Cascadia today: Judge sets rules for Spokane 9 trial + a pencil is running for OR governor + non-alcohol options in Seattle
Judge sets ground rules for Spokane 9 trial
RANGE Media has a detailed look at pre-trial hearings and agreements of what can and can't be heard before the jury in felony conspiracy trial of three people from Spokane who were protesting at Spokane's ICE facility in July. The case is a critical step in the Trump administration's attempts to criminalize dissent and the first amendment rights to protest. The case is moving forward despite the fact that US attorney Richard Barker resigned two days before charges were brought. Cascadia Journal reached out to Barker, but he declined to be interviewed until after the trial is complete. Trial proceedings open on May 18 and are expected to last two weeks.
Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II are being charged with a conspiracy to use force, violence or intimidation against federal officers. Six other defendants, including former Spokane city council president Ben Stuckart– agreed to plea deals on lesser charges. They were among hundreds of protesters who spontaneously assembled at the ICE facility last July calling for the release of two detained immigrants – who were in the US legally and later released.
RANGE Media has excellent coverage of the protests and trial, which will be a critical test of whether the judicial system will increasingly allow the feds to come after people who express their dissent or even simply join a Signal chat or post on social media. I'll have more on the trial later this week.
Seattle woman leads the campaign to end marriage equality
The Seattle Times profiles Kay Lawton, the West Seattle-based Christina conservative activist who is leading the US fight to overturn the 2015 US supreme court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage. Lawton, who heads the organization Them Before Us, also seeks to end in-vitro fertilization and limit divorce, the article notes. The fully right-wing Washington state GOP has embraced her radical ideas, and has invited her to speak at a Republican fundraiser in Snohomish County this week alongside conservative blogger Brandi Kruse, initiative funder Brian Heywood, and state GOP leader Jim Walsh.
They're not just coming for trans people's rights. Cascadia should and will oppose these people, who seek to turn this country into a radically conservative White Christian Nationalist homeland. We won't let them.
Why a pencil is running for OR governor
OPB has the story of Pencil (aka J. Schuberth) who is running for governor of Oregon dressed in a six foot-costume as a pencil to draw attention to the sad state of public education in the state. Though the write-in campaign is a long shot, Pencil hopes to alert voters to the needs of kids in Oregon, which has the lowest fourth-grade reading scores of any state, and has been under-funding education for decades.
Celebrate Cascadia Day with at 7 pm, May 18 at Vermillion in Seattle!
Join us for the Cascadia Day Poetry Explosion at 7 pm, Monday May 18 at Vermillion bar and art gallery at 1508 11th Ave in Capitol Hill. It'll be a fun evening with poetry from Paul Nelson, Matt Trease, Nadine Maestas, and Rhea Melina. Cascadia Democratic Action will be raising money that evening for the Migrant Survival Fund and the Kawaguchi O'Connor Initiative.
Surveillance offers an illusion of safety
Over at the Stranger, Marcus Harrison Green challenges the notion that Seattle needs to set up a network of surveillance cameras to address the issue of gun violence in Seattle. The answer, Green says, isn't more cops and more surveillance cameras, which do little to actually address the root issues of inequality that lead to crime.
"Meanwhile, the work that actually produces safety, remains under-built: housing stability, accessible mental health care, youth programs at the scale required to interrupt violence before it begins." --Marcus Harrison Green
Non-alcoholic options on the rise in greater Seattle
KNKX reports on the rising popularity of non-alcoholic cocktails, spirits, and other alternatives to alcohol in the Seattle area. At the center of the piece is Dry Spell Bottle shop, a Burien store that specializes in NA beverages of all sorts. Gen Z is leading this trend, says
“I definitely think people are becoming — especially among our age — really mindful of the effects of alcohol, I know a lot of people are taking breaks, and I know a lot of people who are at least outwardly saying that they’re trying to cut down or just moderate more.” --Gaelen Lee, a customer at Dry Spell
Thanks for reading. Keep loving & keep fighting. --Andy
