Between The Lines - JeriMarie Liesegang: Transgender Teenager held in Solitary Confinement in a Connecticut Prison (Week Ending May 9, 2014)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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Activists Decry Treatment of Transgender Teenager held in Solitary Confinement in a Connecticut Prison

Posted April 30, 2014

JeriMarie Liesegang, founder of the Connecticut Trans Advocacy Coalition reads an op-ed piece written by an imprisoned transgendered 16-year-old, and talks about how the non-trans community can best support transgender youth, in this segment recorded and produced by Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus

A 16-year-old transgender girl – that is, a person who was born biologically male but identifies as female – has been held in solitary confinement at York Correctional Institution, the Connecticut state women's prison, since April 8. The girl, known as Jane Doe, remains in prison although no criminal charges have been brought against her, much less has she been convicted of any crime.

The decision to place Jane Doe in an adult – first considering and then rejecting a youth prison for males and a new juvenile facility for girls – came from Joette Katz, the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families. Commissioner Katz said the girl is violent and there is no more appropriate and available setting for her at this time. Last week, the Hartford Courant newspaper published an op-ed written by Jane Doe, in which she alludes to past traumas as she describes the trauma of her current imprisonment.

On April 25, about 50 supporters of Jane Doe held a rally outside the Department of Children and Families office in Hartford. At the same time another support rally was also organized in New York City. At the Hartford rally, JeriMarie Liesegang, the founder of the Connecticut Trans Advocacy Coalition, read Jane Doe’s op-ed piece aloud, then commented about how the non-trans community can best support individuals like Jane Doe and others who identify as transgender, whether they are in prison or living in society at large.

JERIMARIE LIESEGANG: (Liesegang reading from Jane Doe's op-ed in Hartford Courant) A lot of things have been said about me recently. Some were said in court, others were said in the news and by the Commissioner of the Department of Families and Children (DCF) Joette Katz. People might think they know me based upon what they hear, but they know nothing about who I am. I've been involved with DCF since I was a little kid. There were lots of problems with my family, and DCF got involved to help me. Over the years, I've had many DCF workers; some really tried to help me; others did it for the paycheck. I admit that I have acted out and got into fights; many DCF kids get into fights. Many DCF kids fight with staff and other kids. I'm not saying it was okay, but I have a lot of stuff built up inside me and don't know how to deal with it at times. They tell me that trauma changes people and makes them act out; believe me, it does. Although my life has been harder than almost anyone can imagine, the last few months have been the worst. I haven't agreed with everything DCF has done, but I thought they were supposed to be on my side. That changed after what happened in Massachusetts. Forget what DCF said; I didn't blind anyone or break their jaw. DCF said a lot of things to make me look like a monster. Just think about how you would look if your worst enemy wrote down every bad thing you ever did and on top of that made things up.

I sat in court for six days freaking out that I was going to a men's prison. The only person from DCF who was against me in court was the superintendent of the Juvenile Training School [for boys]. He said I was the most dangerous person who had ever been at the school, he had never met me before, and he asked that I go to Manson Youth Institute [for males]. While I was at the school, I was perfectly behaved. He said that didn't matter. Commander Katz wouldn't come to court to explain why she said untrue things about me. She showed up on the last day and wouldn't even look at me. The other people from DCF who came to court said really nice things about me. One training school worker visited me when she wasn't working; I really miss her.

Now, I am sitting in a room at the end of a hallway in the psych ward at York Correctional Institution. I'm in my room 22 hours a day with a guard staring at me, even when I shower and go to the bathroom. Women constantly scream and cry and it was hard to sleep. They moved me down to a different hallway where it's not as crazy. I tell myself that this is just a nightmare, but it doesn't end. I know I need to work on my issues, and I want to, but this is not the place. I am afraid of the women here. I don't want to be around them. They yell comments to me make fun of me when they see me. People tell me that a lot of the news stories focus on DCF. I don't want this to be about them. I don't care about people who don't care about me. DCF is wrong for what they have done to me, but making them look bad is not going to help me. I want people to understand who I am, what my life has been like, and how I ended up here.

What I have survived would have destroyed most people. I'm not going to let it destroy me. I can't change what has happened, but I can build a future, just like every other 16-year-old.

If Cmdr. Katz wants to know who I am, she should come to this prison and meet me. If she does, she will see that I am more than what is written on paper. I am a girl with a lot going on in her life. We all make mistakes, but I don't deserve this.

As a footnote, Jane Doe is a pseudonym for a 16-year-old who was male at birth but who identifies as female. She is in custody of the state and her name is withheld because of her age.

(Liesegang speaking herself) We've done a lot of advocacy for trans women, especially in the Hartford area, and trans folks. But what you see here is not different. People need to sort of step in the shoes of trans people. Even the allies ... we appreciate it, but you really have to understand what it's like. And this is a girl who's been through the system, and we've had other folks. What happens is, you're basically struggling and fighting every single day of your life just to be who you are. Like myself, any of us, we're forever being hassled, so you can just imagine this poor girl coming through the system as a transgender, transitioning very young and trying to survive through all these foster care houses where people most likely don't care about her. And so she really has been victimized her whole life. And the key thing is for the system to recognize, as she said, the PTSD, the trauma, that she's going through. And we don't answer that or correct that by putting someone in the prison system. And we run into this with trans folks, and usually it's trans folks of color. We deal a lot with trans women of color, who have been through the system because there's no one there to advocate for them. We had one woman, she was basically being put on the street by a pimp. She finally fought back, beat him up, and then she got put into prison – she got put into the male population of prison. And we finally advocated for her – this was many years ago – when she was coming out, we made the case that it was a case of domestic violence. If she comes back out of prison, there's no one to advocate for her, she was living in a homeless shelter, and she's going to be put back out on the street with no way to defend herself, and if she does defend herself, she's going to be put back in prison. And what we did, we got her into a domestic violence shelter and she was actually one of the first trans folks to get into a women's domestic violence shelter in Connecticut. And it worked out. There weren't any issues; people were worried there would be issues, and the key thing is that's what you do, when you put women together that are dealing with trauma in a women's shelter and things like that, that's your job as an advocate is to work through that. And it actually worked out very well. She finally moved to California and really got back with her life. And this is the same thing that needs to be done with Jane. And that's why Trans Advocacy was there, but it's more than an organization; it's the people. An organization as big as DCF can't get that personal, and that's unfortunate.

Find more news and commentary on Jane Doe’s imprisonment by visiting Connecticut Trans Advocacy Coalition's website at transadvocacy.org.