Another Blow To Democracy :
Defense Attorney Lynne Stewart Given A 10 Year Prison Sentence

Seventy-year old attorney Lynne Stewart, was resentenced to ten years in prison by Manhattan District Court Judge John Koeltl, after an appeals court ruled that her original twenty-eight month prison term was too light. As the 120 month sentence was pronounced attorney Stewart’s supporters, who packed the large overflow courtroom gasped in disbelief and dismay, sobs were audible. Attorney Stewart, visibly shaken rose slowly “I’m somewhat stunned, Judge, by the swift change in my outlook,” she said. “We will continue to struggle on to take all available options to do what we need to do to change this.” She added: “I feel like I let a lot of my good people down,” to which her numerous supporters responded by calling out their belief in her and pledged ongoing support. The sentence was the latest grim chapter where the government has used attorney Stewart to send a chilling message to the legal community to be wary of representation of defendants whom it distains the views of. We’ll bring you excerpts of the reactions to the resentencing with Stewart’s attorney, family and supporters – who vow to intensify their efforts to Free Lynne Stewart.

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Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
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South and North of the Border
with
Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic & Policy Research, Pres. of Just Foreign Policy, & screen writer of the new Oliver Stone documentary “South of the Border”

Producer Director Oliver Stone and screenwriters Mark Weisbrot and Tariq Ali celebrate the new reality of the independence won by most of the countries of Latin America from U.S. hegemony. They shed new light upon the exciting transformations in the region. We’ll also speak with Mark Weisbrot about developments north of the border and how the U.S. is imposing at home the kind of austerity blood letting that it once reserved for poor indebted countries, including the looming attack on the Social Security Trust Fund which will come when Pres. Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform makes it’s recommendations after the elections.
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Latin American President Responding To International Economic Crisis Advocates Abolition of the International Monetary Fund
with
Rafeal Correa, President of Ecuador

Continuing on our theme of exploring the growing independence ofLatin America from U.S. dominance, Building Bridges brings you high-lights of Ecuadoran President Correa’s presentation on the crisis of global capital, to a packed chamber at the UN at a Conference on economic development. Correa sharply criticized the policies of the International Monetary Fund and went so far as to advocate its abolition. He then proceeded with a sharp critique of capitalism’s relentless drive for profits,

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Fixing A Broken Immigration System: Latino Immigrants Rights Leadership Respond To Obama
with
Oscar Chacon, Executive Director, National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC)
and
Benita Jain, Co-Director, Immigrant Defense Project, New York Univ.

Following the major speech by President Obama on immigration, and in the wake of rising xenophobic and racist attacks against the immigrant populations, immigrant rights advocates critique what is at the core of our current policy - that today’s immigrants pose a threat to the nation, and discuss what a new U.S. immigration law that is humane, fair & visionary should look like.
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Mott’s Applesauce Management Is Rotten To The Core
with
Mike LeBerth, President, Local 220 RWDSU
and
Fred Acevedo, Mott's Worker, Member Local 220

More than 300 workers were forced to strike after being treated like a bunch of rotten apples by overpaid executives like CEO Larry Young who made $6.5 million last year in total compensation. The workers’ contract at the Williamson, N.Y. plant owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple expired April 16 and the company demanded a $1.50 per hour wage cut for all workers, a pension freeze for current employees and elimination of a pension for future employees, decreased employer contributions to the company’s 401(k) retirement plan and increased employee contributions toward health care premiums and co-pays.

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Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!
with
Dylcia Pagan, former Puerto Rican political prisoner, who spent nearly 20 years in prison for her involvement in the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
and
Jan Susler, attorney, distinguished for her work with the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, having represented Puerto Rican political prisoners for over two decades. Served as lead counsel in the efforts culminating in the 1999 presidential commutation of the sentences of 16 Puerto Rican nationalist prisoners

Puerto Rico has endured over 100 years of colonialism by the US. Today it is still a colony that continues vehemently to ask for its basic democratic right of self-determination. Susler discusses the recent hearings on the status of Puerto Rico at the UN Decolonization Committee Hearings on Puerto Rico and Pagan evaluates the status of the Independence Movement and events on the Island now especiallyhighlighing Governor Fortuño's reneging on the deal made with student protesters at the University of Puerto Rico.

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