Sunday, November 19, 2006

Protesters Trampled

Scrutiny Hooligans: "'...In an unprecedented transparent attempt to severely limit the right to peaceful protest and freedom of speech of low-wage Houston janitors and their supporters, a Harris County District Attorney has set an extraordinarily high bond of $888,888 cash for each of the 44 peaceful protestors arrested last night. Houston janitors and their supporters, many of them janitors from other cities, were participating in an act of non-violent civil disobedience, protesting in the intersection of Travis at Capitol when they were arrested in downtown Houston Thursday night. They were challenging Houston's real estate industry to settle the janitors' strike and agree on a contract that provides the 5,300 janitors in Houston with higher wages and affordable health insurance.'

'The combined $39.1 million bond for the workers and their supporters is far and above the normal amount of bail set for people accused of even violent crimes in Harris County. While each of the non-violent protestors is being held on $888,888 bail ...

* For a woman charged with beating her granddaughter to death with a sledgehammer, bail was set at $100,000;

* For a woman accused of disconnecting her quadriplegic mother's breathing machine, bail was set at $30,000;

* For a man charged with murder for stabbing another man to death in a bar brawl..."

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