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A few weeks ago this story was shared on the Facebook page of the American Humanist Association (AHA) to celebrate a preliminary injunction by a federal judge against Idahos backwards Fairness in Womens Sports Act. The comments thread quickly devolved into a malicious and transphobic free-for-all. Faced with an onslaught of posts that violated our social media guidelines, our social media coordinator brought the social justice department in to assist. It took nearly three hours for all of us to properly moderate the conversation, and were still actively monitoring the post because the vitriol hasnt stopped.

As a team, we did a post mortem: What could we have done differently to stem the harm early? Should we have taken the post down? What can we do better next time? But this exercise doesnt change the fact that our social media platforms, which are intended to be a positive space where humanists from all over the country can share perspectives and build community, fostered harm with that post.

So, while elsewhere were working on repairing that harm, Id like to use this space to lay out our perspective. To be clear, as a cisgender heterosexual woman, I am not writing on behalf of transgender athletes. And I encourage people who havent already taken in perspectives from transgender athletes to do so now. I also will not attempt to debunk every harmful, transphobic, and transmisogynist myth shared on our page about transgender athletes. Others have already done that more thoroughly than I could.

Instead, lets focus on the specifics of the Idaho lawthe Fairness in Womens Sports Actthat was scheduled to go into effect this summer alongside another new state law prohibiting people from changing the gender listed on their birth certificate (the latter, proposed under the guise of supporting accurate record keeping, was struck down).

The Fairness in Womens Sports Act would ban student athletes from participating in girls school sports if they do not meet specific criteria. Heres how the law would determine whether or not a student can participate:

A dispute regarding a students sex shall be resolved by the school or institution by requesting that the student provide a health examination and consent form or other statement signed by the students personal health care provider that shall verify the students biological sex. The health care provider may verify the students biological sex as part of a routine sports physical examination relying only on one (1) or more of the following: the students reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels. [Full text available here.]

Simply put, in order to participate in student athletics, women and girls would have to prove they are cisgender (and in effect possibly prove they are endosex by subjecting themselves to invasive exams and tests to assess their chromosomal makeup, external genitalia, and/or testosterone levels. These invasive assessments are founded on a scientifically debunked understanding of sex and gender. The law says nothing of mens and boys school sports. Whats more, its the only law of its kind in the US, though similar bills have been introduced in at least sixteen states. Opponents of the law claim its unconstitutional. In this view, it violates the Fourth Amendment protecting US citizens against unlawful search and seizure, and it violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

So those are the facts.

The AHA, along with our secular partners, opposed these anti-transbills in Idaho and celebrates this announcement from the court.

We also contend its no accident that anti-transactivists support the Fairness in Womens Sports Act under the guise of protecting women, even though this law would lead to traumatic and invasive experiences for transgender women, intersex women, and any student athlete participating in womens sports who appears too masculine, too strong, or even perhaps too successful. Thats a perverse form of paternalism if Ive ever seen one. So, I ask; Who is this law protecting?

There are so many gender issues that need to be addressed on the state level, but Idaho legislators chose this issue. Why might that be? If legislators want to get serious about protecting womens rights, I recommend they address real problems. In Idaho,20.8 percent of female students in Idaho have experienced sexual assaults(5 percent more than the US average) andLGBTQ girls are being led to suicide because of religious doctrine, alongside so many other longstanding forms of gender-based discrimination and violence.

But we also have to ask: What are we protecting students from? With the scientific evidence available, sporting bodies have determined that transgender athletes do not have an unfair advantage over cisgender athletes. The NCAA, for example, has had regulations inclusive of transgender athletes for at least the last ten years. And the Idaho High School Activities Association has clear guidelines that allow students to participate in athletic programs that are consistent with their gender identity. School athletics teach young people about teamwork, goal setting, self-esteem, and, yes, they also teach about healthy competition. Shouldnt all students get the opportunity to participate in that learning, and shouldnt they be able to do that authentically?

Lets not mince words. Laws that try to preventtransathletes from participating in sports or preventtransstudents from using the bathroom most suitable for them arent about protecting women and girls. Theyre about shaming and controllingtransgender bodies.Anti-transgender activists have lost the discriminatory fight for bathrooms and so have moved on to athletics.

Sports have always been a platform where rights are negotiated and fought for. And women having to prove their womanhood isnt new (see the history of the nude parade of women athletes).

As humanists, what kind of society do we want? I would hope its one guided by scientific evidence but founded on the dignity and worth of every human being. Personally, I was ashamed of how our community represented itself on Facebook that day. While Im sure a fair number of commenters were trolls, we also must consider that vitriolic and harmful comments also came from humanists. Thats something we will continue to reckon with.

For this humanist, and for the American Humanist Association as an organization, bone density and femur-to-hip anglesmajor points of contention from our Facebook commentsdo not make a person, do not make an athlete, and do not make a woman. Im encouraged that our sports and schools continue to evolve to be more inclusive. I hope humanists are open to doing the same.

See the original post here:
Trolling and Controlling: Harming Trans Athletes Is Not a Humanist Sport - The Humanist

Federal agents have begun to withdraw from Portland, Oregon, where they were stationed to protect federal property and personnel amid protests in the city, despite objection by local leaders. But, their authority to be there in the first place has deep roots.

Legislation passed just after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 designed to protect the U.S. from national security threats; and judicial expansion just after the Civil War designed to ensure southern states adhered to Reconstruction-era laws provide the framework for what we see today, says Northeastern law professor Michael Meltsner.

Michael Meltsner is the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews distinguished university professor of law in the Northeastern University School of Law. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Federal presence in Portland is both authorized and problematic, says Meltsner, who is the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law.

Authorities in the Trump administration say that the federal agents, who were deployed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, are in Portland to protect federal property and personnel. The federal force is composed of officers from Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement who back up the Federal Protective Service, which is already responsible for protecting federal property, according to The New York Times.

On July 29, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced that the forces would begin withdrawing from the state beginning July 30.

The federal agents arrived after weeks of protests in the city against racial injusticeprotests that had already been met with aggressive tactics from local police that were criticized by local officials including the governor, speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and some city councilors.

President Donald J. Trump has also threatened to send as many as 75,000 federal agents to other U.S. cities to quell protests there as well, even as local authorities in Portland, including Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, have implored the agency to stand down, and the Oregon attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union, a civil rights group, have sued.

But federal officials say they have clear authority. Representatives from Customs and Border Protection cited a section of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, legislation passed after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The act gives the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security the authority to protect the buildings, grounds, and property that are owned, occupied, or secured by the federal government and the persons on the property. The law was designed to protect the U.S. national security threats such as those perpetrated on 9/11, Meltsner says.

The agents in Oregon were there ostensibly, then, to protect federal propertyincluding the federal courthouse in downtown Portlandfrom protesters, he says.

To the extent that this is all they were doing, it would seem non-controversial, Meltsner says.

But news media reports from the city show what appear to be plain-clothes federal agents forcing protesters into unmarked vans.

If that were the case, Meltsner says, the agents would be in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects U.S. citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures.

In that case, just because federal agents have nominal authority under a federal statute, it doesnt mean that they can violate peoples constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment, Meltsner says. From what Ive read in the papers, it would appear that these federal agents are interfering with the liberty of the people without any cause.

A state official could decide to take a federal agent to court over an alleged violation. Often, however, such cases are not tried in a state courthouse, theyre removed to the federal court system to be triedor, as is often the case, dismissedthere, Meltsner says.

This act of removal is a judicial power that was created during the Reconstruction period in the U.S., roughly 1863 to 1875. During the years after the Civil War, progressive congressmen passed legislation that would ensure the rights of formerly enslaved people in the countryincluding the passage of the Fourteenth Amendmentand sent federal agents to various Southern states to enforce that legislation.

White officials in those Southern states, reluctant to apply the new legislation to formerly enslaved people in their states, tried to find ways to prosecute the federal agents enforcing the laws, Meltsner says. In order to protect the agents and the rights of Black people, Congress allowed cases that had begun in state courts to be taken out of them and tried in federal courts, where they were often dismissed, he says.

Now, Meltsner says, the same tactics may be used to protect the federal agents allegedly acting unlawfully in Oregon.

Basically, whats happening in Portland now could ultimately involve the same tactics used by the Justice Department to protect these federal agents during Reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement, Meltsner says.

And, he adds, although the focus on federal intervention in the city is warranted, its just as important to examine the behavior of the city and state police before federal agents arrived.

Based on the news reports, it would appear that there was an incredible amount of First Amendment and Fourth Amendment violation from the Portland Police Department, Meltsner says. This is certainly an evolving situation, with a lot of questions to be answered about what, exactly, is going on.

For media inquiries, please contact Jessica Hair at j.hair@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.

Link:
How 9/11 and the US Civil War provided the framework for federal agents in Portland - News@Northeastern

To the Editor:

He has erected a multitude of new officers and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

These words were among the charges against tyrant King George III in declaring independence from England in 1776. History repeats itself. These charges have come alive today in the tyrannical actions of our would be king, Donald Trump.

To quote further from our Declaration of Independence: Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.

No governor of any state or mayor of any city, has given consent to Trumps sending his storm troopers to invade their cities. These storm troopers have unlawfully beaten, gassed and detain demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, violating their constitutional rights.

To quote from the First Amendment to our Constitution: Congress shall make no laws .... abridging the right of people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Fourth Amendment states: The right of people to be secure in their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.

Donald Trumps use of storm troopers is in flagrant violation of our First and Fourth amendments. Please note Trump is only targeting states and cities with Democratic governors and mayors. His unidentified military force is creating urban warfare designed to convince Americans that Democrats are out-of-control rioters and anarchists. Trump is posturing as a law-and-order president. His use of this tactic is designed to sway voters to reelect him and his Republican supporters in November.

Do we still believe in the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? Our Founders fought and died in the Revolution to secure this government for future generations of Americans. At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked What kind of government do we have? Franklin replied, A republic, if we can keep it. This question has yet to be determined.

What would our Founding Fathers do?

Margaret Abel

Franklin

View original post here:
What would the Founding Fathers do? - Smoky Mountain News

Cartoonist R. Sikoryak's talent for mimicking other cartoonists, from Krazy Kat's George Herriman to Nancy's Ernie Bushmiiler, is uncanny. He has a new book out, called Constitution Illustrated, published by Drawn & Quarterly and I have been marveling at the illustrations. The publisher kindly gave me permission to run some samples so you can see the versatility of Sikoryak's work.

A gifted pastiche and parody artist as well as a New Yorker cartoonist, R. Sikoryaks perhaps best known for his widely lauded graphic novel adaptation of the iTunes Terms and Conditions agreement, where each page referenced a different classic comic. It is a triumph of cartooning, one that demonstrated the power of the comics medium to make the unreadable into a text the average reader could engage with. While the Constitution is hardly so dense, Sikoryak transforms it by interpreting it within 100 years of American pop culture icons, all dressed in period attire, naturally!

The 13th Amendment is brought to life by Billy Grahams classic 1973 comic book cover for Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, drawn by one of the few Black cartoonists in the Marvel bullpen. The Boondocks explain the Fourth Amendment preventing seizure. Earlier on, Cathy reminds us that money drawn from the treasury must be appropriately accounted for publically. And its pretty satisfying to see the cast of Alison Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For assemble in Section 4, as the Constitution lays out what meetings of Congress look like.

This parody ad from Juice Media might as well be the real thing.

A Florida minor was charged Friday with 30 felonies relating to last months Twitter hack that got top Twitter accounts blurting out a crude bitcoin scam. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against the teen this week for scamming people across America in connection with the Twitter hack that happened on July []

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump last night declared that he would ban the social media site Tik Tok. As far as TikTok is concerned were banning them from the United States, Trump said, calling the action a severance. Trump did not specify whether he will act through an executive order, or another []

If you ever dropped a quarter into a Space Invaders game, youve likely fantasized about having your own arcade cabinet in your house. Of course, you likely thought better of it for several reasons, including the idea that a giant cabinet dedicated to just one game isnt very practical. Polycade understands the urge though very, []

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with banks. Okay, its actually probably more like a tolerate-hate relationship. We understand their role in holding and securing our money so we dont have to stuff it in a mattress somewhere. But we dont trust the bank not to gouge us on fees whenever they can. And []

If youve ever worked on a video project or engineered a podcast and thought youd make your own sound effects howd that go for ya? We assume it was a bigger undertaking than youd probably bargained for. From using stalks of celery to replicate breaking tree limbs to frying bacon to reproduce the sound of []

The rest is here:
R Sikoryaks latest project is a word-for-word adaptation of the U.S. Constitution - Boing Boing

By Niles Niemuth 30 July 2020

Shock and anger quickly spread online Tuesday as video posted on social media showed a group of armed men in street clothes snatching a young protester off the street and trundling her into an unmarked van during a peaceful demonstration against police violence in New York City.

While the men refused to identify themselves at the scene of the kidnapping, the New York Police Department (NYPD) later identified them as members of the police forces plainclothes Warrant Squad.

Outrage over Tuesdays incident was compounded by its similarity to the snatch and grab detentions carried out in recent weeks by federal paramilitary police in Portland, Oregon. In that city, a tactical wing of Customs and Border Protection known as BORTAC, sent in by President Trump to crack down on protests near the federal courthouse, has been seizing protesters, throwing them into unmarked vans and taking them to secret locations where they are subject to questioning for hours on end. The element of terror and intimidation is enhanced by the fact that the victims do not know who has picked them up or where they are being held.

All such actions violate the US Constitutions First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and assembly and its Fourth Amendment ban on arbitrary searches or seizures. They also run counter to the requirement that arrests be based on probable cause.

The NYPD played down the unconstitutional arrest, claiming the Warrant Squad routinely uses unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects. But it is clear that the abduction of 18-year-old Nikki Stone was intended to send a signal to demonstrators, as well as the Trump administration, that the New York police are more than capable of cracking down on protests without direct federal intervention.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy federal forces to Democratic-controlled cities throughout the country, including New York, to suppress demonstrations that have continued since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25. There have been reports of federal police in Detroit and other cities.

Nikki Stone is a homeless youth who has been participating in protests throughout the city. The authorities have justified her chilling arrestwhich bystanders took to be a kidnappingwith allegations of vandalism, including spray painting the lenses of police cameras around City Hall Park. She was released from police custody early Wednesday and charged with several counts of graffiti painting and criminal mischief.

The citys Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, responded to the arrest by upholding the right of non-uniformed, unidentified NYPD officers to grab peaceful protesters off the street, while mildly criticizing the timing of the arrest.

This is not Portland, he said. I want to emphasize what you see on that video are NYPD officers, federal agencies are not involved! I think it was the wrong time and place to effectuate that arrest. I want to affirm very clearly, no one is allowed to damage police property. If you damage property it will lead to consequences.

As with Trumps attempted coup on June 1, the Democratic Party has downplayed the authoritarian and fascistic character of Trumps deployment of paramilitary federal forces, dismissing it is an electoral ploy to raise flagging poll numbers. At the same time they argue that they are capable of suppressing protests in the cities they control with heavily armed local police, bolstered when necessary by National Guard troops under the command of state governors.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, gave a speech Tuesday in which he endorsed the prosecution of anarchists and arsonists and insisted that he would be better equipped to suppress popular anger by coordinating with local police forces. The Democrats have made clear that they are willing to collaborate with the Trump administration in suppressing protests as long as they retain a measure of control.

This isnt about law and order, Biden said of Trumps crackdown, its about a political strategy to revive a failing campaign. Every instinct Trump has is to add fuel to the fire. Thats the last thing, the last thing we need. We need leadership to calm the water and lower the temperature. Thats how we will restore peace in the streets.

On Wednesday, Oregons Democratic governor, Kate Brown, announced via Twitter that an agreement had been reached in negotiations with the White House for the Oregon State Police to take over policing the area around the federal court house.

Federal police, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, are set to begin a phased withdrawal from the city, while other agents from the Department of Homeland Security will remain inside the courthouse. CBP forces deployed last week to Seattle, Washington will also leave that city, following lobbying by Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan and Governor Jay Inslee, also a Democrat.

State and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties that have been under nightly attack for the past two months, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in a statement announcing the agreement. Oregon State Police will coordinate with Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers to ensure all federal facilities remain protected and secure.

Wolf added, President Trump has also made it clear that this Administration is ready and willing to partner with state and local law enforcement to protect every Americanand you see that commitment in Portland with this plan. The Department and this Administration will also continue to fulfill its solemn obligation to uphold federal law across the country.

While the Trump administration appears to have backed off for now on the deployment of federal forces against protesters in Portland and Seattle, the Justice Department is moving forward with an expansion of Operation Legend, an anti-violence initiative involving the deployment of nearly 100 officers from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal police agencies to Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Hundreds of agents have already been welcomed by Democratic mayors in Kansas City, Chicago and Albuquerque, with the assurance that the agents will aid in the arrest of those deemed chronic violent criminals by Attorney General William Barr.

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Stop Trumps coup dtat! Mobilize the working class against authoritarianism and dictatorship! [27 July 2020]

Attorney General Barr aggressively defends violent attacks on protesters in Portland [29 July 2020]

Illinois Democrats embrace Trumps law enforcement surge [25 July 2020]

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Plainclothes NYC police grab protester and throw her into unmarked car - WSWS