Jatinder Sandhu
5-4-2014
Soc 122
Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/2/you_might_get_hit_by_a
The FBI has been ramping up efforts to turn Muslim Americans into informants. New information has come forward from some of these Muslims informants that have said they were forced to become informants. If they refused to become informants the FBI made it a goal to ruin their lives. These Americans were harassed, their families harassed, their lives completely destroyed, just because they didn't want to become informants. Naji Mansour was one such American living abroad, he was repeatedly approached by the FBI for information. He took it a step further and recorded such advances, in the recording we hear an FBI agent threatening Naji with getting hit by a car if he refused. From the interview we can tell that the FBI went to extreme lengths to hurt Naji for refusing to assist in their operations. We get a lot of insight into what goes on with these Muslim Americans overseas. A little mistaken run in with someone can lead to the FBI harassing you relentlessly. This case brings up the question: Should we be treating Americans this way?
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/1/lawyer_for_next_oklahoma_prisoner_set
Last week Oklahoma tried to execute a prisoner with a new execution cocktail. While they were administering the cocktail something went wrong and prisoner Clayton Lockett died in agony for over an hour. Immediately after Lockett's execution another execution was planned, however since Lockett's execution failed there was a hold put on Charles Warner's execution. The lawyer for Warner has asked for an independent investigation into what went wrong in Lockett's execution. The two deathrow inmates had asked for a stay of execution, because they believed the execution drugs were not constitutional. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has called for an investigation into what went wrong. Warner's execution was postponed for 14 days to make sure everything is in order. Warner's lawyer believes that the investigation by the government will not be sufficient. They want an independent investigation so there is no bias. This failed execution has brought calls for all executions to be put on hold to determine if the new execution drug cocktail is legal. There is a surprising lack of information coming out of the State of Oklahoma's government regarding the case. They refuse to answer even the most basic request from Warner's lawyers. There are many things that have happened that do not seem legal regarding the execution. Governor Mary Fallin overruled the state Supreme Court's execution stay which many believe was illegal. The original stay of execution was because the court had ruled the drugs were not safe and needed more testing. The State Supreme Court seems to have been bullied into retracting the stay by the Governor. This is why there are calls for an Independent review of everything that has happened so far.
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