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oakland
US Court Hears Case Alleging Biden Complicit in Israel's Genocide in Gaza
"We are watching a genocide unfold in Gaza in real time and, despite the government's view that a U.S. court can do nothing about it, CCR and our clients argue that it certainly can and it absolutely must!" said one advocate.
Jan 26, 2024
Calling for an emergency injunction to stop the Biden administration from aiding Israel in its bombardment of Gaza, which has so far killed more than 26,000 people and pushed roughly 2 million more to the point of starvation, human rights organizations and Palestinians in the U.S. on Friday took federal leaders to court to stop U.S. "complicity in the Israeli government's unfolding genocide."
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland held a hearing on the case, in which the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is representing groups including Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) and Al-Haq in suing President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The groups, joined by individual plaintiffs whose families in Gaza have been subjected to Israel's assault and decades of occupation, argue that the U.S. is violating domestic and international law and breaching the Genocide Convention, of which it is a a signatory.
The hearing was held hours after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released its initial ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. The ICJ found that Israel must "take all measures within its power" to prevent genocide.
Laila El-Haddad, one of the plaintiffs in the U.S. case, said the group entered the courtroom "proud and hopeful" on the heels of the ICJ ruling.
The CCR reported that the court's livestream was at capacity during the hearing, while outside the courtroom, supporters painted, "Biden complicit in genocide," and, "No bombs to Israel" on the street.
"A recording of the hearing will be made available by the court in due course," said CCR.
Dena Takruri of AJ+reported that in the "unprecedented" hearing, a doctor testifying remotely from Rafah, Gaza told the court that "cases of childbirth in the streets are widespread at this time."
Along with relentless air and ground attacks by Israeli forces, Gazans have for nearly four months faced a near-total blockade on Gaza, with aid deliveries severely curtailed by Israel. Roughly 90% of Gaza residents are now frequently going without any meals for at least a full day.
South Africa's case at the ICJ outlined numerous statements of genocidal intent by top Israeli officials.
Despite the mounting evidence of ethnic cleansing, the Biden administration has called South Africa's accusations "meritless" and has continued to arm Israel without congressional approval.
"Our community mobilized to put Biden in power after [former President Donald Trump," Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Sacramento Valley and another Palestinian American plaintiff, testified at the hearing. "It hurts. It hurts deeply."
The plaintiffs planned to hold a post-hearing press conference.
"The takeaway from today's court hearing," said CCR executive director Vince Warren, "is that we are watching a genocide unfold in Gaza in real time and, despite the government's view that a U.S. court can do nothing about it, CCR and our clients argue that it certainly can and it absolutely must!"
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Barbara Lee Officially Announces Senate Run, Vowing to 'Stand on the Side of Justice'
"We have to ease the burden on the middle class. We have to find a solution to poverty and homelessness. We have to take on the climate crisis. And we have to stop these MAGA extremists who think they can control people's bodies and dismantle our democracy."
Feb 21, 2023
Declaring that "Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change," Democratic California Congresswoman Barbara Lee on Tuesday officially announced her entry into the race for Dianne Feinstein's U.S. Senate seat, a contest that's expected to be one of the most closely watched—and expensive—of 2024.
"For those who say my time has passed, well, when does making change go out of style?" the 76-year-old former Black Panther said in a three-minute video announcing her run. "I don't quit. I don't give up. Come on. That's not in my DNA."
Lee said she "didn't quit" when, despite "countless death threats," she was the only member of Congress—the vote was 518-1—to vote against giving then-President George W. Bush "completely unlimited war powers" after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
\u201cToday I am proud to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I\u2019ve never backed down from doing what\u2019s right. And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change.\n#BarbaraLeeSpeaksForMe\u201d— Barbara Lee (@Barbara Lee) 1676990601
Lee—who was first elected to represent the heavily Democratic congressional district containing cities including Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda in 1998—recounted some of her life's challenges and achievements.
"I was the girl they didn't allow in, who couldn't drink from the water fountain, who had an abortion in a back alley when they all were illegal," the Texas native said.
"I escaped a violent marriage, became a single mom, a homeless mom, a mom who couldn't afford childcare, and brought her kids to class with her," she added.
"When there weren't protections for survivors of domestic violence, I wrote California's first Violence Against Women Act," the former California state legislator said.
"When it was legal to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, I wrote the Hate Crimes Reduction Act and got a Republican governor to sign it into law," the co-founder of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus added. "When no one wanted to talk about global AIDS funding, I got President George W. Bush to make it a priority."
Lee also chaired both the Congressional Black and Progressive caucuses.
"We have to ease the burden on the middle class. We have to find a solution to poverty and homelessness," Lee asserted in the video. "We have to take on the climate crisis. And we have to stop these MAGA extremists who think they can control people's bodies and dismantle our democracy."
Noting that "there are no African-American women in the United States Senate," Lee vowed that "we won't let that stop us either."
"Because when you stand on the side of justice, you don't quit if they don't give you a seat at the table," she said.
Lee's announcement had been expected for weeks. She joins Democratic House colleagues Katie Porter and Adam Schiff in vying for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Feinstein (D-Calif.), who at 89 is the oldest sitting senator and who recently said she will not seek another term in office.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Lee brushed off concerns about replacing an octogenarian senator with a septuagenarian.
" Bernie Sanders is older than myself, and he won California," Lee said of the Independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for president. "It's about speaking to the voters. If Bernie Sanders can win a primary in California, then Barbara Lee certainly can win to be the next United States senator. Come on."
\u201cOn age, Lee points to Sanders' 2020 primary victory.\n\n"If Bernie Sanders can win a primary in California, then Barbara Lee certainly can win to be the next United States senator. Come on.\u201d\n\nShe also says she's not pledging to serve just one term.\n\nhttps://t.co/94u13JQYUr\u201d— bryan metzger (@bryan metzger) 1676993144
Because Porter and Schiff enjoy a tremendous fundraising advantage over a candidate who has not faced a competitive race in a quarter century, Lee will rely upon a super PAC, She Speaks for Me, that can accept unlimited campaign contributions—even though such organizations are anathema to many progressives.
"The idea is to help level the playing field for someone who hasn't had to raise huge amounts in the past for her races locally and doesn't have the war chest that her opponents have," adviser Brian Brokaw told the Los Angeles Times.
Lee is expected to draw the endorsement of prominent progressive politicians and groups. Meanwhile, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is supporting Schiff, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is backing Porter.
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Climate Campaigners Welcome SCOTUS Refusal to Hear Big Oil's Appeal of California Lawsuits
The justices' punting of Chevron v. Oakland means cities' historic litigation will proceed in lower courts.
Jun 14, 2021
Climate campaigners on Monday welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal by oil and gas companies including BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil seeking to shift a lawsuit from state to federal court, a move that means litigation filed by states and cities against fossil fuel corporations will continue to play out in lower courts.
"Appeals courts have overwhelmingly agreed that climate liability lawsuits filed in state courts belong in state courts." --Richard Wiles, Center for Climate Integrity
The decision represents "a blow to Big Oil's efforts to escape accountability," tweeted the Center for Climate Integrity.
The justices denied a writ of certiorari in Chevron v. Oakland, the oil giant's response to landmark lawsuits by numerous California counties and cities alleging fossil fuel companies including Chevron, Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Shell are responsible for subjecting their residents to adverse effects of climate change, including sea-level rise, flooding, wildfires, heatwaves, and extreme weather events.
"Big Oil and Gas companies keep trying to evade responsibility for their role in the climate crisis so they can stick taxpayers with the bill for the massive damages their products cause," Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement welcoming the decision. "Appeals courts have overwhelmingly agreed that climate liability lawsuits filed in state courts belong in state courts."
Furthermore, the plaintiffs accused fossil fuel corporations of waging a decades-long campaign of denial and deception about the harms some of them knew for decades that their products caused.
The oil companies wanted the case moved from state to federal court where, according to Bloomberg Law, they tend to secure more favorable outcomes.
\u201c#SCOTUS won\u2019t hear environmental case No 20-1089 Chevron v. Oakland alleging global climate change is \u201cpublic nuisance.\u201d The issue for the Justices was a procedural one re: removal of case from state to federal court and plaintiffs\u2019 ability to appeal that removal.\u201d— Kimberly Robinson (@Kimberly Robinson) 1623677518
The Bay Area cities of Oakland and San Francisco in 2017 were the first U.S. municipalities to sue Big Oil seeking to hold fossil fuel polluters accountable for driving the climate emergency. Since then, at least 26 state and local governments have filed similar lawsuits against fossil fuel corporations, according to the Center for Climate Integrity, which filed amicus briefs in some of the cases.
In May 2020, a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in two separate rulings overturned a federal district court's ruling dismissing the Oakland and San Francisco lawsuits, sending the cases back to lower courts for further consideration. The panel also ruled that day that climate damage lawsuits filed by half a dozen other California counties and cities should continue in state courts.
"The Supreme Court did the right thing by letting the Ninth Circuit's ruling stand," Wiles said. "Oakland, San Francisco, and the more than 20 other states and communities seeking to hold Big Oil accountable deserve their day in court."
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