In an effort to ensure that women in prison are treated like human beings — and reduce the negative impact incarceration has on their families, especially their kids — a group of lawmakers has introduced a bill that would make a series of reforms to how the federal prison system handles female prisoners. [More]
human rights
Nestle Says There’s No Place For Forced Labor In Cat Food Supply Chain
By 8.31.15
After American consumers learned about horrible working conditions and trafficked workers on some fishing vessels out of Thailand, class action lawsuits began, accusing American, European, and Thai companies of benefiting from deplorable working conditions farther up their supply chain. One of the companies accused, the Swiss conglomerate Nestle, says that “forced labor has no place in [their] supply chain” for Fancy Feast cat food. [More]
United Nations Names Online Privacy That You Probably Don’t Have As A Universal Human Right
By 1.17.14
Online privacy: it’s a contentious ground between corporations and consumers, a troubled 21st century frontier of expectations, and, apparently, a universal human right. [More]
Go Daddy Leaves China Over Censorship, Privacy Concerns
By 3.26.10
GoDaddy.com, of the annoying Danica Patrick commercials, has announced that it will no longer sell .cn domain names. Why? It is not willing to comply with new rules from the Chinese government which requires domain holders to provide photo ID, says Wired. [More]
January 1st, 1808: Slave Importation Banned In US
By 12.31.07
Considering we spend a good deal of time focusing on legislation that protects consumers and/or (usually or) businesses, we thought it appropriate to point out one of the big historical moments of trade law, not to mention human rights—tomorrow marks the “200th anniversary of Jan. 1, 1808, when the importation of slaves into the United States was prohibited.” Hey, it didn’t stop the madness, but at least it was a start.
TGIFridays Apologizes For Refusing Service To Disabled Teen
By 12.11.07
The manager at T.G.I. Friday’s in Wheeling told the Arlington Heights family on Saturday that the restaurant couldn’t accommodate Dawn even after Greenberg showed him her Public Access card, which explains the Americans With Disabilities Act.
NYC Human Rights Commission Drops Charges Against Chinese Restaurant
By 5.2.07
The case of the Wisconsin man who filed a complaint with the NYC Human Rights Commission has come to a close with the commission dropping charges against the restaurant. In the original story, David Lopez, a tourist from Wisconsin, noticed that other (Chinese speaking) customers in the restaurant were given rice with their meals, but when Lopez asked for rice with his dinner he was told that he would be charged $1 extra. “Being Hispanic, we both like rice,” said 46-year-old Lopez. “We saw other customers getting a different menu. We were told we could order from it if we spoke Chinese.” The Chinese menu had prices that were, on average, $1 cheaper per dish.
Apple Does Not Respond to “Mass’ah”
By 6.15.06
Now playing on an iPod near you, the sweet sounds of The Sweatshop Boys…
iPod Cities: Massive Chinese iPod Sweatshops
By 6.13.06
This morning we’re going to be doing some hating on Apple. Might as well just warn you now. So if you’re one of those smug idiot Apple zealots who were the main reason why I put off buying a Mac for as long as I did, you might want to avert your eyes. Because Steve Jobs isn’t God, iTunes DRM sucks and, oh yeah: iPods are made in Chinese sweatshops.
Exxon Sued For Indonesian Torture
By 3.9.06
Exxon has lost the first round in a lawsuit implicating Exxon in the torture of 11 Indonesian villagers in 1997. The villagers claim that Exxon’s Indonesian subsidiary allowed its facilities to be used to torture them by the Indonesian government.
