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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/95284?ns=guardianpageName=In+praise+of+*+Silk+%7C+Editorial%3AArticle%3A1748155ch=Comment+is+freec3=Guardianc4=Drama+%28TV+genre%29%2CCrime+drama+%28TV+genre%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CTelevision+and+radio+TV%2CLawc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Mediac6=Editorialc7=12-May-20c8=1748155c9=Articlec10=Editorialc11=Comment+is+freec13=In+praise+of+...+%28editorial+series%29c25=Comment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2FDrama" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"The return of Peter Moffat's legal drama is a welcome event - the profession deserves a little glamour spread on it/ppNo one pretends that a href=" http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/cameras-in-court" title=""watching the closing statements of/a a trial, as viewers will soon be able to do, will be anything like witnessing a full case. Few of us have the chance to attend court for days, except in unwanted circumstances. So the return of Peter Moffat's legal drama,a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hzsd4" title="" Silk/a, is a welcome event to anyone tired of gavels, attorneys and the felonies peculiar to the US criminal justice system. Last week's episode, featuring a menacing Phil Davis, tackled the difficult defence of duress and saw Frances Barber providing a hint of sexual intrigue. This week a military tribunal will, Moffat promises, offer another frisson. Even cuts to legal aid have been mentioned, though not in a way that would explain why the criminal bar is currently threatening to strike a href=" http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/may/18/barristers-strike-legal-aid-fees" title=""over late payment of fees/a. But with training costs rising and life at the junior end tough and precarious, this branch of the profession deserves a little glamour spread upon it./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/crime-drama"Crime drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/60609?ns=guardianpageName=David+Cameron+says+he+is+driven+like+Margaret+Thatcher%3AArticle%3A1748136ch=Politicsc3=Guardianc4=David+Cameron%2CPolitics%2CConservatives+tories+tory+party%2CEmployment+law%2CCivil+service+%28Politics%29%2CLaw%2CMargaret+Thatcherc5=Policy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Patrick+Wintourc7=12-May-20c8=1748136c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Politicsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FPolitics%2FDavid+Cameron" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"David Cameron has shrugged off claims that he 'chillaxes' too much at weekends by playing games on his iPad/ppDavid Cameron yesterday defended his style of government against claims he "chillaxes" too much at weekends by playing games on his iPad. He insisted he was driven like Lady Thatcher to achieve "massive radical and structural reforms"./ppThe prime minister pointed to his examination of radical "no fault" options to make it easier to dismiss workers as a way of boosting employment in the UK./ppCameron was in part responding to reports that his former strategy adviser, Steve Hilton, had become disillusioned with his excessive enjoyment of the premiership for its own sake, and had allowed the civil service to dominate the pace of reform. He was accused by one unnamed Conservative MP in the Financial Times last month of "putting the school run ahead of the national interest"./ppCameron described the apparent briefings from Hilton as similar to a valedictory telegram from an outgoing ambassador, but described the accounts of the time he spent relaxing as coming from "a fascinating novel"./ppAsked about the reports that he takes too much time off, the prime minister said: "I have not had time to read this stuff, I have been a bit busy. It is an enormous privilege to do this job. It requires huge dedication and work, and I am completely dedicated to the work"./ppOn being called DVD Dave, he added: "You get called a lot of things in this job. I am sure I will gather some more epithets and soubriquets along the way"./ppHe insisted No 10 under his premiership "has been a driver for change and my job now is making sure we are implementing properly the reforms"./ppHe also defended his willingness to delegate, saying: "I do believe you should appoint good people to your Cabinet and trust them to deliver reforms."/ppAsked if he had lapsed into being an administrator in the manner of Harold Macmillan as opposed to a Thatcherite reformer, he insisted: "There are many things this government has done that previous reforming governments were not able to do."/ppHe then cited a long list of policies including reforms to pensions, student finance, welfare, tax reform and a lower top rate of tax. He added: "We have created more academies in two years than Tony Blair managed in 10."/ppCameron also signalled his intention to reform the civil service further to make it leaner and more effective, but pointed out it was already at its smallest since the second world war, saying this was a fundamental change that only a radical government could achieve./ppHe said he was in favour of publication of the Beecroft report into employment laws, which is due this week, adding that options such as "no fault dismissal" should be kept on the table. The report has taken on near mythical status on the Conservative right as a solution to achieving economic growth./ppHe said: "I am interested in anything that makes it easier for one person to say to another person 'come and work for me' because we need to make our economies flexible./pp"I'm not particularly wedded to one set of proposals or another but as part of our growth and enterprise agenda we should be open to all thinking about what could make that process easier, of which this is clearly a contribution./pp"I don't think there's a conflict between family friendly policies on the one hand and pro-business policies on the other. The economy will be stronger if we find ways of encouraging people back into work."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron"David Cameron/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives"Conservatives/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/employment-law"Employment law/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/civil-service"Civil service/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/margaretthatcher"Margaret Thatcher/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickwintour"Patrick Wintour/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/54294?ns=guardianpageName=%27No+fault+dismissal%27+plan+expected+to+be+shelved+quietly+by+Tories%3AArticle%3A1748150ch=Lawc3=GU.co.ukc4=Employment+law%2CLaw%2CVince+Cable%2CPolitics%2CParty+funding%2CConservatives+tories+tory+party%2CLiberal+Democrats+Lib+demsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Nicholas+Wattc7=12-May-20c8=1748150c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Lawc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FLaw%2FEmployment+law" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Vince Cable warned ministers that proposal would leave 'dead hand of fear' hanging over employees/ppWhitehall is expecting Downing Street to abandon its support later this summer for one of the central recommendations in a controversial report by a Tory donor which called for companies to be given the right to sack workers at will./ppA lack of support from business leaders and a furious backlash from Vince Cable, who has warned ministers that the proposal would leave a "dead hand of fear" hanging over employees, is expected to persuade No 10 that the proposal should be quietly dropped later this summer./ppThe prime minister was giving no public indication of a climbdown last night when he said he was still interested in the Beecroft proposal that employers should be allowed to sack unproductive staff without explanation, known as no fault dismissal./pp"On the issue of no fault dismissal and other proposals like that, I am interested in anything that makes it easier for one person to say to another person: 'Come and work for me,' because we need to make our economies flexible," the prime minister said in Chicago. "We need to make our labour markets work as flexibly as possible and we will obviously need to examine each proposal on its merits."/ppGovernment sources indicated last night that Cameron is expected to accept that the proposal should be quietly dropped when Cable eventually finalises his plans. A six month "call for evidence" on a diluted version of the original Beecroft proposal – that the "no fault dismissal" should apply to micro companies employing fewer than ten staff – is due to end on 8 June. It is understood that the evidence so far shows little support among businesses for the proposal./ppOne source close to Cable said of the proposal: "The last thing employees want is the dead hand of fear hanging over them about losing their jobs."/ppThe coalition partners appeared to be at loggerheads yesterday when a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9277508/David-Camerons-radical-plan-to-reform-jobs-red-tape.html" title=""the Sunday Telegraph reported on its front page/a that the prime minister was poised to endorse the controversial report by the Tory donor Adrian Beecroft. The report was commissioned by Steve Hilton, Cameron's long serving policy guru, who is leaving on a year long sabbatical to the US amid frustration that the prime minister is failing to be sufficiently radical in trimming the state./ppThe Sunday Telegraph made little mention of the no fault dismissal plan, the central recommendation in the Beecroft report. The newspaper instead focused on areas which have either already been introduced by the government or are not controversial./ppOne Lib Dem source said the Sunday Telegraph report was designed to show No 10 was standing firm when in fact it is backing down. "This is all part of Steve Hilton's epic leaving bash," one source said./ppCable will this week publish the Beecroft report after a series of requests, from the Guardian and the shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna among others, for it to be released under Freedom of Information rules. It is understood that Cable believes that the publication of the report will come as a surprise to many because the 15-page report is seen as thin./ppOne senior minister told the Guardian last year: "It is a flimsy piece of work. If an official sent me a piece of work like that I would send it back."/ppCable showed his irritation with the report when he told friends that he was surprised that No 10 has shown such interest in a report from a donor. Cameron faced embarrassment after the recent resignation of the Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas when it emerged that he encouraged donors to put their thoughts down on paper./ppA source close to Cable said: "It is surprising that No 10 backs a report compiled by one of the Tory party's biggest donors. But it has been noticeable that since last Wednesday, No 10 has been moving towards more evidence-based policy. The reasons for that remain to be determined, but we can assume that as a result reports like this will be a less prominent in the future."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/employment-law"Employment law/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/vincentcable"Vince Cable/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/partyfunding"Party funding/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives"Conservatives/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/liberaldemocrats"Liberal Democrats/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/nicholaswatt"Nicholas Watt/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/58195?ns=guardianpageName=Letters%3A+Sentamu%27s+flaws+over+gay+marriage%3AArticle%3A1748073ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Gay+rights+%28News%29%2CCivil+partnerships%2CMarriage+%28Life+and+style%29%2CSexuality+%28Society%29%2CEquality+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CGender+%28News%29%2CLife+and+style%2CLaw%2CWorld+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CFamily+and+Relationshipsc6=c7=12-May-20c8=1748073c9=Articlec10=Letterc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FGay+rights" width="1" height="1" //divpThe archbishop of York wants to keep marriage as a separate category but regards civil partnerships as an honourable expression of a committed relationship; that marriage and civil partnerships are in fact complementary, equal but different (a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/17/justice-equality-same-sex-marriage" title=""Not equality but justice/a, 18 May). He pleads for time for civil partnerships to gain greater publicnbsp;understanding./ppThe great flaw in his argument is that he does not urge the church to bless such partnerships. This would do more than anything to obtain that greater public understanding he says he wants. Now that the government appears to have dropped its idea of legalising gay marriages, it is a chance for the Church of England to make amends for the reluctance with which it accepted civil partnerships in the first place, and to take the lead in declaring unequivocally that such committed relationships are to be warmly celebrated before God.br /strongRichard Harries/strongbr /emCrossbench, House of Lords/em/pp/pp• I admire the archbishop of York, but hisnbsp;reasons for objecting to same-sex marriage lead to more questions than answers. First, why does he refer to the church's discrimination against gay people in the past tense? A quick flick through the House of Bishops' recent statements or some time taken to listen, for instance, to a gay ordinand or priest will quickly show the travesty in his talking as if prejudice, sometimes transparent but often behind closed doors, is not active anymore./ppSecond, he says his argument is based on justice – but whose justice? His? The majority's? The church's? Anyone's but that of gay people by the look of it. Finally, if he believes, as he says he does, in "equality of opportunity", why are churches not being allowed to register the civil partnerships he promotes, therefore not permitting civil partners to speak to one another, nor family and friends celebrate them, as happens in marriages? And why can the archbishop recently bless a barge and a bridge, but not authorise blessings on those he says are in "an honourable contract of a committed relationship"?br /strongCanon Mark Oakley/strongbr /emLondon/em/pp/pp• John Sentamu says that he "would be the first to accept" that the churches "have been complicit" in discrimination against gay people. Indeed they have, not least the established church in wielding its power in the House of Lords. In June 2004, six bishops in the Lords voted for a wrecking amendment that temporarily derailed the civil partnership bill, and only one against. It was put back on track when the elected house overturned the Lords' vote. In January 2010, the bishops defeated the Labour government's proposal to narrow down the churches' exemption from equal-employment law. The general election timetable made it impossible to reverse that vote in the elected house./ppIt is nice that Dr Sentamu now extols civil partnerships, while insisting that they are quite different from marriage. Evangelicals like to call for repentance. When he is ready to state that the Church of England now repents of those two votes in the Lords, it will be time to listen to his views on same-sex marriage.br /strongIain McLean/strongbr /emProfessor of politics, Oxford University/em/pp/pp• Justice is blind so the state should treat all citizens equally, fairly, consistently and uphold their rights. Continuing with separate legislation by only allowing gay people to enter into civil partnerships, but not same-sex marriage is discrimination. Treating gay people and lesbians less equally can lead to situations where same-sex couples are treated with less respect in society than those of the opposite sex. All couples, regardless of sexuality, should be permitted to marry with the same choice of either having a civil or religious ceremony so as to avoid discriminating against those which seek the right to conduct same-sex marriages.br /strongMark Rowntree/strongbr /emDaventry, Northamptonshire/em/pp/pp• John Sentamu's patronising and long-winded writing is a mere cloak to disguise his backward and offensive views. He'd have saved a lot of time if he'd simply written "all couples are equal, but some are more equal than others, and that's just the way it is".br /strongSam Cannicott/strongbr /emLondon/em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gay-rights"Gay rights/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/civil-partnerships"Civil partnerships/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/marriage"Marriage/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/sexuality"Sexuality/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/equality"Equality/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender"Gender/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/42237?ns=guardianpageName=Chen+Guangcheng%27s+family+and+friends+%27still+at+risk%27+in+China%3AArticle%3A1748075ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Chen+Guangcheng%2CChina+%28News%29%2CAsia+Pacific+%28News%29%2CUS+politics%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CUS+news%2CCommunism+%28News%29%2CLaw%2CHuman+rights%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=12-May-20c8=1748075c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FChen+Guangcheng" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Blind activist begins exile in US with call for greater rule of law at home as supporters fear for those left behind/ppSupporters of Chen Guangcheng have warned that his family and friends in China are still at risk after the blind activist arrived in New York to begin a new life in the United States./ppChen — whose daring escape from house arrest last month prompted a diplomatic crisis — arrived on Saturday night to cheering crowds, and used his first speech to press for greater rule of law in the country he left behind./pp"I hope everybody works for me to promote justice and fairness in China," Chen said through an interpreter, ahead of his enrolment for a fellowship in the US-Asia Law Institute at New York University School of Law./ppHe was also careful to thank the Chinese government, knowing the wellbeing of relatives and associates could be influenced by an upcoming shift in the Communist party leadership. Instead, he criticised the provincial authorities in Shandong for years of persecution, including 18 months of house arrest, beatings and harassment of his relatives./ppChen said "acts of retribution may not have abated" in his village of Dongshigu, which was still under lockdown. "We hope to see a thorough investigation into these events," he said./ppThe figurehead of the rights movement suggested his own role will temporarily diminish. "I am requesting leave of absence and I hope they will understand," he said. "For the past seven years, I have never had a day's rest so I have come here for a bit of recuperation for body and spirit."/ppHe Peirong – a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/27/arrest-fears-china-activist-helped-escape" title=""who played a key role in the escape by driving Chen from Shandong to Beijing/a – said she sympathised, even though the reverberations of Chen's flight remain unclear. "I support any decision made by Chen, but it's too early to say whether his departure is a good thing for China's rights movement. Things are not settled. Problems are not solved. His family is still in China. The people who helped him escape are still in China."/ppHe – who was detained for several days after Chen's escape and remains under surveillance – spoke of her admiration for Chen./pp"He has done more than you could expect from any individual … Although he has experienced so much injustice and so many threats, he sticks to his beliefs. He is like a piece of jade: always smooth and warm."/ppOthers supporters, relatives and lawyers, including Guo Yushan and Liu Weiguo, were not answering their phones. Several have been told not to speak to the foreign media. Zeng Jinyan, who met Chen before he took refuge at the US embassy, said her computer had been hacked and infected with a virus that made it difficult to communicate./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/chen-guangcheng-nephew-charged-manslaughter?newsfeed=true" title=""Chen's nephew has been arrested and charged with attempted murder/a after using a kitchen knife to fight off local officials who intruded into his home./ppThe activist's brother has described how he was a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/18/chen-guangcheng-brother-beating-officials" title=""chained to a chair and beaten for three days./a His lawyer and friend, Jiang Tianyong, was punched so powerfully by state security officials that a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/chen-guangcheng-nephew-charged-manslaughter?newsfeed=true" title=""he lost his hearing/a. He said police continued to impose tight restrictions on rights activists and he expected the pressure to intensify ahead of a key party congress this autumn./pp"There won't be any big changes for us now that Chen Guangcheng has left. There are still many reasons to keep up control and stability preservation," Jiang told Reuters./ppA supporter in Shandong told the news agency the authorities were unlikely to ease pressure any time soon. "The Communist party doesn't want to set a precedent over this case by easing up after a dissident has escaped detention," said Sun Wenguang, a retired professor, who is monitored 24 hours a day by security officers./ppAlthough supporters in the US say Chen is now free to "speak truth to power'" it is far from clear that his voice will be any easier to hear in his homeland. In the past, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/04/chen-guangchen-dilemma-stay-leave-china" title=""Chinese dissidents who sought exile in the US have found their influence muted by distance/a and Beijing's "Great Firewall" – which filters internet content from overseas./ppFew are allowed to return. Last week, Wu'er Kaixi – the student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests – was refused permission to return to China to see his ailing parents./ppNonetheless, Chen's escape could make a difference in China because of the timing. The ability of a blind man to evade dozens of guards raises awkward questions for party hardman Zhou Yongkang, who has a bigger budget for internal security than the People's Liberation Army has to protect China's borders. Zhou is due to step down this autumn./ppChen's arrival in New York could also play in US politics and diplomatic strategy. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had criticised the Obama administration's handling of the case when it was unclear whether Chen would leave China./ppBut the Democrat former House speaker Nancy Pelosi described Chen's flight to the US as "a milestone in the cause for human rights in China"./pp"The courage of Chen Guangcheng to risk his life and livelihood to advocate for disadvantaged people in China is an inspiration to freedom-seeking people around the world," she said./pp/ppHuman rights campaigners warned against complacency./pp"Chen's departure for the US does not and should not in any way mark a 'mission accomplished' moment for the US government or any other government which values human rights and rule of law in China. The fact is that getting Chen Guangcheng and his family on a plane is the easiest part of this saga. The harder, longer term part is ensuring his right under international law to return to China when he sees fit," said Phelim Kine, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch in New York./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chen-guangcheng"Chen Guangcheng/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/asia-pacific"Asia Pacific/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/communism"Communism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/98239?ns=guardianpageName=Montana+wins+states%27+backing+over+Citizens+United+fight%3AArticle%3A1748069ch=Lawc3=GU.co.ukc4=US+supreme+court+%28Law%29%2CMontana+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CUS+politics%2CLaw%2CSuper+Pacs%2CUS+constitution+and+civil+liberties+%28Law%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Associated+Pressc7=12-May-20c8=1748069c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Lawc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FLaw%2FUS+supreme+court" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"New York leads 22 states calling on US supreme court to back down over corporate spending on political campaigns/ppTwenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the US supreme court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down laws restricting corporate spending in political campaigns./ppThe states led by New York are asking the high court to preserve Montana's state-level regulations on corporate expenditures, according to a copy of a brief written by New York's attorney general's office and obtained by the Associated Press. The brief will be publicly released on Monday./ppThe supreme court is being asked to reverse a state court's decision to uphold the Montana law. Virginia-based American Tradition Partnership is asking the nation's high court to rule without a hearing because the group says the state law conflicts directly with the Citizens United decision that removed the federal ban on corporate campaign spending./ppThe supreme court has blocked the Montana law until it can look at the case./ppThe Montana case has prompted critics to hope the court will reverse itself on the controversial Citizens United ruling. The 22 states and DC say the Montana law is sharply different from the federal issues in the Citizens United case, so the ruling shouldn't apply to Montana's or other state laws regulating corporate campaign spending./ppBut the states also said they would support a supreme court decision to reconsider portions of the Citizens United ruling either in a future case or in the Montana case, if the justices decide to take it on./ppLegal observers say don't count on the supreme court reconsidering its decision./pp"It is highly unlikely that the court would reverse its decision in Citizens United," said law professor Richard Hasen of the University of California-Irvine./ppAt best, the court would listen to arguments and might agree a clarification is needed to allow the Montana law to stand. But even that is a long shot, Hasen said./ppMontana attorney-general Steve Bullock argues that political corruption in the Copper King era led to the state ban on corporate campaign spending. A clarification of Citizens United is needed to make clear that states can block certain political spending in the interest of limiting corruption, he said./ppAmerican Tradition Partnership argues that the state bans unfairly restrict the ability of corporations to engage in the political process that also affects them.br /Bullock wrote in a brief to be released Monday that the state does not "ban" corporate political speech, rather, it regulates that speech by requiring the formation of political action committees./ppThe Democrat, who is running for governor, said the upstart political corporations hoping to take advantage of unfettered spending are merely "an anonymous conduit of unaccountable campaign spending."/ppMontana and the other states are asking the court to either let the Montana supreme court decision stand or to hold a full hearing. They argue laws like the one in Montana that bans political spending straight from corporate treasuries are needed to prevent corruption./ppThe other states, many with their own type of restrictions hanging in the balance, argue local restrictions are far different than the federal ban the court decided unconstitutionally restricted free speech. Further, state elections are at much greater risk than federal elections of being dominated by corporate money, requiring tailored regulation, the states' court filing says./pp"The federal law struck down in Citizens United applied only to elections for President and US Congress," New York attorney-general Eric Schneiderman wrote on behalf of the states. "By contrast, Montana's law applies to a wide range of state and local offices, including judgeships and law enforcement positions such as sheriff and county prosecutor."/ppThe joining states, unlike Montana, ask the court to go further and reconsider core findings in Citizens United. They argue, for instance, it was wrong for the court to say unlimited independent expenditures rarely cause corruption or the appearance of corruption./ppAnd other critics of the Citizens United decision who believe the court was wrong to grant corporations constitutional rights, have intervened and asked the court to reverse itself./pp"There is a growing bipartisan consensus that Citizens United needs to be overturned, and Montana is leading the way," said Peter Schurman, spokesman for a group called Free Speech For People. "The supreme court has an opportunity to revisit Citizens United here. That is important because there is evidence everywhere that unlimited spending in our elections creates both corruption and the appearance for corruption."/ppOn Friday, Montana's case was given a boost when US senator John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse signed on in support. The senators argue evidence following the Citizens United decision, where millions in unregulated money has poured into presidential elections, shows that large independent expenditures can lead to corruption./ppThe states who filed the brief in support of Montana are New York, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and the District of Columbia./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/us-supreme-court"US supreme court/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/montana"Montana/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/super-pacs"Super Pacs/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/us-constitution-and-civil-liberties"US constitution and civil liberties/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/4633?ns=guardianpageName=Welcome%2C+Nato%2C+to+Chicago%27s+police+state+%7C+Bernard+Harcourt%3AArticle%3A1748008ch=Comment+is+freec3=GU.co.ukc4=Chicago+%28News%29%2CProtest+%28News%29%2CUS+national+security%2CSurveillance+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CNato+%28News%29%2CRahm+Emanuel%2CUS+constitution+and+civil+liberties+%28Law%29%2CFreedom+of+speech+%28News%29%2CCivil+liberties+-+international+%28Law%29%2CLawc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Societyc6=Bernard+Harcourtc7=12-May-20c8=1748008c9=Articlec10=Commentc11=Comment+is+freec13=c25=CIF+America+%28Blog%29%2CComment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FCif+America" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"The Nato summit will come and go, but Mayor Emanuel has authorised a 'new normal' of militarised social control in Chicago/ppWith Nato delegates arriving Saturday night, the City of Chicago has been turned into a police state. Courtesy of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who several months ago began implementing a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/outlawing-dissent-rahm-emanuel-new-regime"new draconian anti-protest measures/a, Chicago has gone on a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/chicago-on-security-lockdown-as-nato-summit-approaches"security lockdown/a. Starting early Friday night, 18 May 2012, the Chicago Police Department began shutting down – prohibiting cars, bikes, and pedestrians – miles and miles of highways and roads in the heart of Chicago to create a security perimeter around downtown and McCormick Place (where the Nato summit is being held)./ppa href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Fencing-McCormick-Place-NATO-151681085.html?dr="Eight-foot tall, anti-scale security fencing/a went up all over that perimeter and downtown, including Grant Park; and the Chicago police – as well as myriad other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and the US secret service – were out in force on a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/10766037-418/chicago-police-horses-will-also-get-riot-gear-for-natog8-summits.html"riot-geared horses/a, a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOiphtwVxnc"bikes/a, and patrols – a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOiphtwVxnc"batons at the ready/a. a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts-police-and-fire/2012-05-15/cities-sending-officers-chicago-nato-summit.html"Philadelphia Police Department/a is sending over reinforcements to help out; Chicago has also asked for recruits from police departments in Milwaukee and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC. Meanwhile, a href="http://c5.zedo.com/ads2/f/1187826/3840/172/0/305009764/305009764/0/305/2065/zz-V1-1X1.html?a=s%3D2065%3Bg%3D172%3Bm%3D43%3Bw%3D17%3Bu%3DYZWgT61D5ACSMdpz3EXlPFXT%7E050212%3Bi%3D0%3B;l=;p=;t=1337448432"F-16 warplanes/a "screamed through the skies as part of a pre-summit defense exercise" and a href="http://www.indypendent.org/2012/05/17/new-military-urbanism-nato-occupied-chicago"helicopters hovered/a incessantly./ppThe Chicago Police Department has a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/nato-protests-chicago-police-riot-gear"spent $1m in "riot-control equipment"/a in anticipation of the Nato summit. According to the Guardian, "The city of Chicago's procurement services website shows that in March [2012] $757,657 was spent on 8,513 'retro-fit kits' to be fitted to police helmets. In February [2012] 673 of the same kits, which include a a href="http://estores.infront.com/superseer/item_info.asp?pid=1843"face shield and ear and neck protectors/a, were purchased for $56,632." Plus, the Chicago Police Department will be deploying its two, new, expensive a href="http://www.itworld.com/security/277466/occupy-get-earful-sound-cannon-chicago-nato-protest"long-range acoustic device (LRAD)/a sound cannons – which it bought at a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocalid=8661428"$20,000 a pop/a. These are the type of devices that were used by the a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM"Pittsburgh police to deliver high-pitched alarm tones/a during the G20 summit meeting there in 2009. /ppThen, there is the "secret suburban Chicago" police control center where "officials from more than 40 different agencies sit side by side with a giant central screen before them," as a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/12593763-418/nato-summit-security-team-has-eyes-open-from-secret-suburban-chicago-location.html"reported by the Chicago Sun Times/a. From the multi-agency command center, all different types of federal, state and local law enforcement can "view live video feeds from security cameras that are already up and running throughout the city"./ppAs one commentators suggests, Chicagoans are experiencing the a href="http://www.indypendent.org/2012/05/17/new-military-urbanism-nato-occupied-chicago""New Military Urbanism in Nato-Occupied Chicago"/a. The extensive nature of these security measures (a href="http://www.chicagonato.org/secret-service--road-closures-announced-for-nato-summit-press_release-15.php."as reported by the US secret service/a), a href="http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102142667758-336/NATO_info.pdf"road closures and pedestrian restrictions/a included dozens of road closures (at least 7.5 miles of closed roads, by my calculation), beginning Friday at midnight and going through evening rush hour on Monday, 21 May. There will also be airspace restrictions over Chicago (a href="http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/noticeView.aspx?nid=3675"the flight advisory is here/a). In addition, there will be marina and waterway restrictions, with the creation of special "maritime security zones", and an increased presence of US Coast Guard during the summit./ppSo, welcome, Nato, to the Chicago police state 2012. It may be hard to see or experience the security measures from emwithin/em the perimeter, but for Chicagoans, the new experience is chilling. a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Fencing-McCormick-Place-NATO-151681085.html?dr="As one Chicagoan reportedly told NBC Chicago/a, the mass of security equipment "made her feel like she was on 'lockdown'."/ppA few further points are worth mentioning. First, it is astounding – but sadly, not surprising – that the City of Chicago a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/27/activists-to-appeal-denial-of-nato-protest-permit/"would deny protest permits/a or a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/05/09/nurses-threaten-lawsuit-to-keep-rally-at-daley-plaza/"make protest so difficult/a in Chicago because of alleged inconveniences to traffic and ordinary business. Our new Chicago lockdown belies any suggestion that the city cares about such inconveniences. While Mayor Emanuel has bent backwards for Nato, first amendment free speech receives dramatically less accommodation. /ppSecond, this police state serves, in reality, as our new welfare state. The security mania represents our truly unique way of stimulating the economy, of employing piece labor, of creating government jobs and subsidized contracts. Just think of the amount of overtime pay that we are disbursing with all this policing. Instead of investing in schools and education, in job training, or in re-entry programs, this is how we invest in our future. And we never think of it as government welfare because it falls in that sacred space of security – because, essentially, of the a href="http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/125/march12/forum_838.php"American paradox of laissez-faire and mass punishment/a./ppThird, and finally, all of this is, sadly, here to stay. a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/outlawing-dissent-rahm-emanuel-new-regime"Nato will come and go/a, but the new anti-protest laws, the new riot-gear, the two LRAD sound cannons, and all the normalization of this police state … that will be with us for a long time./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chicago"Chicago/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest"Protest/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-national-security"US national security/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/surveillance"Surveillance/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/rahm-emanuel"Rahm Emanuel/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/us-constitution-and-civil-liberties"US constitution and civil liberties/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/freedom-of-speech"Freedom of speech/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/civil-liberties-international"Civil liberties - international/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/bernard-harcourt"Bernard Harcourt/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/54093?ns=guardianpageName=Sri+Lankan+president+orders+release+of+jailed+political+rival%3AArticle%3A1748002ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Sri+Lanka+%28News%29%2CHuman+rights%2CTamil+Tigers+LTTE+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CLawc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jason+Burkec7=12-May-20c8=1748002c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FSri+Lanka" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Mahinda Rajapaksa poised to free jailed political rival in bid to quell international criticism over country's human rights record/ppJailed former army general Sarath Fonseka is to be freed on Monday after the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, signed orders releasing his high-profile political rival./ppFonseka, widely condemned for his role in atrocities during the 2009 battles against the Tamil Tigers that ended the 25-year civil war, was imprisoned on graft charges more than two years ago after challenging Rajapaksa for the presidency. A second conviction was for launching a political career before leaving the military./ppThe move, confirmed by government spokesmen, is an apparent attempt to quell international criticism of the government's human rights record before a series of key visits by foreign officials and trips by the president over the summer, including to the London Olympics./ppA previous trip to the UK ended in controversy when Rajapaksa was a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/sri-lanka-president-arrest-war-crimes?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" title=""forced into a hasty departure after activists sought an arrest warrant for him/a. The authorisation for Fonseka's release will be sent to the justice ministry a spokesman told Reuters news agency./ppAlthough many Sri Lankans regard the former general as a hero, Fonseka's case has gained prominence as international scrutiny of the Rajapaksa administration's human rights record has intensified. He and his supporters maintain he is the victim of a political vendetta./ppThe United States regards Fonseka as a political prisoner and has repeatedly said he should be freed. At a meeting in Washington on Friday, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, called on Sri Lanka's foreign minister to address human rights issues. She also told foreign minister Gamini Peiris that Sri Lanka should demilitarise the former Tamil Tigers' strongholds in the north of the country./ppIn March, the US sponsored a UN resolution calling on Sri Lanka to investigate abuses alleged to have taken place in the final months of the war, a move that strained ties between the countries./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" title=""Rajapaksa has repeatedly rejected UN and US criticism on human rights issues/a and their recommendation that a greater degree of autonomy be granted to the areas of the island where the Tamil minority is concentrated./ppSome analysts suspect political manoeuvring behind the release. The popularity Rajapaksa won among the Sinhalese majority after the victory over the Tamil Tigers has faded./ppA second element in the president's previous victories has been development in rural areas. But rocketing food prices has dented the government's popularity in the runup to local elections this year and poor economic management has slowed development./ppThe release of Fonseka, who leads a party with seven seats in the 225-member parliament, could further divide an already fragmented opposition./ppNew elections are not due before 2016./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/srilanka"Sri Lanka/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/tamil-tigers"Tamil Tigers/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jasonburke"Jason Burke/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/74542?ns=guardianpageName=NAACP+backs+gay+marriage+as+a+civil+right%3AArticle%3A1747992ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Gay+rights+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CCivil+liberties+-+international+%28Law%29%2CUS+politics%2CUS+constitution+and+civil+liberties+%28Law%29%2CObama+administration%2CRace+and+religion+%28Media%29%2CRace+issues+%28News%29c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CUS+Electionsc6=Associated+Pressc7=12-May-20c8=1747992c9=Articlec10=c11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FGay+rights" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Black civil rights group endorses same-sex-marriages and attacks efforts to 'codify discrimination or hatred into the law'/ppThe NAACP has passed a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil right, putting it stamp on an issue that has divided the black community./ppThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's board voted at a leadership retreat in Miami on Saturday to back a resolution supporting marriage equality, calling the position consistent with the equal protection provision of the US constitution./pp"The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure political, social and economic equality of all people," board chairwoman Roslyn M Brock said in a statement. "We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law."/ppSame-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia, but 31 states have passed amendments to ban it./ppThe NAACP vote came about two weeks after President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage, setting off a flurry of political activity in a number of states. Obama's announcement followed vice-president Joe Biden's declaration in a television interview that he was "absolutely comfortable" with gay couples marrying./pp"Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. The NAACP's support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution and equal protection of all people" said NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous, a strong backer of gay rights./ppGay marriage has divided the black community, with many religious leaders opposing it. In California, exit polls showed about 70% of black people opposed same-sex marriage in 2008. In Maryland, black religious leaders helped derail a gay marriage bill last year. But state lawmakers passed a gay marriage bill this year./ppPew Research Center polls have found that African Americans have become more supportive of same-sex marriage in recent years, but remain less supportive than other groups. A poll conducted in April showed 39% of African-Americans favor gay marriage, compared with 47% of white people. The poll showed 49% of black people and 43% of white people are opposed./ppThe Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights advocacy group, applauded the NAACP's step./pp"We could not be more pleased with the NAACP's history-making vote – which is yet another example of the traction marriage equality continues to gain in every community," HRC president Joe Solmonese said in a statement./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gay-rights"Gay rights/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/civil-liberties-international"Civil liberties - international/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/us-constitution-and-civil-liberties"US constitution and civil liberties/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-administration"Obama administration/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/raceandreligion"Race religion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/race"Race issues/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/65444?ns=guardianpageName=Why+swear+on+a+Bible%3F+%7C+Andrew+Brown%3AArticle%3A1747653ch=Comment+is+freec3=GU.co.ukc4=Law%2CChristianity+%28News%29%2CReligion+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CEthics+%28News%29c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Livingc6=Andrew+Brownc7=12-May-20c8=1747653c9=Articlec10=Blogpostc11=Comment+is+freec13=c25=Andrew+Brown%27s+blog%2CCif+belief%2CComment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FAndrew+Brown%27s+blog" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Courts must allow people who believe in God to swear in front of him – and atheists to affirm by whatever they believe in/ppI just read an article by a barrister arguing that it was an anachronism to swear oaths in court, and unjustly privileged the religious. Instead, he claimed, everyone should solemnly affirm by whatever they most highly value, which is all that an oath comes down to, anyway./ppI take it he does not practice at the criminal bar./ppHis speciality in ethics seems too high-minded for that. Because it's obvious that the great majority of people who perjure themselves in court, or who lie under affirmation, do so precisely to protect something that they value greatly. There must be the occasional psychopath who lies in court just out of habit, or for the sheer hell of it, but most lying witnesses and perhaps all lying defendants have much more practical motives./ppNow, it's no use whatever to say that people ought to value other things – let's call them values, for short – rather than their own self-interest. Perhaps they ought to, but they often don't. If all the courts had to deal with were honest misunderstandings there would be very little need of law. Nor is it clear where this binding "ought" comes from in the first place. (For the avoidance of predictable comments, I am not claiming that the "ought" must come from religion; just that it doesn't come from reason). It's hard to see how you could persuade a dedicated follower of a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand" title=""Ayn Rand/a, for example, that it is wrong to lie in court even when telling the truth would have unpleasant consequences./ppBut there's a little Randian in all of us. In each of us, there is a moral battle between honesty and its opposite, or selfishness and its opposite. And the outcome is to some extent determined by entirely selfish factors. We ask, will we get away with it. The morality of a really common crime like speeding is not affected by the presence of speed cameras but its prevalence certainly is./ppIn cases where we can't calculate our advantage accurately we fall back on habits, short cuts and prejudice. Quite right too. It's a great weakness of individualistic rationality to pretend that we don't or shouldn't do this. In fact Hume's remark that "Reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the passions" is the only view of morality that makes sense in the light of evolution./ppSociety needs reasons for people to tell the truth even when it is to their disadvantage. But in plural societies, like ours, we do not know the particular reasons that will work for each witness or defendant. What's needed here is not something merely valuable, but even more valuable than our perceived self-interest./ppThis is rare but can usually be found. Almost everyone has some uneasy sense that there are things which are – if not more valuable than their own self-interest – more powerful. And for religious believers, this is expressed in religious beliefs. It's entirely wrong to suppose that religious beliefs are merely stories about the universe. They are also, and at least as importantly, something that economists would recognise as a utility function, and the rest of us call a statement of values. They bring to life the claim that some things outside us are more important than we are./ppThese things vary between religions and atheisms. You can solemnly affirm as well as swear by God, by the revolution, or even by the jackal-headed Anubis. But in a plural and individualistic society we have to face up to the fact that many of these individual sacred values are pretty much worthless for somebody else. Even if almost everyone has some "sacred" value it is in the nature of sacred things that they are particular. If they are translated into pieties too general, that anyone can sign up to, they lose their moral force./ppBinding moral claims appear as statements of value that are also, simultaneously and inextricably, statements of fact. Even when an outside observer can see that the values are pretty much the same, you can't overlook the discordance of the facts. A humanist who swears on the Bible will think it's just flummery and be no more compelled to truth by it than if they swore on a stack of Tatlers. The opposite would be true for a believer./ppSo the courts must allow people who believe in God to swear in front of him just as they must allow atheists to affirm by whatever they believe in. That doesn't guarantee that either will tell the truth. But it's no solution to pretend that everyone is really an atheist deep down./pp• Follow Comment is free on Twitter a href="https://twitter.com/#!/commentisfree" title=""@commentisfree/a/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/christianity"Christianity/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion"Religion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ethics"Ethics/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andrewbrown"Andrew Brown/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/29266?ns=guardianpageName=Chen+Guangcheng+flies+to+US+but+fears+for+family%27s+safety%3AArticle%3A1747879ch=World+newsc3=Obsc4=Chen+Guangcheng%2CChina+%28News%29%2CAsia+Pacific+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+news%2CHuman+rights%2CLawc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jonathan+Watts%2CPaul+Harrisc7=12-May-20c8=1747879c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FChen+Guangcheng" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Chinese activist touches down at Newark a month after escape from house arrest and vows to continue fight for human rights/ppThe blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has arrived to begin a new life in the United States while vowing to keep fighting against injustice in his homeland./ppThe moment was the final leg of a dramatic, month-long escape from house arrest in rural China that ended with him speaking to a throng of press in front New York University where he will become an academic./pp"We should link our arms and continue to fight for the goodness in the world and continue to fight injustice … I hope everybody works for me to promote justice and fairness in China," Chen said through an interpreter./ppChen's speech attracted a small crowd of onlookers who cheered him and a few cars honked their horns. "Nothing is impossible as long as you put your heart to it. As we say in Chinese there is no small affair as long as you put your heart to it," he said./ppHis flight, United Airlines UA88, had departed for Newark almost two hours late from Beijing international airport as a thunderstorm rolled in – a suitably tempestuous climax to one of the most remarkable chapters of courage and injustice in recent Chinese history./ppAfter beatings, imprisonment, injury, embassy refuge and diplomatic wrangling between the two superpowers Chen's departure has stirred a mixture of relief and dismay among activists in China, who are glad Chen is safe but worried that their cause could lose one of its most influential advocates./ppNew York University in Greenwich Village has said he will study as a fellow at its school of law. "For the past seven years I have never had a day's rest so I have come here for a bit of recuperation in body and in spirit," Chen said./ppIn April Chen escaped 19 months of extrajudicial house arrest in his rural home in Shandong province. He and his family had been beaten and harassed as Dongshigu village in Linyi was turned into a virtual prison manned by plainclothes guards and filled with security cameras./ppThis followed more than four years in prison on charges – denied by his lawyers – that he roused a crowd to disrupt traffic and damage property./ppEarlier still he had been abducted from the streets of Beijing by Linyi officials when he tried to expose their illegal use of forced abortions and sterilisations to meet family planning goals./ppChen escaped in the night, stumbled across farm fields and met a supporter who drove him to Beijing, where he sought the protection of US diplomats./ppAfter bilateral talks the two governments thrashed out a deal for him to stay in China with greater protection against the Linyi thugs. But this arrangement collapsed within hours as Chen heard that his lawyer, brother and nephew had been beaten while he was left alone in the Beijing hospital where he was being treated for colitis and a broken foot sustained during his escape./ppThe US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who was visiting Beijing, intervened and helped to arrange permission for Chen, his wife and daughters to travel to the US to study./ppHis lawyer Liu Weiguo said it was unlikely he would be allowed to return any time soon. "The chance for him to come back is small. I fear the Chinese government won't allow him to come back. This kind of thing has precedents." Chen is said to be unhappy about leaving relatives behind in a village controlled by Linyi's notoriously violent local authorities. But Liu said he did not blame Chen./pp"We should look at this from his perspective. He's mentally and physically exhausted now and has been tormented for so many years. For the Chinese rights movement he has done more than enough. We can't ask him to do any more. Now he needs time to rest."/ppThe prominent human rights lawyer Teng Biao said he was happy for Chen and his family. "His safety and freedom are the priority. Whether this is a good thing for the rights movement is secondary now."/ppNicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch said Chen's departure was no cause for celebration as his family remained under pressure and there may be less incentive for the central government to investigate wrongdoing by the local authorities./ppMore importantly, Bequelin said, it raised questions about the wider environment for activists. "This is a reflection that there is no room for human rights defenders in China. We don't know if this will turn into a temporary stay or exile, but in either case it begs the questions why someone like Chen Guangcheng cannot freely operate in China. What is it that stops the authorities from tolerating or even embracing someone like Chen?"/ppThe situation remains grim for those left behind. Dongshigu, where Chen's mother and other relatives remain, is still under lockdown. His brother has described being beaten for three days after the activist escaped and his nephew Chen Kegui is to be tried for attempted murder after fighting off intruders with a knife./ppIndependent lawyers have been denied permission to represent him. Several say they have been beaten, intimidated and told not to speak to foreign media./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chen-guangcheng"Chen Guangcheng/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/asia-pacific"Asia Pacific/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/paulharris"Paul Harris/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/30829?ns=guardianpageName=Child+asylum+seekers+%27still+being+imprisoned%27%3AArticle%3A1747885ch=UK+newsc3=Obsc4=Immigration+and+asylum+%28UK+news%29%2CUK+news%2CChildren+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CHuman+rightsc5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CChildren+Societyc6=Tracy+McVeighc7=12-May-20c8=1747885c9=Articlec10=c11=UK+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FImmigration+and+asylum" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Refugee Council claims that many child asylum seekers are being classsified as adults, allowing them to be detained/ppA report by the a href="http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/" title=""Refugee Council/a to be published this week accuses the immigration service of continuing to detain child asylum seekers by wrongly classifying them as adults./ppThe report, Not a Minor Offence, has been welcomed by other groups working with refugees and asylum seekers who are growing increasingly concerned by the numbers of age dispute cases. Last year one child spent almost three months locked up before it was finally accepted that he was not an adult./ppEvidence that children were being psychologically damaged by their experiences in the asylum system led the government to announce an end to the controversial practice of keeping under-18s in detention centres two years ago this weekend. Yet the practice is continuing and no one knows how many children have been illegally deported as adults./ppGuessing someone's age is controversial, but the Refugee Council believes officials are not erring on the side of caution. In many cases agencies find out about a child whose age is disputed only when another detainee inside a centre reports their concerns about an unaccompanied child being locked up./ppFaisal was only 15 when he arrived in the UK. Judged to be an adult, he spent several days in police cells and was left to sleep rough on the streets before finally spending a month in a detention centre./ppTalking about his experience still causes him acute distress. "I was 15. I didn't have any documents but I know my age. I didn't understand why it was so important./pp"The immigration officer was banging his fist on the table saying 'No, this is not your age'. By the end I was so tired and upset that I said OK, I will be whatever you want me to be. When I was first in the police cell I was crying because I couldn't believe it. They came and banged on the door and shouted at me. One policeman drew his finger across his throat. They would all say 'You're going back, we'll be sending you back' and point at me and laugh. At the detention centre they locked me in a room by myself. I didn't know anyone. I was very scared I was to be sent back to Afghanistan. I would rather die."/ppThe number of unaccompanied child asylum seekers arriving in the UK is dropping – from 3,645 in 2007 to 1,277 in 2011 – but no one knows why./ppJudith Dennis, advocacy officer at the Refugee Council and author of the report, admitted the detention of children on the grounds that their age was in question had not changed, but said that establishing someone's age was not easy. "It's a difficult task but we should be erring on the side of caution. The official guidelines for unaccompanied children state they should not be detained unless 'their physical appearance and/or demeanour very strongly indicates that they are significantly over 18'./pp"That is clearly not what's happening. All children should be referred to a social worker so that a proper assessment can be made. It's not something you can decide in a few minutes, and I think it's quite worrying this is what seems to be happening in a lot of cases./pp"Given that it's well established the harm the experience of being locked up can and has caused children, and that the government has accepted it's unacceptable to lock up children, why are we not taking this more seriously?"/ppHashi Syedain, of the independent monitoring board at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre, said the problem was serious. "It bears repeating again and again – in 2012 the UK is locking up children in Harmondsworth in what is effectively an adult male prison. They can remain there for weeks on end because the system doesn't care enough to stop it happening./pp"It is true that some young people who are over 18 claim to be younger in the hope of being allowed to stay in the UK, but this does not excuse the UK Border Agency's failure to prevent children from ending up in detention./pp"Another year passes in which nothing changes and children continue to find themselves in detention. It is not good enough."/ppFor Faisal, the intervention of Refugee Council workers meant he is at college and living in semi-independent hostel accommodation, but the trauma of his teenage years is far from over. When he turns 18 he may still be sent back to Afghanistan. "I try to study, but it's hard to think of the future," he said. "I feel very hopeless. I'm scared they will come for me and put me back in detention or deport me. I cannot go back to Afghanistan. If I had not left I would have been dead. If I go back, I will die."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/immigration"Immigration and asylum/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/children"Children/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/tracymcveigh"Tracy McVeigh/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

pAn auto-tuned hip-hop extravaganza starring Alastair Campbell, Charlotte Church, Hugh Grant, Rupert Murdoch, Kelvin MacKenzie and many more/pbr/p style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/9140?ns=guardianpageName=Chen+Guangcheng+has+left+China+for+US%2C+say+airport+staff%3AArticle%3A1747852ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Chen+Guangcheng%2CChina+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CWorld+news%2CAsia+Pacific+%28News%29%2CHuman+rights%2CLawc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=12-May-19c8=1747852c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FChen+Guangcheng" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"US state department confirms Chinese activist and his family have left Beijing on flight for Newark, New Jersey/ppChen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist whose escape from a rural village set off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington, has left China on a flight to the United States with his family, according to US officials./pp/ppA woman at the United Airlines counter at Beijing airport told Reuters that Chen's luggage was checked in for the flight to Newark, New Jersey, and he was later seen on the flight by reporters./pp/ppA spokeswoman for the US state department confirmed the departure of Chen and his family. "We are looking forward to his arrival in the United States later today. We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr Chen's desire to study in the US and pursue his goals," she said./pp/ppEarlier, Chen told the Associated Press that he had left hospital and was at the Beijing airport. He said his wife and two children were with him but they did not yet have their passports. Also with him were hospital and border control staff./pp/ppChen escaped illegal house arrest in his rural town last month and sought the protection of US diplomats. He had been awaiting permission to travel to the US to study./pp/ppThe departure of Chen, his wife and two children seemed hastily arranged and entirely orchestrated by Chinese and American officials with no apparent input from the activist./pp/ppChen said he was informed at the hospital just before noon Saturday to pack his bags and get ready to leave. Officials did not give him and his family passports or inform them of their flight details until after they got to the airport./pp/ppSeeming ambivalent, Chen said he was "not happy" about leaving and that he had a lot on his mind, including worries about retaliation against his extended family back home./pp/pp"I hope that the government will fulfil the promises it made to me, all of its promises," Chen said. Such promises included launching an investigation into abuses against him and his family in Shandong province, he said before the phone call was cut off./pp/ppThe departure of Chen and his family would mark the removal of a sticking point in already difficult US-China relations that have been marred by China's handling of human rights. The US embassy was not immediately available for comment./pp/ppNicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch said Chen's departure would be no cause for celebration as his family were still under pressure and there might be less incentive for the central government to investigate wrongdoing by local authorities. More importantly, Bequelin said, it raised questions about the wider environment for activists./pp/pp"This is a reflection of the fact that there is no room for human rights defenders in China. We don't know if this will turn into a temporary stay or exile, but in either case, it begs the questions why someone like Chen Guangcheng cannot freely operate in China. What is it that stops the authorities from tolerating or even embracing someone like Chen?"/pp/ppThe development came about three weeks after Chen arrived at the Chaoyang hospital from the US embassy, where he had taken refuge after a dramatic escape from 19 months under house arrest in his home village./pp/ppIn 2006 Chen was sentenced to more than four years in jail on charges – vehemently denied by his wife and lawyers – that he whipped up a crowd that disrupted traffic and damaged property./pp/ppHe was formally released in 2010 but remained under strict house arrest in his home village in north-eastern Shandong province, which officials turned into a fortress of walls, security cameras and guards in plain clothes who kept Chen isolated./pp/ppThe village of Dongshigu, where Chen's mother and other relatives remain, is still under lockdown./pp/ppThe US embassy had earlier thought it had struck a deal to allow Chen to stay in China without retribution, but that fell apart as Chen grew worried about his family's safety. He changed his mind about staying in China and asked to travel to the United States./pp/ppHuman rights are a major factor in relations between China and the United States, even though the US needs China's help on issues such as Iran, North Korea, Sudan and the fragile global economy./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chen-guangcheng"Chen Guangcheng/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/asia-pacific"Asia Pacific/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/79438?ns=guardianpageName=Chen+Guancheng+at+Beijing+airport+waiting+to+leave+for+US%3AArticle%3A1747836ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Chen+Guangcheng%2CChina+%28News%29%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CHuman+rights%2CWorld+news%2CProtest+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=12-May-19c8=1747836c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FChen+Guangcheng" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Blind activist at centre of diplomatic storm says he and family expect to fly out once Chinese officials bring them passports/ppChen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist whose escape from a rural village set off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington, says he is at an airport waiting to leave for the United States./ppChen told the Associated Press that he had left hospital and was at the Beijing airport. He was expecting to leave for the US later on Saturday./ppHe said his wife and two children were with him but they did not yet have their passports. Also with him were hospital and border control staff./ppChen escaped illegal house arrest in his rural town last month and sought the protection of US diplomats. He had been awaiting permission to travel to the US to study./ppThe US state department has said US visas for Chen, his wife and children are ready for them to travel to America./ppThe departure of Chen and his family would mark the removal of a sticking point in already difficult US-China relations that have been marred by China's handling of human rights. The US embassy was not immediately available for comment./ppNicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch said Chen's departure would be no cause for celebration as his family were still under pressure and there might be less incentive for the central government to investigate wrongdoing by local authorities. More importantly, Bequelin said, it raised questions about the wider environment for activists./pp"This is a reflection of the fact that there is no room for human rights defenders in China. We don't know if this will turn into a temporary stay or exile, but in either case, it begs the questions why someone like Chen Guangcheng cannot freely operate in China. What is it that stops the authorities from tolerating or even embracing someone like Chen?"/ppChen told Reuters by telephone: "I'm at the airport now. I've already left the hospital. But there are many things that are still unclear./pp"Yes, I might be heading for a flight to the United States, but I haven't been told, and I haven't received our passports, so I'm not sure yet. We're waiting to find out what's happening."/ppThe development came about three weeks after Chen arrived at the Chaoyang hospital from the US embassy, where he had taken refuge after a dramatic escape from 19 months under house arrest in his home village./ppIn 2006 Chen was sentenced to more than four years in jail on charges – vehemently denied by his wife and lawyers – that he whipped up a crowd that disrupted traffic and damaged property.br / br /He was formally released in 2010 but remained under strict house arrest in his home village in north-eastern Shandong province, which officials turned into a fortress of walls, security cameras and guards in plain clothes who kept Chen isolated.br / br /The village of Dongshigu, where Chen's mother and other relatives remain, is still under lockdown.br / br /The US embassy had earlier thought it had stuck a deal to allow Chen to stay in China without retribution, but that fell apart as Chen grew worried about his family's safety. He changed his mind about staying in China and asked to travel to the United States. /ppHuman rights are a major factor in relations between China and the United States, even though the US needs China's help on issues such as Iran, North Korea, Sudan and the fragile global economy./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chen-guangcheng"Chen Guangcheng/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest"Protest/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/93617?ns=guardianpageName=Fury+as+Quebec+passes+law+to+stifle+student+protests%3AArticle%3A1747832ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Canada+%28News%29%2CProtest+%28News%29%2CHuman+rights%2CLaw%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Society%2CNorth+America+Travelc6=Associated+Press+in+Montrealc7=12-May-19c8=1747832c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FCanada" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Canadian province's government accused of 'murdering the right to demonstrate' in response to months of turmoil/ppQuebec's provincial government has passed an emergency law restricting demonstrations and shutting some universities as the government seeks to end three months of protests against tuition fee increases. Outraged students reacted by calling it an act of war./ppAmong the provisions of the law, which passed 68-48 on Friday, is a requirement that police be informed eight hours before a protest and told the route of any demonstration that includes 50 or more people./ppHours after the vote thousands of protesters marched in downtown Montreal to condemn the legislation, which students and supporters say limits their ability to demonstrate their disapproval of the fee hikes. "They pulled the plug instead of trying to develop something constructive through talks, " said participant Felix Siry, 22. "I think this will just make things worse."/ppPolice officers in riot gear and others on horseback watched as the loud and energetic crowd made its way downtown, chanting: "No special law will break us!"/ppMolotov cocktails were thrown causing police to declare the demonstration illegal. Police used pepper spray and one man was arrested. Some people threw objects at a small group of helmeted police who were forced to retreat but charged back firing teargas./ppThe crowd was much larger than the hundreds who gathered on Thursday night as the government introduced the bill to quell the most sustained student protests in Canadian history. On Wednesday protesters smashed windows and more than 120 people were arrested. Both police and protesters were injured./ppThe city of Montreal passed its own ordinance banning protesters wearing masks during demonstrations, levying fines between $500 and $3,000. The city said demonstrators would have to provide details of their itineraries beforehand. Rights groups have protested that it is a restriction on their democratic right to demonstrate./ppOfficials have said they believe protesters wearing masks have been causing the most trouble. A similar bylaw was under consideration in Quebec City./pp"Our cities can no longer become targets," said the Montreal mayor, Gerald Tremblay. "It's time to reclaim our streets, our neighborhoods, our cities."/ppThe Quebec premier, Jean Charest, said the provincial legislation would not roll back the tuition hikes of $254 per year over seven years. Rather, it would temporarily halt the spring semester at schools paralysed by walkouts and bring forward the summer holidays. Classes would resume earlier in August./ppThe law imposes harsh fines on protesters who block students from attending classes – from $1,000 to $5,000 for a student, $7,000 to $35,000 for a student leader and between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations if someone is prevented from entering an educational institution./ppThe Quebec Bar Association said it had serious concerns about fundamental freedoms being abridged and the scale of the restraints was unjustified./ppPauline Marois, leader of the opposition Parti Quebecois, said it was "one of the darkest days of Quebec democracy" and demanded Charest hold elections because of the unpopularity of the law./ppStudent leaders reacted angrily. Martine Desjardins blamed the government for "letting the conflict deteriorate" and said it was seeking to "drown the conflict in the tribunals". Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois called the law the "murder of the right to demonstrate". He said his group would challenge the law before the courts and called on protesters to take part in a march in great numbers next Tuesday, which will mark the 100th day of protests./ppThe education minister, Michelle Courchesne, said before the vote that despite the legislation talks would go on and an agreement could still be reached with the students. "Even if there is a special legislation tonight, tomorrow, there can still be an agreement after the law," she said./ppShe said the law did not prevent students protesting and she remained open to dialogue with them./ppThe conflict has caused considerable social upheaval in the French-speaking province known for having more contentious protests than elsewhere in Canada and traditionally the country's the lowest tuition rates./ppThe US consulate in Montreal has warned visitors and US expatriates to be careful because of the demonstrations./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/canada"Canada/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest"Protest/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/24062?ns=guardianpageName=Inside+Halden%2C+the+most+humane+prison+in+the+world%3AArticle%3A1746720ch=Societyc3=Guardianc4=Prisons+and+probation+%28Society%29%2CLaw%2CCriminal+justice+UK+%28Law%29%2CSociety%2CNorway+%28news%29%2CEurope+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Societyc6=Amelia+Gentlemanc7=12-May-18c8=1746720c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=Societyc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FSociety%2FPrisons+and+probation" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Amelia Gentleman visits Halden, the high-security jail in Norway where every cell has a flatscreen TV, an en-suite shower and fluffy, white towels/ppHalden prison smells of freshly brewed coffee. It hits you in the workshop areas, lingers in the games rooms and in the communal apartment-style areas where prisoners live together in groups of eight. This much coffee makes you hungry, so a couple of hours after lunch the guards on Unit A (a quiet, separated wing where sex offenders are held for their own protection) bring inmates a tall stack of steaming, heart-shaped waffles and pots of jam, which they set down on a checked tablecloth and eat together, whiling away the afternoon./ppThe other remarkable thing is how quiet the prison is. There isn't any of the enraged, persistent banging of doors you hear in British prisons, not least because the prisoners are not locked up much during the day. The governor, Are Høidal, is surprised when I ask about figures for prisoner attacks on guards, staff hospitalisations, guard restraints on prisoners, or prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. Inbsp;explain that British prisons are required to log this data, and that the last prison I visited had anbsp;problem with prisoners melting screws into plastic pens, to use as stabbing weapons; he looks startled, says there isn't much violence here and he can't remember the last time there was a fight./ppHalden is one of Norway's highest-security jails, holding rapists, murderers and paedophiles. Since it opened two years ago, at a cost of 1.3bnnbsp;Norwegian kroner (£138m), it has acquired a reputation as the world's most humane prison. It is the flagship of the Norwegian justice system, where the focus is onnbsp;rehabilitation rather thannbsp;punishment./ppThere was early speculation that a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/anders-behring-breivik" title=""Anders Breivik/a, currently on trial in Oslo for the murder of 77 people, might end up here, given that there are few high-security options across Norway, but that now looks unlikely, at least for the first chunk of his sentence. If he is judged to be sane, he will probably remain in isolation in the Ila prison where he is currently being held, a former Nazi concentration camp with a less utopian vision. However, the underlying ethos of Halden prison gives an insight into Norwegian attitudes towards justice, one that is under scrutiny as the country assesses how to deal with Breivik./ppWhen Halden opened, it attracted attention globally for its design and its relative splendour. Set in a forest, the prison blocks are a model of minimalist chic. Høidal lifts down from his office wall a framed award for best interior design, anbsp;prize given in recognition of the stylishness of the white laminated tables, tangerine leather sofas and elegant, skinny chairs dotted all over the place. At times, the environment feels more Scandinavian boutique hotel than class A prison./ppThe hotel comparison comes up frequently. Høidal is just back from visiting a British prison and had to stay a night in a hotel off Oxford Street. Happily for the hotel, he can't remember the name, but he noticed his room was certainly smaller and probably less nice than the cells in Halden. Every Halden cell has a flatscreen television, its own toilet (which, unlike standard UK prison cells, also has a door) and a shower, which comes with large, soft, white towels. Prisoners have their own fridges, cupboards and desks in bright new pine, white magnetic pinboards and huge, unbarred windows overlooking mossy forest scenery./pp"There was much focus on the design," Høidal says. "We wanted it to be light and positive."/ppObviously the hotel comparison is a stupid one, since the problem with being in prison, unlike staying in a hotel, is that you cannot leave. Even ifnbsp;the prison compound has more in common with anbsp;modern, rural university campus, with young and enthusiastic staff (who push themselves around the compound on fashionable, silver two-wheel scooters), the key point about it is that hidden behind the silver birch trees is anbsp;thick, tall concrete wall, impossible to scale./ppGiven the constraints of needing to keep 245 high-risk people incarcerated, creating an environment that was as unprisonlike as possible was a priority for Høidal and the prison's architects. "The architecture is not like other prisons," Høidal says. "We felt it shouldn't look like a prison. We wanted to create normality. If you can't see the wall, this could be anything, anywhere. The life behind the walls should be as much like life outside the walls as possible."/ppThis principle is governed in part by a key feature of the Norwegian sentencing system, which has no life sentences and stipulates anbsp;maximum term of 21 years./pp"Everyone who is imprisoned inside Norwegian prisons will be released – maybe not Breivik, but everyone else will go back to society. We look at what kind of neighbour you want to have when they come out. If you stay in a box for a few years, then you are not a good person when you come out. If you treat them hard… well, we don't think that treating them hard will make them anbsp;better man. We don't think about revenge in the Norwegian prison system. We have much more focus on rehabilitation. It is a long time since we had fights between inmates. It is this building that makes softer people."/ppPrisoners are unlocked at 7.30am and locked up for the night at 8.30pm. During the day they are encouraged to attend work and educational activities, with a daily payment of 53 kroner (£5.60) for those who leave their cell. "If you havenbsp;very few activities, your prisoners become more aggressive," Høidal says. "If they are sitting all day, I don't think that is so good for a person. Ifnbsp;they are busy, then they are happier. We try notnbsp;to let them get institutionalised."/ppThe role of the prison guard is very different from that in the UK. While officers in Britain get a few weeks' training, Norwegians will have completed a two-year university course, with an emphasis on human rights, ethics and the law. Atnbsp;Halden there are 340 staff members (including teachers and healthcare workers) to the 245 male inmates. Staff are encouraged to mingle with inmates, talking to them, counselling them, working with them to combat their criminality. A great deal of attention is given to making sure people have homes and jobs to go to when they leave, and that family ties are maintained. (There is a well-stocked chalet-style house for prisoners to receive overnight visits from their families.) "We have many more prison officers than prisoners. They are talking about why they are here, what problems got them into this criminality. Our role is to help them and to guard them. The prison governor role in Norway is unique. They are meant to be coach, motivator, anbsp;role model for the inmates."/ppThe regime is expensive – approximately 3,000 kroner (£320) a night, compared with around 2,000 (£213) at the more basic, older Norwegian institutions, such as the Oslo prison where inmates are often locked up for 23 out of 24 hours, but it is cheaper than Ila, where the guard count is higher and the cost 4,000 kroner (£426) a night. A year in Halden costs the state around £116,000, while the average cost of a place in the UK is £45,000./ppCost is only one of the reasons prison reformers in the UK don't think there's any prospect of the Halden model being adopted here. We have double the number of prisoners that Norway has (around 140 per 100,000 in England and Wales, to Norway's 74.8), and having a smaller prison population makes things simpler for the Norwegian state. Halden is so new, there are no figures yet for how swiftly and frequently prisoners drift back into prison after their release, but nationwide Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in Europe, just 20% after two years, compared with around 50% in England. Partly that's down to the prison system, but it's also the result of a much better welfare system. There is little popular appetite for softening the prison regime in this country. The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, may have stated, "It is just very, very bad value for taxpayers' money to keep warehousing them in overcrowded prisons where most of them get toughened up", but his early commitment to tackling rising prison numbers was not well-received./ppThe large amount of money and thought lavished on inmates at Halden doesn't stop them (politely) expressing their dislike of the place and their desire to leave as soon as possible. Annbsp;elderly prisoner, with terminal cancer, serving a long sentence for drug smuggling, is in the craft room, crocheting a toy teddy bear with no enthusiasm for his task. He concedes that Halden smells better than other prisons he has been in, because it doesn't have the mildewed odour of the old buildings, or the deep stench of bodies squeezed together in close confinement. "The only thing that is nice is the building," he says. "People think that you are staying in a five-star hotel, but prison is prison. They lock you up."/ppKent, a 43-year-old office manager serving anbsp;three-year sentence for a violent attack, is sitting in the prison's mixing studio, where prisoners record music and make a programme that is broadcast monthly by the local radio station. He has formed a band with three other inmates and two guards, and performs regularly for fellow inmates. Leaning back in his swivel chair, sipping at his coffee and fiddling with his red baseball cap, he admits he's enjoying being able to focus on his music, but says, "The Halden prison has been compared to the finest hotel. That's the impression my friends and parents have from reading the papers. It is not true. The real issue is freedom, which is taken away from you. That is the worst thing that can happen to you. When the door slams at night, you're sat there in a small room. That's always a tough time."/ppHe has children aged 10 and 12. "I think about them 24/7. I speak to them three times a week for 30 minutes, but there is so much to say, so much Inbsp;need to be doing for them. I think I'm never going to commit another crime. Freedom means so much to me."/ppThere is some annoyance from staff at the focus on the buildings, rather than on the principle of rehabilitation that drives the prison. "One politician when it opened said, 'I could live here for a year, no problem.' But he was in the cell for two minutes," says Janne Offerdal, who teaches English to the inmates (mainly to foreign nationals caught smuggling drugs into the country; the Norwegian prisoners all speak impeccable English). "They compare the facilities with the elderly prisons. But if you are building a new building now, you wouldn't build an old one."/ppHøidal is bemused by the popular fascination with the prisoners' flatscreen TVs, pointing out that it's now impossible to buy the older models. "I don't call the cells luxurious. It's 10 square metres, a toilet, a shower, that's all."/ppNo one is thrilled to arrive here. The reception officer explains that the most positive reaction is one of relief. When they are brought in, "some of them are crying," he says. "They don't know what they're going to do with their dog. There are aggressive people who are high on drugs, or withdrawing from drugs, which is not always easy to deal with. It's only the older guys who've been in other prisons who are happy to be in Halden."/ppAs we walk around the compound, an inmate comes up to ask Høidal, "Can we have anbsp;swimming pool?" He laughs, and remembers the shock of a Russian prison governor who visited recently and was horrified to see that the inmates didn't stand to attention when Høidal came past but instead clustered around him, seizing the chance to list their complaints./ppThere are no plans for a swimming pool, but Høidal does want to make a jogging track through the woods, and a young sports teacher (who is working on specialised programmes for recovering drug addicts) says he hopes to start rock climbing lessons in the summer./ppI wonder if it's a good idea to teach inmates how to scale rock faces, but he responds with hurt amazement. "There would be no security risk. Inbsp;wouldn't be teaching them how to escape." Sonbsp;far there have been no escapes, or attempts./ppThe sports centre is focused on team sports, especially football. There are a few bits of training equipment, but no weights, because Høidal doesn't approve of them: "I see the negative of focusing too much on muscles. It is a violent thing."/ppThe inmates tell Høidal they're annoyed by recent changes to the routine, but they are respectful when they address him. He listens politely, agrees that in prison minor irritations can become major frustrations, but remarks that people outside the building would laugh at the trivial nature of their complaints./ppIn the winter, when the compound was covered in snow, one of the inmates went outside and stamped around for a while. Looking out from the staff canteen later, guards noticed he'd written Help Me with his footprints. A UK prisoner might set fire to his cell; even these appeals for attention are done in the most non-aggressive manner./ppI see only one piece of prisoner graffiti, a rather half-hearted scribble on an A4 printed notice (to avoid causing permanent damage): "Fuck the rules" (only the pen has stopped working, so all that's really legible is Fuck the r). Otherwise, there is the prison-sanctioned graffiti, the recurring logo of a convict in striped uniform, apparently about to hurl his ball and chain to the wind, which decorates the yard walls and toilet doors, and was commissioned at considerable expense from the Norwegian graffiti artist a href="http://www.dolk.no/" title=""Dolk/a, out of the prison's 6m kroner (£640,000) art budget./ppHuge, blown-up photographs of daffodils, Parisian street scenes or Moroccan tiles cover the corridors. Høidal doesn't have a clear answer to whether the pictures have a positive effect on inmate behaviour, but says that whenever a state building is opened in Norway, 1% of the construction budget goes on art./ppOne wild-eyed ex-amphetamine addict slaps Høidal on the back, tells him he is a good man, but says he misses his old prison, Oslo, where he served an earlier sentence. Drugs were more of a problem in that jail, he adds wistfully. Høidal agrees that the style of Halden prison, with the relentless presence of guards wanting to talk and help inmates, does not suit everyone. "Some people don't like them being around all the time. If you want drugs, then you prefer Oslo prison."/ppAnother prisoner, living in the relative seclusion of Unit A, where he is a year into a sentence for sexual abuse of a minor, pays tribute to the humanity of the prison staff (as opposed to that of the fellow prisoners, who, when they found out what he was in prison for, announced they were going to dismember him). "The people who work here don't look down on you," he says. Compared with the 1850s Eidsberg prison, where he was before, Halden is a relief: "Being there and being here, it's like heaven and hell."/ppTwo prison officers are sitting with the eight prisoners on A-block, encouraging them to knit woollen hats. One also has expensive oil canvases for them to experiment with, but there isn't much appetite for either activity, so once the waffles are finished, they return to playing a card game./ppThe civility between staff and inmates is noticeable everywhere. Information for new inmates is translated into English for those who do not speak Norwegian. The text is apologetic about the possibility that they may have to wait before they are transferred to a cell, and concludes: "We hope you have understanding for any waiting and hope to help you as soon as possible. With best regards, the reception officers."/ppMaybe I'm not there long enough to sense latent anger or profound despair, but Halden doesn't feel like a place where you have to look over your shoulder. An official in the healthcare division says up to 40% of inmates will be taking sleeping pills, and between 10% and 20% are on anti-depressants, but overall the atmosphere is calm./ppThough food is provided by the prison, inmates can buy ingredients to make their own meals. The prison shop has wasabi paste for those who want to make sushi. You can buy garam masala, vanilla pods or halva, and there is prime fillet of beef at 350 kroner (£37) a kilo, which prisoners club together to buy when they want to make a special meal. The most frequently borrowed books in the library are cookbooks. Most prisoners' fridges are full of yoghurt drinks and cheeses; a couple say they've put on weight since they arrived./ppAt 3pm, a table is set for 10, with white china plates, glasses and white paper napkins, in the drug rehabilitation unit, where Robert, 45 and an ex-addict and dealer, is living. Some prisoners are sitting on the brown woollen sofas watching the communal television. It looks like an advertisement for a family ski-chalet, complete with beautiful forest views. This is the main meal of the day; afterwards, between four and five prisoners will be locked in their cells for an hour to give the prison guards time for a break, then there will be free time until lock-up at 8.30pm./ppOccasionally the prisoners talk of the Breivik trial, which is closely followed on television. On the whole they don't believe the liberal regime from which they benefit should be extended to him. "He couldn't stay in a place like this," Robert says. "If I saw him, I would knock him down. I'm a nice prisoner but I would do it and I would brag about it. Everybody wants to take him out."/ppA fellow inmate, Patrick, serving a 12-year sentence for drug smuggling, was one of two prisoners who organised a prison-wide collection to buy flowers for the victims of Breivik's attack. Everyone gave up their daily wage of 53 kroner (£5.60); even the prime minister was moved by the gesture. "It was horrible, the thing that happened, and we felt helpless," Patrick says. "We wanted to do something. I was surprised that it got so much media attention; I was surprised that people thought, 'You're prisoners, but you are so nice.' We are also human beings. We also have daughters, sisters, children."/ppHøidal says, with some relief, that if Breivik is ever transferred to Halden, it won't be for at least a decade, by which point he will have retired. Although special arrangements may have to be made for the first stage of Breivik's incarceration, he believes the Norwegian principles of fair and liberal punishment will not be threatened by the atrocity. In the days after the attack, the Norwegian prime minister, a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Stoltenberg" title=""Jens Stoltenberg/a, said, "We are shaken but we will not give up our values. Our response is more freedom, more democracy."/ppHøidal echoes his words: "If it happens again, then maybe we will have another discussion about the system. For the moment, I don't think that this case will change Norwegian thinking."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/prisons-and-probation"Prisons and probation/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/criminal-justice"UK criminal justice/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/norway"Norway/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news"Europe/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/ameliagentleman"Amelia Gentleman/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/70084?ns=guardianpageName=How+the+poor+are+made+to+pay+for+their+poverty+%7C+Barbara+Ehrenreich%3AArticle%3A1747779ch=Comment+is+freec3=GU.co.ukc4=Poverty+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CUS+news%2CUS+economy+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business+sector%29%2CLaw%2CUS+politicsc5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUS+Elections%2CCharities%2CUS+Economy%2CInvestments+%26+Savingsc6=Barbara+Ehrenreichc7=12-May-18c8=1747779c9=Articlec10=Commentc11=Comment+is+freec13=Guardian+Comment+Networkc25=CIF+America+%28Blog%29%2CComment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FCif+America" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Even the government now has discovered that pauperising people who already have little can still be a profitable business/ppIndividually, the poor are not too tempting to thieves, for obvious reasons. Mug a banker and you might score a wallet containing a month's rent. Mug a janitor and you will be lucky to get away with bus fare to flee the crime scene. But as Businessweek a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_21/b4035001.htm"helpfully pointed out/a in 2007, the poor emin aggregate/em provide a juicy target for anyone depraved enough to make a business of stealing from them./ppThe trick is to rob them in ways that are systematic, impersonal, and almost impossible to trace to individual perpetrators. Employers, for example, can simply program their computers to shave a few dollars off each paycheck, or they can require workers to show up 30 minutes or more before the time clock starts ticking./ppLenders, including major credit companies as well as payday lenders, have taken over the traditional role of the street-corner loan shark, charging the poor insanely high rates of interest. When supplemented with late fees (themselves subject to interest), the resulting effective interest rate can be as high as 600% a year, which is perfectly legal in many states./ppIt's not just the private sector that's preying on the poor. Local governments are discovering that they can partially make up for declining tax revenues through fines, fees, and other costs imposed on indigent defendants, often for crimes no more dastardly than driving with a suspended license. And if that seems like an inefficient way to make money, given the high cost of locking people up, a growing number of jurisdictions have taken to a href="http://prospect.org/article/permanent-lockdown-0"charging defendants /a for their court costs and even the price of occupying a jail cell./ppThe poster case for government persecution of the down-and-out would have to be Edwina Nowlin, a homeless Michigan woman who was a href="http://aclumich.org/issues/due-process/2009-03/1353"jailed in 2009/a for failing to pay $104 a month to cover the room-and-board charges for her 16-year-old son's incarceration. When she received a back paycheck, she thought it would allow her to pay for her son's jail stay. Instead, it was confiscated and applied to the cost of her own incarceration./ppstrongGovernment joins the looters of the poor/strong/ppYou might think that policymakers would take a keen interest in the amounts that are stolen, coerced, or extorted from the poor, but there are no official efforts to track such figures. Instead, we have to turn to independent investigators, like Kim Bobo, author of a ref="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595587179/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"Wage Theft in America/a, who estimates that wage theft nets employers at least $100bn a year and possibly twice that. As for the profits extracted by the lending industry, Gary Rivlin, who wrote a ref="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061733202/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"Broke USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc – How the Working Poor Became Big Business/a, says the poor pay an effective surcharge of about $30bn a year for the financial products they consume and more than twice that if you include sub-prime credit cards, sub-prime auto loans, and sub-prime mortgages./ppThese are not, of course, trivial amounts. They are on the same order of magnitude as major public programs for the poor. The government distributes about $55bn a year, for example, through the largest single cash-transfer program for the poor, the a ref="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/key-elements/family/eitc.cfm"Earned Income Tax Credit/a; at the same time, employers are siphoning off emtwice that amount/em, if not more, through wage theft./ppAnd while government generally turns a blind eye to the tens of billions of dollars in exorbitant interest that businesses charge the poor, it is notably chary with public benefits for the poor. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, for example, our sole remaining nationwide welfare program, a ref="www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/other_resrch/tanf_ccdf/reports/broader_safety.pdf"gets only (pdf)/a $26bn a year in state and federal funds. The impression is left of a public sector that's totally self-contradictory: on the one hand, offering safety net programs for the poor; on the other, enabling large scale private sector theft from the very people it is supposedly trying to help./ppAt the local level though, government is increasingly opting to join in the looting. In 2009, a year into the Great Recession, I first started hearing complaints from community organizers about ever more aggressive levels of law enforcement in low-income areas. Flick a cigarette butt and a ref="http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/78726172.html?storySection=comments"get arrested/a for littering; empty your pockets for an officer conducting a stop-and-frisk operation and get cuffed for a few flakes of marijuana. Each of these offenses can result, at a minimum, in a three-figure fine./ppAnd the number of possible criminal offenses leading to jail and/or fines has been multiplying recklessly. All across the country – from California and Texas to Pennsylvania – counties and municipalities have been toughening laws against truancy and ratcheting up enforcement, sometimes going so far as to handcuff children found on the streets during school hours. In New York City, it's now a crime to put your feet up on a subway seat, even if the rest of the car is empty, and a South Carolina woman spent six days in jail when she was unable to pay a $480 fine for the a ref="rt.com/usa/news/jail-ruggles-pay-lawn-765/"crime/a of having a "messy yard". Some cities – most recently, Houston and Philadelphia – have made it a crime to share food with indigent people in public places./ppBeing poor itself is not yet a crime, but in at least a third of the states, being in debt can now land you a ref="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28176.htm"in jail/a. If a creditor like a landlord or credit card company has a court summons issued for you and you fail to show up on your appointed court date, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. And it is easy enough to miss a court summons, which may have been delivered to the wrong address or, in the case of some bottom-feeding bill collectors, simply tossed in the garbage – a practice so common that the industry even has a term for it: "sewer service". In a sequence that National Public Radio a ref="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143274773/unpaid-bills-land-some-debtors-behind-bars"reports/a is "increasingly common", a person is stopped for some minor traffic offense – having a noisy muffler, say, or broken brake light – at which point, the officer discovers the warrant and the unwitting offender is whisked off to jail./ppstrongLocal governments as predators/strong/ppEach of these crimes, neo-crimes, and pseudo-crimes carries financial penalties as well as the threat of jail time, but the amount of money thus extracted from the poor is fiendishly hard to pin down. No central agency tracks law enforcement at the local level, and local records can be almost willfully sketchy./ppAccording to one of the few recent nationwide estimates, from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 10.5m misdemeanors were committed in 2006. No one would risk estimating the average financial penalty for a misdemeanor, although the experts I interviewed all affirmed that the amount is typically in the "hundreds of dollars". If we take an extremely lowball $200 per misdemeanor, and bear in mind that 80-90% of criminal offenses are committed by people who are officially indigent, then local governments are using law enforcement to extract, or attempt to extract, at least $2bn a year from the poor./ppAnd that is only a small fraction of what governments would like to collect from the poor. Katherine Beckett, a sociologist at the University of Washington, estimates that "deadbeat dads" (and moms) a ref="www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/JLPP/upload/Patterson.pdf"owe (pdf)/a $105bn in back child-support payments, about half of which is owed to state governments as reimbursement for prior welfare payments made to the children. Yes, parents have a moral obligation to their children, but the great majority of child-support debtors are indigent./ppAttempts to collect from the already-poor can be vicious and often, one would think, self-defeating. Most states a ref="greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/images/R41762_gb.pdf"confiscate/a the drivers' licenses of people owing child support, virtually guaranteeing that they will not be able to work. Michigan just started a ref="http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Michigan_Heightens_Penalty_for_Unpaid_Parking_Tickets_149946485.html"suspending/a the drivers' licenses of people who owe money for parking tickets. Las Cruces, New Mexico, just a ref="http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/37/3774.asp"passed a law/a that punishes people who owe overdue traffic fines by cutting off their water, gas, and sewage./ppOnce a person falls into the clutches of the criminal justice system, we encounter the kind of slapstick sadism familiar to viewers of Wipeout. Many courts impose fees without any determination of whether the offender is able to pay, and the privilege of having a payment plan will itself cost money./ppIn a study of 15 states, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found 14 of them contained jurisdictions that charge a lump-sum "poverty penalty" of up to $300 for those who cannot pay their fees and fines, plus late fees and "collection fees" for those who need to pay over time. If any jail time is imposed, that too may cost money, as the hapless Edwina Nowlin discovered, and the costs of parole and probation are increasingly being passed along to the offender./ppThe predatory activities of local governments give new meaning to that tired phrase "the cycle of poverty". Poor people are far more likely than the affluent to get into trouble with the law, either by failing to pay parking fines or by incurring the wrath of a private sector creditor like a landlord or a hospital./ppOnce you have been deemed a criminal, you can pretty much kiss your remaining assets goodbye. Not only will you face the aforementioned court costs, but you'll have a hard time a ref="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175520/best_of_tomdispatch%3A_michelle_alexander,_the_age_of_obama_as_a_racial_nightmare/"ever finding a job again/a once you've acquired a criminal record. And then, of course, the poorer you become, the more likely you are to get in fresh trouble with the law, making this less like a "cycle" and more like the waterslide to hell. The further you descend, the faster you fall – until you eventually end up on the streets and get busted for an offense like a ref="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175457/barbara_ehrenreich_homeless_in_america"urinating in public/a or sleeping on a sidewalk./ppI could propose all kinds of policies to curb the ongoing predation on the poor. Limits on usury should be reinstated. Theft should be taken seriously even when it's committed by millionaire employers. No one should be incarcerated for debt or squeezed for money they have no chance of getting their hands on. These are no-brainers, and should take precedence over any long term talk about generating jobs or strengthening the safety net./ppBefore we can "do something" for the poor, there are some things we need to stop doing emto/em them./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/poverty"Poverty/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/useconomy"US economy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking"Banking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barbaraehrenreich"Barbara Ehrenreich/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), which has applied for a licence to open in Beijing later this year, will see its former chair Peter Robinson first take up a temporary secondment posting with Tesco in Shanghai.

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/36621?ns=guardianpageName=Sam+Hallam+walked+free%2C+escaping+a+fate+almost+worse+than+death+%7C+Erwin+%3AArticle%3A1747699ch=Comment+is+freec3=GU.co.ukc4=Sam+Hallam%2CUK+news%2CPrisons+and+probation+%28Society%29%2CLaw%2CCriminal+justice+UK+%28Law%29%2CSocietyc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Societyc6=Erwin+Jamesc7=12-May-18c8=1747699c9=Articlec10=Commentc11=Comment+is+freec13=c25=Comment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"I remember living with innocent people in jail. You don't know it at the time, though sometimes there are clues/ppSeeing the pictures of a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/sam-hallam" title=""Sam Hallam/a enjoying his first steps of freedom after being cleared of the 2004 murder of Essayas Kassahun brought back vivid recollections from my own prison experience. Hallam served seven years before evidence emerged proving beyond doubt that he was innocent. But I can imagine how it must have been for him as he trod the landings, first of all at Feltham young offender institution and later in the adult prison system. His case would have been at the forefront of his thoughts, from his waking moment to the seconds before sleep. I doubt he ever slept well./ppFor the seven years he served, the core subject of the majority of his conversations, with fellow prisoners, with staff, with friends and loved ones on visits and in letters would have been his innocence. His supporters – and Hallam had many, a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18097016" title=""including the actor Ray Winstone/a – would have believed him. But on the landings, on the yard and in the workshops it would have been different. During risk assessments by a multitude of prison professionals, all his protestations and rationalisations would have been interpreted as "cognitive distortions". His file would have been stamped, IDOM. In Denial of Murder. As an IDOM, his risk level would have been deemed too high to allow him to progress through the system. If he hadn't been cleared, his prison future would have looked bleaker than the genuinely guilty./ppHis sentence had a beginning, but no middle and no end./ppI remember living with innocent people. You don't know it at the time, though sometimes there are clues. In one high security prison I lived alongside a number of IRA prisoners, one of whom was the highest-ranking IRA officer in British custody at the time. The same prison held three of the a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Six" title=""Birmingham Six/a. I saw how uneasy the IRA men became whenever they encountered any of the three, in the gym or on the yard. It was obvious to any observer that the Birmingham men had no connection with the bombers./ppIn other cases the truth is not so obvious. If someone in a neighbouring cell wants to proclaim his innocence, well that's his business. Inside it's every man for himself. Who is anyone in there to judge anyway? But when someone you've served alongside for years is eventually cleared, the impact is shattering./ppa href="http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/georgelong/index.html" title=""George Long/a was such a man. Good old George, always had a smile and an offer of help whenever it was needed. When the prison chaplain decided to stage a musical for local elderly people in the chapel, George, skilled with arts and crafts, begged, borrowed and, ahem, stole, the raw materials to make the costumes. He worked so hard, often through the night to get everything ready for the show. He said to me once: "I might not supposed to be in here, but while I am I'm going to do some good." Fifteen years on, George got his shout at the court of appeal and his conviction for murder was quashed. a href="http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/johnroberts/" title=""John Roberts/a was another. In his early 20s he too was convicted of murder. I used to sit next to him in the braille transcription workshop. Every day he told me and others he was innocent. "My mum knows I didn't do it," he'd say, "She'll never give up on me." Sure enough and again after 15 years I opened a newspaper one day to see a picture of John on the steps of the appeal court after his conviction was quashed – with his mother at his side./pp"Thank goodness for mothers," I remember thinking./ppWhen a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Downing_case" title=""Stephen Downing/a walked free after 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, I was the last prisoner he spoke to. I worked in the prison reception area. The discomfort of the prison officers who had to administer his release was palpable. Stephen, who had been convicted aged 15 was naturally buoyant. Some months earlier he'd shown me a report from the prison psychologist describing him as "highly dangerous". We shook hands and I wished him good luck just before the big gate slid open and out he strolled. As I watched him go I remember my heart pounding probably almost as hard as his./ppLike anyone should be, I'm glad for Sam Hallam. Murder victims should never be forgotten. But like George, John, Stephen and countless others over the years Sam too was served badly by the justice system and turned into a victim. Being sentenced to life imprisonment is only, to my mind, marginally better than being sentenced to death./ppFor many lifers a death sentence is what it becomes. Sam's release is good news, but we mustn't forget there will be others in there who may never get their shout./pp/pp• Follow Comment is free on Twitter a href="https://twitter.com/#!/commentisfree" title=""@commentisfree/a/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/sam-hallam"Sam Hallam/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/prisons-and-probation"Prisons and probation/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/criminal-justice"UK criminal justice/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/erwinjames"Erwin James/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /