{"id":12998,"date":"2022-10-31T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=12998"},"modified":"2022-10-30T12:24:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T16:24:34","slug":"this-week-in-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/this-week-in-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties-32\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. A long-held but never charged Guantanamo detainee was released, a new lawsuit targets armed groups stationed near ballot drop boxes in Arizona, abortion services restarted in Arizona, and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The U.S. government released a prisoner who was held at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years without charge. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saifullah Paracha, who is now 75 years old, was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/29\/us\/politics\/oldest-prisoner-gitmo-terrorism.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">transferred<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to Pakistan in a secret military mission after months of negotiation. Paracha was accused of being an al-Qaeda sympathizer, but he was never charged with a crime despite being held for two decades. Paracha\u2019s detention is indicative of what are widely-considered <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2022\/01\/guantanamo-bay-ugly-chapter-unrelenting-human-rights-violations-un-experts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">human rights abuses<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> carried out at Guantanamo Bay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Civil rights organization Protect Democracy filed suit against armed \u201cvigilante surveillance\u201d of ballot drop boxes in Arizona.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Brought on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/protectdemocracy.org\/resource-library\/document\/protect-democracys-lawsuit-on-arizona-drop-box-voter-intimidation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">complaint<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> alleges that right wing groups\u2014some tied to the Oath Keepers\u2014have been \u201cactively planning, coordinating, and recruiting for widespread campaigns to surveil and intimidate Arizona voters at ballot drop boxes\u2026and spread[ing] false information about legally valid forms of voting.\u201d The suit is brought under provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Arizona\u2019s abortion ban from 1864 won\u2019t be enforced for now.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The state\u2019s attorney general <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/arizona-agrees-not-enforce-total-abortion-ban-2023-rcna54459\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">agreed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to postpone enforcing the near total ban on abortions until at least next year. Abortions were halted statewide when a trial court judge allowed the ban to go into effect in late September, but the Arizona Court of Appeals <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/appeals-court-reinstates-injunction-blocking-arizona-abortion-ban#:~:text=PHOENIX%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Arizona,state%20Supreme%20Court%20steps%20in.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">issued<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> an injunction against enforcement of the ban earlier this month. With assurance that the state\u2019s attorney general won\u2019t prosecute those performing abortion procedures while the law remains blocked, abortion care services resumed in Arizona on Thursday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Sheriff\u2019s deputies in Ohio were indicted for use of excessive force.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A federal grand jury <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/two-former-pike-county-ohio-sheriff-s-deputies-indicted-using-excessive-force\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">indicted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Jeremy C. Mooney and\u00a0 William Stansberry for violating the unidentified victim&#8217;s constitutional rights. Mooney allegedly repeatedly used pepper spray and struck the victim while they were restrained and not posing a threat. Stansberry allegedly failed to intervene to prevent Mooney\u2019s actions. If convicted, Mooney and Stansberry face a maximum of 10 years imprisonment on each count, a fine of up to $250,000, and a three-year term of supervised release. The Department of Justice\u2019s Civil Rights Division is prosecuting the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed an amicus brief in Moore v. Harper.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Arguments in this case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this December. The case concerns the independent state legislature theory, a fringe legal theory that would give state legislatures near total control over election administration without any checks from state courts. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/21\/21-1271\/244082\/20221026170615311_FINAL%20Moore%20v%20Harper%202022.10.26_245%20PM_A.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">brief<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> filed by LDF <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.naacpldf.org\/press-release\/ldf-files-amicus-brief-in-critical-moore-v-harper-redistricting-case-before-the-u-s-supreme-court\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">argues<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that this theory \u201cdefies the foundational principles of our constitutional democracy, invites unlawful race-based partisan gerrymandering, and must be forcefully rejected.\u201d It further outlines how removing the ability of state courts to review congressional redistricting undermines democratic institutions and the rights of voters of color.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. A long-held but never charged Guantanamo detainee was released, a 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