Between The Lines

Announcements

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

BTL Blog

"The Rogue World Order: Connecting the Dots Between Trump, Flynn, Bannon, Spencer, Dugin Putin," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Feb. 13, 2017

"Widespread Resistance Begins to Trump's Muslim Travel Ban at U.S. Airports," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Jan. 28, 2017

"MSNBC Editor: Women's March is a Revival of the Progressive Movement," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Jan. 24, 2017

"Cornering Trump," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 19, 2017

"Free Leonard Peltier," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 6, 2016

"For Natives, a "Day of Mourning"by Reginald Johnson, November 23, 2016

"A Bitter Harvest" by Reginald Johnson, Nov. 15, 2016

Special Programming

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Progressive Resources

A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view

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Advocates Challenge Life Without Parole Sentences for Youth Convicted of Capital Crimes

Real Audio MP3

Interview with Ashley Nellis, research analyst with the Sentencing Project, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

juvenilelife

Advocates for those incarcerated for life without parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles have taken heart from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in May. The justices ruled that a sentence of life without parole for minors convicted of crimes other than murder is unconstitutional. At the time,130 persons were serving such a sentence, more than half of them in Florida.

Now lawyers are pushing to see if various extenuating circumstances surrounding their own juvenile clients' convictions for murder might also be addressed. According to a report by the Equal Justice Initiative, many youths who receive sentences of life without parole don't have the ability to pay for a private attorney. Most of them come from low-income families, and some come from intense poverty. Many of them are raised in abusive homes and are more vulnerable to getting swept up into violence.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Ashley Nellis, a research analyst with the Sentencing Project. She talks about the kinds of crimes that can lead to life without parole and hopes that the Supreme Court will address the issue head on.

ASHLEY NELLIS: The Supreme Courts case that was decided in May of this year, called Graham v. Florida, determined that people were under the age of 18 at the time of their offense, who did not commit a homicide cannot be given a sentence of life without parole. And that applies tp about 130 people around the country, 77 of whom are serving their time in Florida, so it's very disproportionately applied in that state.

BETWEEN THE LINES: How could they be serving life without parole -- what you call J-WOP -- if they weren't convicted of a murder? What were they convicted of?.

ASHLEY NELLIS: It depends on the state, but many states you can only get J-WOP if you have a homicide and that's why 2,000 people are serving the sentence for homicide, but in some states you can get it for arson or kidnapping, sexual assault, armed burglary -- which is what Mr. Graham had -- armed robbery and other offenses that aren't coming to mind right now. There are lots of non-homicide offenses that, depending on state law, could have given somebody juvenile life without parole. And in some states, like Florida, it's a mandatory juvenile life without parole for many of those crimes, so that's why they have so many serving that sentence in Florida.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, since the Supreme Court decision in May, what have been some of the developments?

ASHLEY NELLIS: There's certainly been a lot of discussions and strategies over how best to interpret the new decision. From what I understand there are a number of cases where folks are wondering if their case applies under Graham because they were not the trigger man -- not the person that actually did the killing -- or they did not intend for somebody to die during their crime, for instance in the case of a burglary, perhaps somebody was home but they didn't expect them to be, and in a moment of bad judgment they killed them. So, there's a lot of interest among advocates and people who are serving as attorneys for these folks who are trying to see if the Graham opinion can extend to other people serving juvenile life without parole as well.

BETWEEN THE LINES: When you say "a moment of bad judgment" and somebody dies, I can hear a lot of people saying, well they deserve it then. But I think it's important to make a distinction between juveniles who are convicted of these crimes, and adults. That's part of the argument, right?

ASHLEY NELLIS: Yeah, that was a major part of the argument in the Graham case, and also in the Roper v Simmons case, which was in 2005, which ruled it was unconstitutional for juveniles to get the death penalty. Both of them are basically founded on the notion that juveniles are different from adults in very important ways. Most importantly, they have an underdeveloped brain, they have a lack of maturity, they have an inability to appreciate the consequences of their actions. Anyone with a teenager knows that the decisions you make as a teenager are far different than the decisions you make when you're older. And also, young people are more susceptible to peer pressure, especially negative peer pressure. And so we know that juvenile crime tends to happen in groups much more than it does for older individuals and kids can get swept up in bad ideas more easily when they're young.

BETWEEN THE LINES: You said there are 2,000 people serving life without parole for homicides committed when they were juveniles? And the number serving life without parole for non-homicides is much smaller.

ASHLEY NELLIS: Yeah, the vast majority of people serving J-WOP in the U.S. are there for a homicide, about 2,000. So it's a tiny fraction of the total number sentenced for J-WOP, which is very important when you put it in the context that no other country in the world uses this practice. So the fact that we have 2,300 -- 2,500 maybe -- the great majority of whom are there for homicide, really sets the U.S. far apart from other nations.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is there another case that might be headed to the Supreme Court that would deal with this issue?

ASHLEY NELLIS: I don't know...I mean, certainly in an ideal world the Supreme Court will pick up a case that deals with life sentence for homicides, but the Court was not asked to answer that question in this case, so that's an important fact about this. The Court has not said that it's okay for juveniles to get life without parole for homicides, because they weren't asked that in the Graham case. And we hope that an appropriate case will move its way up the Court and end up at the Supreme Court so they can answer that question, and we're optimistic that they would answer it in the way they did in Roper, which is that children are different -- no matter what their crime, they're still different.

Contact the Sentencing Project by calling their Washington, D.C. office at (202) 628-0871 or visit their website at www.sentencingproject.org