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> Mon., June. 6, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Supreme Court Rules on Medical Marijuana
Post-Polio Survivor Responds to Supreme Court Ruling
Debate on Janice Rogers Brown Begins Today
Indian Activist Vow to Continue the Fight Against Coca Cola
Bio-Weaponry Questioned in Maryland
Indigenous Women Speak Out Against Bush's Environmental Record
Commemorating the Long Walk
FSRN Headlines
The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a case that could have
challenged the anti-discrimination federal Title IX law. The
National Wrestling Coaches Association said in order to comply
with the law colleges and universities unfairly eliminated
men’s sports programs so that women’s sport teams
and athletes could be adequately funded. By rejecting the
case, the court essentially upheld a lower court’s decision
that ruled lawsuits should name individual schools rather
than the federal government.
The high court has also expanded the scope of the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Ellen Ratner reports from D.C.
We’ll have more on Supreme Court decisions coming up.
Israeli and Palestinian protestors clashed at a site sacred
to them both. Manar Jibreen has more from the International
Middle East Media Center.
The Nicaraguan government is facing stiff opposition from
activists and ministerial directors, as the President is determined
to privatize utilities. Nan McCurdy reports from Managua.
Threatened with losing their water rights, activists in Peru
held demonstrations and workshops over the weekend. Kristy
Li Puma Herrera has more from Lima.
[top]
Supreme Court Rules on Medical Marijuana
(2:24)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 6 to 3 vote today that
the federal government can continue to raid the homes of and
prosecute people who cultivate and use medical marijuana with
a doctor's prescription. The decision does not overturn, however,
the laws of states who have made such usage legal. The two
California women who brought the case say not all has been
lost: they plan to return to a lower court for other claims
that were not decided by today's ruling and they say they'll
come to Washington DC next week to lobby for an amendment
in the House of Representatives that would bar the Justice
Department from pursuing medical marijuana users. From Washington,
Mitch Jeserich reports.
[top]
Post-Polio Survivor Responds to Supreme Court Ruling
(2:25)
It remains unclear how today's Supreme Court decision will
affect everyday people whose doctors have prescribed medical
marijuana as a treatment for their illnesses. Susan Pfeil
is a patient in Santa Cruz, California with Post-Polio syndrome
who uses a wheelchair, braces, crutches and a respirator.
She also serves on the board for the Women's Alliance for
Medical Marijuana, or WAMM. On the morning of September 5,
2002, she was awoken at gunpoint and handcuffed to her bed
as the WAMM collective was raided by Federal authorities.
Vinny Lombardo spoke to Pfeil about her response to today's
Supreme Court decision.
[top]
Debate on Janice Rogers Brown Begins Today
(2:47)
Debate began on the Senate floor today over the second of
three controversial Bush judicial nominees. The nominations
of Janice Rogers Brown and two others to appellate court lifetime
positions were blocked by filibuster until last week when
a bipartisan group of Senators made a deal allowing the three
to go forward, while maintaining the minority Democrat's right
to filibuster in certain circumstances. Darby Hickey has more
from DC.
[top]
Indian Activist Vow to Continue the Fight Against
Coca Cola (2:48)
Coca Cola may be the biggest brand name in India, but the
company faced a tough battle when a village in South India
withdrew its license, stopping its production for over one
year. Activists in Kerala have long blamed Coca Cola for robbing
the village of its precious drinking water by drying up fresh
water wells. But surprisingly, a court has ruled against the
poor villagers in the fight for water rights and has given
the soft-drink giant the green light to continue operations.
FSRN Correspondent Binu Alex reports on how local activists
are planning a renewed fight.
[top]
Bio-Weaponry Questioned in Maryland (3:44)
While the US government has signed the international Biological
Weapons Convention, it has refused international inspections
of its bio-defense facilities. The Bush Administration claims
it is not producing bio-weapons and that its research of infectious
pathogens, such as smallpox and anthrax, is for defense purposes
only. Nevertheless, some residents in the community surrounding
a Maryland bio-defense facility are concerned. Ingrid Drake
of the DC Radio Co-op has more.
[top]
Indigenous Women Speak Out Against Bush's Environmental
Record (3:50)
A panel of Native American Women known for their activism,
recently presented their concerns on President Bush's environmental
record at the Community Based Solutions for Environmental
& Economic Justice Conference at the Magnuson Health Sciences
Center. Robin Carneen has more.
[top]
Commemorating the Long Walk (2:00)
And we close today's newscast, in remembrance of the Long
Walk forced upon Navajo in the Southwest more than 140 years
ago, when the United States Calvary herded Navajo families
from their homes in Northern New Mexico and Arizona to Fort
Sumner in Southern New Mexico. The suffering the forced relocation
caused, and near annihilation of the Navajo people is being
commemorated in a memorial at the site where Navajo and Mescalero
Apache people were captive for about 5 years. FSRN's Leslie
Clarke spoke with Emerson Joe, who grew up in remote Northern
area ofthe Navajo Nation where his grandfather told him stories
of the arduous journey.
[top]
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