On June 29, 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Bush overstepped his authority in creating military war crimes tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Court, in a 5-3 decision, held that the Bush administration did not have authority to set up the tribunals and found the military commissions illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention.

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Over the weekend of June 24th and 25th, about a dozen Santa Cruz activists busied themselves at the Live Oak Grange sorting medical supplies, soaps, books, pens, and automotive parts among other items, as part of the Pastors for Peace 2006 Cuba Friend-Shipment Caravan. This is the 17th year community members have challenged the travel ban to Cuba. Photos | Audio | Video in Fresno

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Organizers with Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (DAAA) Collective, and Aztlan Rising, held a counter protest against the anti-immigration group Save Our State, (SOS). The two groups started on opposite sides of the street, and then counter protestors crossed, and both groups were mashed together. It was documented that white power activists were in attendance at the demonstration.

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Tuesday June 27th was a "National Day of Action" in solidarity with U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada. Outside the gates of Fort Lewis, Washington, hundreds rallied to support Watada – the first commissioned officer to resist the illegal war and occupation of Iraq. Photos
In San Francisco, people gathered at 5pm in Justin Herman Plaza. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Audio: 1 | 2 | Video

On June 7th, U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada held a press conference in Tacoma, WA to announce his intention to disobey the illegal order to deploy to Iraq. Ehren Watada is believed to be the first U.S. military officer to publicly refuse orders in the Iraq War due to its illegality. Photos
In the lead-up to the national day of action, supporters of Lt. Watada rallied in Fort Lewis on June 24th and Olympia on June 26th. Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio

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Congress debated and voted on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Medical Marijuana Amendment to the Justice Appropriations bill this week. Although it did not pass, it did garner more votes than ever before. The Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment would prohibit the U.S. Department of Justice -- including the Drug Enforcement Administration -- from using any appropriated funds to interfere with the implementation of medical cannabis laws in the 10 states that have approved such use. Some 20 California dispensaries have been raided by the feds since the Supreme Court gave the DEA a green light with its decision in the Raich case almost a year ago.

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Dina Boyer is a photographer and videographer who frequently posts media to Indybay, and covers LGBT and police brutality-related issues. Ms. Boyer reports, "For the last 8 years I have been covering the Pride celebration in San Francisco... every year I obtained media passes." After having applied months in advance for her official press passes, she was denied her passes on Saturday. She feels that she was discriminated against, and that her First Amendment rights as a journalist were violated. She feels that her presence as a transgendered woman and a journalist will not be missed when she does not cover Pride events next year. The press credentials of Allen White, who wrote a story critical of the corporate nature of SF Pride for Beyond Chron, were also lifted.

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LGBT Pride Celebrations were held in many California cities during the month of June. On Saturday, June 3rd, Out in the Valley was held in Fresno. Photos
San Francisco Pride took place from June 23rd through 25th.
The Trans March was held on Friday, June 23rd. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
The Dyke March was held on Saturday, June 24th.
The SF Pride Celebration was held in Civic Center on Saturday and Sunday. The main Pride March began on Sunday at 10:30am at Market and Beale Streets, and ended at Civic Center. Photos | Reports: 1 | 2

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Old-growth forest near Siskiyou County’s wild and scenic Salmon River is headed for the auction block - and the chopping block - after losing a years-long battle in the court of appeals. The Knob Timber Sale is part of a large scale logging plan that included the Glassups Timber Sale which was cut in 2003, and the Meteor Timber Sale which is still winding through the courts.

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A memorial plaque commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot was installed in San Francisco at 12pm on Thursday, June 22nd, at the corner of Turk and Taylor Streets. The 1966 riot in the Tenderloin was the first known instance of transgender resistance to police harassment in the U.S. National and local community activists present will include Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church, author/activists Leslie Feinberg and Jamison Green, Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality, and representatives of the SF Mayor’s Office, Human Rights Commission, and Police Commission. Photos | Video

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On June 22nd, the city of Fresno stepped up its campaign against the homeless. City workers and police officers plowed down E Street, razing an encampment and destroying dozens of peoples possessions, despite efforts of the owners to save them. In the past, Fresno has run bulldozers through the camp-- demolishing everything in their paths-- although some residents have learned to quickly move their belongings out of harm's way. This time, however, it was not as easy to avoid the cleanup crew's aggressive attack, as police prevented some people from removing their valuables.

Past Coverage: 1, 2, 3, 4

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On Tuesday, June 20th more than 150 people people joined MECA, ADC-SF and QUIT! in downtown Berkeley for an emergency action to say "NO!" to killing children by violence and deprivation. In dozens of cities in North America, June 20th was a Day of Action in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Israeli military has fired over 7,000 shells on the people of Gaza so far this year. Photos: 1 | 2

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On Friday June 16th, a teachers’ march in Oaxaca brought out all sectors of civil society in a vast repudiation of the repressive policies of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortíz. The march of as many as 400,000 protesters was a direct response to the brutal police attack on the encampment of striking teachers in the center of the city at dawn on June 14th. In San Francisco, thirty teachers from United Educators of San Francisco and the American Federation of Teachers at City College demonstrated in front of the Mexican Consulate. Photos & Video

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The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board held a June 22nd hearing on the issue of agriculture waivers. The Regional Water Board voted to extend a waiver for irrigated agriculture which would allow 8 million acres of farmland to keep polluting the waters with pesticides and fertilizers without any accountability. In spite of protests, in 2003, the Board issued waivers for waste discharges from irrigated farm land. That waiver, which was adopted under pressure from powerful San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests, provided for the establishment of “voluntary coalitions” comprised of farmers to establish voluntary programs to address massive pollution of Central Valley waterways. People planned to gather by 8:30am on the hottest day of the year so far for press conferences and protests.

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Yet another Federal Grand Jury targeting local activists has been convened. The apparent reason is to investigate the anti-G8 protest held in the Mission District on July 8, 2005, during which a local police officer was injured. Independent journalist Josh Wolf, a frequent poster to Indybay, has been subpoenaed to provide his unedited videotape of the demonstration. June 15th update: Josh refused to testify or provide video evidence to the federal grand jury. Instead of being held in contempt, he was told by the prosecutor that he was free to go. Photos & Video

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SF Supervisor Chris Daly has introduced a resolution before the Supervisors' Land Use Committee to ask the UA Plumbers Local 38 Pension Trust Fund, which owns the Civic Center Hotel, to promptly proceed with a seismic retrofit. The building does not have the city-mandated seismic retrofit for unreinforced masonry buildings. The Land Use Committee will be meeting in San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, June 21st at 1:00pm. Tenants and their supporters will explain why low-income housing is important to the City and why these units should not be lost.

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Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, college students in Tucson, Arizona, are facing up to 15 years in prison on felony charges for the volunteer work they did last summer to help undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert. Their trial is set to begin in August. Sellz and Strauss are in the Bay Area this week to build support for their defense campaign. They will speak on Tuesday, June 20th, at the Friends' AFSC Hall in SF, 65 Ninth St. (between Mission and Market Streets).

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At 8:30am Friday morning, demonstrators staged a blockade at a central Santa Cruz intersection as a gesture of solidarity with the hundreds of families who lost their land in Tuesday's forced eviction of the South Central Farm in Los Angeles. Holding signs both large and small, the 30 or so demonstrators blocked traffic at the intersection with A-frames, a stray sofa, and at least four dumpsters rolled in from nearby businesses. At about the same time that the blockade began, a 20+ foot banner was unfurled over a Hwy 1 overpass reading "Remember South Central Farm--Fuck Ralph Horowitz--Fuck LAPD--SouthCentralFarmers.com"

Read More On Indybay's Environment & Forest Defense, Globalization & Capitalism, California or Santa Cruz Indymedia Pages

On June 16th, workers at Landmark Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley voted 22 to 2 in favor of unionization with the IWW. Rising tensions at the Shattuck Cinemas over the years have pushed workers to demand an end to unfair working conditions and greater accountability from management.

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On June 10, protesters gathered on Market St. in San Francisco to protest Apple's use of Digital Rights Management, the restrictions placed by Apple on music purchased at iTunes. Photos & Video

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The death toll for American soldiers in Iraq now stands at 2500. Vigils are planned in Fresno, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and other cities in California. The number of Iraqis who have died as a result of the US occupation is unknown but a study done over a year and a half ago by the British medical journal The Lancet estimated the number of civilian casualties at 100,000.

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The 14-acre South Central Farm was raided early in the morning of June 13th. The police arrested some 40 supporters of the garden, and bulldozed fences and trees.

The South Central Community Farm in Los Angeles had been under consistent attack from the City of LA since the beginning of March. The week before the eviction, the farmers had reported that they had raised enough money to purchase the property.

Photos | Audio 1 | 2

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On June 4th, East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA) and the Direct Action Anti-Authoritarians (DAAA) Collective demonstrated outside of Costco Clubs in Modesto and Merced. The activists “fostered compassion” by distributing literature to raise awareness about what the activists call Foster Farms’ inhumane treatment of chickens. As one of the top sellers of Foster Farms products, Costco is being urged to conduct animal welfare audits of their main poultry supplier. A recent investigation by EBAA revealed that the company violates animal cruelty laws and misleads the public through its marketing.

Read More On Indybay's Central Valley or Animal Liberation Pages