03/15/21 03/15/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> like farmers at the tu-of-the-centuryepresented one million black farm and was, 20 million acres of land presentingor 2% of the nation's farms. today we are down to about 45,000 black farmers and

basically tilling 4.5 million acres of land. we have lost lot of land due to discrimination as united states department of agriculture. amy: for generations, black farmers and other farmers of color have faced widespread discrimination and have lost much of the land. now the federal government is finally taking steps to address the crisis. president biden's massive covid relief package includes $5 billion for farmers of color. we will speak to john boyd, a fourth-generation farmer and founder of the national black farmers association. then we go to steve donziger, the environmental lawyer who sued chevron for ecological devastation in the ecuadorian amazon. after chevron was ordered to pay billions, chevron went after donziger personally. he has now spent nearly 600 days under house arrest in new york. >> chevron committed what

probably the world's worst envinmental crime ever by mping deliberately dumping causing an applicant cancer. rather than pay r cleanup, they spent billions of dollars to try to attack the lawyers who tried to hold them accountable. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the biden administration has instructed the federal emergency management agency to help process the increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving in the u.s. as of this weekend, some 4200 children were being detained in overcrowded border patrol facilities were some of them reportedly have been held for a week or longer, forced to sleep on the floor, unable to shower, and were not allowed to call

their families to alert them of their whereabouts. buzzfeed reports the biden administration has opened a new temporary detention facility in texas which will hold children until they're placed in a shelter run by the federal government or are released to family members or sponsors. house republican leader kevin mccarthy, who blamed the biden administration for the increase of migrant children arriving to the u.s., is leading a group of republican lawmakers to the southern border in texas today. in legislative news, the democrat-controlled house is moving ahead with two major immigration bills this week which could create a pathway to citizenship for millions -- the american dream and promise act and the farm workforce modernization act. it would lead to a pathway for citizenship from farmworkers and dreamers. direct payments of $1400 have started to hit bank accounts days after president biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill.

nearly 70 million u.s. residents have received at least one vaccine dose, with about 11% of the population fully vaccinated. georgia has dropped the age of vaccine eligibility to 55. millions more californians are now eligible after the state expanded vaccine access for people with pre-existing conditions and disabilities. los angeles is offering to inoculate peopleiving or working in congregate facilities including prisons and shelters for unhoused people. republican voters have become one of the largest unvaccinated groups in the country. a recent poll found 40% of republicans said they would not get vaccinated versus less than 15% of democrats. over the weekend, dr. anthony fauci called on former president trump, who was secretly and not delayed it before he left the white house, to --

inoculated before he left the white house, to encourage people to get vaccinated. as crowds of spring break revelers hit the beach in florida and elsewhere, dr. fauci also warned that rolling back public health measures too soon could lead to new outbreaks. >> we are not in the end zone yet. that is one of the issues. would you fight token, there is the risk of a surge. that is what the europeans have experienced. amy: in italy, three quarters of the population are under a new lockdown after a 15% increase in cases was recorded last week. a more transmissible coronavirus variant first identified in britain has been spreading throughout the country. meanwhile, a german health official has declared germany's third coronavirus wave has begun. brazil has surpassed india in covid-19 cases, making it the second hardest-hit country for both infections and deaths in the world after the u.s. more countries, including ireland, thailand, and the democratic republic of congo, are suspending or delaying use

of the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots and one death in denmark. no clear link between the vaccines and the blood clots has been demonstrated. the u.k. medicines regator and the world health organization have said there is no reason to stop administering the astrazeneca vaccine. a warning to our viewers, the next story has graphic video. burma's military rulers have extended martial law, after the deadliest day of political violence is the february 1 coup that toppled the elected civilian government of aung san suu kyi and her national league for democracy party. on sunday, burmese soldiers killed at least 30 people countrywide, with widespread reports of soldiers firing live ammunition into crowds of nonviolent protesters. a human rights group said at least 126 people have been killed and over 2100 arrested since the coup.

a parallel civilian government-in-exile is calling for a revolution to overthrow the military junta. and in the united states, the biden administration has granted temporary protected status to burmese people living in the u.s. for 18 months. in afghanistan, a car bomb in western herat province killed at least eight people and injured over 50 friday. most of the victims were civilians. no party has claimed responsibility for the attack. earlier this month, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken wrote to afghan president ashraf ghani in an effort to accelerate an agreement ending the decades-long conflict ahead of a proposed meeting in turkey.mo "the new york times" is reporting the u.s. has around 3500 troops in afghanistan -- about 1000 more than previously disclosed. under a deal struck by the trump administration, the u.s. is set to withdraw its military by may 1, though it's not yet clear if biden will follow through with that timeline.

kosovo has formally opened its embassy in jerusalem, becoming the third country after guatemala and the united states to move its embassy there, even though israel haillegally occupied east jerusalem since 1967. under a normalization deal announced by former president trump last september, israel recognized kosovo's independence from serbia in exchange for kosovo's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. meanwhile, the czech republic has opened a jerusalem branch of its israeli embassy. in nigeria, at least 39 students are missing after gunmen raided a forestry college in northwest nigeria's kaduna state last thursday. it's the fourth mass kidnapping from a school in northern nigeria since december. in guatemala, the remains of 16 migrants who were massacred while crossing mexico as they attempted to reach the united states have been repatriated. the families of the deceased continue to demand justice. this is the father of one of the

victims. >> it hurts to lose a child. he went to look for a better life. he wanted to help his family and siblings. that was his goal. unfortunately, he was killed in the massacre. amy: in late january, 19 bodies were found shot and charred inside a pickup truck in the northern state of tamaulipas, near the u.s.-mexico border. a dozen mexicapolice officers were arrested in connection to the killings. according to the guatemalan government, at least five people survived the massacre and are currently under prection in the united states. in bolivia, former interim president jeanine añez has been arrested and faces terrorism charges over her involvement in the 2019 military coup that overthrew then-president evo morales. other members of añez's right-wing interim government also pays possible charges, as well as military and police accused of carrying out massacres and violent repression against indigenous communities and supporters of morales. evo morales returned to bolivia

last november after a year in exile following the election of president luis arce anthe rern of morales' mas party. a warning to our audience, the next stories include references to sexual violence. in britain, outrage is mounting after london police forcibly and aggressively broke up a vigil saturday evening in memory of sarah everard, a woman who was kidnapped and killed earlier this month. a police officer has been charged in her murder. this is a mourner at clapham common, where a memorial has been set up near where everard was last seen. >> this has affected every woman across the country. it has picked up everything that has happened to us. we need to grieve. the police rob does of our human rights for collective grief. amy: this comes as british lawmakers are considering a bill

to give police greater authority to crack down on protests. the minority labour party has vowed to oppose the new law. in australia, tens of thousands took to the streets across the country today amid a recent wave of allegations of sexual assault and discrimination against high-level political figures, including australia's attorney general. a former staffer for the liberal party, brittany higgins, recently went public with an accusation of rape against a former colleague. other women have since come forward to say they too survived sexual assault by the unnamed man. brittany higgins spoke at today's rally in canberra. >> i was raped by a colleague. it felt like the people around me -- because of where it happened and what it might mean to them. it was so confusing because these people were my idols. i had dedicated my life to them. they were my social work, my

colleagues, my family. suddenly, they treated me differently. i was a person who went through a life-changing traumatic event, i was a problem. amy: back in the united states, senate majority leader chuck schumer, senator kirsten gillibrand, and the majority of new york's u.s. congressmembers have now called on governor andrew cuomo to resign as investigations continue into multiple accusations of sexual misconduct as well as his cover-up of thousands of covid-19 nursing home deaths. this is senator gillibrand. >> because of the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that governor cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners as well as the people of new york. that is why i believe the governor has to resign. amy: president biden, who himself has been accused of sexual assault, said he is waiting to see the outcome of ongoing investigations into governor cuomo's behavior. meanwhile, "the washington post" is reporting cuomo ally and new

york's vaccine czar larry schwartz has been contacting county officials to determine their loyalty to cuomo amid the mounting scandals. one person contacted by schwartz filed notice of an impending ethics complaint and feared their response could impact their county's vaccine supply. the city of minneapolis on friday reached a record $27 million civil settlement with the family of george floyd. this is civil rights attorney ben crump, who represents floyd's family. >> in this historic agreement, the largest pretrial settlement in a police civil rights wrongful death case in u.s. history, makes a statement that george floyd deserved better than what we witnessed on may 25, 2020. that george floyd's life

matters. and by extension, black lives matter. it sends a message that taking a black life will no longer be written off as trivial, unimportant, or unworthy of consequences. a this comes as the criminal trial for former officer derek chauvin, who killed floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, continues. seven jurors have now been selected. and protests and gatherings were held in louisville, kentucky, and other cities across the united states saturday, marking one year since plainclothes police officers busted through the door of breonna taylor's home in the middle of the night and shot her dead. breonna taylor was an african-american 26-year-old emergency medical technician and aspiring nurse. this is the aclu of kentucky.

>> no one has been charged. no one has been prosecuted or convicted for her murder. it is important for people to remember that and we have to continue to fight. we can't stop. we have to keep going. we cannot rest. breonna was not able to rest. we should not be able to rest until people are held accountable. amy: on friday, breoa taylor's boyfriend kenneth walker filed a federal lawsuit against the louisville police department for violations of his constitutional rights. walker, who was in the apartment with taylor when she was killed, was cleared just last week of charges for allegedly shooting and wounding a police officer during the deadly raid. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back, generations of black farmers and other farmers of color have lost the

vast majority of their land amidst widespread discrimination. now the federal government is finally taking steps to redress the crisis. president biden's massive covid relief package includes $5 billion per farmers of color. we will speak with john boyd, fourth-generation farmer and founder of the national black farmers association. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: the son became an unofficial anthem to support first responders and medical staff during the pandemic. she also performed the song

during sunday's grammy awards ceremony. a song that was a record for women wins, the grammy awards were a record for grammy winners -- women grammy winners last night. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show looking at a major provision in president biden's $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill that aims to address decades of discrimination against black, hispanic, native american, and asian american farmers who have historically been excluded from government agricultural programs. the american rescue plan sets aside $10.4 billion for agricultural support and allocates about half the funds to farmers of color who were "subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group."

the u.s. commission on civil rights confirmed as long ago as 1965 that the u.s. department of agriculture discriminated against black farmers. but little was done to address the problem d the number of black-run farms dropped 96% in the last century. by 1999, 98% of all agricultural land was owned by white people. in 2010, congress approved a $1.2 billion settlement for thousands of black farmers denied usda loans because of their race. but a 2019 study by the government accountability office based on the usda's own data shows farmers and ranchers of color continue to receive disproportionately smaller farm loans. the provision in the new covid relief package is drawn from legislation introduced by newly elected democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia, who is georgia's first black senator

and also the first georgia democrat to serve on the agriculture committee in three decades. agriculture secretary tom vilsack welcomed the measure. >> history of usda, unfortunate, involved a level of discrimination against a number of minority producers,'s farmers, native american farmers, and there is an effort i think with this package to try to deal with not specific acts of discrimination but the key militia effect over a period of time when people are discriminated against they basically get behind and it is really hard for them to ever catch up. we've seen a significant decline in the number of minority producers around the country. this is providing some debt relief for those producers, to impact and -- offset the dissemination over a period of time. amy: but the effort to address the usda's history of racism has come under fire from some republicans, including republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina, who lashed out againsthe measure during a fox news interview.

>> let me give you an example of something really bothers me. in this bill, if you are a farmer, your loan will be forgiven up to 120% your loan if you're socially disadvantaged. if you're african-american, some other minority. but if you are white person come if you're a white woman, no forgiveness is reparations. what does that have to do with covid? if you're in the farming business, this bill forgives 120% of your loan based on your race. these people in the congress today, the house and senate on the democrat side, are out of control -- liberals. amy: senator graham's comments prompted a stern response from house majority whip james clyburn, who is also from south carolina. >> he knows the history.

he knows what the state of south carolina has done to black farmers. they did not do it to white farmers. we are trying to rescue the lives and livelihoods of people. you ought to be ashamed of yourself. amy: for more on the fight to end discrimination at the usda and restore land to black farmers, we go to virginia, to speak with john boyd, a fourth-generation black farmer and founder and president of the non-profit national black farmers association. john, welcome back to democracy now! can you start off talking about this $5 billion and what it means? give us the history. >> the $5 billion is an historic in nature. thanyou for having me again. and what it is going to do to help black farmers and farme of color a this country. as you know, we have been suffering. the $5 milon calls for debt relief. that would give many black

farmers aumpstart that they n get rid of the debt at the united states department of agriculture. there is $1 billion s aside for technical assistance and outrch and really dig down into the core of the discrimination at the united states department of agriculture. both of these asures iave beenighting for for over 30 years, so i don't anyone watching this show to think this is some new measure or new idea or concept that happened overnight. i have been trying to fix this measure for over 30ears as united states department of agriculture. amy, i probably spoke to you about it to years ago. we have been trying a long time. this is a huge victory for black farmers a farmef color, native americans come hispanics, other socially disadvantaged armors. amy: can you explain how black farmers lost 90% of their land?

>> yes. athe turn-of-the-century, we were telling about 20 million acres of land, primarily in the southeastern corridor of the united states and we were close to one million black-owned families strong. for those who do understand history, every black person in this country are one or two generations away from somebody's farm. and we survived slavery. we survived sharecropping. we survived jim crow. here we are in the year 2021 and i am talking you about discrimination at united states department of agriculture. we lost this land by discrimination, receiving discrimination at the usda. i was one of those recipients where the government clearly discriminated against me. i have a 1page letter from em admitting to their guilt

and those egregious acts faced by, officials, the person who was responsible for the loans spat on me and used racial epithets and referred to me as "boy." he came to m farm and wanted me to send a check over to him personally with a loaded handgun. i can tell you, he did not treat white farmers that way. he would only see black farmers on wednesday. all of us would be lined up in the hall with the same date and time on it. he was referring to these elderly black farmers -- many were deacons and preachers and leaders in the community -- as "boy" and talking down to us. this was deep-rooted discrimination that has been going on and very pervasive ways for a very long time. amy: can you respond to senator lindsey graham? talk about the

history of lindsey graham from south carolina when it comes to this issue. >> yes. first of all, i have lobbied senator graham and many in the house and the senate and i've had meetings with them, buttonhole meetings trying to get into suprt the act of 2010. he has over 6000 black farmers in his state. he knows the dcrimination. i've spoken toim personally about this dcrimination. he never once used his megaphone to talk aboutr investigate the acts of discrimination the black faers like myself faced. so i'm calling today on your show, i wa him t apologize to the black community, to the black farmers, and apologize to this country for his wrong stance on this.

49 mbers ved on 10 different amendments to strip or lessen the language thatas in the cod spending bill for black farmers. 49 senators voted to take that out and lindsey graham is one of them. he has never tried to help. he is divisive. he is wrong for this country. that message, e concept -- message of hate and division he continues to preach on fox news is not the american way. that is not the way to bring america back. here we are for 30 years try to gethis done. he should have took some time to say, what cawe do to help this measure, to make farming better for black farmers in this country? he never once spoke about all of the money going to white farmers, just, for example, on the trump adminisation. 29 billion dollars went to white farmers.

what is his definition of that? all of the subsidies and programs and loans andll of these incentives ausda f all of these decades have wento white farmers. what is his definition of that? that is what we have be lking about for a long time. a system that has discriminated and mistreated and took and stole land from black farmers for decades and went unchecked in this country. if he wanted to eck sothing, he should've been checking about discrimination at usda. he should have been talking about sharecropping in his historic state south carolina. these are the things that senator lindsey graham should have been doing. amy: and the significant other thing rev. warnock, no senator warnock, your check for the new democratic senator, being the one who push this forward and sitting on the agricultural committee? >> yes. this is a start nature and my hat goes off to rev. warnock senator ry booker.

for the fir time in histo, this is a new day in america. we have twblks on the senate ag committee. we have the airman in the house, chairman scott also from georgia, now president bid and thvice president who want to help rectify some of the problems that we faced. spoke to the president about this last february. he committed to me he would help me fix the issue at the united states departmenof agricultur so i wod like to recognize president biden for signing that bill and making sure we stayed in there. my hat ioff right now to this administration for doing the right thing and having the guts to stand up to people like lindsey graham a the other 49 senators who simply don't want to help people -- black farmers and poor people in this country. amy: i want to ask about tom

vilsack, the new once again had also passed head of the usda was dubbed the naacp -- head of the usda. the naacp has noted vilsack had lied to conceal decades of discrimination against black farmers, and naacp president derrick johnson called the prospect of vilsack "extremely problematic for the african-american community." he cited the 2010 controversy when vilsack fired shirley sherrod from her usda position overseeing rural development amid a misunderstanding over racial comments. vilsack later apologized. johnson told "the washington post" -- "we think that an individual who unjustifiably fired shirley sherrod -- who is a civil rights icon, a legend, who worked with john lewis -- should not be considered. we should not go backward. we should go forward." well, in fact, tom vilsack is

once again the head of the usda. john boyd, have you spoken to him and what are you demanding? >> two things. yes, i have spoken to him. one of the things that president biden also committed to me during our one-on-one visit in south carolina, there would be change in leadership the usda. so whethey announced secretary vilsack was coming back to the usda, he was not my pic and not myick for black farmers. i wanted blood andew leadership. someone who would take much more aggressive campaign against discrimination at the united states deparent of agriculture. when i lobbied all of those years for the claims remedy act of 2010, $1.25 million for black farmers, secretary vilsack, in my opinion, was too slow to act.

i did not get the help on capitol hill. so i g on bod and began to campaign to help me pass that measure. i did not thi he was the right person but i spoke to him a couple of days ago. he congratulated me on the measure and the bill. but i so urged him to put in swift action to make sure these payments and the debt relief and all of these measures, the outreach reached black farmers and farmers of color expeditiously, not to sit on it and try to figure out a plan of action. bethinking a$1400 in the mailbox a direc deposited to americans, that we can disperse and relieve debts for black and farmers of color expeditiously and i urged him to do that. amy: you mentioned the trump administration and black farmers, farmers of color.

how did this fit into past presidents? how would you asss the trump administration? >> worst administration in histy for black farmers. in my 38 years of doing this kind of work. 've had the opportunity tsit down with every agriculture secretary, both republican and democrat, and former secretary sonny perdue, anmy visit was th worst conversation ever had come he id, mr. boyd, is your farms that are going to have to get large or get out of business." when i urged him to have more blacks on the committees and all of the usda coissions, he said he did not need people that were zy and did not want to work. how egregious and -- for former sec. sonny perdue to say that. i told him i did not know any black farmers that are still

farming that have been treated worse by usda that are lazy and don't want to work. i work seven days a week, includingoliday and christmas and i've been working all of my life. that is the way many black farmers have. the issue here is we have not had access to credit the way white faers have. for that type of position from the trump administration set us back a little further. not just black farmers, but race relations, the trumpet adminiration set black people at the bottom of this country and former sec. sonny perdue was at the core of that, taking land awayrom black farmers. he did not even have been assistant secretary for civil rights, sition that i lobbied for, campaign or for many years to get into the fmville most of they did not even fill the position. what does that tell you about the trumpet administration's commitment on civil rights and resolvg complaints from black and other socially

disadvantage farmers? soy perdue gets an "f" from me and i hope he ilooking at retirement. amy: john boyd, thank you so much for being with us, fourtheneration black farmer and founder and presidt of the non-profit national black farmers association. when we come back, we go to steven donziger, the environmental lawyer who sued chevron for ecological devastation in the ecuadorian amazon after chevron was ordered to pay billions of dollars, chevron went after him personally. donziger has spent nearly 600 days under house arrest. we will speak to him at his house. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to what's been described as the amazon's chernobyl -- 1700 square miles of land in the ecuadorian amazon devastated by decades of reckless oil drilling. 10 years ago, ecuador's supreme court ordered chevron to pay $18 billion for dumping over 70 billion liters of oil and toxic waste into the amazon. the ruling came in a lawsuit brought on behalf of 30,000 amazonian indigenous people who had been suffering since the mid 1960's when texaco began drilling on their ancestral land. chevron bought texaco in 2000. the landmark ruling was seen as a major victory for the environment and corporate accountability. but chevron refused to pay or clean up the land. amazon watch has spent years documenting the environmental destruction in ecuador.

this is part of a short video by the group narrated by the actor peter coyote. >> today in an amazon rainforest region, tens of thousands of men, women, and children are surrounded on all sides by widespread oil contamination. the soil polluted, the water is poison. for nearly 25 years in nearly 2, american oil giant chevron reckless pumped and dumped oil operations and ravaged thousands of square miles of once pristine amazon rain forest. to increase its profit margin by a few dollars per barrel of oil to the company cut corners and used a populated rain forest ecosystem as its toxic dumping grounds.

the result? tens of thousands of people who live in what was once a paradise on earth now face a horrific epidemic of cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, and other oil-related illnesses. the indigenous peoples who outlived off the bounty of the rain forest for campus generations now suggle for survival. amy: instead of cleaning up the ecuadorian amazon, chevron has spent the past decade waging an unprecedented legal battle to avoid paying for the environmental damage while also trying to take down the environmental lawyer steven donziger, who helped bring the landmark case. with the help of dozens of law firms, chevron has ended donziger's legal career. he has been disbarred, his bank accounts have been frozen, and he has been forced to surrender his passport. steve donziger has also been under house arrest for nearly 600 days after a federal judge drafted criminal contempt charges against him for refusing to turn over his cellphone and

computer. in an unusual legal twist, the judge appointed a private law firm with ties to chevron to prosecute donziger after federal prosecutors declined to bring charges. many of his supporters see donziger as a corporate political prisoner. his case is attracting growing attention within the legal world as well as among environmentalists and human rights activists. 55 nobel laureates, including 10 recipients of the nobel peace prize, have called for an end to the judicial attacks on donziger. a coalition of groups including amnesty international, amazon watch, and the national lawyers guild recently wrote to attorney general merrick garland asking him to investigate what they describe as "disturbing legal attacks" on donziger. last week, an appeals court threw out a key contempt finding against donziger, who is now waiting to hear if he will be freed from house arrest.

steve donziger joins us now from his new york home. we are also joined by paul paz y miño in oakland. he is associate director at amazon watch. he has been working on the "clean up ecuador campaign" for the last 14 years. we welcome you both to democracy now! steve donziger, thank you so much for joining us. why are you under house arrest? are you currently wearing an ankle bracelet, a shace? >> i am. i am wearing an ankle bracelet. it is about the size of a garage door opener. it has been on my ankle since august 6, 2019. i eep with it. i eat with that. i bade with that. it never leaves my ankle and allows the goverent to monitor my whereabouts on a 24/7 basis. the fundamental issue here is chevron destroyed the ecuadorian amazon, and i was part of the legal team that held the company accountable. the decision in ecuador has been

affirmed by multiple appellate courts in ecuador and canada. what chevron did is rather than pay the judgment it owes to the thousands of people and ecuador that it poisoned, it has gone after me and other lawyers. in the united states, chevron suit me just sued me for $60 billion from the largest potential personal liability in the history of our country -- i'm a human rights lawyer. i live in a two-bedroom apartment with my wife and son on the upper west side of manhattan. chevron launched a campaign to try to drive me out of the case. as part of their strategy, they demanded to se my confidential communicatns with my clients, including everything on my cell phone and computer. when i appealed that to the higher court here in new york, while the appeal was pending, judge kaplan charged with criminal contempt of court for not complying with the order while the lawfulness of the

order wasn't repealed. he then had me locked up in my home. this is a misdemeanor charge with the maximum sentence of 180 days in prison. i assert my complete innocence. he appointed a judge who denied me a jury. i'm the only person in the history of this country, as far as we can tell, who is charged with a misdemeanor in the federal system and has no criminal record who has ever been held for even one day pretrial, and i've now been ld 585 days on a charge that if i were to be found guilty, would lead to a maximum penalt of 180 days in jail. it is very unlikely i would go to jail because the longest sentence ever imposed on a lawyer convicted in this district of criminal content is 90 days of home confinement. i have already served more than six times that. what is really happening is chevron and its allies have used

the judiciary to try to attack the very idea of corporate accountability environmental justice work that leads to significant judgments. i think they're trying to not only retaliate against me, they are trying to send a broader message to the activist community, to the legal community that these types of cases that truly challenge the fossil fuel industry that are connected to the survival of our planet should not be allowed to happen in court -- at least not at this level. i am hoping -- we had a huge victory last week i did second circuit court of appeals where judge kaplan's case w thrown out, i hope cooler heads prevail in the second circuit and e issue decision that allows to get my freedom back. amy: everything about this is so unusual, so astounding. can you explain what rule 42 is and the idea that the judge could not get federal

prosecutors to indict you, so he was able to choose a private law firm, lawyer from a private law firm connected to chevron and he wenter you? >> i don't think this is proper. i don't think it is legal. it is legal for a judge to char someone with criminal content with adequate basis. i do not think one exist here. the judges and obligated under rule 42 to take the charges to the regular prosecutor, the professional prosecutor's office. in this case, the professional prosecutor refused to bring the case. and i think for good reason. again, this is allbout me doing my job as a lawyer and try to defend my clients right it isn't about me defying the court. i was seeking more court review. i was not defying the court when i appealed judge kaplan's order that turned out to be unlawful. when the prosecutor refused t bring the case, judge kaplan appointed a private law firm.

now, it is legal for a judge to appoint a private lawyer to prosecute in theircumstances but it is not proper to appoint a law firm that has financial ties to chevron and has an attorney-client relationship to chevron. i'm essentially being prosecuted by chevron. the law firm's name is seward kissel. a midsized law firm here in new york. what is unusual about this is not only do they have a financial relationship with chevron, they have close ties to the oil and gas industry generally and they are billing taxpayers. so far they've been paid by taxpayers $464,000 to prosecute and detain me on a misdemeanor contempt charge. my guess is they have been paid a lot more. we have not seen all of their bills. make no mistake about it, this is a for-profit private corporate prosecution of a human

rights lawyer in the name of the government. it has never happened before in the history of this country. it is terrifying, not just for me and my family, but i think for anyone who does this work. i'm hoping more more people will notice it and pressure will build so it has to stop. a letter to merrick garland by amnesty international and other groups specifically asks him in the justice department to review what we believe is the mishandling of this case and these flagrant conflict of interest that have allowed a private corporation's law firm to act in the name of the state to deprive a human rights lawyer of his liberty. it is just not right it is not what we know our judicial system to be. i have to say, people around the world are appalled. we are talking about serious lawyers from countries all over the world who supported the ecuadorians, supported their lawyers, are appalled watch this happening in the united states

of america. amy: steve, as you pointed out and as we began the lede, ultimately this larger story is not about you. it is about the devastation of ecuador. it is what you point out repeatedly how you got involved with it. can you talk about the $9.5 billion that was actually initially $18 billion judgment that chevron owes to the ecuadorian people? the majority of it allocated not just to clean up the soil and water, but to create support, health care systems, treatment for cancer patients? the significance what it was that first got you interested in this and that continues to this day? >> can come amy. fit of all, thank you for bringing that up. ultimately, this is not about steven donziger. chevron what to be the story. this is about what chevron did to poisothe amazon and ecuador. devastated the lives of 10 thousands of people -- tens of

thousands of people. i first went to ecuador as part of a team of lawyers and doctors led byristobal money fast, to investigate this matter. i was a marginal lawyer on a much larger team for several years as the case evolve. i became more and mo involved. i have worked on other cases and i want to be clear, is is not my case. this is a case that is controlled and owned by the affected communities of ecuador. there are a lot of other lawyers working on this. i could not turn my back on this problem. we have tried year after year to seek a remedy to help save lives, to help repair the amazon. to hold chevron accountable so this kind of thing doesn't happen again. we were successful. the judgment has been affirmed by ecuador and canada.

and unanimous decision in 2015. the attacks on me really our efforts to utilize the new york federal judge to essentially disable my advocacy because i have been so involved over seven years in 70 aspects of this case through fundraising, i've been to ecuador over 200 times to meet with my clients. they don't want me involved in this case. they calculated that if i am locked up in my home, the case will somehow de. i will say this, the case is very viable. their lawyers in different countries around the world looking to enforce the judgment against chevron's assets. that is happening completely independent of me. well i pray for me and my family to get a good outcome, i want to return to my work as a human rights advocate. this case will go on with or without me. itac is important that people understand it has the backing of urts all over the world except

this trial judge and the appellate court here in new york , which really i think has gone out of their way based on how the questionable evidence that chevron has presented to try to attack me and the ecuadorians. amy: i want to bring paul paz y miño into this conversation, associate director of amazon watch. you come amnesty international, the national lawyers guild, and others are now appealing to attorney general merrick garland. if you can talk about both what you were asking him to do and then you, too, being involved with amazon watch and other groups, have been deeply involved with ecuador. your family lineage is back in ecuador. can you talk about what needs to happen now? >> yes, absolutely. thank you for covering this issue, amy. i can't think of a more important topic when it comes to climate justice, corporate

accountability, and what we're are facing in terms of corporate power in the u.s. the letter that amazon watch and amnesty usa and other groups has sent is requesting the new attorney general conduct a review of how this case has been handled because of improper acts of targeting steven donziger and locking him up in his home for your and a half on -- a year and have fun misdemeanor contempt of court charges. the real thing going on is chevron is attempting to literally criminalize the human rights lawyer. he has never been accused, let alone convicted of a crime anywhere and now chevron's machinations by lewis kaplan, this federal judge, on the cusp of turning him into a criminal because he did not comply with kaplan's outrageous contempt of court orders. steven donziger -- he is a

tactic for chevron. it is to have the world not look at what they actually did in the ecuadorian amazon. what we want is for this new administration to check the corporate power that has manilated the judicial system to turn steven donziger into an example of what will happen if you stand up to corporate power in the united states. it is a seriously chilling one. there's a coalition of organizations that includesac amnesty and us and greenpeace and many other groups who have banded together to protect each other from corporate attacks. that is essentially what we're saying. amy: explain the term slap attack. >> strategic lawsuit against public participation. this is how corporations prevent activists and organizations from standing up to their abuses.

they hit them with baseless lawsuits and force them to spend all the money sometimes they have to defend themselves. many states in the country do not have anti-slapp legislation. if they file in the right place, are force to defend yourself against a massive legal team in some cases, and in the chevron case, 50 law firms. make no mistake, they did not just go after steven donziger. although he has been the target of their bees. they came after their own shareholders. they came after journalists. this has been a scorched-earth tactic by chevron. gibson dunn prides itself on lfwato aid void udgment on u.s..s is that environmental racism that has been steeped from day

one but the operations of the u.s. oil company is now being aided and a better by the u.s. judiciary because what happens is the ecuadorians have never had access to justice in the united states. as you heard from stephen, when the suit was first brought against texaco in new york, they spent eight years fighting in the same district that is now holding steven in his home, set the case back to ecuador saying it was improper venue. again, the ecuadorians who have been suffering with pollution every single day took their case to ecuador and fought for almost another decade to hold chevron to account. after they got that judgment, actually two weeks prior to that judgment, chevron preemptively sued back in new york to prevent them from ever bringing that judgment to the united states. the reason that is important is they escaped the situation where there would be based with the

facts of their abuses in the amazon, and the judge in the united states has yet to look at the effects of what they did and determine they should pay to clean up. what is dangerous for chevron is only the united states where they have been protected where they have assets around the world. when steven donziger was working with others to enforce the judgment internationally, that is when they turned not only to their slapp sued but criminalizing him, silencing him, and making sure he can't continue his work to enforce the ecuadorian judgment. amy: vice produced a short documentary titled "the world's worst oil related disaster you've never heard of." let's go to a clip. amy: steve du

tweeted -- he lost two children to cancer. can you talk about him? >> oh, my god. he is one of the great leaders in the ecuadorian amazon who has been one of the driving forces behind t lawsuit for years i have known him since the early 1990's. he tells these incredible stories from the 1980's when he s a young man. he lost children to the oil ntamination. when the indigenous peoples complained about it, the chevron engineers would say, oh, no, this is not a problem. this stuff has vitamins in it. it is like elk.

can you imagine the level of abuse? it raises a larger ise, which is this case has been led by people -- indigenous leaders and shamannd rural cmunity leaders and other ecuadorn lawys who won a resounding victy in court. this case is not about me. chevron's try to make a caricature out of this case by focusi on me and it is important to focus on the people who are really, really suffering and continue to suffer. amy: we onlyave 10 seconds. there was a judgment reduced to $9 billion. what happens now? >> the ecuadorians with their lawyers will continue to try to enrce the judgmt against chevron's assets and force the company to comply with the law. we have held them accountable. we will continueo hold them accountable, forcing them to actually pay the judgment stop

this case is viable. amy: and you remain under house arrest for over 600 days. steve donziger, thank you for being with us, human rights lawyer who successfully sued chevron and ecuador. waiting to hear if he will be freed after nearly 600 days of ú/

hello, a very warm welcome to "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. we befin in japan where the u.s. foreign and defense chiefs are preparing for a meeting as part of their first trip overseas.