Gravity Fm

Drafting and Establishing the 5th International Crime Against PeaceDiscussion with Darryl Robinson and Kate Mackintosh on the history of ecocide and the gravity and culpability elements necessary for it to be the fifth international crime against peace. We also discuss the process of establishing ecocide as an international crime, including the process of its adoption by the International Criminal Court. We discuss the differences between the definitions of the independent expert panel of international criminal and environmental jurists and the Promise Institute’s expert working group, which advised the panel. We also discuss the problem of intersecting international criminal and environmental law. Additionally, we discuss salient issues of the ICC, including lack of jurisdiction over corporate actors, lack of dominant state parties and selectivity.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/50

Adam Hochschild's Ghosts of Rapacity and ResistanceDiscussion with Adam Hochschild on the historical movements and moments throughout Adam’s books. We discuss the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the turmoil and anti-immigrant and anti-labour purges in the United States during and after the First World War, apartheid, the Stalinist purges and the Russian people’s attempt to reconcile with this rapacity, the British emancipation movement and King Leopold II’s genocide in the Congo.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/49

The Noxious Nexus of Environmental Destruction, Corruption, Conflict and Human Rights AbuseDiscussion with Patrick Alley on the intersectionality of environmental destruction, human rights abuse, conflict and corruption. We discuss how our banks and institutional funds finance deforestation while concomitantly publicly rallying against it. We discuss greenwashing by the fossil fuels industry and its influence on COP26. We also discuss the intimidation, attacks and murder of frontline environmental defenders. Additionally, we discuss the environmental destruction, corruption and human rights abuses of the palm oil industry in Papa New Guinea.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/48

Democratic Resistance in Hong KongDiscussion with Alex Yong-Kang Chow and Brian Leung on China’s increasing control over Hong Kong and its breaches of the Sino-British Declaration. We discuss the student democratic protests in 2014 and 2019 and the arrest and trials of the protestors. We discuss the enactment and use of the National Security Law to target free speech and the free press. We discuss the ransacking and closure of the June 4th Museum and the prohibition of the Tiananmen Square vigil and attendant arrest of its organizers. We also discuss the Greater Bay Area initiative and the integration of Hong Kong into the mainland, the recent “elections” of the Legislative Council, the utility of Magnitsky sanctions and China’s use of soft power.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/47

Abandoned Australians, Cultural Restitution and Human Rights AccountabilityDiscussion with Geoffrey Robertson QC on how Australia’s COVID response, including its border closure to citizens abroad, has violated human rights and Geoffrey’s petition on behalf of abandoned Australians before the Human Rights Committee. We also discuss the lack of constitutional rights in Australia and the need for a bill of rights. Additionally, we discuss the secret, political trial of barrister Bernard Collaery. We also discuss cultural restitution and the case of the British Museum’s refusal to return the Parthenon sculptures to Greece. Additionally, we discuss the importance of social and economic rights, corporate accountability for human rights, the Magnitsky Act and its adoption by numerous states as a way to target human rights violators.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/46

Cobalt, Chocolate, Blood and Corporate ImpunityDiscussion with Terry Collingsworth on forced child labor in cobalt mines in the DRC and his Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) case against American tech companies which knowingly benefit from the cheap cobalt mined by children. We discuss the legal issues in the case as well as the facts on the ground in the DRC, including the environmental impact of cobalt mining and the maiming and killing of child miners that are lured to extremely hazardous and toxic work in the mines. We also follow from our 2017 episode with Terry, “Chained to Chocolate”, to discuss Terry’s continuing case against Nestlé and other confectionary companies for the knowing use of child slave labor on their cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. We discuss Terry’s TVPRA case and the increase in child enslavement since the filing of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case against Nestlé et. al. as well as the pending ATS decision before the United States Supreme Court. We al

Expanding the Rights Rubric: Adding Rights and Rights Holders for a Good SocietyDiscussion with Sushma Raman on The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights, her book with William F. Schulz. We discuss the need for specific rights to redress the needs of LGBTQIA+ communities and why adding new rights reinforces rather than dilutes traditional human rights. We also discuss the risks posed to our rights by technological advancement, including algorithmic decision-making and CRISPR and how to address these from a rights perspective. Additionally, we discuss the need to view corruption as a human rights violation per se. We also discuss the need to ascribe rights to non-humans, including the environment, AI and a tiered approach to animal rights.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/44

Chevron’s Carious Crusade Against Steven Donziger, SLAPP Suits and the Defense of Climate NecessityDiscussion with Lauren Regan on corporate SLAPP suits and in particular the oil and gas industry’s utilization of RICO against grassroots environmental activists. We also discuss the miscarriages of justice in Chevron’s RICO action against attorney Steven Donziger and the criminal contempt case against Steven, whom Lauren is defending on the criminal contempt charge. Additionally, we discuss Lauren’s defense of the “Valve Turners”, their reasoning behind civil disobedience and Lauren’s establishment in Washington and Minnesota of the climate necessity defense. Finally, we discuss police misconduct and crowd control by private security firms, including at Standing Rock and the way forward for attorneys in supporting and advocating for grassroots activists.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/43

The Need for a Unified, Holistic Approach to Environmental, Animal and Human HealthDiscussion with Professor Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson on anthropogenic ecosystem drivers of disease emergence in wildlife and spillover into the human population. We discuss how habitat destruction, including from changing land use patterns and industrial and agricultural intensification and effects of climate change have contributed to epidemics of zoonotic infections. We also discuss how biodiversity loss leads to disease emergence and transmission of zoonotic viruses. Additionally, we discuss the importance of providing access to better living conditions and healthcare for people at the frontlines of zoonotic infection for proper disease detection and prevention of pandemics. Finally, we discuss the imperative for a unified approach to environmental, animal and human health policies in order to avoid future pandemics.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/42

Regulatory Gaps and Conflicts in the Fertility IndustryDiscussion on regulatory gaps and issues in the fertility industry with Professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone. We discuss the marketing of egg freezing, brokerage of egg donation and surrogacy and issues surrounding informed consent, vulnerability and inequality in the fertility industry. Additionally, we discuss clinic mislabeling mishaps and mistaken implantation, the legal recognition of parental rights and the ownership of embryos when there is conflict over termination and/or implantation. We also discuss disclosure with respect to donors and how to balance the privacy rights of donors and intended parents with the rights of children to know their genealogy.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/41

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, Little Gitmo and Corporate SLAPP SuitsDiscussion on the terrorization of activists and the criminalization of dissent with Rachel Meeropol. We discuss the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, how it may operate to violate the First Amendment and its chilling effect on activism. We also discuss corporate SLAPP suits including Energy Transfer Partner’s suit to bring a RICO claim against environmental activists at Standing Rock and the entire EarthFirst! environmental movement. Additionally, we discuss Communication Management Units, their clandestine opening in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, their draconian communication limitations and their use as political prisons. We also discuss the federal government’s detention and egregious treatment of immigrants with minor infractions suspected and later cleared of terrorism charges based solely on racial and religious profiling. Finally, we discuss the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook and the impact of the recent Supreme Co

Ag-Gag Laws and the First Amendment, Carious CAFOS and the Endangerment of the Endangered Species ActDiscussion with Cristina Stella on the advent and continuance of Ag-gag laws that criminalize undercover reporting at animal enterprises and their violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We also discuss the First Amendment violation of “food censorship” laws that prohibit meat and milk alternatives from using “milk” and “meat” in the name of their products. We discuss humane washing cases and the conditions of animals in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Additionally, we discuss the impact CAFOs have on our public health, the environment and the quality of life of surrounding populations. We also discuss the exemptions CAFOs have obtained from environmental regulations and the current roll-backs to the Endangered Species Act and the pending litigation challenging these.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/39

Democratizing the Colonial Space of International LawDiscussion with Rachel López on the colonial development of international law and its continuing hierarchical structure. We also discuss the duty to refrain from assisting states in committing grave crimes and its interrelation with the responsibility to protect people from grave crimes under international law. Additionally, we discuss the concept of “gravity” as the counterweight to sovereignty, its development under international law and its ability to be manipulated with its continued malleable counters. We also discuss the problems of humanitarian intervention, both in terms of its selective enforcement, its ability to be used for the opportunistic aims of great powers and its unintended consequences. Finally, we discuss how to democratize the current hierarchical structure of international law and how international law can both support and be supported by grassroots social justice movements.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/38

U.S. and European Complicity in the Yemeni ConflictDiscussion with Radhya Al-Mutawakel on the war crimes committed in Yemen by all parties, including the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian sites and civilians and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage. We discuss U.S., U.K. and other Western countries’ participation in the conflict through arm sales to the Saudi and Emirati coalition and logistical support. Additionally, we discuss the plague of landmines, the economic blockades and the public health crisis in Yemen, including from starvation and epidemics of cholera and diphtheria. We discuss arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, the recruitment of children into the war and the war’s impact upon women.  We also discuss U.S. drone strikes, the civilian deaths and injuries they cause and their futility in serving counter-terrorism.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/37

Incarceration Rates and Sentencing Policies Throughout the United StatesDiscussion with Nazgol Ghandnoosh on the high rates of incarceration and state differentials of incarceration throughout the United States and their causes, including the “war on drugs”. We discuss racial disparity in arrests and sentences, private prisons and legislative and executive encroachment on the judicial function by the imposition of mandatory sentences. We also discuss the impact of prosecutorial power and plea bargains. Additionally, we discuss the collateral effects of convictions, including disenfranchisement, denial of housing and other benefits and discrimination in employment. We also discuss alternatives to incarceration, including LEAD programs and restorative justice and the need for a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation rather than retribution.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/36

Loss of Biodiversity, Pollution, Climate Change and Human Rights Abuses from DeforestationDiscussion with Etelle Higonnet on the state of deforestation around the world with a particular focus on commodity agriculture and soy and palm oil in particular. We discuss the contribution to climate change and the loss of biodiversity from clearing wild forests for monoculture plantations. We also discuss the public health impact from polluted water and air for surrounding populations, in particular the haze from Indonesian forest clearing, as well as the egregious labor rights violations of the deforestation industry. We also discuss “paper tigers”, lack of political will and the effectiveness of public campaigns and pro-active and informed public and consumer choices.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/35

Family Separation, Mandatory Detention and DenaturalizationDiscussion with Paromita Shah on the effective criminalization of immigration and the right to asylum through mandatory detention and unlawful entry and unlawful re-entry prosecutions. We discuss family detainment and separation at the border and the deportation of undocumented parents of US citizen minors. Additionally, we discuss the recent Supreme Court decision of Dimaya, due process in immigration court and Attorney General Sessions’s use of self-referral to make radical changes in our immigration jurisprudence. We also discuss Operation Janus, the De-naturalization Task Force and the intersection of immigration and criminal law.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/34

Religious and Racial Discrimination in the American South and the Escalation of Immigration DetentionDiscussion with Azadeh Shahshahani on the work of Project South, which cultivates strong social movements in the Southern United States and supports social justice movements in the Global South. We discuss religious and racial discrimination as well as police collaboration with ICE and the denial of utilities to undocumented persons as well as lawful residents without social security numbers in the southern United States. We also discuss the escalation of immigration detention and a recent report, by a coalition of organizations including Project South, detailing the deplorable conditions at detention centres in Georgia. Additionally, we discuss shadow prisons, the effective criminalization of immigration infractions and attendant forced labour and corporate profit.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/33

The U.S. Visit by the Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human RightsDiscussion with Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, on the observations and conclusions from his country visit to the United States in December 2017.  We discuss the political nature of poverty, its inextricable link to rising inequality in the United States and the overt and covert disenfranchisement of the extremely poor. We also discuss punitive policies towards the poor, including Jane Crow laws and the criminalization of homelessness and the prevalence of caricatured, pejorative narratives of the poor that perpetuate inequality. Additionally, we discuss the effective denial of constitutional rights to those in poverty, including through the criminal justice system.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/32

The Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States and the Legal Framework for Bringing Justice to Human Trafficking Survivors.Discussion with Martina Vandenberg on the work of the Human Trafficking Legal Center and the prevalence and characteristics of human trafficking in the United States. We discuss the international and legal framework, whether the United States is meeting its international obligations and consider particular issues relating to diplomatic immunity when human trafficking is committed by diplomats in the United States. We also discuss prosecutions under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the application of its mandatory restitution provisions. Additionally, we discuss U.S. government awareness programs such as the Blue Campaign and their effectiveness and the best legislative and litigation strategies for eliminating this egregious crime.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/31