Saturday, June 6, 2020
'Deeply Disturbing': New York Supreme Court Judge Rules Protesters Can Be Detained Indefinitely
"This is suspension of habeas corpus, it is unconstitutional," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/05/deeply-disturbing-new-york-supreme-court-judge-rules-protesters-can-be-detained
A New York State Supreme Court judge on Thursday rejected a petition seeking the immediate release of hundreds of protesters who had been held by the New York Police Department for more than 24 hours, ruling that extraordinary circumstances justify indefinite detention.
"It is a crisis within a crisis," wrote Justice James Burke in his ruling. "All writs are denied."
Burke's decision was met with alarm by New York lawmakers and activists who immediately condemned the ruling as an unlawful suspension of the right of habeas corpus, which requires the government to justify detention of a person before a court. Hundreds of New Yorkers have been arrested in recent days during mass protests over the May 25 killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
The Legal Aid Society (LAS), a non-profit organization that sued (pdf) the NYPD on Tuesday over the prolonged detention of protesters, accused the department of violating New York's "24 hour arrest-to-arraignment requirement.""Civil liberties protect ourselves from governments using 'crises' and 'emergencies' as justification to dismantle our rights," tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). "This is suspension of habeas corpus, it is unconstitutional, and it is deeply disturbing that both NYPD is seeking it and a judge rubber stamped it."
But Burke ultimately agreed with the NYPD's claim that arraignment delays are justified "because we are in a crisis caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic which prevents live arraignments, which in turn causes virtual arraignments."
Marlen Bodden, senior staff attorney with LAS, rejected that argument during a court hearing Thursday.
"The NYPD has no excuses with its 38,000 police officers and the best technology in the world, with all the money they are being given," said Bodden. "They have no excuse to not process them in a timely manner."
In a tweet late Thursday, LAS said it "strongly" disagrees with Burke's ruling.
"As of 6 pm tonight, 160 NYers citywide remain in custody 24+ hours after their arrest, which is some progress, but 160 NYers too many," the group said. "We'll continue to monitor this situation and we are ready to appeal if necessary."
As CO2 Levels Build Up Like 'Trash in a Landfill,' Earth Has Hottest May on Record
"This is unquestionably an alarming sign."
by
Andrea Germanos, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/05/co2-levels-build-trash-landfill-earth-has-hottest-may-record
The Earth just experienced its hottest May on record, scientists said Friday—just a day after it was announced that atmospheric CO2 levels hit a new high.
Scientists at Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced the temperature record Friday. The agency said that globally, last month 0.63°C warmer than the 1981-2020 average for May. That tops the previous warmest May, which occurred in 2016, by 0.05°C.
The last 12-month period, C3S added, was nearly 0.7°C warmer than average.
"The last month has been the warmest May on record globally and this is unquestionably an alarming sign," Freja Vamborg, a scientist at C3S, told CNBC.
The agency added in its new findings:
Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over parts of Siberia, where they were up to 10°C above average. They were also much above average over western Alaska, along the Andes bordering Chile and Argentina, and over regions in West and East Antarctica. It was also much warmer than average over western North America, the far north and south of South America, north-western, central and south-western Africa, and south-eastern Asia.
The "highly anomalous" temperatures in parts of Siberia follow a warmer than ever April for the Arctic and evidence of the emergence of so-called "zombie fires"—reignited fires from last year's Arctic wildfires that continued to survive by smoldering underground.
The new data from European scientists follows NOAA's Thursday announcement that atmospheric CO2 levels also hit new highs last month.
The levels recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory show a seasonal peak of 417.1 parts per million in May, the highest monthly reading ever recorded.
Record high daily averages hit last month had already sparked urgent calls for bold climate action.
The trend of the planet-heating gas in the atmosphere is unmistakable.
"Progress in emissions reductions is not visible in the CO2 record," Pieter Tans, senior scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory, said in a statement. "We continue to commit our planet—for centuries or longer—to more global heating, sea level rise, and extreme weather events every year."
The record atmospheric CO2 levels come as the global coronavirus pandemic has triggered global economic shutdowns, but the resulting emissions drops and pollution declines were not enough to budge CO2 levels.
Geochemist Ralph Keeling, who runs the Scripps Oceanography program at Mauna Loa, explained why, likening global emissions to "trash in a landfill."
"People may be surprised to hear that the response to the coronavirus outbreak hasn't done more to influence CO2 levels," he said. "But the buildup of CO2 is a bit like trash in a landfill. As we keep emitting, it keeps piling up."
"The crisis has slowed emissions, but not enough to show up perceptibly at Mauna Loa," Keeling continued. "What will matter much more is the trajectory we take coming out of this situation."
The new data comes as global policy makers mark World Environment Day, a moment United Nations Secretary-Gneral António Guterres took to say, "To care for humanity, we MUST care for nature."
"Climate disruption is getting worse," Guterres said in his message, urging all parties to "commit to a green and resilient future."
Coronavirus Pandemic Triggered 'One of the Greatest Wealth Transfers in History'
Jim Cramer: Coronavirus Pandemic Triggered 'One of the Greatest Wealth Transfers in History'
Small businesses are "dropping like flies," said the "Mad Money" host.
by
Andrea Germanos, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/05/jim-cramer-coronavirus-pandemic-triggered-one-greatest-wealth-transfers-history
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday that that coronavirus pandemic has triggered "one of the greatest wealth transfers in history."
The remark from the network's "Mad Money" host came amid "ominous" economic data but a rebounding stock market.
"How can the market rebound without the economy? Because the market doesn't represent the economy; it represents the future of big business," said Cramer. "The bigger the business, the more it moves the major averages."
"And that matters," he continued, 'because this is the first recession where big business—along of course with bigger wealth, but that's not really by show—is coming through virtually unscathed, if not going for the gold."
In contrast, small businesses are "dropping like flies," Cramer said, attributing those failures to the fact that smaller businesses are struggling to pay rent as "major landlords" don't appear to be offering relief.
"That's the thing about this pandemic," Cramer continued, "it's been one of the greatest wealth transfers in history."
Cramer projected that transfer to have a "horrible effect" on the country.
Further, the CNBC host said, "we've barely begun to see the impacts" of the pandemic's economic fallout. Cramer pointed to the latest corporate bankruptcy figures he said would "chill both Republicans and Democrats."
The new comments came a day before federal data showed the nation facing a 13.3 percent unemployment rate, and as a new analysis showed the fortunes of U.S. billionaires increased by $565 billion between March 18 and June 4. That 11-week period also saw 42.6 million Americans filing jobless claims.
Economists Warn of Disastrous Consequences as GOP Cites One Positive Jobs Report to Say "We Don't Need" More Relief
"This is exactly backwards, like stopping an antibiotic prematurely because you start to feel better."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/05/economists-warn-disastrous-consequences-gop-cites-one-positive-jobs-report-say-we
Republicans in Congress and a prominent adviser to President Donald Trump wasted no time seizing upon the relatively positive May jobs report released Friday to throw cold water on the possibility of another federal coronavirus relief package—despite the fact that unemployment is still at historic highs and millions remain on the brink of financial ruin.
Stephen Moore, a right-wing economist and White House adviser, told NBC that "we certainly don't need any new spending" after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the official U.S. unemployment rate fell to 13.3% in May, down from 14.7% the previous month.
Moore's argument against additional federal relief and in favor of letting boosted unemployment benefits expire on July 31 was echoed by Republicans in Congress—even as economists warned that failing to provide additional relief for the unemployed, frontline workers, and state and local governments could send the economy into another catastrophic tailspin."We don't need another spending bill for sure... We are in the recovery stage and we're no longer in the contraction stage," Moore said. "The most important thing now is to get rid of the extra unemployment benefits."
A spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that the new jobs report "underscores why Congress should take a thoughtful approach and not rush to pass expensive legislation paid for with more debt before gaining a better understanding of the economic condition of the country."
An unnamed Republican Senate aide told the Washington Post's Jeff Stein that the jobs report "definitively kills any chance of trillions of new spending." Another anonymous GOP official told the New York Times, "Goodbye phase 4."
But economists said the comparatively positive jobs report—which David Dayen of The American Prospect dubbed "the worst best economic news in history"—is a reason to continue spending and provide more relief to the vulnerable, not to cut off aid.
"This is exactly backwards, like stopping an antibiotic prematurely because you start to feel better," former Treasury Department economist Ernie Tedeschi tweeted in response to Moore. "This is the first jobs report to reflect our fiscal response at full capacity. If we let support expire too soon, we could have a double-dip downturn."
Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, issued a similar warning in a statement on Friday.
"While these are welcome gains (as long as the health consequences aren’t offsetting), jobs losses since February still total 19.6 million, and are currently 13% below its February level," said Gould. "It is imperative that policymakers do not take this as a sign that it's time to stop providing necessary relief to workers, their families, and state and local governments. The economic pain will be long-standing without additional aid."
In a blog post Friday, Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote that an improvement from the unemployment rate in April "really should not have been surprising, since we should have expected more people to be working when it was legal to work than when it was not, due to the shutdown."
"However," Baker added, "we are still looking at unemployment that is far worse than the Great Recession and the recovery will be seriously impaired by more layoffs in the state and local government sectors unless there is a large rescue package."
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