of her grandmother’s will #Action #auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #Currency #Éire #Equipment #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #IE #industry #innocence #Ireland #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #PersonalFinance #WhiteBackground

A quotation from Montesquieu

No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice — when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves.
 
[Il n’y a point de plus cruelle tyrannie que celle que l’on exerce à l’ombre des lois et avec les couleurs de la justice, lorsqu’on va, pour ainsi dire, noyer des malheureux sur la planche même sur laquelle ils s’étaient sauvés.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline [Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence], ch. 14 “Tiberius” (1734, 1748 ed.) [tr. Lowenthal (1965)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/79852/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #despotism #injustice #justicesystem #laws #legalsystem #tyranny #weaponized #cruelty

https://www.europesays.com/uk/509896/ Liz Weston: At least 13 grandchildren are set to inherit a family property. Is this a recipe for disaster? #action #Auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #currency #equipment #Finance #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #Industry #innocence #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #Law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #UK #UnitedKingdom #WhiteBackground

AI is creating fake legal cases and making its way into real courtrooms, with disastrous results
#Tech #AI #Law #LegalSystem #PublicTrust #LegalTech #FakeCases #JusticeSystem #AIEthics #Courtroom #LegalReform #AccessToJustice #TrustInJustice #GenerativeAI
https://the-14.com/ai-is-creating-fake-legal-cases-and-making-its-way-into-real-courtrooms-with-disastrous-results/

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

For the moral point of this matter is never reached by calling what happened by the name of “genocide” or by counting the many millions of victims: the extermination of whole peoples had happened before in antiquity, as well as in modern colonization. It is reached only when we realize that this happened within the frame of a legal order and that the cornerstone of this “new law” consisted of the command “Thou shalt kill,” not thy enemy but innocent people who were not even potentially dangerous, and not for any reason of necessity but, on the contrary, even against all military and other utilitarian considerations.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/46089/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #arendt #extermination #genocide #Holocaust #law #lawandorder #legality #legalsystem

Parent company of two Italian restaurant chains files for bankruptcy

Bravo Brio Restaurants, the two restaurants’ parent company, has filed for bankruptcy.Getty Images Tro…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #FineDining #Italianfinedining #bankruptcy #business #Chapter11 #courthouse #document #Italia #Italian #italiano #italy #law #legaldocument #legalsystem #Paper #Pen #selectivefocus #writ
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2246345/parent-company-of-two-italian-restaurant-chains-files-for-bankruptcy/

Parent company of two Italian restaurant chains files for bankruptcy

Bravo Brio Restaurants, the two restaurants’ parent company, has filed for bankruptcy.Getty Images Tro…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #FineDining #Italianfinedining #bankruptcy #business #Chapter11 #courthouse #document #Italia #Italian #italiano #italy #law #legaldocument #legalsystem #Paper #Pen #selectivefocus #writ
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2246345/parent-company-of-two-italian-restaurant-chains-files-for-bankruptcy/

Parent company of two Italian restaurant chains files for bankruptcy https://www.diningandcooking.com/2246345/parent-company-of-two-italian-restaurant-chains-files-for-bankruptcy/ #bankruptcy #business #Chapter11 #courthouse #document #FineDining #Italia #Italian #ItalianFineDining #italiano #italy #law #LegalDocument #LegalSystem #Paper #Pen #SelectiveFocus #writ

Parent company of two Italian restaurant chains files for bankruptcy https://www.diningandcooking.com/2246345/parent-company-of-two-italian-restaurant-chains-files-for-bankruptcy/ #bankruptcy #business #Chapter11 #courthouse #document #FineDining #Italia #Italian #ItalianFineDining #italiano #italy #law #LegalDocument #LegalSystem #Paper #Pen #SelectiveFocus #writ

Parent company of two Italian restaurant chains files for bankruptcy https://www.diningandcooking.com/2246345/parent-company-of-two-italian-restaurant-chains-files-for-bankruptcy/ #bankruptcy #business #Chapter11 #courthouse #document #FineDining #Italia #Italian #ItalianFineDining #italiano #italy #law #LegalDocument #LegalSystem #Paper #Pen #SelectiveFocus #writ

A quotation from Gordon Hewart

It is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.

Gordon Hewart (1870-1943) British politician and jurist; Lord Chief Justice of England (1922-1940)
Rex v Sussex Justices, ex parte McCarthy, [1924] 1 KB 256, [1923] EWHC KB 1, [1924] KB 256 (1923-11-09) [unanimous decision]

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/hewart-gordon/78501/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bias #court #impropriety #jurisprudence #justice #legalsystem #appearances #irregularity #conflictofinterest

https://www.europesays.com/uk/334321/ Liz Weston: Still considering beneficiary designations over a living trust? Check this list of potential pitfalls #action #Auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #currency #equipment #Finance #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #Industry #innocence #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #Law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #UK #UnitedKingdom #WhiteBackground

Politico: Federal court filing system hit in sweeping hack. “The electronic case filing system used by the federal judiciary has been breached in a sweeping cyber intrusion that is believed to have exposed sensitive court data across multiple U.S. states, according to two people with knowledge of the incident.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/10/politico-federal-court-filing-system-hit-in-sweeping-hack/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/313453/ Dear Abby: Caregiver should get grandpa’s wishes in writing to avoid legal trouble with angry sister #action #Auction #authority #book #bribing #Business #Crime #CrimeAndPunishment #CriminalJustice #currency #equipment #Finance #gavel #GroupOfObjects #guilt #Industry #innocence #isolated #IsolatedObjects #judgement #JusticeConcept #Law #LawBook #LawEnforcementAndCrime #LegalSystem #NoPeople #PersonalFinance #UK #UnitedKingdom #WhiteBackground

A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Precedent,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/76306…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #law #cherrypicking #judge #justicesystem #legalsystem #legalism #precedent #staredecisis

You Commit Three Felonies a Day (2013)

https://kottke.org/13/06/you-commit-three-felonies-a-day

#HackerNews #YouCommitThreeFeloniesADay #FelonyAwareness #LegalSystem #CrimeSocialNorms #Kottke

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

Bad influence;
One #Amazon #influencer #makesaliving #postingcontent from her beige home. But after she noticed another account hawking the same #minimal aesthetic, a #rivalry spiraled into a first-of-its-kind #lawsuit. Can the #legalsystem protect the vibe of a #creator? And what if that vibe is basic?

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/26/24303161/amazon-influencers-lawsuit-copyright-clean-aesthetic-girl-sydney-nicole-gifford-alyssa-sheil

@ProPublica - We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s #SupremeCourt #Supermajority The inside story of how #LeonardLeo built a machine that remade the American #legalsystem — and what he plans to do next. #courts #justice #democracy #corruption #maga #gop #civilliberties #RoeVWade #WomensHealthcare #abortion #privacy #SCOTUS #federalistsociety #courts #judges #contraception #birthcontrol #gunviolence #guncontrol https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority #billionaires #dobbs #OpusDei

From #arrest to #release, there’s a new effort to #investigate the #experiences of #incarcerated #women.

The #WomensJusticeCommission, led by former #US #AttorneyGeneral #LorettaLynch, seeks to address #gaps in #research and #data focused on #women in the #criminal #legalsystem.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Police #Incarceration #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Discrimination #Misogyny #Homophobia #Transphobia #NoPoliceAtPride

https://19thnews.org/2024/07/womens-justice-commission-incarceration-criminal-legal-system/

it amuses me when a court questions the language of law. #LanguageBarrier #LegalSystem https://www.barandbench.com/news/does-name-law-passed-parliament-have-to-be-in-english-kerala-high-court-asks

#Mexico's #SupremeCourt officially #decriminalises #abortion.

The #Mexican #SupremeCourt declared that “the #legalsystem that #criminalized #abortion in the #FederalPenalCode is #unconstitutional [because] it violates the #humanrights of #women and #people with the #ability to #gestate.

#Women #Nonbinary #TransMen #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Mexico #HumanRights #Pregnancy #Abortion

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/09/06/mexico-supreme-court-abortion/

Forced to wait by the judge, Trump is out of his comfort zone in court

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66399284?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

#TrumpCourtCase #JudgeDelay #OutofComfortZone #CourtProceedings #LegalSystem #JudicialProcess #Politics #News

@MJmusicinears American #legalsystem bears aloft and apart, #rich #powerful #whitemen and their #coconspirators #enablers #sycophants #facilitators #collaborators = #lawyers #lobbyists #journalists #MAGA #republicans #fascists #haters #bigots #oppressors #industrialists #billionaires #corporations while #justicedenied to all those most #deserving but a few - #sentencingproject - Apply the same #criminal #convictions to #planning #executing #insurrection #violence #treason or, #democracydies