NSA Injustice --Rubin Waranch

NSA SCANDAL 

           In the early weeks of June 2013, Edward Snowden, an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to notable newspapers including The Washington Post and The Guardian. Subsequently, Snowden fled the country. The information he released to the newspaper demonstrated that the United States government was collecting bulk phone and email data from United States citizens via large companies including but not limited to Verizon, Google, and Facebook (Meyer, 2013). This news angered millions of Americans for various reasons. Some Americans believed Snowden was a traitor that revealed American secrets. Others believed Snowden was a hero that rightfully identified a United States wrongdoing. Instantly this became a large-scale debate and a clear injustice. Though an argument exists that Snowden committed the injustice, I insist the United States government is largely at fault and should provide a remedy to both Snowden and the people of the United States.

            Granted the United States’ Constitution does not grant citizens with the explicit right to privacy, the evolution of statues and court cases have created an implicit right to privacy. Whether it is freedom from unreasonable searches/seizures or a case like Griswold v. Connecticut, privacy rights have increasingly gained importance in United States history. Snowden’s actions helped reveal the process and statues, which granted the NSA the ability to obtain unlimited data from U.S. citizens. Due to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the FBI and NSA were able to collect virtually unlimited and unconstrained information ranging from call duration, calling card numbers and incoming/terminating numbers (Greenwald, 2013).  On top of that, the manner in which the NSA obtained authority to access information was extremely secretive. Secrets are undoubtedly a part of the U.S. government but as these secrets intrude on our believed rights, like privacy, it becomes unacceptable to the American people.

            As Julian Sanchez, a surveillance expert explained, “We've certainly seen the government increasingly strain the bounds of 'relevance' to collect large numbers of records at once (Greenwald, 2013).” Going behind the American people’s backs and simultaneously invading people’s privacy is unacceptable by the United States government. This becomes a huge justice issue for the American people as the NSA, White House, and Department of Justice all declined to comment (Greenwald, 2013). The United States government clearly violated people’s rights and their refusal to admit wrongdoing to the United States citizens is a clear injustice.

            Another injustice done is to Edward Snowden himself. Even though Snowden is a whistleblower, he revealed an injustice of the United States that could have gone undetected for years. He educated the American people about the wrong doings of our country. In no way, shape or form did he endanger the safety of the United States or aid our enemies. For just over a half of year, Snowden has been hiding out in China and Russia seeking a safe haven and ways to continue his life. Leaving the United States was his only option to continuing his life in freedom. If Snowden did not act on the violations he saw, who would?

            Snowden risked his career, family, and life for the sake of the American people. The actions of the NSA were arguably a threat to the United States system of government. Rather than treat Snowden as a criminal, the United States should bring Snowden in, correct the wrongdoings, and if feasible allow Snowden a new life in the United States. Whether it is our classmates, co-workers, or acquaintances, it is important to educate those around us about what the NSA and U.S. government has done. As Snowden said, “I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in. (Greenwald, 2013)." 

Works Cited

Greenwald, Glenn (2013). Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA             surveillance revelations. The Guardian. Retrieved from       http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-  whistleblower-surveillance

Greenwald, Glenn (2013). NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon     customers daily. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com   /world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order

Meyer, David (2013). These are the companies alleged to have links to the NSA surveillance scandal. Gigaom. Retrieved from https://gigaom.com/2013/08/            30/     these-are-the-companies-alleged-to-have-links-to-the-nsa-surveillance-         scandal

Using Immigration Law Against War Criminals

According to Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times, "officials have identified about 300 immigrants who they believe concealed their involvement in wartime atrocities when they came to the United States as part of a wave of Bosnian war refugees fleeing the violence there. With more records from Bosnia becoming available, the officials said the number of suspects could eventually top 600."  See the article here.

Conservatives and Liberals Unite to Reform Justice System

See this New York Times article about the growing bipartisan movement to reform the US justice system.

The Boston Marathon Bombing Trial and the Process of Justice

The trial of the suspected bomber of the Boston Marathon, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, began this week.  Rebekah Gregory a survivor of the bombing was one of the first to testify.  After doing so, she published an open letter to Mr. Tsarnaev stating, "Today I looked at you right in the face and realized I wasn’t afraid anymore. And today I realized that sitting across from you was somehow the crazy kind of step forward that I needed all along."  Testifying in court is an essential element of the process of justice.  See this Washington Post article for more.

Night Stalker Trial

Yusuf Sahibzada

POLI 337

Dr. Davis

February 2, 2015

                                                         The Night Stalker

            Justice in the court system is not just about righting a wrong that was made or returning stolen property. The true meaning of justice goes deeper on a personal level, to where the individual being wronged can be relieved and compensated for what was done to him or her. In the case involving Richard Ramirez, also dubbed “Night Stalker”, injustice prevailed and trumped the justice system in the US. Ramirez was a serial killer, rapist, and burglar in the Los Angeles area and terrorized people from 1984 to 1985 (“Richard Ramirez”). Ramirez used a variety of weapons from handguns to hammers to torture his victims and commit the horrendous acts of injustice (“Richard Ramirez”).

The reason that this case is a clear representation of an injustice is because of what happened while Richard Ramirez was in prison. Ramirez was sentenced to death row, but while awaiting his execution he actually died from B-cell lymphoma, before he could be executed. Naturally this caused an uproar for the families that were scarred by Ramirez and his past criminal activity. Not being able to see the one that violated your family executed can leave anger and vengeance in one’s heart and frustration in the criminal court systems failure to process fast enough. The families that were left shattered from Richard Ramirez have all the right to feel like an injustice was done because firstly the court system let Ramirez live in the comfort of a prison cell on the family’s tax paying money, eating and sleeping care free (“Letters…”). Furthermore, not being able to see the condemned man brought to justice leads a feeling of frustration and anger in the effected families with both Ramirez and the court system. This only adds more anguish and heartache for the families who survived the atrocities committed on their loved ones by Ramirez.

Specific actions that can be taken to avoid this kind of injustice from occurring again is to pay extra attention to medical conditions of condemned prisoners in the prison system. Another innovation to prevent this type of happening is to speed up the process for an execution of a death row inmate in the prison system. If these two simple yet crucial steps were considered then cases like, “Night Stalker”, would never be repeated again.  Justice can never be truly served for the effected family because of the prison system’s blunder however, a remedy for the family members could be some form of compensation that they receive. To add to this, it’s possible for the media to publicize this case on the news so that it can set a precedent for future offenses and make sure it does not occur again.

Classmates can help encourage justice to be brought forth by supporting the families that were harmed during Ramirez’s reign of terror, through fund raising to help with funeral cost, and general compensation. Classmates can also make their voices heard and help spread the word to quicken execution of prisoners that have committed serious crimes so that justice can be served and the families can have closure. With all this put into perspective, it is sad to say that the only way to truly remedy this unfortunate situation is to change how the criminal system works and how an inmate on death row can be prosecuted.

Bibliography

"Letters: Ramirez's Non-execution an Injustice." Los Angeles Times. 11 June 2013. Web. 8 Feb. 2015. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/11/opinion/la-le-0611-tuesday-night-stalker-20130611

  "Richard Ramirez." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.

Injustice: The Case of Darryl Burton

    In 1984 a man named Donald "Moe" Ball was gunned down as he gassed up his car at a gas station in St. Louis.  The late 1970's and early 1980's was a time were crime was rampant within the city of St. Louis because of an ongoing economic depression.  Drug use and sales within the city rose and lead to a high murder rate within the city.  The financial strife as well as the high crime rate forced many people to leave the city and lowered the population by 30%.  A month after Ball was killed at the gas station a 22 year old whom was on probation at the time named Darryl Burton was taken into custody and charged with the Murder based on two eye witnesses whom identified him as the shooter even though all of the other witnesses described the man who shot Ball as a five foot five inch tall light skinned African American male.  Burton was actually five feet ten inches tall and had a rather dark skin complexion.
    Burton pleaded not guilty and took his case to trial where it took the jury less than an hour to deliberate and find Burton guilty of capital murder.  The judge then sentenced him to a life sentence for the murder of Donald Ball.  Butler experienced many injustices throughout the investigation and trial, because he had ineffective counsel and was identified untruthfully as the shooter by the two primary witnesses of the prosecution.  The key witness Claudex Simmons was a career criminal whom often gave up key information in other cases for guarantees of lenient sentences by the prosecution.  He had been interviewed by police at the beginning of the investigation and said he did not know anything, but his memory of the incident suddenly improved when he was arrested and faced a 15 year sentence for robbery.  Burton's attorney also did not mention the man who had shot Donald Ball in the same neighborhood a year earlier as part of an ongoing feud for drug territory.
    After his first few years in Prison Burton received a signed affidavit by Simmons stating that he had lied in order to convict Burton of murder in exchange for a lighter sentence in his unrelated case.  Burton began writing to lawmakers and organizations that help inmates who have been falsely incarcerated   and finally an agency called centurion industries agreed to take his case and fight for his innocence.  Investigators later found out that Eddie Walker, the other witness had not actually seen the shooting but only heard the gunshots.  They also found out from a cellmate of Jesse Watson, who shot Ball in the same area a year earlier that Watson had in fact killed Ball over their ongoing territory dispute.  Even though they knew this it was still tough to prove because Watson was killed in 1986.  Even with this new evidence the Supreme court refused to review his case in 2003.
     That same year the Supreme Court of Missouri said that they would reopen cases in which there was new evidence to rove innocence.  After his case was reviewed Burton was released after serving 24 years in prison for a crime he do not commit.  although he is free Burton still faces injustice in the fact that the state of Missouri refuses to compensate him for his time spent in prison, because he was not exonerated by DNA evidence.  This is an injustice, because he deserves to be compensated for having to spend the majority of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit and the fact that he is having trouble adjusting to life outside of prison.  He also deserves compensation because his daughter grew up without a father and there is no way to make up for missing the childhood of any of ones children, especially when serving time while innocent.  In order to prevent cases like these from happening in the future we should require more of defense attorneys and demand more in terms of evidence to make arrests in the first place and to find a person guilty of a crime.  We should also compensate all people whom are arrested wrongfully and have those involved in the arrest and trial process to admit that they were wrong and offer up at least an apology.  We should also have very harsh penalties against perjury and we should also look into the background of witnesses to make sure they do not possess ulterior motives for their testimony.

Environmental Justice and the Sparrow's Point Steel Mill

The Sparrow’s Point Steel Mill in southeastern Baltimore was one of the most important steel mills in the entire world throughout the 20^th century. After its creation in the late 19^th century, the Sparrow’s Point steel mill was home to Bethlehem Steel Corporation for nearly an entire century; due to the high demand of railroads and naval warships in the early and mid 20^th century, the Sparrow’s Point steel mill became a lucrative and prosperous factory that employed as many as 31,000 individuals at its peak. However, in more recent decades the steel mill at Sparrow’s Point has been more known for its notorious reputation as an environmental disaster to the Chesapeake Bay and the Baltimore area.

In the 1990’s the EPA and the MDE (Maryland Department of the Environment) began recognizing the careless management of hazardous materials at the Sparrow’s Point mill as a serious contaminator of the Chesapeake and its local tributaries. The EPA and MDE filed a lawsuit against Bethlehem Steel that resulted in the legal obligation of Bethlehem Steel and any subsequent owners to bear the burden of cleaning up the facility in order to prevent further damage to the environment. Shortly after, Bethlehem Steel declared bankruptcy and lost ownership of the Sparrow’s Point Steel Mill, resulting in an ineffective cleanup effort. Throughout the first decade of the 21^st century ownership of the Sparrow’s Point mill shifted several times, but nothing had been done to decontaminate the facility or the local watershed.

Legal battles were waged by the EPA, MDE, and CBF (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) against the various companies that owned the mill in an attempt to determine whose responsibility it was to clean the Sparrow’s Point site and which parties should be legally obligated to pay fines for the environmental damage caused by the careless maintenance of the mill. Despite these efforts very little was accomplished. Former owners claimed they should not be required to pay for damages caused by previous or succeeding companies, while bankrupt companies simply had no funding to aid the cleanup effort. After nearly two decades of legal proceedings and changes in ownership, the environmental damages caused by the Sparrow’s Point steel mill are still in the process of being remedied because no one has enforced any of these companies to effectively clean the mill. While the new owner of the facility, with the help of local organizations and lawmakers, is launching a multimillion dollar effort to destroy and decontaminate the Sparrow’s Point steel mill and clean local bodies of water, the process is slow and clean up is still largely being planned.

This issue is one of justice because it is a form of environmental injustice. According to the EPA, “Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” Environmental justice can also be described as the fair treatment of the environment and respecting the dignity of all forms of life. Sparrow’s Point is a classic example of an environmental injustice for several reasons. The failure to decontaminate the facilities at Sparrow’s Point placed thousands of workers, predominately of the lower classes, in a toxic work environment, which by the EPA’s definition is a classic environmental injustice. Additionally, it is an injustice because for years the facility and its owners have been allowing the mill to release many hazardous materials into the local watershed without addressing the severity of the situation, which has allowed a long and unresolved ecocide to take place right in our local community. The destruction of the local Chesapeake environment and the utter lack of concern for the adverse effects that this pollution could have on the fishing industry, the health of local citizens, and the health of the many plants and animals who live in the bay is a clear environmental injustice.

The burden of responsibility for the Sparrow’s Point steel mill crisis has been controversial for years and not many people are aware of how to remedy the situation. The truth of the matter is everyone should share the burden of resolving this issue. While BSC, RG Steel, and other top companies should admit their guilt and be held legally and financially accountable for this atrocity, the truth is they cannot do it alone. Sparrow’s Point has negatively affected the local environment and the greater Chesapeake Bay, a body of water which all Marylanders share and benefit from, therefore it is equally the responsibility of all Maryland citizens to take part in the cleanup effort. Marylanders can take part in the cleanup through supporting private organizations such as the CBF that are highly involved in the process of ensuring a solution, but they can also take part by supporting governmental organizations such as the EPA and MDE through taxes. While certain businessmen are to blame for the ecocide that has occurred we cannot just play the blame game and expect progress, as these same businessmen have for the last 20 years; instead, Marylanders must actively stay involved to ensure the cleanup effort is effectively orchestrated.

In order to take part in the resolution of this issue, students can do many things. First and foremost, they must stay informed. Sparrow’s Point is constantly being discussed on the local news and in the local papers such as the Baltimore Sun, staying up to date with the situation will spread awareness and concern for this issue. Students can also attend public information sessions that are being held in Baltimore to inform local residents of the Sparrow’s Point issue and the plan to fix it. Finally, students can encourage effect policy and policing of decontaminating Sparrow’s Point. By writing to local political figures including Congressmen and the Governor, students can take part in ensuring a successful clean up effort and in preventing future ecocides like this from ever occurring.