Panel discusses ongoing impact of fines and fees on marginalized Alabamians

By Ralph Chapoco

Criminal justice reform advocates discussed  the impact of fines and fees on marginalized Alabamians, as well as possible solutions, at a panel discussion this month.

Alabama lawmakers in recent years have enacted dozens of fines and fees, many through local bills, that increase the cost of going through the criminal justice system or in getting a license plate for a motor vehicle. While some fees go to victim restitution, others are levied to pay for basic operations of the court system. Most fall disproportionately on those least able to pay.

Biden Commutes 37 Death Penalty Sentences — Critics Call for More

By Chris Walker, Truthout

President Joe Biden has granted commutations to most of the people currently facing a federal death penalty sentence, granting the largest number of single-day death row clemencies in U.S. history. 

“This historic clemency action builds on the President’s record of criminal justice reform,” a fact sheet from the White House read, adding that Biden “has issued more commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms.”

'No Contract, No Coffee': Starbucks Workers Launch Five Days of Strikes

By Jake Johnson

Starbucks Workers United accused the company of "backtracking on our promised path forward" and failing to present a "serious economic proposal" to unionized baristas.

Starbucks workers launched five days of escalating strikes across the United States on Friday, accusing the coffee giant of reneging on its commitment to engage in productive bargaining talks with the union that now represents more than 11,000 baristas at over 500 stores nationwide.

The walkouts will start in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle on Friday before expanding "coast to coast" amid the holiday rush, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) said in a statement announcing the strikes.

Workers launch largest strike against Amazon in US history

By Natalia Marques

Amazon workers across the country hit the picket line in an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike to demand union recognition and contract negotiations

Before the sun rose at 6 am on Thursday, December 19, thousands of Amazon workers in facilities across the United States launched the largest strike against the multi-billion dollar corporation in US history. Workers, organized with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are continuing to hold down the picket line well into the afternoon (at the time of publication), in some cases braving arrests and police repression of their labor activity.  

Report: Florida imposed seven new death sentences in 2024, most in the nation

By Christine Sexton

An annual report put together by a national group that tracks the death penalty says Florida led the nation this year in imposing death sentences, a situation that appears to be linked to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ successful push to eliminate the requirement of a unanimous jury recommendation.

The Death Penalty Information Center, a group that says it has no position on the death penalty but is critical of how it carried out, reported that 26 people were sentenced to death in the United States in 2024. 

Ten states sentenced people to death this year but just four — Alabama, California, Florida, and Texas — accounted for the majority. Florida led with seven death sentences, followed by six in Texas, four in Alabama, and three in California.

About one-third of the 26 new death sentences were imposed without a unanimous recommendation from a jury, including six in Florida and three in Alabama.

Syria Is Free, Say Media—But That Shouldn’t Mean Free of US Occupation

 By Gregory Shupak 

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  Since the overthrow of the Syrian government, corporate media analysts have offered advice as to how the US should approach Syria going forward. These observers consistently opted not to call on the US and Israel to end their occupations of and violence toward Syria.

The Washington Post (12/8/24) calls for “engaged diplomacy” from the incoming Trump administration to “help write a brighter next chapter for this strategically located, and long-suffering, country.”

A Washington Post editorial (12/8/24), headlined “Why the US Needs to Help Build a New Syria,” said:

Syria might seem far removed from US interests. Before Mr. Assad’s fall, President-elect Donald Trump posted: “DO NOT GET INVOLVED!” But America is involved. Some 900 US troops and an undisclosed number of military contractors are operating in northeastern Syria near Iraq, battling the Islamic State and backing Kurdish forces fighting the Assad regime.

Teamsters Union Launches 'Largest Strike Against Amazon in US History'

 By Jake Johnson and Eloise Goldsmith

"We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win," said one Amazon warehouse worker.

The Teamsters launched what the union described as "the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history" on Thursday morning to protest the e-commerce behemoth's unlawful refusal to bargain with organized drivers and warehouse workers across the country.

Workers in New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco, and other locations are expected to participate in Thursday's strike, with more facilities prepared to join if Amazon's management doesn't agree to negotiate contracts with unionized employees.

The union said Wednesday that Teamsters locals are also "putting up primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide."

Ohio Senate bill would automatically close low-performing public schools

 By Megan Henry

A Republican bill in the state Senate would automatically shut down low-performing Ohio public schools. 

State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, introduced Senate Bill 295 over the summer, which would revise the state’s automatic school closure language. The bill has a fourth hearing scheduled Tuesday in the Senate Education Committee. 

Democrats' Working-Class Failures, Analysis Finds, Are 'Why Trump Beat Harris'

 By Jessica Corbett

"By branding itself as an active party of economic populism that fights for needed changes for the working class, the Democratic Party can put itself in a position to regain the support of the voters it lost in 2024."

Further bolstering the post-election argument that U.S. working-class voters have ditched the Democratic Party because they feel abandoned by Democrats, a Tuesday analysis details why Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

The report by Data for Progress, a left-leaning think tank, uses dozens of national surveys of likely voters conducted throughout 2024 to back up assertions that the party needs to improve its messaging and policies targeting working people if Democrats want to win future U.S. elections, after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress last month.

California’s jail population will rise thanks to Prop. 36. So will inmate deaths, advocates say

By Nigel Duara

In summary

California recorded historically high numbers of deaths in county jails for the past six years. Now, counties expect to house more prisoners as Prop. 36 takes effect.

According to Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, California doesn’t have a crisis in its jails, where record numbers of people have died even as the state’s jail population shrank. 

“Saying people died in jails is a little bit of a misnomer,” said Barnes, who is also the president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association. “People who are dying in our care, and I can’t say this any other way, they’re not dying because they’re in jail. They are dying from things that are life choices, narcotics issues, poor health, cancer, other things.